Archive for the ‘Series and Books’ Category
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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Positive Space
Friday, March 9th, 2012
Positive Space, abstract art by Amy Crook, $333
The inverse (and slightly smaller) companion to yesterday’s piece, Positive Space uses coppery paint and copper-colored glitter gel pen on black paper to create a halo of light around the spiral “stars.” I had actually created the salt pools on this one at the same time I did Monday’s Moonglow. I have two little pots of iridescent paint I got as samples, and I tend to use them on pieces at the same time, though rarely the same piece.
I liked the effect of Negative Space so much, however, that I took this work in progress and used the same technique to make a not-quite-mirror image. I like that they’re not exactly the same — the halos on this one tend to be bigger and scatter wider, and of course they’re different sizes. A bit like last week’s Spirals Trio, thematically linked but not matchy-matchy.
Positive Space, 5″x5″ mixed media on paper, $333 framed, with free shipping.
Randomly, if you ever get frustrated with the term “mixed media,” just check out the tags at the bottom of the post. I try to list all the media I’ve mixed down there.
Positive Space, detail, by Amy Crook
The sunlight reflects beautifully off the copper-toned salt, ink and paint in the detail photo, above. Below, you can see the painting with my iPhone for scale. To see it beside its friend, check out yesterday’s post.
Positive Space, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: black paper, copper, for sale, glitter gel pen, iridescent, salt, that space pair, watercolor
Negative Space
Thursday, March 8th, 2012
Negative Space, abstract art by Amy Crook, $333
I was messing about with some blue paints, trying to get them to impregnate the salt crystals better (heh), and I ended up with these 9 scattered blue pools in manganese blue hue (aka not-actually-manganese blue because real manganese blue pigment will kill you). I have a glitter gel pen in a complementary color, and I just started doodling with it around one of the pools. I’d just done a piece where the lines radiated outward (that you’ll see next week, I never said I posted them in the order I made them), and so I did a different sort of radiation.
I used to use this pattern to create a halo of sunlight against a darker blue sky, so the title came from the feeling that these were dark stars floating in a white sky somehow, radiating their negative light. I liked the idea so much I made a piece with copper on black paper, which you’ll get to see tomorrow.
Negative Space, 5″x7″ mixed media on paper, $333 with free shipping.
Negative Space, detail, by Amy Crook
Above you can see a close-up of the glittery gel ink and the sparkling salt pools taken in the sunlight. Below, you can see it in its frame with tomorrow’s art. I’m thinking of switching it out for a white frame to complete the contrast, we’ll see.
Negative Space and Positive Space, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: blue, for sale, glitter gel pen, salt, that space pair, watercolor
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Tentacle Deeps 28
Tuesday, March 6th, 2012
Tentacle Deeps 28 by Amy Crook
You can’t have these tentacles, they’re sold! A friend of mine came over to hang out, asked if he could peek in the Big Drawer of Art, and went home with this piece (he left a check behind, yay!).
This paper is interesting, it’s not really meant for watercolors, I don’t think. It’s very absorbent, almost too much so, and it buckles quite a bit when it’s wet. On the other hand, the interesting particulates in the paper shine through the watercolor, giving an impression of distant lights, whether stars or some underwater bioluminescence isn’t clear. I liked the effect so much I started another one in a different shade of blue.
It’s also bigger than my usual tentacles. I’ve been trying to vary my paper sizes more lately (though 5″x7″ is still the dominant size), so I tore this paper down to two 8″x10″ pieces. I guess sometimes size does matter.
Tentacle Deeps 28, 8″x10″ watercolor on paper, nfs (sold).
Tentacle Deeps 28, detail, by Amy Crook
Nifty shot of tentacles is nifty. Here, have a wallpaper. Below, you can see the tentacles in my frame with my iPhone, though my friend took the original home all naked to put in a frame he already had. Big tentacles are big!
Tentacle Deeps 28, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: nfs, sold, tentacle deeps, tentacles, watercolor
Moonglow
Monday, March 5th, 2012
Moonglow by Amy Crook
Sparkly green and purples sit suspended in deep, rich black. For some reason it reminded me of one of my favorite oil paint colors, even though it’s not at all the same shade of purple, but I still named the piece Moonglow after the paint.
The watercolor paint I used in the salt pools separated, with the green pigment all going into the salt and leaving the sparkly violet swirls attached to the paper for a very nifty effect. I carried it through with purple and green glitter gel pen, adding smaller spiral stars and drawing in the eerie, barely-there moon.
I’ve totally embraced my sparkly side, too, and bought more glittery pens in Japantown as well as some pearlescent paints. Expect to see more shiny!
Moonglow, 7″x5″ iridescent watercolor, salt and glitter gel pen on Arches cover black paper.
Moonglow, detail 1, by Amy Crook
The first detail photo, above, totally exaggerates the separation of the paint, the sunlight making the salt practically glow while the purple spirals catch the light. The second one, below, shows the play of green and purple gel pen in the moon. Spirals!
Moonglow, detail 2, by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: black paper, for sale, glitter gel pen, green, iridescent, moon, salt, violet, watercolor
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Tentacle Deeps 27
Tuesday, February 28th, 2012
Tentacle Deeps 27 by Amy Crook
We have ghostly tentacles writhing against a textured wash of sunset red, orange and gold for our Tentacle Tuesday. I really love all the texture and detail on this one, so I made a wallpaper to share. I make these sort of huge and not particularly specific on the size so that you can just tell your computer to fill the screen and it won’t matter if some of one edge or another gets cropped. I also make the tentacles go left to right because that’s what works for me on my screen, I almost always have certain windows open so I mostly see a few little stripes of background at the left and right edges.
I really like the way the textured paper here created amazing edges on the wash, and then on top of that I used salt in the more traditional manner to create the almost flamelike blossoms of paint in the background. I was so in love with it, I decided to paint the tentacles in washed-out, transparent black to let the background really show through. The smaller, fainter tentacles give it a sense of looking out over a field of them, almost like seaweed rising up from the ocean bottom.
Tentacle Deeps 27, 5.25″x7″ watercolor on paper.
This isn’t quite small enough for a standard frame, and I haven’t yet matted it properly into a larger one for photography, but I suspect you’ve seen enough framed tentacles by now to know the drill. Instead, enjoy the spooky bottom-up detail shot.
Tentacle Deeps 27, detail, by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: orange, red, salt, sunset, tentacle deeps, tentacles, watercolor
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