Posts Tagged ‘black paper’
A Shot Away From You
Monday, September 2nd, 2019
A Shot Away From You, 5″x7″ watercolor on Arches cover black paper
The Avengers are a huge cultural phenomenon right now, and that first movie is one of my favorites. I decided to round out my original set of MCU abstracts by adding in the missing members of the OG crew. The title is from a Franz Ferdinand song, fittingly.
Hawkeye doesn’t get a lot of love in the movies, but his current comics run is pretty much amazing. Clint Barton is a genius with the bow, and a human disaster the rest of the time but somehow you can’t help but love him anyway.
The color scheme is based a little more on his comics run, but the bullseye is right on target for any version of Hawkeye.
After all, he never misses.
A Shot Away From You, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the swirling rings of violet highlighted by purple. Below, it’s sitting in a frame, waiting to go to its new home to live happily ever after.
A Shot Away From You, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: black paper, hawkeye, interference, japanese watercolor, mcu, mcu abstracts, nfs, sold, watercolor
Near and Far
Friday, July 5th, 2019
Near and Far, 7″x5″ watercolor on black paper
It’s been a month for revisiting old ideas in new ways, and this bit of Arches cover black paper just asked to be an abstract sky. The near stars bloom with nebula-like shapes, blue-hot centers limned in shining lilac. Or perhaps it’s snowflakes in someone’s too-bright halogen headlights, fat and fluffy in the near sky and smaller specks of light in the far. Night-blooming flowers might also seem to glow in the right light, petals moving in the wind and centers fragrant with nectar and dew.
Whatever you see in this painting, it’s floating through the darkness of the everyday to light up your imagination.
Near and Far, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the blue-hot center of each near ‘star’ just barely visible with its violet halo. Below, you can see it in its frame, like a window into another galaxy.
Near and Far, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: black paper, for sale, interference, stars, watercolor
I Won’t Be Your Winter
Thursday, August 16th, 2018
I Won’t Be Your Winter, 5″x7″ watercolor on Arches cover black paper
Bucky Barnes has one of the most tragic backstories in a whole universe full of them. A very goth approach to his painting seemed in order.
Metal runs like rain along lines that echo the plates in the Winter Solider’s arm. Graffiti of a red star bleeds down the page, the image splotched like a splatter of blood.
The title is from another song, this one from an unrelated movie soundtrack, that seemed to fit. The next line is, “I won’t be anyone’s excuse to cry.”
It felt very fitting for a man who finally got away from HYDRA and the people who wanted to use him for destruction.
I Won’t Be Your Winter, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a closeup of the “grafitti” star on the background that echoes the silver plates in the Winter Soldier’s arm. Below, the painting waits behind glass to be given its final mission.
I Won’t Be Your Winter, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: black paper, japanese watercolor, mcu, mcu abstracts, metallic, nfs, pathways, sold, watercolor
Harvest Moon 6
Tuesday, August 14th, 2018
Harvest Moon 6, 5″x5″ watercolor on Arches cover black paper
Three sandhill cranes are flying across this minuscule moon, golden-yellow and full like a proper autumn moon should be.
After June’s Harvest Moon painting, a patron suggested I try another on black paper instead of white. It’s a very different process, and the results have a darker, more solid quality.
The stars have a little shine to them, a hint of gold to add sparkle. The cranes have a little complexity in their color, both from the Payne’s grey and the way the thick, opaque Japanese paints mix into the top layer.
Harvest Moon 6, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of the cranes and the textural surface of the moon. Below, the painting is in a frame, waiting to fly to its new home.
Harvest Moon 6, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
Tags: bird, black paper, harvest moon, japanese watercolor, nfs, sold, watercolor
Growth 11
Tuesday, August 7th, 2018
Growth 11, 5″x5″ watercolor on Arches cover black paper
Another Gallery, another Growth.
The theme continues to develop, the feeling of macroscopic or microscopic increasing with this eleventh addition to the series.
A bright green central circle is surrounded, edged and even intruded upon, by metallic dots that stand out from the page. Everything has texture and weight, a presence that makes it fascinating to move in the light, to run fingers over.
There are three layers of gold under the dots, from a deep gold near the center through nearly silver.
What do you need to support your growth?
Growth 11, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the little pearls of green and gold up close and personal. Below, the piece is in its tiny frame, already trying to outgrow its confines.
Growth 11, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Series and Books
Tags: black paper, for sale, green, growth, interference, metallic, watercolor
Always Punch Nazis
Saturday, August 4th, 2018
Always Punch Nazis, 7″x5″ watercolor on Arches cover black paper
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has finally wormed its way into your artist’s brain, and this is the first abstract of 3 to honor the early movies.
Captain America throws his shield in beautiful arcs, dim lights shining off it as he attacks Nazis and their HYDRA offshoots alike. This painting is meant to represent the swoosh of the shield flying past — or into — someone’s face.
A blur of motion and just a hint of patriotic color.
Happy 100th Birthday, Captain Rogers! #AlwaysPunchNazis
Always Punch Nazis, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see up close the sparkling sense of violent motion in red, white, and blue. Below, you can see the painting in a frame, trying to contain the Captain’s determination.
Always Punch Nazis, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: black paper, captain america, interference, mcu, mcu abstracts, metallic, nfs, watercolor
Kelp 2
Sunday, April 8th, 2018
Kelp 2, 7″x5″ watercolor on Arches cover black paper
Shining fronds in beautiful blue-green rise up through the charcoal depths of this lightfast paper, with the occasional horizontal detour into shelf-like protrusions.
Another installment in the Pathways series, this painting takes a simple monochrome palette and breaks it into glittering particles. Each little piece of color seems to shine with its own shade of blue, green, or silver, shifting oh-so-subtly as it moves through the light.
Where do you need something beautiful to catch the light in your life?
Kelp 2, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the subtle sparkle of mica-laden paints and the beautiful rivulets of thick paint and dancing void. Below, the painting is sitting in a frame, a waving undersea frond trapped in its own little aquarium.
Kelp 2, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Series and Books
Tags: black paper, duochrome, for sale, pearlescent, turquoise, watercolor
« Or Head Back That Way
More Art This Way »
