Posts Tagged ‘crow’

Stormriders

Tuesday, September 2nd, 2014

Stormriders by Amy Crook

Stormriders by Amy Crook

Three small crows brave the stormy skies, suspended between the upward-reaching branches of the tree and the downward-reaching fork of lightning. The clouds are limned in violet light all around the silver bolt, adding an extra touch of mystery.

Stormriders, 6″x4″ pen & ink, watercolor, and metallic and interference watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.

Stormriders, detail, by Amy Crook

Stormriders, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the way the light shines off the silver and interference violet paints in the lightning and clouds. Below, you can see the piece in a frame. It’s small, but it’s fierce!

Stormriders, framed art by Amy Crook

Stormriders, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,


Crows in the Gloaming

Friday, June 27th, 2014

Crows in the Gloaming, watercolor by Amy Crook

Crows in the Gloaming, watercolor by Amy Crook

I’m deeply dissatisfied with Photoshop’s inability to show the soft, mysterious violets in this, instead turning it magenta and blue and every color but the ones you get in the real thing. The crows themselves are a dusky, matte black that really pops, the three phases of flight gliding past the clouds in the purple twilight.

I’m really happy with how these crows look, almost completely in silhouette with just a little bit of soft detail on the far wings of the outer two, with the one in the center a dark blot on the sky.

It probably says something about me that I like dark blots on the sky.

Crows in the Gloaming, 8″x4″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.

Crows in the Gloaming, detail, by Amy Crook

Crows in the Gloaming, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the upper left crow, with just a little granulated light shining off the feathers here and there. Below, you can see the piece in a temporary frame, with the closest color to the real thing. But still not right, dammit.

Crows in the Gloaming, framed art by Amy Crook

Crows in the Gloaming, framed art by Amy Crook

Crows in the Gloaming will be available for purchase in July’s Floating Gallery. You can get a chance to snag it early if you’re on my list.

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
Tags: , , ,


Distance

Friday, June 6th, 2014

Distance, art by Amy Crook

Distance, art by Amy Crook

Two paintings of crows this month, what is this world coming to? Obviously, I’ve had my blinds open to watch the birds outside my window. Pod appreciates this very much, though he doesn’t seem to understand that he’d be very sad if he actually could try to leap and catch one.

This time the crow and branches are sketched in with pen and ink, while the sunlit mist and distant castle are watercolor. It reminds me of the opening scene of some fairytale, an establishing shot waiting for us to swoop over the dead, misty forests and up to one of the towers to see who’s hiding in the castle.

Distance, 6″x4″ pen & ink and watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.

Distance, detail, by Amy Crook

Distance, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the crow and the mist-shrouded, distant castle, bracketed by dark, dead branches. Below, you can see the painting, sun-washed and petite next to my phone.

Distance, framed art by Amy Crook

Distance, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Daily Art, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
Tags: , , , , ,


Three Crows

Monday, June 2nd, 2014

Three Crows, watercolor by Amy Crook

Three Crows, watercolor by Amy Crook

Good things come in threes. One crow flapping, one crow diving, and the middle one gliding away on an updraft to avoid the swirling cloud. The sky has bright blue arching down and sunny yellow shining upward, but it’s the spiralling clouds in metallic silver that really make it beautiful. The silver paint shows up grey at some angles, shining white at others, and sometimes it blends right into the background so well it nearly vanishes.

Three Crows, 7″x5″ watercolor and metallic watercolor on paper.

Three Crows, detail, by Amy Crook

Three Crows, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, a close-up of shimmering clouds and two of the three crows. I’m especially fond of the shape of the upper right cloud. Below, the piece in a frame, with my iPhone for scale.

Three Crows, framed art by Amy Crook

Three Crows, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
Tags: , , , , , ,


Harbingers

Thursday, May 8th, 2014

Harbingers by Amy Crook

Harbingers by Amy Crook

These crows are flying in ahead of the storm, lightning waiting silvery and shining in the dark clouds above, sunshine glowing off the white clouds in the foreground. They’re harbingers of the storm, bringing rain and darkness and sweeping change in behind them. Each crow is like a smudge on the horizon, that resolves itself into a flying bird when you look at it closely, black in the midst of the blue and violet of the sky.

Harbingers, 8″x4″ pen & ink, watercolor, and glitter gel pen on Fluid watercolor paper.

Harbingers by Amy Crook

Harbingers by Amy Crook

Above, I’ve tilted the painting so that the glittering spirals catch the light, lightning limning the dark clouds. Below, you can see the painting in a temporary frame, a snippet of stormy sky like the smell of ozone on a hot day.

Harbingers by Amy Crook

Harbingers by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
Tags: , , , , , , ,


Nine Crows

Saturday, May 3rd, 2014

Nine Crows by Amy Crook

Nine Crows by Amy Crook

 

Nine tiny crows fly in from afar, black against a stark white page. The widescreen expanse of paper adds to the feeling of distance.

 

 

Nine Crows, 8″x4″ pen & ink on Fluid watercolor paper.

Nine Crows, detail, by Amy Crook

Nine Crows, detail, by Amy Crook

As above, so below.

Nine Crows, framed art by Amy Crook

Nine Crows, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: , , ,


Five for Silver

Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013

Five for Silver, watercolor by Amy Crook

Five for Silver, watercolor by Amy Crook

Tuesday seems like a good day for some crows flying through the gloaming. The moon has risen early, gibbous and pale above the evergreens. Soft clouds curl and five black birds fade ghostlike into the shimmering twilight sky.

This is a mix of very different paints that all fall under “watercolor,” with the trees done in pine-scented Christmas paint, the sky textured layers of shimmering Iridescent Moonstone, the moon made of opaque Japanese watercolor, and the birds a translucent black.

Five for Silver, 8″x4″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.

Five for Silver, detail, by Amy Crook

Five for Silver, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see some of the delicate shimmer on the sky, and the painterly brush strokes in the trees and birds. Below, I have it temporarily matted into a frame so you can get a feel for the unusual size.

 

Five for Silver, framed art by Amy Crook

Five for Silver, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
Tags: , , , , , , , ,


« Or Head Back That Way Drip divider More Art This Way »