Posts Tagged ‘for sale’
Water Lilies 1
Thursday, April 28th, 2011
Water Lilies 1, watercolor by Amy Crook
This whole piece was an experiment, but I’m really happy with the results. The electric blue ink of the pen I used originally dissolved completely in the drops of water that beaded up on the paper, and the rocks of salt I put in the center of each little spiral did as well. Then the water took a full day to dry, the salt crystallizing back out onto the paper to form the three-dimensional baby blue “flowers.” I went in afterward and painted in the lily pads around each flower, letting the paint smudge and dissolve a bit of the salt, giving the whole thing an impressionist, watery feeling.
I liked it so much I’ve framed it to put on my bookshelf, and started another, similar piece with more color.
Water Lilies 1, 7″x5″ pen & ink, watercolor, and salt on watercolor paper.
Water Lilies 1, progress 1, by Amy Crook
Above you can see the water beaded up, the blue ink swirling up into the drops, and the salt crystal hiding in the middle of each. Below, the result a day later, when the water had completely evaporated, leaving salt and ink in a new configuration.
Water Lilies 1, progress 2, by Amy Crook
Water Lilies 1, progress 3, by Amy Crook
Above you can see how the paper is gently warped, and the salt crystals rise up above it in robin’s egg blue and rich, watery green. Below, a shot of the piece in its frame, all ready to be hung on the wall, put on a bookshelf, or to decorate your desk.
Water Lilies 1, framed, by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: blue, for sale, green, pen and ink, salt, watercolor
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Weeble Wednesday: Bride of Frankenstein
Wednesday, April 27th, 2011
Bride of Frankenstein by Amy Crook
I’ve finally colored the very last bonus bride from my Monster Heart Coloring Book. She was so simple to do, I’m not sure why I put her off — just some very subtle light shading and her red-black lipstick and pale skin, really. She makes a lovely companion to Frankenstein’s Monster, and I’m sure he’s eager to give her his heart. Her eyes are even the same green that tinges most of his patchwork skin.
Bride of Frankenstein, 5″x7″ pen and ink and Copic Markers on watercolor paper, $69 with free shipping.
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: coloring book, copic marker, for sale, monster, pen and ink, weeble
Tentacle Deeps 10
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011
Tentacle Deeps 10 by Amy Crook
Tuesday is a great day for tentacles, don’t you think?
The rich, bloody red of this paint seemed to cry out for dark, velvety tentacles, so I did just two layers and then snuck in something new, a background effect with salt and an opaque yellow paint that created red salt crystals where it overlapped the background, and subtle white ones on the edges of a few of the tentacles. The extra detail seems to increase the feeling of eldritch horror, as though madness lies just around the corner if one could comprehend the meaning behind it all.
Tentacle Deeps 10, 5″x5″ watercolor and salt.
I’ve also made an iPhone wallpaper and computer wallpaper out of this one, as well, enjoy!
Tentacle Deeps 10, framed, by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: for sale, red, salt, tentacle deeps, watercolor
Lemon Heart
Thursday, April 21st, 2011
Lemon Heart by Amy Crook
This piece went through several incarnations before I got it to something I was happy with. The final product has a cheerfulness to it that goes well with the lemony yellow, enhanced by multiple layers of salt, watercolor, and pen and ink in two shades of green. The salt pool at the upper left formed a heart all by itself, so I couldn’t resist giving it an outline in the same grass-green ink as the spirals below, which tended to run and pool wherever there was enough salt left on the paper.
The bright new-leaf green of the spiral-textured section is done with a Pilot fountain pen from Japan, and the ink surprised me by being nearly obliterated when I dropped water onto it, unlike the black pen from that same line, which tended to blur but stay strong in Salt Cell 2.
Lemon Heart, 6″x4″ watercolor, salt and pen and ink on handmade watercolor postcard, $99 with free shipping.
You can see below how the salt made sparkly craters in some places on the surface of the piece, though this photo was taken before I was completely finished, and some of the texture has since been obliterated or changed.
Lemon Heart, detail, by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: for sale, green, salt, watercolor, yellow
Tentacle Deeps 9
Tuesday, April 19th, 2011
Tentacle Deeps 9 by Amy Crook
Once again, I bring you tentacles for Tuesday!
This watercolor piece uses double the salt for its effects. First I added rich texture and some orangey-gold color to the background with the large, coarse salt crystals. Later I used smaller Kosher salt on the tentacles themselves, putting the salt on after painting each one to get the maximum effect.
Something about this background made me want paler tentacles, so there’s less layers as a result. The salt texture is more dramatically visible, making the tentacles look as though they’ve got barnacles attached from years under the deep oceans.
Tentacle Deeps 9, 4″x6″ watercolor and salt.
I’ve also made an iPhone wallpaper and computer wallpaper out of this one, as well, enjoy!
Tentacle Deeps 9, framed, by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: for sale, salt, tentacle deeps, watercolor, yellow
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Squid a la Gorey
Thursday, April 14th, 2011
Squid a la Gorey by Amy Crook
The watery environs of this squid were directly inspired by the cover of The Raging Tide: Or, the Black Doll’s Imbroglio by Edward Gorey. I didn’t even realize it was out of print until just now, though, oops.
I’ve been wanting to move away from doing just Sherlock cartoons in this style, and so I went to one of my other dorky fannish loves, cephalopods. This little squid looks like something unfortunate is about to befall him, which seems appropriate for something done in Edward Gorey’s style. Perhaps the black doll will come falling through the water, or maybe the squid will be called upon to help fill out another set of childhood obituaries. “G is for Gretchen, pulled down by a squid,” perhaps?
Squid a la Gorey, 7″x5″ pen and ink on 8.5″x5.5″ drawing paper.
You can also get this piece printed on a handmade card on Etsy.
Categories: Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Tentacles, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: edward gorey, for sale, pen and ink, squid, studio gallery
Tentacle Deeps 8
Tuesday, April 12th, 2011
Tentacle Deeps 8 by Amy Crook
It’s Tuesday, and that means tentacles! Well, at least here it does.
I used four different colors of pen to ink in these tentacles, giving a depth of field that’s harder to do with the crosshatching texture alone. The fourth, palest green only shows up in the signature and as a tiny tip of tentacle peeking out along the left side. I put them down in reverse order, first the black tentacles, then the dark green, and then the lighter, more blurry green, and finally the tiny bit of bright, pale chartreuse.
I’ve been experimenting with other textural shading in other pieces, but for some reason I just really prefer this simple crosshatching when making tentacles. I’ve got at least two more backgrounds waiting to be be-tentacled, however, so perhaps I’ll try something else next time.
Tentacle Deeps 8, 5″x5″ pen and ink and watercolor on watercolor paper.
I was feeling self-indulgent, so I made a computer wallpaper and iPhone wallpaper of this one. I’ve got it up on my monitor right now!
Tentacle Deeps 8, framed, by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: for sale, gorey, green, pen and ink, tentacle deeps, watercolor
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