Posts Tagged ‘duochrome’
Fairytale Sky 8
Monday, January 13th, 2014
Fairytale Sky 8 by Amy Crook
It’s the last day of the Floating Gallery, and I’m rounding up a week of art with another Fairytale Sky.
I used a different palette this time, a rich orange harvest moon that lights up the mist below in swirls of the same color. There’s a soft silvery green shimmer in and around those orange spirals, and a few little silver stars manage to peek out above the thick fog.
Everything about this painting is better in person, of course, from the shimmer of paint that changes color when the light hits to the soft texture of the black paper.
Fairytale Sky 8, 6″x4″ duochrome watercolor and Japanese watercolor on Arches cover black paper.
Fairytale Sky 8, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the mist lit up with golden sparkles by the last rays of a sunset. Below, you can see the painting in a frame, with the phone that took the picture above. It’s quite a small piece, and could go on a desk, cubicle wall, or tucked into an odd corner of architecture to bring a smile whenever you glance into that little hidden place.
Fairytale Sky 8, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: black paper, duochrome, fairytale sky, for sale, iridescent, japanese watercolor, moon, orange, spirals, watercolor
Roil
Friday, January 10th, 2014
Roil, abstract art by Amy Crook
What can I really say about this painting? It started out with a completely different idea, and once I let go of the image I had for it I was able to make something I really love. It’s got layers of color, texture and sparkle. The shapes are partly chaos and partly deliberate. It’s also the first painting I finished this year — I even remembered to write AC2014 instead of 2013!
Roil, 4″x6″ watercolor and duochrome watercolor on watercolor paper.
Roil, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the sunlight glittering off some of the secret bits of sparkle hiding in the bottom of the painting. Below, it’s in a frame with my iPhone for size reference.
Roil, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery
Tags: duochrome, for sale, iridescent, watercolor
Exit Strategy
Friday, December 6th, 2013
Exit Strategy, abstract watercolor by Amy Crook
Go out of the week with a bang! This image is like a brilliant sun with vibrant, rich colours and shimmering Duochrome Autumn Mystery forming licks of fire and spattering explosions. Like a bullet through an apple, there’s and entry and a bigger, messier exit.
This explosive piece of art could brighten up a corner of your home with its mix of rich matte Japanese paints and the shimmering red-orange-gold of the duochrome paint, but only until Sunday when the Floating Gallery closes up shop once again.
Exit Strategy, 5″x5″ Japanese and duochrome watercolor on watercolor paper.
Exit Strategy, detail, by Amy Crook
Above you can see the shiny paint catching the light and turning from red to gold. Below, you can see it in a frame, small enough to tuck into a little corner or fit on a desk, adding a bit of vibrant interest.
Exit Strategy, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery
Tags: duochrome, for sale, orange, watercolor, yellow
1 Comment »
Houseplants of Cthulhu
Tuesday, June 25th, 2013
Houseplants of Cthulhu by Amy Crook
I was noodling around on Google Images, looking for some sort of phosphorescent creature to paint onto this background with its subtle washes of not-quite-black colors, and I came across some nifty sea anemones. They had squat, coppery bodies and phosphorescent green tentacles, and so I got out the shiny duochrome paint and got my tentacle mojo on. Somehow, they ended up looking rather houseplant-like when all was said and done.
And then I thought, well, in underwater R’lyeh, phosphorescent anemones would make the perfect sort of houseplant for slumbering Cthulhu.
Houseplants of Cthulhu, 5″x5″ Japanese watercolor and duochrome watercolor on Arches cover white paper.
Houseplants of Cthulhu, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the various duochrome paints catching the sunlight, turning to ruby and gold and green instead of the copper and green and, well, darker green. Below, wee plushie Cthulhu is tending to his houseplants like a Great Old One should. Except with less death and doom.
Houseplants of Cthulhu, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Tentacles
Tags: anemone, cthulhu, duochrome, japanese watercolor, nfs, watercolor
A Trio of Dancing Squid
Tuesday, June 18th, 2013
A Trio of Dancing Squid by Amy Crook
I had originally thought of doing fatter, cuter, cartoony squid on this lusciously bright green background, but then when googling around for inspiration I found some pictures of swimming squid that were sleek and small with big golden eyes. And so we have this little trio, swimming past some big, mossy rock or perhaps a wall in some ruins somewhere. They’re painted in a shimmery turquoise with green-yellow eyes, and a scribble-painted dark teal for shadows and outlines. I imagine them cheerfully unaware of their audience, just twirling and dancing around as they swim on by.
A Trio of Dancing Squid, 7″x5″ watercolor, Japanese watercolor, and duochrome watercolor on Arches cover black paper.
A Trio of Dancing Squid, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the sun shining off the iridescent paint. Below, you can see them in their frame, hanging out with some aquatic friends.
A Trio of Dancing Squid, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Tentacles, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: black paper, duochrome, green, iridescent, japanese watercolor, nfs, sold, squid
Spiral Bookmark 7
Friday, June 7th, 2013
Spiral Bookmark 7
by Amy Crook
I couldn’t resist putting #7 on the 7th, so here are three lovely coppery spirals on a background of black paper with dark purple stripes. The paint is a metallic called “duochrome” that shows different colors from different angles, orangey bright from some angles and a more rose-tinted copper from others. I suppose one of these days I ought to do a, “why spirals?” post, but I’m not sure I could adequately answer the question.
Spiral Bookmark 7, 1.5″x4″ watercolor on Arches cover black paper.
Spiral Bookmark 7, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see that I took this over to the window so you’d get the full effect of sunlight, making the spirals shine and the purple deep shadows against the paper. This soft paper is actually made for printmaking, and they create the black color with a chemical reaction in the paper pulp so it’s lightfast and won’t ever fade beyond the rich, deep charcoal. Below, you can see it hanging out with my book, being mysterious.
Spiral Bookmark 7, with book, by Amy Crook
(book not included, book wishes to remain mysterious)
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: bookmark, buy a bookmark, duochrome, for sale, spirals, watercolor
Goldfish
Tuesday, May 28th, 2013
Goldfish, watercolor by Amy Crook
Last Thursday I finally got around to tearing some big sheets of paper I had into smaller, more Amy-sized sheets. Then I just had to play with the results, so I asked a friend to pick a color, and she said gold.
After a bit of playing and a bit of waiting, I ended up with this very bright red-orange-yellow background. Then I flipped it over, and found a fish in the shapes. I used a dark red and my lovely duochrome orange-gold paint to bring out the shape of this little guy, just a few strokes of paint to make a fishy.
Goldfish, 10″x8″ Japanese watercolor and duochrome watercolor on Arches cover white paper.
Goldfish, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the shine of the paint I used to put some of the gold in the goldfish. Below, the piece is sitting in a frame, and you can see how vibrant the colors really are.
Goldfish, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
Tags: duochrome, fish, for sale, orange, portfolio, watercolor
2 Comments »
« Or Head Back That Way
More Art This Way »
