Posts Tagged ‘horizons’

Halloween Trees 3

Wednesday, September 4th, 2019

Halloween Trees 3, 6″x4″ watercolor on paper

Halloween is starting to be everywhere, and I added some clinging leaves to this month’s ode to autumn. A soft wash of gold and orange gives a rich background to the skeletal trees and swooping flock of birds.

This warm palette brings to mind pumpkin spice and apple cider, crisp leaves and cawing crows, whispered winds and cheap candy, at least for me. Not to mention all the amazing goth housewares that I can find in stores this time of year and use year round!

What’s your favorite part of Halloween season?

Halloween Trees 3, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the twisty branches bleeding into the fiery sky, a few leaves just hanging on and a single crow flying in the background. Below, the painting is resting in a small frame, waiting for its time.

Halloween Trees 3, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
Tags: crow, for sale, halloween trees, horizons, sunset, tree, watercolor

Overcast

Tuesday, September 3rd, 2019

Overcast, 8″x8″ watercolor on paper

A soft, subtle glow of sunshine just along the horizon warms up the gloom of this overcast sky. The city below seems almost familiar until you look closer and see buildings that no human architect has yet designed. Also, there’s a cat.

A random photo on Warren Ellis’ blog sent me down this visual rabbit hole. The idea of the last vestiges of light glowing up through the oncoming storm was a compelling one that seemed to work better for me as a cityscape than in nature.

Where do you need a little glimpse of impending, refreshing rain?

Overcast, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see a small section of the buildings up close and in detail, including a sneaky bird hanging out in the updrafts. Below, the piece is framed and ready to add some moody urbanity to your space.

Overcast, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: city, horizons, nfs, primatek, sold, watercolor

Sunset Haze

Monday, July 8th, 2019

Sunset Haze, 7″x5″ watercolor on paper

It wouldn’t be me if there wasn’t some kind of horizons painting with a fading sunset, flying birds, and silhouetted trees.

I went for a different sort of tree this time, though I couldn’t tell you what kind, and some sea birds for variety as well. The sun is a red haze just vanishing below the horizon, ruddy against the warm buff color of the paper itself.

A tiny bit of exotic warmth for those days the AC is turned to 11 and one is missing the summers of old.

Sunset Haze, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see some smudgy foliage and tiny birds against the buff-orange sunset sky. Below, the painting is in a frame, like a window into some other, more tropical reality.

Sunset Haze, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: horizons, nfs, orange, red, sold, sunset, tree, watercolor

Murder at Sunset 2

Wednesday, May 8th, 2019

Murder at Sunset 2, 6″x4″ watercolor on paper

It’s only a little murder — five crows swoop in almost like snapshots of a single bird, arcing down to make their home in the biggest of this grove of trees. The rich orange sunset behind them glows through a stack of fluffy clouds, lighting everything up in rich autumn colors.

Where would you nestle this tiny painting, to bring a bit of brightness into your daily life? It’s about the size of a postcard, perfect to tuck into a bookshelf, sit on busy desk, or decorate a stray bit of wall.

Murder at Sunset 2, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see three of the tiny crows making their way across the bright sky. Below, this tiny frame is holding a lot of detail for such a small artwork.

Murder at Sunset 2, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
Tags: crow, horizons, murder of crows, nfs, orange, sold, sunset, watercolor

Morning After

Monday, May 6th, 2019

Morning After, 8″x4″ watercolor on paper

The sky holds the softness of spring, the delicacy of an Easter egg, the gentlest of sunrises. In front of these lovely colors, there are smoking ruins, the aftermath of some mystery calamity. Carrion birds wheel and turn on the thermals, looking for a choice meal among the destruction. The pall of smoke hanging over the burnt-out husks is no deterrent to the scavengers.

There’s a curious juxtaposition with the grey-green ruins backed by the seashell pink, baby-chick yellow, and robin’s egg blue of the sky.

Morning After, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the delicate, tiny brushstrokes that make up each hollow, destroyed building. Below, the carrion birds circle and swoop inside their temporary frame.

Morning After, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: for sale, horizons, ruins, watercolor

Life Is Not the Same

Tuesday, March 5th, 2019

Life Is Not the Same, 8″x4″ watercolor on paper

This painting started with such bright skies, it’s not really a surprise that it took such a surrealist bent all the way to the finish line. The trees in the foreground seem almost hyperreal against the softness of the clouds, with a red hawk gliding between the two states.

Perhaps it’s hunting reality.

The title is from the Spiderverse soundtrack, the line, “Life is not the same with your picture in my frame,” that somehow spoke to the sense that each component of this painting lives in a slightly different universe from the others.

Life Is Not the Same, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the red hawk, circling among the fuzzy clouds, above the brushstroke trees. Below, the painting is waiting in a temporary frame to fly to its new destination.

Life Is Not the Same, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: horizons, nfs, sold, tree, watercolor

Abandonment

Monday, October 8th, 2018

Abandonment, 7″x5″ ink and watercolor on paper

Often the skies come first and then the foreground goes in to match, but this time the ruins grew up out of the ashes of avoidance, and the purple clouds came rolling in later.

Spiky, burnt-out buildings lean into one another, smudged with smoke and abandoned by everyone but the carrion birds.

More ruins for a world on fire, but hey, at least they’re pretty.

Ruins, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the most-intact tower and its circle of carrion birds up close and personal. Below, the bleak landscape sits in a frame, like a window to a ruined world.