Posts Tagged ‘duochrome’

Cloud Skimming 2

Wednesday, June 8th, 2016

Cloud Skimming 2 by Amy Crook

Cloud Skimming 2, 6″x6″ Primatek and duochrome watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper

Believe it or not, the beautiful blue-to-gold shimmering paint in these clouds is the same one that provides the gorgeous green in Marble Pathways. The angle and quality of light combines with the paint below to give it a range of beautiful shining colors.

The three crows skim the clouds above and below with their dark wings, stirring the pale mist with their black feathers. The sun glows in the sky behind them, bringing violet dusk as it leaves in a fiery display of light.

Cloud Skimming 2, detail, by Amy Crook

Cloud Skimming 2, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the gold-to-blue color shift in the shimmering clouds. Below, those same shining spirals have almost vanished as the frame is angled away from the sun.

Cloud Skimming 2, framed art by Amy Crook

Cloud Skimming 2, framed art by Amy Crook

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

Sunday, June 5th, 2016

Marble Pathways, abstract art by Amy Crook

Marble Pathways, 8″x8″ Primatek and duochrome watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper

This painting reminds me of the very first Pathways painting, with its sparse lines framing the white page. The beautiful black tourmaline mineral pigment provides a pearly grey base for the sparkling paint atop it, like veins of malachite in creamy white marble.

A piece that rewards repeated viewings, this abstract contains layered detail in the subtle interactions of paint, paper, and light.

Marble Pathways, detail, by Amy Crook

Marble Pathways, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the green sparkle and hints of pearly grey beneath it as the pathways shine in the sunlight. Below, a black frame gives just the right accent to this beautiful abstract art.

Marble Pathways, framed art by Amy Crook

Marble Pathways, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Series and Books
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Calcifer

Saturday, May 7th, 2016

Calcifer, Howl's Moving Castle art by Amy Crook

Calcifer, 6″x4″ ink wash and various watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper

Studio Ghibli has made some of the most amazing films, and one of my favorites is the adaptation of Howl’s Moving Castle. If you’ve seen it, the title will make perfect sense!

A glow-haloed, shadowy figure dances over the water through a rain of color and light, like a shining star in a fall of them, experiencing a few bright moments of joy before snuffing out.

This painting has several kinds of sparkle to it against a soft grey ink rain, and its real beauty shines through in person.

Calcifer, detail, by Amy Crook

Calcifer, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the iridescent, duochrome, and interference watercolors sparkle through the inky haze of rain. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, just waiting for its chance to shine for you.

Calcifer, framed art by Amy Crook

Calcifer, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
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Rust

Friday, May 6th, 2016

Rust, abstract watercolor by Amy Crook

Rust, 6″x6″ Primatek and duochrome watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper

A lovely paint made of real iron oxide adds a rich, rusty yellow ochre to the other natural earth tones from last month’s Storm, and the result is a painting that feels not like clouds but the encroaching entropy of some white metal left to the elements.

This abstract explores the idea of beauty in decay, and there’s just a touch of secret shine hiding in some of the darker areas that adds a hint of green. Growth as the next step in decay.

Rust, detail, by Amy Crook

Rust, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can just see the shine of green in the lower left, contrasting with the gorgeous earthy reds and ochres. Below, the painting sits in a frame, like a tiny piece of some post-apocalyptic future.

Rust, framed art by Amy Crook

Rust, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery
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Stirious

Friday, March 11th, 2016

Sitirious, word art by Amy Crook

Stirious: like or consisting of icicles
5″x7″ interference and duochrome watercolor, pencil, and pen & ink on paper – $45

Technically, this is last week’s word art, but I waited until this week to post it because reasons.

I’m starting a new art series, hearkening back to the daily project from last November and doing Word Art Wednesdays on Periscope. I’m usually going to be on around 2pm Pacific, if you want to come along and see what I’m doing — I’ve decided to color the inks from this Wednesday, so that’ll post next week in all its punny glory.

This particular bit of word art was painted in lovely shiny special effects watercolors, and you can see in my original Instagram post below how that looks when it’s not all flattened out by the scanner.

Stirious, word art by Amy Crook

ooooh, shiny

Categories: Pretty Words, Series and Books
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Blacks Don’t Match

Sunday, February 7th, 2016

Blacks Don't Match, abstract art by Amy Crook

Blacks Don’t Match, 10″x8″ watercolor and duochrome watercolor on Arches cover white paper

Two lovely, granulating off-blacks float on top of a sea of colour, red and gold, turquoise and lavender, and just a bit of secret shine that comes through at just the right angle.

The textures in this abstract are reminiscent of an oil painting, the rough scrape of palette knife and layered color hinting at what lies beneath.

In the upper left, cool colours are hidden beneath a ruddy black, the texture flirting around the idea of a pattern both above and below. The lower right has a different texture, a fiery orange peeking through a blue-black like branches, ruffles, shingles.

What do you see?

Blacks Don't Match, detail, by Amy Crook

Blacks Don’t Match, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can really see the shining spirals masked beneath the black. Below, there’s a third shade of black in the frame, showing off this lovely larger piece.

Blacks Don't Match, framed art by Amy Crook

Blacks Don’t Match, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery
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Purple Pathways

Thursday, February 4th, 2016

Purple Pathways, abstract art by Amy Crook

Purple Pathways, 6″x4″ duochrome watercolor and interference watercolor on Arches cover black paper

Silvery blue becomes iridescent lavender, a trick of the light, a visual mirage. The black is an endless sky behind it, a void, a road not taken as the paint makes its own pathways and claims its space with sparkle and color.

It’s always hard to capture the qualities of metallic and duochrome paints with a still photo, but you can see two of the angles and imagine the rest, the changes that happen in daylight or lamplight, at this vantage or that.

It would fit perfectly on a desk or a bit of wall that you pass often, somewhere where it can catch the light, and your eye, and bring a smile to your face and some beauty to your day.

Purple Pathways, detail, by Amy Crook

Purple Pathways, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the sunlight picking out a plethora of glittery colors against the velvety black paper. Below, the piece is in a frame, showcasing its small size.

Purple Pathways, framed art by Amy Crook

Purple Pathways, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Series and Books
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