Archive for the ‘Free Wallpapers’ Category
The Eyes Have It
Saturday, July 30th, 2011
The Eyes Have It, abstract art by Amy Crook, $59
This little piece is practically a sketch with its rough lines and simple structure. I made the salt pools using paint instead of ink, and the salt-infused paint grew brittle and flaked away at the centers, as you can see. Then I added halos of color to give it a feeling like the eyes on a peacock’s tail, first scribbling with the watercolor crayons and then going in with the water brush to soften the lines and blend the colors.
The scribbly lines make for a fun computer wallpaper or iPhone wallpaper, too, so I made up free ones for you. Okay, mostly for me, but a little bit for you.
The resulting little drawing is unframed, but the stiff card would sit easily on a bookshelf or little cubby, or I could even include one of my tiny wooden easels for display if you’d like.
The Eyes Have It, 5.5″x4.25″ mixed media on paper, $59 with free shipping.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers
Tags: for sale, salt, watercolor, watercolor crayons
Hibiscus Green
Friday, July 29th, 2011
Hibiscus Green, abstract art by Amy Crook
I bought this celadon green Crane & Co. cardstock at a stationery store a few years back, and I was curious to see where on the spectrum of blue to pink it would fall with the hibiscus tea. After swirling on an abstract pattern, the tea turned slightly purple, and in the very thin spots where it went bluer it faded into the green paper. I liked the pattern it made so much I called it done and scanned it.
I enjoyed the soothing abstract colors of this piece so much I made a computer wallpaper and iPhone wallpaper out of it. I’m really enjoying the wallpapers I make for myself, switching out every few days to something new, especially on my iPhone. Clearly, I’m easily amused.
Hibiscus Green, 6.375″x4.25″ hibiscus tea on paper.
It’s just a little larger than a standard 4″x6″ card, which means I haven’t found a frame for it, so the price is for the unframed work.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers
Tags: crane and co, for sale, green, hibiscus, tea
3 Comments »
Hibiscus Blue 3
Monday, July 25th, 2011
Hibiscus Blue 3, abstract art by Amy Crook, $323
I wasn’t sure if this piece would be part of my Hibiscus Blue series or not until I started it, because I used an entirely different sort of paper. This is a thick watercolor postcard, which turned the rich pink of the tea into a gorgeous periwinkle blue that grew even darker where it pooled around the salt. The two unusual art materials reacted together to create gorgeous cornflower-like rosettes in the lighter places, while sparkling patterns of blue-dyed salt crystals add texture to the darker sections.
Hibiscus Blue 3, 4″x6″ hibiscus tea and salt on watercolor postcard.
Rather than my usual method of putting the liquid over the salt, this time I created a very wet wash of tea and then scattered the salt crystals onto the drying tea. You can see below how the tea stayed pink the longest where it was drawn into the salt, but at the same time it also turned bluest in those places where there was more salt.
HIbiscus Blue 3, work in progress by Amy Crook
This shot really captures the sparkle of the piece, not just in the places where the salt is thickest but also around the center of each flower.
Hibiscus Blue 3, detail, by Amy Crook
It fits nicely in a simple black frame, ready to ship and hang in your home or office. It’s the perfect size to decorate your desk or a small bit of wall to which you’ve been wanting to add a surprising touch of beauty.
Hibiscus Blue 3, framed art by Amy Crook
As a bonus, I made a free computer wallpaper and iPhone wallpaper of this piece just for the people who read all the way to the bottom. Enjoy!
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers, Series and Books
Tags: hibiscus, hibiscus blue, nfs, salt, sold
Mist
Tuesday, June 21st, 2011
Mist by Amy Crook, $169
This simple piece puts me in mind of a magical fog rolling in, wrapping the world in a muffling mist, turning everything into texture and dim shape. The detailed texture in the watercolor fascinates me, the subtle gradations in color and density that make it so much more than a simple blob of color.
I’m still on the lookout for good frames in this size, but I do love the way the embossing on the archival cardstock forms a mat that interacts with the image inside when the paint bumps up and sometimes over the edges of its artificial border.
I’ve made a computer wallpaper and iPhone wallpaper of this piece to help showcase the subtle textures that get lost in the tiny version above.
Mist, 8.5″x5.5″ watercolor on embossed paper, $169 with free shipping.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers
Tags: for sale, watercolor
1 Comment »
Iridescence
Tuesday, June 14th, 2011
Iridescence by Amy Crook, $499
Despite the fact that very little about this piece is shiny aside from the salt crystals, it reminds me of the gentle iridescence of bird wings, and that’s where it gets its title. Much like Badlands from last week, this piece has some unusually tall and interesting salt formations, this time created on purpose by using big salt in little puddles.
The other day I mixed up some teal-black paint, and found ways to use it on several pieces but not, ironically, the piece it was originally intended for, which turned out to need more drying time before it was ready for the next step. Here it’s been watered down and then had extra drips and swirls of green and blue added in, which then flowed and dried in the beautiful color patterns you see here.
Iridescence, 7″x5″ watercolor, ink and salt on watercolor paper, $499, framed, with free shipping.
This piece is framed in a shadowbox to protect the salt crystals, and sitting on my bookshelf taking up space I’ll likely need to use for art pretty soon.
Iridescence, framed, by Amy Crook
I love the way some of the salt formations are secretly hollow inside, growing walls around an empty inner space where the original salt crystal sat. This one has another formation gamely trying to start off the top corner, as well, the color dense where the ink was concentrated.
Iridescence, detail 1, by Amy Crook
And this little ziggurat is a textbook formation of simple square crystals.
Iridescence, detail 2, by Amy Crook
As an added bonus to those of you who read this far down, have an iPhone wallpaper and computer wallpaper. I’m using the computer one myself right now!
After using the iPhone wallpaper for a while, I realized that, while it did have my signature on it, it didn’t have my favorite part of the image, the part Molly called a “dragon’s head.” So, for those of you seeing this many days after posting (yay you!), here’s a different iPhone wallpaper.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers
Tags: blue, for sale, green, iridescence, pen and ink, salt, watercolor
1 Comment »
Tentacle Deeps 13
Tuesday, May 31st, 2011
Tentacle Deeps 13 by Amy Crook
And so we come to the end of a series! 13 Tentacle Deeps seemed like enough, a good stopping point before I got bored with the idea altogether. I’ve really enjoyed having the structure there to experiment with materials, watercolor and salt, pen and ink, different papers and techniques.
This last installment in the series started with a very dark wash of mixed black and green and a little blue, which settled out at the bottom in an interesting root-like formation when it dried. I chose to grow the tentacles out of the top of the roots rather than cover them up, and then added simple table salt to give a little bit of sparkle and texture to the image. The paper is one of the handmade postcards I bought ages ago, rough and off-white and not really a proper rectangle, which gives the piece a wonderful texture.
Tentacle Deeps 13, 4″x6″ watercolor and salt.
I’ve also made an iPhone wallpaper and computer wallpaper out of this one to celebrate the end of the series. Enjoy!
Tentacle Deeps 13, framed, by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: for sale, green, salt, teal, tentacle deeps, watercolor
1 Comment »
Tentacle Deeps 10
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011
Tentacle Deeps 10 by Amy Crook
Tuesday is a great day for tentacles, don’t you think?
The rich, bloody red of this paint seemed to cry out for dark, velvety tentacles, so I did just two layers and then snuck in something new, a background effect with salt and an opaque yellow paint that created red salt crystals where it overlapped the background, and subtle white ones on the edges of a few of the tentacles. The extra detail seems to increase the feeling of eldritch horror, as though madness lies just around the corner if one could comprehend the meaning behind it all.
Tentacle Deeps 10, 5″x5″ watercolor and salt.
I’ve also made an iPhone wallpaper and computer wallpaper out of this one, as well, enjoy!
Tentacle Deeps 10, framed, by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: for sale, red, salt, tentacle deeps, watercolor
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