Posts Tagged ‘iridescent’
Five for Silver
Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013
Five for Silver, watercolor by Amy Crook
Tuesday seems like a good day for some crows flying through the gloaming. The moon has risen early, gibbous and pale above the evergreens. Soft clouds curl and five black birds fade ghostlike into the shimmering twilight sky.
This is a mix of very different paints that all fall under “watercolor,” with the trees done in pine-scented Christmas paint, the sky textured layers of shimmering Iridescent Moonstone, the moon made of opaque Japanese watercolor, and the birds a translucent black.
Five for Silver, 8″x4″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Five for Silver, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see some of the delicate shimmer on the sky, and the painterly brush strokes in the trees and birds. Below, I have it temporarily matted into a frame so you can get a feel for the unusual size.
Five for Silver, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
Tags: crow, horizons, iridescent, moon, more cowbell, nfs, sold, tree, watercolor
Misty Moon 2
Friday, November 8th, 2013
Misty Moon 2 by Amy Crook
A black crow flies against the darkest part of the sky, while mist swirls and floats all around, obscuring the shining moon. The mist drifts in wispy tentacles that light up into spirals when the light hits them just right.
Misty Moon 2, 6″x4″ watercolor and iridescent watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Misty Moon 2, detail, by Amy Crook
The scanner captures the painting in an in-between state, but you can see above how the stars light up violet and the mist glows blue when the sun hits it. Below, the painting in its frame appears more like it does to the naked eye, with the shimmering spirals hidden, and only the slithering tentacles of mist show through.
Misty Moon 2, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: crow, fairytale sky, iridescent, moon, nfs, sold, watercolor
Pollen
Monday, November 4th, 2013
Pollen by Amy Crook
Continuing with my new tradition of reworking old art, this piece has very little resemblance to its forebear. The soft black paper is entirely covered in a dark, velvety red like old blood, and each little salt pool has a halo of iridescent garnet. The salt pools, originally a dull pink from the Himalaya sea salt, have been dyed a bright shimmering blue to match the tentacles. They reminded me of glowing motes of pollen drifting on the breeze, which is how I got the name.
I’ve got to admit, I really hope I don’t ever have to inhale these alien grains of pollen. I’d hate to see what kind of allergy attack they’d produce — or find blue tentacles growing in my brain.
Pollen, 5″x5″ salt and watercolor on Arches cover black paper.
Pollen, detail, by Amy Crook
The big central crystal in this formation refused to be dyed blue, so it’s the only bit of the original pink left in the piece. Above, you can see the shimmering iridescent paint fading into the deeper background color — a natural-mineral paint called, appropriately, bloodstone. Below, the piece has been tucked into a frame with some extra tentacles to make it feel at home.
Pollen, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Tentacles
Tags: black paper, for sale, iridescent, more cowbell, salt, tentacles, watercolor
Beacon
Sunday, November 3rd, 2013
Beacon, abstract watercolor by Amy Crook
Swirls of purples, blues and greens both opaque and iridescent move above a vague, abstract shape that might be a tower or a web or something stranger. The night is void beyond, with no stars to be seen, just deeper violet and hints of shimmering blue.
Beacon, 5″x7″ watercolor and iridescent watercolor on paper.
Beacon, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the shimmer of blue and violet against the more matte green background. Below, you can see the piece in its frame, sitting in the sun.
Beacon, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: for sale, iridescent, secret fan art, watercolor
Spiral Dragon
Monday, October 7th, 2013
Spiral Dragon by Amy Crook
Red Sharpie scales cover the entire page, showing through and informing the shapes of everything above them.
Dragons are often identified by their colors. Red and blue make purple, make violet. This dragon has fire in his eyes and ice along his belly.
Is his breath hot or cold? Is that smoke or mist curling from his mouth? Do those spikes cauterize as they pierce, melt the strongest armor or chill it to shattering, or neither, merely sharp, merely tipped in shining red?
Seemingly endless spiral scales are there to protect him, but as Neil Gaiman says, “dragons have one soft spot, somewhere, always.”
Spiral Dragon, 8″x8″ Sharpie marker, watercolor and iridescent watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Spiral Dragon, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the sunlight reflecting off the iridescent sapphire of the dragon’s underbelly, and the way the red Sharpie spirals show through everything. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, just waiting for the perfect wall.
Spiral Dragon, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: blue, dragon, iridescent, nfs, purple, red, sharpie marker, sold, spiral, spirals, watercolor
Brass Gates to Midnight 2
Saturday, October 5th, 2013
Brass Gates to Midnight 2 by Amy Crook
Last year I painted Brass Gates to Midnight, and posted it to the blog even though it never quite felt finished to me. I decided to pull out the old piece and rework it. I spent several hours with my brown and gold paint adding depth and weight to the gates, turning the spirals from insubstantial mist to thick vines frozen in a riot of growth. I added a sheen of starlight on the dark trees, and even gave the tiny fairy tucked in the gates a bit more detail and color.
The inner spaces of the gate remain black, blocking our sight to the lands we can see through the gap and over the top. Are you tempted to push them fully open and wander into the starlit places beyond?
Brass Gates to Midnight 2, 5″x5″ Japanese and iridescent watercolor on Arches cover black paper.
Brass Gates to Midnight 2, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the little brown-and-green fairy hiding in among the brass curls of the gate. Is he luring you in, or warning you away? Perhaps it’s a bit of both.
Below, you can see the piece in a frame, like a window onto another set of possibilities.
Brass Gates to Midnight 2, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, People, Figures and Faces, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: black paper, fairy, for sale, iridescent, japanese watercolor, metallic, more cowbell, spiral, spirals, stars, watercolor
Fairytale Sky 7
Friday, June 28th, 2013
Fairytale Sky 7 by Amy Crook
So, instead of painting the moon and mist and stars on black paper, this time I painted a mysterious sky of nearly-black colors, then added in the silver mist and stars and milk-white moon. I love the way the moon and mist picked up the background colors, especially the bloody cast to the moon’s shadows. A subtle addition to the series, with shine on the metallic mist and stars but not too much fancy paint this time around.
Fairytale Sky 7, 7″x5″ Japanese watercolor on Arches cover white paper.
Fairytale Sky 7, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see brush strokes in the silver paint, which ranges from thick enough to stand off the paper, to thin enough to barely be visible on the dark background. Below, the painting is hanging out with my iPhone, showing off its spirals.
Fairytale Sky 7, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: fairytale sky, iridescent, japanese watercolor, moon, nfs, silver, spirals, watercolor
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