Posts Tagged ‘for sale’

Tentacle Spiral 1

Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012

Tentacle Spiral 1 by Amy Crook

Tentacle Spiral 1 by Amy Crook

I was mucking about with washes, and I thought I’d do something a little different with this pale, almost flesh-toned wash I did on one of my last blank handmade postcards from India. The lunar black paint made exquisite textures as it granulated and pooled in the surface of the card, giving the tentacles a half-real feeling.

I like this effect with the tentacles spiralling in from all sides, so I’ve optimistically called this #1 in the hopes that I manage a series out of it.

Tentacle Spiral 1, 6″x4″ watercolor on handmade postcard.

I took a close-up of one of the spirals so you can really see the texture.

Tentacle Spiral 1, detail, by Amy Crook

Tentacle Spiral 1, detail, by Amy Crook

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: , , , ,
2 Comments »


Autumn Breeze

Monday, January 2nd, 2012

Autumn Breeze, abstract art by Amy Crook

Autumn Breeze by Amy Crook

I wanted to revisit the autumnal color palette of Autumn Winds, so I created this piece with different materials. The paper is a thick, soft cream-coloured printing paper, and the little spirals use quinacridone burnt orange paint instead of the less lightfast pen ink, though the pigment doesn’t infuse as well into the salt. Instead of tea there’s all watercolor paints for the rest, breezy spirals gathered around each salt pool like strange seeds tossed on a light fall breeze.

Autumn Breeze, 8″x6″ watercolor and salt on Arches cover white paper.

Below you can see how the salt crystals spread a little into the textured paper without going too far outside their original pool. The actual color of the piece is somewhere in between the two images, more saturated than the scan but less so than the detail photo.

Autumn Breeze, detail, by Amy Crook

Autumn Breeze, detail, by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: , , , , ,


Tentacle Deeps 23

Tuesday, December 27th, 2011

Tentacle Deeps 23 watercolor by Amy Crook

Tentacle Deeps 23 by Amy Crook

It’s the ghost of tentacles past! Or possibly tentacles future. Who can tell.

There’s a subtle blue-violet tint to the background on this piece that comes through where the white paint picked up the background color.

Tentacle Deeps 23, 8″x8″ watercolor on paper.

fnord

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: , , , , ,


Cuppa Watercolor

Monday, December 26th, 2011

Cuppa Watercolor by Amy Crook

Cuppa Watercolor by Amy Crook

I painted this image with prints in mind, and then Photoshop and I had irreconcilable differences about the color. I managed to get a decent one made for a certain Christmas present, but I swear I wasn’t speaking to my Adobe products for a few days afterward.

Apparently one culprit is the bright teal paint I used for the cup, which is a color my scanner seems to hate, not to mention the issues it has with pale colors of any sort, such as the shadow under the spoon that’s been rendered invisible.

Regardless, I really liked how the original came out, a peaceful cup of tea brewing, just waiting to brighten up someone’s day.

Cuppa Watercolor, 6″x6″ watercolor on paper.

Categories: Daily Art, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: , , ,


Tentacle Deeps 22

Tuesday, December 20th, 2011

Tentacle Deeps 22 watercolor by Amy Crook

Tentacle Deeps 22 by Amy Crook

Some cheerful Christmas red tentacles for the Tuesday before! Well, all right, the shade’s a bit more bloody than Santa usually likes, but I’m not going to be the one to tell Cthulhu that.

I went with a very simple, stylized pattern on the tentacles this time, which makes them look a bit like monster fingers, creepy scratch marks, or perhaps long, wavy hair. The surface of the tentacles is subtly textured from the granulating Lunar Black watercolor, too, and it’s even more obvious in person.

Tentacle Deeps 22, 4″x8″ watercolor on paper.

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: , , , ,


Zen Blue Cup

Friday, December 16th, 2011

Zen Blue Cup watercolor by Amy Crook

Zen Blue Cup by Amy Crook, $89

No optimists or pessimists here, this cup’s always full. In the same set as yesterday’s crimson, I have this amazing clear teal that my scanner absolutely refuses to pick up properly, so it comes out more of a royal blue. I used the same black to create the nice dark shadow to contrast with the shine on this simple blue cup. I’m a bummed I can’t find these watercolors anywhere anymore, but I used the excuse of running low to buy myself some very nice tubes for future use.

Zen Blue Cup, watercolor on paper, $89 with free shipping.

Categories: Daily Art, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: , , ,


Rhymes With Orange

Thursday, December 8th, 2011

Rhymes With Orange, abstract art by Amy Crook

Rhymes With Orange by Amy Crook

Another orange piece! Two in one week! It’s madness!

Or, perhaps I did them on the same day? Well, I suppose it could be so.

The salt pools on this one are colored by salt that was used previously to create texture in other watercolor pieces — I chose a range of warm colors from orange to yellow, and then put in the swirls and spirals to match.

Rhymes With Orange, 7″x5″ salt and watercolor on paper.

Rhymes With Orange, detail 1, by Amy Crook

Rhymes With Orange, detail 1, by Amy Crook

Reusing “dirty” salt is always a risk, because sometimes the paint doesn’t distribute very well in the salt, as on the left, and sometimes it gets so diluted you can’t see it at all, as on the right. But either way, the salt always seems to retain its sparkle.

Rhymes With Orange, detail 2, by Amy Crook

Rhymes With Orange, detail 2, by Amy Crook

I thought the black frame really brought out the brightness of the orange. I might try it in a warm brown, too, just for variety.

Rhymes With Orange, framed art by Amy Crook

Rhymes With Orange, framed, by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: , , ,


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