Posts Tagged ‘horizons’
I Hear the Rain
Thursday, July 2nd, 2015
I Hear the Rain by Amy Crook
I wembled about this painting a long time — this amazing, dramatic sky sat on my art table for weeks before I drew in the tree, and then weeks more while I waffled about what else it needed.
Finally, I gave in to my gothy heart and drew this gorgeous graveyard, the mysterious silhouettes blending beautifully with the descending torrent of rain.
The painting gets its title from the Violent Femmes song “I Hear the Rain,” which is about being buried in a shallow grave and hearing the rain pound on the earth above you. It seemed apropos.
I Hear the Rain, 8″x4″ pen & ink and watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
I Hear the Rain, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the way the gorgeously layered rain crashes down through the silhouetted graveyard. Below, the piece is in a temporary frame, just waiting to find a new home.
I Hear the Rain, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: blue, graveyard, horizons, nfs, pen and ink, rain, sold, tree, watercolor
Spring Blossoms
Thursday, May 7th, 2015
Spring Blossoms by Amy Crook
Despite the lack of rain, spring is most definitely here in California, and the pollen right along with it. The one consolation is the proliferation of beautiful flowering trees, including the famous cherry blossoms.
With this series, I often paint the skies and decide on what goes on the horizon later. This time the clouds came out so fluffy and friendly that I wanted to honour the beautiful spring sky, and so I mixed up a pale, petal pink to bring a sense of warmth and hope to the bare branches.
The colors are very hard to capture when it’s all pale blue and soft pink, and no matter what I do the sky ends up much greener than in real life, so do take the images with a grain of salt. As with anything online, what you see is probably neither what I see nor what reality looks like.
Spring Blossoms, 8″x4″ pen & ink and watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Spring Blossoms, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the beautiful raised droplets of paint that create the feeling of a cherry tree in full bloom, and a few of the little songbirds flitting in and out of the branches. Below, you can see the painting in a temporary frame — the odd size means it will need a mat of some kind before it goes up on the wall. This is also the photo of the three that best represents the ‘true’ colors, at least on my monitor.
Spring Blossoms, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: horizons, nfs, pen and ink, sold, spring, tree, watercolor
Winter Sun
Wednesday, April 8th, 2015
Winter Sun by Amy Crook
It’s really hard to photograph and reproduce a blue this light, but I did give a better view to my darling patrons, who got to see how the painting grew its dormant winter trees a few weeks ago.
The pale blue skies of winter hold an equally wan sun shining above these barren boughs. Five trees stand together with branches like lacework, intricate fractals silhouetted against the afternoon sky. A few little birds have braved the cold, can you find all three?
Winter Sun, 7″x5″ pen & ink and watercolor on watercolor paper.
Winter Sun, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see all the tiny detail in one little tree. Below, the painting waits in a frame for a spring that will never quite arrive.
Winter Sun, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: horizons, nfs, pen and ink, sold, tree, watercolor
Core Freedom
Monday, February 23rd, 2015
Core Freedom by Amy Crook for Jo Van Every
Another commission done, this one a new addition to my Horizons series. This one is entirely watercolour, even the raptor circling above in the clear blue sky. Jo had this to say about her newest acquisition:
Since moving out to a rural area and acquiring dogs, I walk through woods and fields daily. I’ve been paying attention to subtle differences in colour as the seasons change. I can identify several tree species by shape in winter. I am more aware of the subtle differences in bark colour and leaf colour, especially in spring. I also notice the change in the colour of the sky depending on season and humidity. Amy’s paintings of bare trees and crows resonate with this landscape that I observe daily. She painted another painting of autumn trees with a moodier, cloudy sky. While I liked that one, the orange leaves against a blue sky speaks to me much more clearly and Amy was happy to paint one just for me.
Core Freedom, 8″x4″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Categories: Completed Commissions, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
Tags: all rights reserved, bird, commission, horizons, raptor, tree, watercolor
Windswept 2
Thursday, February 5th, 2015
Windswept 2 by Amy Crook
Stormy skies give the color scheme of Autumn to this second Windswept watercolor. There’s a lone figure at the bottom trudging past the trees, leaning into the wind, just trying to get where they’re going.
If only they’d look up, they might see the color all around them, but sometimes we get so focused on our journey we forget to see the world we’re traveling through.
On the other hand, windblown leaf bits in your eyes suck, so I don’t really blame them.
Sometimes, life is like that.
Windswept 2, 8″x4″ watercolor and Japanese watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Windswept 2, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the tiny grey figure struggling against the wind with the storm-tossed trees all around. Below, you can see the painting in a temporary frame, just waiting to bring its vibrant colors into your home.
Windswept 2, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: horizons, nfs, sold, tree, watercolor
Sunset Silhouette 2
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2015
Sunset Silhouette 2 by Amy Crook
I was walking home the other day and I spotted one of these trees, and I had to go google and find out what species they were. It turns out it’s actually a pruning technique so I still don’t know (I am abysmal at tree identification, seriously), but I had fun looking at photos and drawing this one.
There’s a pair of birds here, but are they friends or foes? I have a story in my head, but I like the ambiguity of it. Is the second bird coming to join the first one and hang out, or to eat him?
Either way, I’m quite fond of the way the landing bird’s wings came out, silhouetted against the pink-orange-gold of the sunset clouds, with the deep orange sun just peeking up above the horizon, reluctant to leave the earth entirely.
Sunset Silhouette 2, 6″x4″ pen & ink and watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Sunset Silhouette, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the two birds up close, along with the twisty tree all dark against the light-filled sky. Below, the piece is in a frame, small and perfect to fit somewhere you need a bit of beauty.
Sunset Silhouette 2, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: horizons, nfs, pen and ink, sold, sunset, tree, watercolor
Windswept
Wednesday, January 7th, 2015
Windswept by Amy Crook
We’ve been having strong winds all this past week, so I find this painting very appropriate indeed! The sky is darkening for a storm, swirls of storm-heavy blue-green clouds in the sky hovering above the windblown trees below.
My street is lined with mostly normal-sized trees, but there’s this one huge one that I can always see blowing just like this on windy days that stands up above the rest, and helped to inspire me. I think my favorite part are the little leaves caught up in the wind, being swept away on an adventure.
I’m not sure I ever quite captured the color of this sky in any of the photos this time, or the subtle, delicious spirals hiding up in the cloud bank.
Windswept, 8″x4″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Windswept, detail, by Amy Crook
In this detail you can see a bit of the painterly trees with their escaping leaves, and a little of the curling, swirling sky above. Below, the painting is tucked in a temporary frame, waiting to find its forever home.
Windswept, detail, by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: horizons, nfs, sold, tree, watercolor
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