Posts Tagged ‘filigree’
Red Wedding Decoration
Thursday, March 6th, 2014
Red Wedding Decoration by Amy Crook
Some of the time when I’m working on abstract art, I’m just thinking about the visuals. Sometimes, like with this piece, I tell myself a little story while I’m working, so there’s this weird little mental narrative behind the art.
In this case, despite having never seen or read Game of Thrones, I’ve been made aware of the whole Red Wedding thing. When the garnet paint (made with real garnets!) looked so much like blood dripped onto the paper, it made me think of that show, which in turn gave me this idea of some poor scribe, tasked with turning the ruined parchment into a decoration. And he had better do a good job, since he obviously knows what happened to the last people that crossed Lord Frey.
Red Wedding Decoration, 7″x5″ watercolor on watercolor paper.
Red Wedding Decoration, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of the painstakingly detailed filigree pattern radiating out from each splatter of paint. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, with the white circle emphasized by the way it intersects with the edge.
Red Wedding Decoration, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: filigree, for sale, game of thrones, red, spirals, watercolor
Black Iron Filigree
Friday, July 19th, 2013
Black Iron Filigree, watercolor by Amy Crook
Another of my mysterious dark backgrounds has been brought to light, though in this case I gave it even more darkness to contend with in the form of matte black filigree. There’s a bit of salt on this piece to add a tiny bit of unexpected sparkle, too, and when framed in black it gives the impression of peering through a carved screen into the mysteries beyond.
Black Iron Filigree, 5″x5″ watercolor and salt on watercolor paper.
Black Iron Filigree, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the tiny sparkle of slat crystals hiding among the matte curls, adding a little magic to the mystery of the swirling blues and purples of the background. Below, you can see the piece framed with my phone for scale.
Black Iron Filigree, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: black, filigree, for sale, salt, spirals, watercolor
Silver Filigree
Friday, July 12th, 2013
Silver Filigree by Amy Crook
At this point, I have to conclude that not only do I love to draw it, I just adore the word filigree. This one’s a little different from its predecessors, though, with the filigree fading from silver into mist as it pours down into the dark, strange painting. Not a single speck of glitter was used!
Silver Filigree, 5″x5″ Japanese watercolor and salt on Arches cover black paper.
Silver Filigree, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see how the spirals grow fainter and more transparent as they travel away from their origin. Below, you can see the painting in a frame on my bookshelf, where it lived all through Sharpie week.
Silver Filigree, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: black paper, filigree, for sale, japanese watercolor, salt, silver
Horace
Monday, July 8th, 2013
Horace, an illustration from The Courtship of Julian St. Albans,
by Amy Crook
So, this is Horace! He’s a character from The Courtship of Julian St. Albans, which is a novel I wrote. I decided that one high-stress, low-paying creative career was enough, so rather than go through the normal channels of submission-rejection-etc, I just self-published it using Amazon’s CreateSpace platform. It’s available on Kindle or as a real, physical book, and you can even “borrow” the Kindle file if you’ve got Amazon Prime.
Even better, it’s available for free on Kindle today and tomorrow (July 8 & 9) as a special promotional thing! I’m also going to give away a copy of the physical book tomorrow, so if you covet a signed copy, that’s one way to get it.
The Courtship of Julian St. Albans is something of a hybrid book, a murder mystery in an urban fantasy setting, with a gay romance all wrapped up in the central plot.
Alex Benedict is the main character, and the mage who created Horace. Alex makes his living consulting on magical murders with the Agency, and he’s called in to consult on the murder of Julian St. Albans’ husband-to-be. Alex ends up a part of Julian’s formal Courtship, treading a deadly dance of manners, murder and magic. Horace is a magical artefact, rather than a clockwork machine. He’s hollow in the middle; he carries letters back and forth between the suitor and courted. He might just be my favorite character in the book, and was definitely the most fun to draw!
Horace, 4″x6″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper.
Horace, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see some of Horace’s details, both the filigree making up his body, and the runes that help him function magically. Below, you can see the bird with the book, and my phone makes three.
Horace and The Courtship of Julian St. Albans,
both by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: consulting magic, copic marker, courtship, filigree, for sale, i made this, julian st albans, pen and ink
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Filigree Moon 3
Friday, February 22nd, 2013
Filigree Moon 3 by Amy Crook
This is sort of a Slytherin moon in silver and green, with a few green glittery spirals hiding in among the silver as well as a green halo around the whole moon. Although you can’t see them in the scan above, there’s little flecks of silver and green glitter in the black sky background like distant, tiny stars that catch the light at just the right angle.
Filigree Moon 3, 5″x5″ Japanese watercolor and glitter gel pen on Arches cover black paper.
Filigree Moon 3, detail, by Amy Crook
You can see not only the green glitter in with the silver, but a few little glimmering stars out in the black velvet space.
Filigree Moon 3, work in progress part 1, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the moon before it got its decorative filigree. I love the subtle textures as the green and white paint mixed and moved around on the paper, making formations like real moon geography. Below, you can see the silver spirals about halfway done, the paper angled to catch the light and really make the glitter shine.
Filigree Moon 3, work in progress part 2, by Amy Crook
And finally we have the framed photo, showing how subtle the filigree can be from some angles. Despite the slightly odd angle of the torn paper, it fits perfectly into a standard 5″ square frame.
Filigree Moon 3, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: black paper, filigree, for sale, glitter gel pen, green, moon, silver, watercolor
Filigree
Wednesday, February 13th, 2013
One of the things that I find both tedious and delightful with my glitter pens and spirals is to draw filigree, in moons and skies and planets, so enjoy a bit of sparkle in your Wednesday.
Click any image to visit its original post. Happy Wednesday!
Categories: Daily Art
Tags: filigree, wordless weds
2 Comments »
Silver Lining
Monday, October 15th, 2012
Silver Lining by Amy Crook
This piece combines elements from several of my series: whimsical clouds from the Fairytale Sky paintings, a blue filigree moon, and salt-pool stars. The shining blue of the clouds is matched by the swirls of blue in the filigree on the moon, where the silver of the filigree is echoed in the clouds.
Silver Lining, 10″x8″ iridescent and Japanese watercolor, salt, and glitter gel pen on Arches cover black paper.
Silver Lining, detail 1, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the various elements all catching the sunlight, shining against the black paper background. Below is the moon itself, a soft periwinkle blue with shimmering silver and blue filigree giving it an otherworldly feel.
Silver Lining, detail 2, by Amy Crook
Finally, the piece is hanging out on my desk with my iPhone, though I think it would look gorgeous on a wall as well.
Silver Lining, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
Tags: black paper, blue, fairytale sky, filigree, for sale, glitter gel pen, iridescent, moon, periwinkle, salt, silver, spirals, watercolor
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