Archive for the ‘Series and Books’ Category
Tentacle Deeps 18
Tuesday, November 1st, 2011
Tentacle Deeps 18 by Amy Crook
More tentacles! I started this piece with salt that had already been gently used and had a coating of color on the outside, arranging them in a pattern that made me think of balloons floating up or perhaps fluff blowing off a dandelion. Once I got the idea to attach them to tentacles, however, I couldn’t resist! I used several shades of red and orange ink to create the tentacles, and of course my scanner hates red dyes and so a lot of the subtle gradation you can see in person is lost.
I decided to create the “deeps” part of the painting with simple crosshatching, electing to go with a fairly loose style which often ran into the tentacles, which makes them just a bit more unreal. I do wonder what the salt pools represent in this context, attached at the end of each vivid red tentacle. Egg sacs? Sensory organs? Lunch?
Tentacle Deeps 18, 7″x5″ mixed media on paper.
Tentacle Deeps 18, framed, by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: black, crosshatching, for sale, pen and ink, red, salt, tentacle deeps, watercolor
Happy Halloween!
Monday, October 31st, 2011
Snape-o-Ween Costumes by Amy Crook
I drew this years ago for a Halloween card exchange. Each costume and caption filled one eighth of one of those paper fortune tellers of the sort I used as a kid. I had to Google how to fold one, it had been so long! Perhaps next year I’ll make a Cthulhu one. Or Harry Potter himself, just so Snape can enjoy sharing the misery.
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: Harry Potter, I drew this, nfs, pen and ink, snape
Snape – Don’t Look Back Moleskine
Friday, October 28th, 2011
Snape - Don't Look Back customized Moleskine by Amy Crook
The winner of my $101 gift certificate chose a tiny painting for her prize, and with her leftover credit she got this customized Moleskine notebook. She wanted a Harry Potter parody of the famous Bob Dylan movie poster for Don’t Look Back, so I got out the Sharpies and got to work. I admit I have no idea what the movie’s about, but the concept seemed to fit poor Severus!
Snape Moleskine, back, by Amy Crook
Categories: Completed Commissions, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: commission, moleskine, nfs, sharpie
Mountains of Madness
Thursday, October 27th, 2011
Mountains of Madness by Amy Crook
This piece started out as an experiment in painting mountains for a client, and turned into a bewitchingly creepy landscape once I put in the sky. I used salt to create the ghostly texture in the sky, which one person described as a crowd of people staring down. Spooky!
I named it after a classic HP Lovecraft story that I haven’t even read (I know! Bad artist! No biscuit!), but the name just seemed to fit with the looming sky and lunatic moon.
Mountains of Madness, 7″x5″ watercolor on paper, nfs (sold).
Here you can see it tucked into a frame, which can be included for an additional fee.
Mountains of Madness, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: lovecraft, mountains, nfs, sold, watercolor
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Sherlock bookmark 2
Saturday, October 22nd, 2011
Sherlock Bookmark 2 by Amy Crook
I was experimenting with some new paper and salt, and after tearing down a 8″x8″ square for another piece I was left with this strip. I made my usual spirals, except this time I kept them all along the top edge rather than scattered over the whole page. They didn’t form proper salt pools, but I did like the will-o-the-wisp quality that was left, with just a few tiny salt crystals and the soft swirls of ink like a glowing light.
In a fit of 2am whimsy, I pencilled in a half-dozen little Sherlocks, first examining, then chasing, and finally catching his very own will-o-the-wisp.
Sherlock Bookmark 2, 8″x2.75″ mixed media on paper, nfs (sold).
You can see the salt crystals much better in this detail photo, and some of the teeny tiny detail in the little Sherlocks.
Sherlock Bookmark 2, detail, by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: bookmark, nfs, pen and ink, pencil, salt, sherlock, sketch, sold
Radial Symmetry 2
Friday, October 21st, 2011
Radial Symmetry 2 by Amy Crook, $242
This time I mixed two different colors, a deep forest green and a lighter, seafoam green. The darker green hides in the black paper somewhat, but the raised texture is more pronounced there, too, since the paint was applied in thick beads. I keep thinking there’s a name for this sort of radial pattern, especially one created with beads, but I couldn’t find it by googling.
Radial Symmetry 2, 5″x5″ mixed media on paper, $242, framed, with free shipping.
My scanner had a really hard time with the subtle colors in this piece, but you can see a better representation of both the shiny green shapes and the soft, velvety black paper.
Radial Symmetry 2, detail, by Amy Crook
I’ve photographed the piece in its frame with my iPhone for scale. I think this piece would look great as part of a wall grouping, along with other art, prints and photos in similar simple black frames.
Radial Symmetry 2, framed, by Amy Crook, $222
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: black paper, for sale, gouache, pen and ink, radial symmetry, salt
Radial Symmetry 1
Thursday, October 20th, 2011
Radial Symmetry 1 by Amy Crook, $222
I got some lovely new Japanese gouache paints for my birthday, and I decided to see how they’d work on the black paper. I used double spirals inside these salt circles to give the salt more pigment, which also left darker, warmer centers where the water distributed the pigment into the paper. I used a single color of paint on this, and I found that once it dried, the color stays very consistent no matter how thickly the paint was mixed, but that the thicker paint left rounded, bead-like shapes on the paper.
I think of these a bit like beaded decorations, or possibly flowers with their warm orange centers and pale periwinkle petals. I like to imagine the piece adding a little touch of unexpected loveliness to someone’s life, tucked into a bookshelf or sitting on someone’s desk at work.
Radial Symmetry 1, 5″x5″ mixed media on paper, $222, framed, with free shipping.
Radial Symmetry 1, detail, by Amy Crook
The salt on these isn’t as sparkly, probably because of the matte black behind them, but I love the way the paint makes soft, glossy swells on the paper. It looks great in a simple black frame, which makes the colors really pop. You can see them reflected in my iPhone for scale, below.
Radial Symmetry 1, framed, by Amy Crook, $222
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: black paper, for sale, gouache, pen and ink, radial symmetry, salt
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