Archive for the ‘Series and Books’ Category
Salt Bookmark 3
Monday, May 7th, 2012
Salt Bookmark 3 by Amy Crook
As you’ve no doubt correctly surmised, it’s Bookmark Week again! I’ve sold almost all of the bookmarks from last time, and since May is Get Caught Reading month, I figured that the time was right for another week of tiny, inexpensive originals to tempt you.
This one and Friday’s were done sort of simultaneously, but since I started this one first it got to be number 3 in the series. I’m using the same mix of paint and salt water as I did for last week’s Blue Planets, but this time in dots and spirals instead. Then I crosshatched the background in a complementary green, which brought out the blue and gave the whole thing a nice visual texture.
Salt Bookmark 3, 2″x6″ mixed media on paper, nfs (sold).
Salt Bookmark 3, detail, by Amy Crook
Above you can see the sparkle of salt, the shimmer of iridescent paint and the shine of glitter gel pen, offset by velvety black paper and opaque blue paint. Below, the bookmark rests on a book for scale, though I’m not honestly sure this one would do that well as a bookmark — I’ve found the blue paint doesn’t bind to the paper as well as one might hope when mixed with the salt. Chemistry at work, I suppose.
Salt Bookmark 3, with book, by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: black paper, bookmark, glitter gel pen, nfs, salt, sold, watercolor
Stuck in the Tubes
Saturday, May 5th, 2012
Stuck in the Tubes, a Sherlock comic by Amy Crook
After a week of planets, I couldn’t resist doing another vaguely circular piece of art for my Saturday Morning Cartoon. This absurd little comic is just here to make you smile today, and possibly shake your head at what a silly person I am.
Go on, you know you want to. It’s okay.
Stuck in the Tubes, 7″x5″ pen and ink on paper, nfs (sold).
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: black and white, comic, nfs, pen and ink, sherlock, sold, watson
Blue Planet 4
Friday, May 4th, 2012
Blue Planet 4, watercolor by Amy Crook
Here we are at the end of both our week and the series, and you can see now the interesting secret of this particular mix of paints. Rather than floating to the top edges, the iridescent green paint sinks to the bottom and then the ultramarine settles in on top of it in a rather unsteady marriage. The blue is denser in the middle because it settles there as the day goes on, not because the green is on top. With this paper more than the black, the iridescent paint prevented the salt from bonding to the paper itself so the crystals just formed on top, and a little bit of rubbing pulled away both the salt and the blue paint it was adhered to, leaving us with a fascinating crackled surface at the center.
Like all the salt pieces, this one’s the most interesting if you pick it up and play with it in the sunlight. The blue paint is really very matte and opaque, so the cracks where the green shines through are especially interesting.
Blue Planet 4, salt and watercolor on Arches cover white paper.
Blue Planet 4, detail, by Amy Crook
Above you can see all the rich, subtle variations in color, from the edge-in fade to the sharp crackles where the salt and paint flaked away in the center. Below, the piece is safely tucked into its frame, so the remaining salt, well, remains.
Blue Planet 4, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: blue, blue planet, for sale, green, iridescent, planet, salt, watercolor
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Blue Planet 2
Thursday, May 3rd, 2012
Blue Planet 2, watercolor by Amy Crook
Of all the Blue Planets, this one is a bit like the control in the group. I didn’t have the issues I did with the first one because I very sneakily put the paper on a small plate, so all its edges were raise and the big pool stayed pooled in the center. I didn’t make tentacles, or use a different paper (that’s tomorrow’s). It’s just a simple abstract idea of a blue-green planet floating serenely in the star-studded blackness.
I really like how each of the stars is its own tiny echo of the planet, with salt at the edges, then the green and finally blue in the center. The whole thing feels both familiar and alien at once, and the salt gives it a bit of twinkling light of its own, if only by reflection.
Blue Planet 2, 5″x5″ salt and watercolor on Arches cover black paper.
Blue Planet 2, detail, by Amy Crook
Above you can see the big, square crystals that formed all through the planet’s surface, as well as the darker edge crystals and the soft transition from green to blue. Below, you can see it happily tucked into its frame and reflecting onto the shiny iPhone hanging out to show size.
Blue Planet 2, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: black paper, blue, blue planet, for sale, green, iridescent, planet, salt, watercolor
Blue Planet 3
Tuesday, May 1st, 2012
Blue Planet 3, watercolor by Amy Crook
I know this is only the second day of posting and the third piece in the series, but Tentacle Tuesday is a tradition by now! After I watched the first two Blue Planets form, I wondered if it would be possible to make the green at the edges slither tentacle-like toward the center.
It turns out it was, but they’re very subtle, so I ended up going in later to add the outer tentacles, making this one a color-inverse of Tentacle Planet with the blue-green planet and black paper. The iridescent tentacles inside the planet’s blue surface show more at certain angles, but the salt crystals on top obscure the images a little, making it more of a secret for those who pick up the frame and look closely.
Blue Planet 3, 5″x5″ salt and watercolor on Arches cover black paper.
Blue Planet 3, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can just see the subtle transition of a tentacle inside where it meets up with one of the outer tentacles. Below, the piece sits happily in its frame, just waiting to invade its new home… with tentacles, of course.
Blue Planet 3, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: black paper, blue, blue planet, for sale, green, iridescent, planet, salt, watercolor
Blue Planet 1
Monday, April 30th, 2012
Blue Planet 1, watercolor by Amy Crook
This week I’m posting a series of 4 similar paintings, though slightly out of order out of respect for Tentacle Tuesday. I was revisiting some of my more scifi-themed work to decide what if anything I wanted to put in the art show at BayCon this year, and I decided that it had been too long since I painted one of my planets. I added some iridescent green paint in with my remaining mixture of salt and French Ultramarine and got to work.
I’ve numbered them in the order they were painted, this one first. As you can see, the salt crystals are tiny and fine, and the shape runs off the edge of the paper, which is totally what the salt water did. I think it looks a bit like a comet, or some shadowy binary planet, floating in space.
Blue Planet 1, 5″x5″ watercolor and salt on Arches cover black paper.
Blue Planet 1, detail, by Amy Crook
Above you can see the tiny sparkle of salt crystals, the subtle shimmer of the green paint and the sheen of opaque, matte blue that rests between the two. The paint and salt settle out on their own, once I apply the solution and some patience, giving me something unique each time. Below, of course, is the painting tucked into its frame, hanging out with my iPhone for size reference.
Blue Planet 1, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: black paper, blue, blue planet, for sale, green, iridescent, planet, salt, watercolor
Baker Street Tinies: B is for Baker Street, interior
Friday, April 27th, 2012
Baker Street Tinies: B is for Baker Street, interior, drawing by Amy Crook
Yesterday we saw the outside of 221b Baker street, and today it’s the interior. My Baker Street Tinies series combines the world of the recent Sherlock series from the BBC with the worlds and aesthetics of Edward Gorey.
Nicole and Mo wanted to celebrate their own love and their love of Sherlock Holmes with tattoos, and so we created a unique Gorey-ish vision of 221b Baker Street for each of them. You can’t have the originals — they’re spoken for — but you can get the designs on greeting cards at Etsy!
The wallpaper is straight out of the tv show, as are the fireplace and the antelope skull with its white headphones, though in the show none of these things are on the same wall. John’s Union Jack pillow is sitting on a very Gorey-ish sofa, along with Sherlock’s ubiquitous deerstalker cap. The mantel holds Sherlock’s skull, some mail jackknifed into the wood, a portrait of the pair of them, and abandoned milk with cold tea next to it. Now we know why they always have to buy more milk.
The bookshelf on the right is full of little details, most of which are hard to see without looking at the bigger version.
I really enjoyed working on this pair of drawings for Nicole and Mo, and I hope the tattoos come out beautifully. It was a great challenge to reference so many things in two tiny pieces of art, from the tv series to the books to the art and worlds of Edward Gorey. I’m already thinking about what I’ll do with them next!
Categories: Completed Commissions, Daily Art, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: 221b baker street, baker street tinies, edward gorey, etsy, nfs, sherlock, sold
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