Archive for the ‘Series and Books’ Category
Tentacle Deeps 32
Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012
Tentacle Deeps 32 by Amy Crook
This tentacle painting is much more subtle and mysterious than the usual, covered almost entirely in salt crystals. There’s a dark violet-black background hiding under all that salt, and then iridescent violet tentacles. Then I inundated the whole thing with my potion of salt, water and paint. After it dried, I went in with black ink and brought the tentacles back up out of the sparkling murk I’d created.
The effect in the end is both murky and sparkly at the same time, and really does make me think of deep R’lyeh where mysteries slumber, waiting to rise up through the blue deeps to the surface.
Tentacle Deeps 32, 5″x7″ salt, sumi-e ink, and watercolor on paper.
Of course it’s terribly hard to catch the feel of this art in a scan or photo, so much of it changes with the light and angle, but I’ve taken some detail photos to try.
Tentacle Deeps 32, detail 1, by Amy Crook
Above is the usual photo from the bottom of the tentacles, but this time it almost looks like an 80s fantasy movie set after they applied all the glitter. You can see the swirling colors and shapes, and the tentacles dark and mysterious running through it. Below, I took a shot of the longest tentacle and the varying textures in and around it. I liked the way that one turned out with its shining squares on the left and sand-like salt crystals to the right, so I made you yet another wallpaper. Don’t you feel special?
Tentacle Deeps 32, detail 2, by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: blue, for sale, iridescent, salt, sumi-e ink, tentacle deeps, tentacles, violet, watercolor
Blue Moon 2
Monday, April 2nd, 2012
Blue Moon 2, abstract art by Amy Crook
Even though this piece shares a name and some materials with my first Blue Moon, that’s about all they have in common. The blues in this are all muted except for the vivid French Ultramarine moon itself, and even the little halos of iridescent paint became quite subtle painted wet-in-wet.
I made the 7 stars the usual way with paint and salt and water, but the moon was part of my newest experiment where I put paint into some water I had already saturated with as much salt as I could boil into it. Pretty much all of this week’s art was made with this technique, for some fascinating results. Sparkly ones!
Blue Moon 2, 5″x5.25″ salt and watercolor on watercolor paper.
Blue Moon 2, detail 1, by Amy Crook
You can see little particles of the iridescent paint around the borders of the halo, and I thought the shot of the moon itself came out so well I made a wallpaper for you. Yes, you.
Below, you can see the lightning-like formations around the edges of some of the pools, and the way I brushed the outer rim of the salt pools with the blue-black paint, which sinks into the crevices and gives it deep shadows.
Blue Moon 2, detail 2, by Amy Crook
Since this one isn’t quite square, I haven’t framed it yet, but it’ll get its lovely black frame before it goes to live in its new home.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Free Wallpapers, Series and Books
Tags: black, blue, blue moon, for sale, moon, salt, watercolor
Tentacle Deeps 31
Tuesday, March 27th, 2012
Tentacle Deeps 31, watercolor by Amy Crook
I’m still enamored of these paints that are ghostly pale from some angles, and richly colored from others. This one looks like fine gilding from the right angle, but turns almost white and translucent from the wrong one. I couldn’t resist the idea of golden tentacles, though!
Tentacle Deeps 31, 4″x6″ watercolor on paper.
My camera picked up the golden color quite well, though I ended up leaving the background a little more purple than it is in reality because, well, it looks cool.
Tentacle Deeps 31, detail, by Amy Crook
The piece looks nice framed, below, with my usual iPhone for scale. I considered using a dollar, but then, I have no idea of my international readers (hi!) know how big a dollar is, and yet it’s safe to assume most of you have seen someone holding their iPhone. Weird.
Tentacle Deeps 31, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: for sale, gold, iridescent, purple, tentacle deeps, tentacles, watercolor
Tentacle Deeps 30
Tuesday, March 20th, 2012
Tentacle Deeps 30 by Amy Crook
I actually took the time to trim this cool green cardstock down to size, so it fits just fine in a 4″x6″ frame. I realize I have a ton of frames that size, from when I was trying to get the handmade postcards to fit. I finally gave up and started matting them into a bigger frame, so I’ve got a bunch of extra frames that obviously need tentacles.
The background is pure zoisite green, granulated and squamous just the way I like it. The foreground tentacles are a blue-black that gets bluer as the tentacles “recede” into the translucent background layers. I like the extra dimension the piece gets from colored paper and colored tentacles as well as the usual colored background, the whole thing is sort of eerie and otherworldly.
Also, green.
Tentacle Deeps 30, 6″x4″ watercolor on paper.
Tentacle Deeps 30, detail, by Amy Crook
The color in the above close-up shot is a bit off, my camera keeps trying to add red to correct the green, but it’s still cool. Below you can see it with my iPhone for scale. I always think it’s neat seeing the art reflected in the surface of the phone, even if I don’t love the reflections of the room in the glass on the artwork.
Tentacle Deeps 30, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: blue, crane and co, for sale, green, studio gallery, tentacle deeps, tentacles, watercolor
Mother Hydra
Saturday, March 17th, 2012
Mother Hydra cartoon by Amy Crook
I’ve taken some liberties here and used a more classic interpretation of a hydra, rather than the Lovecraftian description of Father Dagon’s bride. There’s just no way to make a vast pool of screaming faces cute, really.
As it is, I can totally imagine at least one of her heads yelling, “No more wire hangers!” She’s even got pearls and lovely pink-painted claws nails.
Just don’t mention the screaming faces and monstrous claws pressing against her heavy, pregnant belly. Or think about what sort of monsters she’s the mother of, if you want to sleep tonight.
Mother Hydra, 5″x7″ pen and ink and Copic markers on paper.
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: cartoon, copic marker, cthulhu, etsy, for sale, lovecraft, pen and ink, weeble
Tentacle Deeps 29
Tuesday, March 13th, 2012
Tentacle Deeps 29, watercolor by Amy Crook
Unlike last week’s tentacles, these, you can have if you want to. Yes, Tuesday is upon us once again and this time I used the opaque Japanese watercolors on black paper to create a wonderful bright green background with an intriguing squamous texture. I used black paint to put in the tentacles, letting it re-wet the green and mix in, giving the whole thing a monochromatic, layered feeling. I’ve been trying to get back to doing the fading layers of tentacles, dark at first with lighter and more transparent ones fading off into the distance, though I do love some of the ones I’ve done with a single layer, as well. Basically, I just like tentacles. I know, you’re shocked.
I’ve been flipping through some of the last year or so’s worth of art, and it’s interesting to see how the tentacles started out in one specific style and then evolved into something else. Revisiting those older pieces, I’ve been revisiting some of the original ideas, like having the wash only take up a portion of the page instead of running edge to edge.
Tentacle Deeps 29, 5″x7″ watercolor on paper.
Tentacle Deeps 29, detail, by Amy Crook
Above is your usual close-up of the reaching tentacles. Maybe one of these days I’ll take a photo of them reaching toward the camera, instead, just for variety. Below is the usual picture in the usual frame. Who ever thought there’d be “the usual tentacles” in your life?
Tentacle Deeps 29, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: black paper, for sale, green, tentacle deeps, tentacles, watercolor
Sherlock in Grey
Saturday, March 10th, 2012
Sherlock in Grey
by Amy Crook
I wanted a tall, thin piece of Sherlock art to put on my giveaway bookmarks for my Etsy shop (sometimes I slip them into the larger orders as a freebie), and nothing I already had quite fit the bill. So, I drew this guy! He’s done with one of my nifty Japanese brush pens that’s black on one side and grey on the other — I’m always using up the black and leaving a ton of grey, so sometimes pieces like this can help me use up some of the extra. I self-indulgently drew in his red buttonhole, though I’m not sure anyone but me will notice it when it’s printed out half the size.
I also used him on my Sherlock gift tags, complete with characteristic sarcasm.
Sherlock in Grey, 5.5″x8.5″ pen and ink on paper.
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: grey, pen and ink, red buttonhole, sherlock
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