Archive for the ‘Series and Books’ Category
Salt Cell 2
Thursday, March 31st, 2011
Salt Cell 2 by Amy Crook
After exploring the combination of salt and watercolor last week, I picked up some larger crystals of sea salt. Wanting to do something else that echoed Salt Cell but incorporated some pen-and-ink work as well, I decided on a rather tedious methodology. The process affected the outcome because the paint began to dry before I was done putting the salt back on the little circles.
I think I might try it again, but with fewer salt crystals.
Salt Cell 2, 5″x5″ pen and ink and watercolor on watercolor paper, $229 with free shipping.
You can see more about how this piece came together below the cut.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: for sale, pen and ink, purple, salt, watercolor
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Weeble Wednesday: Brides of Dracula
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
Brides of Dracula by Amy Crook
Now that I’ve got my super-pale-skin marker refilled, I’ve finally started coloring the bonus brides from my Monster Heart Coloring Book. These toothy gals are inspired by the many movie depictions of the three brides that I’ve seen, and some judicious image googling to figure out what styles would have been appropriate for the era, for 50 or 100 years before. I liked the idea that they might still dress in the fashion of their own times, and that each one had been born in a different era.
Brides of Dracula, 7″x5″ pen and ink and Copic markers on watercolor paper. $89, with free shipping.
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: cartoon, coloring book, copic marker, Dracula, for sale, monster, pen and ink, vampire, weeble
Tentacle Deeps 7
Tuesday, March 29th, 2011
Tentacle Deeps 7 by Amy Crook
This piece most closely reflects the very first Tentacle Deeps watercolor I did, I think –the same paper, no fancy salt or pen-and-ink effects, just the layers of watercolored tentacles reaching up from the bottom of the page. The wash was a bit more layered and random, and whenever a tentacle “breaks through” the upper right corner, there’s a little bit of a skip as though it’s breaching the surface of a pool, or slipping between realities.
Tentacle Deeps 7, 5″x7″ watercolor on watercolor paper.
Tentacle Deeps 7, framed, by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: for sale, green, tentacle deeps, watercolor
Twining Snakes Moleskine Volant
Saturday, March 26th, 2011
Twining Snakes Volant, detail, by Amy Crook
This bright green Moleskine Volant notebook has been hand-decorated with a pair of twining snakes using Sharpie markers. A black snake is biting his own tail in a double-looped ouroboros while his green friend slithers suggestively through his loops.
Moleskine’s colorful notebooks are ideal for customization, turning the high-quality book into a work of art in which to wrap your ideas. The acid-free ruled paper is a creamy ivory color, and a delight to write on. The large size Volants have 96 pages between their soft vinyl covers. The design is in permanent Sharpie, and should last as long as the notebook it’s drawn on.
Twining Snakes, 5″x8.25″ customized Moleskine Volant notebook, nfs (sold).
Twining Snakes Moleskine Volant by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: green, moleskine, nfs, sharpie marker, snakes, sold
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Tentacle Deeps 6
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011
Tentacle Deeps 6 by Amy Crook
When I did the first one of these, I had no idea it would turn into a series that helps me explore all the techniques I’ve been working with this year.
For the sixth installment, I’ve used salt both on the background wash, and then separately on the tentacles themselves later. The places where the background is textured from the salt are subtle, the most obvious one being the cell-like structure in the upper left. The tentacles, on the other hand, have a strange mottled texture that definitely gives them a bit more dimension. There was also a bit of color bleed on the lower edge, which seems to be another side effect of the salt, giving the paints a powdery texture once it dries that then dusts itself onto the white when I brush the salt crystals away.
Tentacle Deeps 6, 5″x7″ watercolor on watercolor paper.
Tentacle Deeps 6, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: for sale, salt, tentacle deeps, turquoise, watercolor
Growth
Friday, March 18th, 2011
Growth by Amy Crook
I finished this little piece and then had to let it sit overnight to think of what to call it. The central circle initially put me in mind of a moon, or a planet, or possibly a pirate’s black spot when it was all by itself, a dark blue-black shadow of painted ink that dried to a gorgeous matte finish.
Then I came in days later and decided to add the little clusters of circles around it in black fountain pen, knowing that the ink would blur and spread as I made the little circles, adding texture and shadow. As I built up the outside texture, it reminded me of a decorative border, or a cluster of marine eggs, or possibly a layer of industrial growth around a planet, building up and sending off pieces out into the space around it. Or perhaps floating down from the white to aggregate, giving life to the lifeless rock in the middle.
Growth, 5″x5″ pen & ink and Japanese watercolor on watercolor paper.
Growth, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of the tiny little circles that make up the pattern of growth, pushing off and away from the central mass. Below, you can see it in a narrow-edged frame with its brand-new sibling, and my iPhone for scale.
Growth 2 and Growth, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: black, brush and ink, for sale, growth, pen and ink, planet, studio gallery, watercolor
2 Comments »
Tentacle Deeps 5
Tuesday, March 15th, 2011
Tentacle Deeps 5 by Amy Crook
And then there were five! I’m not sure how this morphed into such a big series, but I’ve enjoyed playing with the variations on a theme.
I did this one the same day I inked all the tiny details in my Gorey-esque illustration from Monday’s post, and I used the same tiny, long lines in the background here as in the background of John’s wallpaper. In this piece, the original wash was a very soft red-to-orange fade, so I chose my vivid orange fountain pen to carefully draw in the texture in the background. The pen is nearly the same color as the border of pooled watercolor around the top edge, so it really meshed well with the paint and brought the whole piece together.
I think this might be my favorite of the series so far.
Tentacle Deeps 5, 5″x5″ pen and ink and watercolor on watercolor paper.
Tentacle Deeps 5, framed, by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: nfs, orange, pen and ink, tentacle deeps, watercolor
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