Posts Tagged ‘moon’

Far-Flung

Monday, May 4th, 2015

Far-Flung by Amy Crook

Far-Flung by Amy Crook

May the Fourth be with you! I have scifi art for a scifi sort of day.

Another addition to my City series, this metropolis is definitely in some sort of other realm, whether it’s Lost Carcosa or a galaxy far, far away. The huge crescent moon hangs above a city full of wondrous buildings, a strange skyline of some alien race or mystical future.

The painted sky gives a sense of the city glow that hangs over all urban areas, while the stars hold a subtle iridescence that makes them glow in their own right. There’s even a little texture and shadow in the sliver of moon, crowned as it is by a circlet of bright stars.

Far-Flung, 8″x8″ Japanese watercolor and interference watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.

Far-Flung, detail, by Amy Crook

Far-Flung, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, the sunlight has washed the buildings bright green, and made the midnight blue sky look even more mysterious. Below, you can see it in a frame, giant moon hanging high above and mysterious celadon buildings below.

Far-Flung, framed art by Amy Crook

Far-Flung, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
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The Sun Has Fallen for the Moon

Thursday, April 2nd, 2015

The Sun Has Fallen for the Moon by Amy Crook

The Sun Has Fallen for the Moon by Amy Crook

This painting is inspired by a line in a Teddy Geiger song, “The sun had fallen for the moon.” I brought it into the present tense to go with the sun’s adoring eyes, and the moon’s sweet blush. The sky is quite pale, the very end of sunset on a day without too many clouds, night just starting to lower its curtain and snuff out the glow of day.

The wobbly white brush calligraphy along the dark horizon adds to the sweetness of the scene, making it feel even more like a fairy tale. The sense of magic and romance fits well with the soft colors of the sky, blues and purples, oranges and golds.

Bring this little start of a story into your life, and spend as long as you like figuring out how their tale ends. The sun has fallen for the moon… but what happens next?

The Sun Has Fallen for the Moon, 6″x6″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.

The Sun Has Fallen for the Moon, detail, by Amy Crook

The Sun Has Fallen for the Moon, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the moon’s shining face, her soft features and the most delicate of blue blushes on her round cheeks. Below, the piece is in a temporary frame, but I think would look best with a custom mat to set off the colors.

The Sun Has Fallen for the Moon, framed art by Amy Crook

The Sun Has Fallen for the Moon, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, People, Figures and Faces, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
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Dreamlands 2

Wednesday, February 4th, 2015

Dreamlands 2 by Amy Crook

Dreamlands 2 by Amy Crook

I’ve gone in a different, much more Seussian direction in my second Dreamlands painting. Bright colors and strange, off-kilter shapes give this painting a whimsy that feels like it’s straight out of a child’s dream of the big city.

There’s a tree full of apartments, a house made of houses, and a shining beacon atop a cross between a cactus and the Gherkin building. I can’t decide what I like best, the cheerful yellow windows, the shimmering stars above, or the overall feeling of warmth and welcome.

When I look at this painting, I think of Gonzo singing, “I’ve never been there, but I know the way. I’m going to go back there someday.”

Dreamlands 2, 7″X5″ Japanese and metallic watercolor on Arches cover black paper.

Dreamlands 2, detail, by Amy Crook

Dreamlands 2, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see some of the buildings up close, including the tower of houses and the looming dome behind it. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, just waiting to bring its strange, whimsical dreams into your life.

Dreamlands 2, framed art by Amy Crook

Dreamlands 2, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
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Fairytale Sky 9

Tuesday, October 7th, 2014

Fairytale Sky 9 by Amy Crook

Fairytale Sky 9 by Amy Crook

A lovely, shadowed full moon hangs in a sky full of stars, but the real shine is from the mysterious spiraling clouds. They gleam subtly in blues and purples, stately shapes with just a hint of soft brushwork about the edges. This addition to the Fairytale Sky series is very reminiscent of the first, but refined by the iterations in between.

Sometimes I think it’s good to treat life like you’re in your very own fairytale. Do good deeds when you can, and you’ll find them returned when you least expect it. Don’t cause harm through inattention or ignorance. And always wear good walking shoes.

Fairytale Sky 9, 7″x5″ Japanese watercolor and duochrome watercolor on Arches cover black paper.

Fairytale Sky 9, detail, by Amy Crook

Fairytale Sky 9, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the subtle shimmer of the paint together with the soft shine of the stars and the bright gleam of the moon. Below, I’ve put this sky in a frame, like a window to another world, one full of magic and fairytale logic.

Fairytale Sky 9, framed art by Amy Crook

Fairytale Sky 9, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
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Blood Moon 5

Tuesday, May 6th, 2014

Blood Moon 5 by Amy Crook

Blood Moon 5 by Amy Crook

Another Blood Moon made its way into my work queue this month, this time by adding some very subtle tentacles to an older painting in lieu of the previous image. This one is much more eerie than the last one, the bloody color leeching from the shadow to the white parts of the moon, and a second, smaller moon waiting off to one side, ruddy and strange. This sky is not our sky, or perhaps it is our sky many millennia hence, when the stars have become right and Great Cthulhu will rise up from R’lyeh to reclaim the planet for himself.

Blood Moon 5, 5″x7″ Japanese watercolor on Arches cover black paper.

Blood Moon 5, detail, by Amy Crook

Blood Moon 5, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can more clearly see the subtle mist and dark black tentacles rising up from the bottom of the painting, reaching toward the bloody moons. Below, the piece rests in a frame, a little window to some awful future*, or perhaps somewhere very far away indeed.

Blood Moon 5, framed art by Amy Crook

Blood Moon 5, framed art by Amy Crook

*Perhaps it’s Thundarr the Barbarian’s future, instead of Cthulhu’s. I always did like Ookla.

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Tentacles
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Blood Moon 4

Sunday, May 4th, 2014

Blood Moon 4 by Amy Crook

Blood Moon 4 by Amy Crook

May the Fourth be with you! I chose a swirly, spiraled abstraction of a real-life space phenomenon today to go with the long time ago and far, far away that today brings to mind.

It’s a bright, warm afternoon when I’m writing this, and the cold hour standing outside when I saw the Blood Moon eclipse does seem rather long ago and far away. I spent almost an hour staring up at the sky, eyes fixed on the sliver of moon above through the haze of clouds that waxed and waned. I could only see Spica and Mars of all the bright objects, because I’m in the middle of a city in the middle of a lot of other cities, but I could see enough to be worth the chilled feet.

Blood Moon 4, 5″x5″ Japanese watercolor, duochrome watercolor, and glitter gel pen on Arches cover black paper.

Blood Moon 4, detail, by Amy Crook

Blood Moon 4, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the bright red and gold glitter shining atop the much more muted red-brown and white eclipsed moon. Below, you can see the piece in a frame with its shining mist.

Blood Moon 4, framed art by Amy Crook

Blood Moon 4, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
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Fairytale Sky 8

Monday, January 13th, 2014

Fairytale Sky 8 by Amy Crook

Fairytale Sky 8 by Amy Crook

It’s the last day of the Floating Gallery, and I’m rounding up a week of art with another Fairytale Sky.

I used a different palette this time, a rich orange harvest moon that lights up the mist below in swirls of the same color. There’s a soft silvery green shimmer in and around those orange spirals, and a few little silver stars manage to peek out above the thick fog.

Everything about this painting is better in person, of course, from the shimmer of paint that changes color when the light hits to the soft texture of the black paper.

Fairytale Sky 8, 6″x4″ duochrome watercolor and Japanese watercolor on Arches cover black paper.

Fairytale Sky 8, detail, by Amy Crook

Fairytale Sky 8, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the mist lit up with golden sparkles by the last rays of a sunset. Below, you can see the painting in a frame, with the phone that took the picture above. It’s quite a small piece, and could go on a desk, cubicle wall, or tucked into an odd corner of architecture to bring a smile whenever you glance into that little hidden place.

Fairytale Sky 8, framed art by Amy Crook

Fairytale Sky 8, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
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