Posts Tagged ‘moon’

Fairytale Sky 7

Friday, June 28th, 2013

Fairytale Sky 7 by Amy Crook

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

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

Fairytale Sky 7, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
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Gibbous Moon

Monday, April 22nd, 2013

Gibbous Moon, watercolor by Amy Crook

Gibbous Moon, watercolor by Amy Crook

It’s Earth Day, so of course I contrarily have a moon for you. Curling silvery mist wreaths upward, trying to reach the moon that’s a lot farther away than it looks, while blue stars shimmer in the far distance. The moon itself is just a little warm and golden, with the color bleeding strangely into the dark, making you wonder just what’s going on up there. Eerily beautiful.

Gibbous Moon, 7″x5″ watercolor and iridescent watercolor on Arches cover black paper.

Gibbous Moon, detail 1, by Amy Crook

Gibbous Moon, detail 1, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the moon itself, warm and slightly sinister where it floats in the middle distance. Below, a few curls of iridescent mist swim into your view.

Gibbous Moon, detail 2, by Amy Crook

Gibbous Moon, detail 2, by Amy Crook

And finally, you can see it slipped into a frame and hanging out on my writing desk with my iPhone, so you can see how it looks in the wild.

Gibbous Moon, framed art by Amy Crook

Gibbous Moon, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
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Crows at Dusk

Friday, April 19th, 2013

Crows at Dusk, watercolor skyscape by Amy Crook

Crows at Dusk, watercolor skyscape by Amy Crook

I’ve been indulging myself in the vice of instructional art videos on YouTube lately, and while I’ve learned a lot of ways to make some really awful art, I have gleaned a few interesting techniques. I found I guy making really ugly skies who was using a specific technique to make moons, and so I stole his idea and came up with this. It’s simple, but it has a nice dreamy, hazy feel to it as the crows rise up and vanish in the distance.

Crows at Dusk, 6″x4″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.

Crows at dusk, detail, by Amy Crook

Crows at dusk, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see a close-up of the moon, though something about the angle and the paper’s texture smoothed away the shadows on the surface. Below, you can see it in a frame, hanging out with my iPhone and feather quill pen.

Crows at Dusk, framed art by Amy Crook

Crows at Dusk, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals
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Ghost Moon

Monday, March 4th, 2013

Ghost Moon by Amy Crook

Ghost Moon by Amy Crook

I can’t honestly remember now which came first, the Ghost Spirals Bookmark or the trees in this piece. I definitely painted them on the same day, but then I came back to this later and added in the moon, and then in a third pass I added iridescent blue stars with the purple meteor, a shine of subtle iridescent green to the treetops, and silver on the moon.

I’m sometimes torn about using so much iridescent and metallic paint. On the one hand, it feels a bit gimmicky (and can’t be made into prints effectively), but on the other hand I think the pieces are more beautiful with the shimmer and shine. And since the real point of my art is to put more beautiful things into the world, I’ve decided to go with what feels right.

Ghost Moon, 7″x5″ Japanese watercolor on Arches cover black paper.

Ghost Moon, detail, by Amy Crook

Ghost Moon, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see a bit of the green shimmer on the trees, the silver shine of the moon, and the blue and purple stars, shooting and otherwise. Below, I’ve got the piece in a frame, so you can see how it sizes up to my iPhone.

Ghost Moon, framed art by Amy Crook

Ghost Moon, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
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Filigree Moon 3

Friday, February 22nd, 2013

Filigree Moon 3 by Amy Crook

Filigree Moon 3 by Amy Crook

This is sort of a Slytherin moon in silver and green, with a few green glittery spirals hiding in among the silver as well as a green halo around the whole moon. Although you can’t see them in the scan above, there’s little flecks of silver and green glitter in the black sky background like distant, tiny stars that catch the light at just the right angle.

Filigree Moon 3, 5″x5″ Japanese watercolor and glitter gel pen on Arches cover black paper.

Filigree Moon 3, detail, by Amy Crook

Filigree Moon 3, detail, by Amy Crook

You can see not only the green glitter in with the silver, but a few little glimmering stars out in the black velvet space.

Filigree Moon 3, work in progress part 1, by Amy Crook

Filigree Moon 3, work in progress part 1, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the moon before it got its decorative filigree. I love the subtle textures as the green and white paint mixed and moved around on the paper, making formations like real moon geography. Below, you can see the silver spirals about halfway done, the paper angled to catch the light and really make the glitter shine.

Filigree Moon 3, work in progress part 2, by Amy Crook

Filigree Moon 3, work in progress part 2, by Amy Crook

And finally we have the framed photo, showing how subtle the filigree can be from some angles. Despite the slightly odd angle of the torn paper, it fits perfectly into a standard 5″ square frame.

Filigree Moon 3, framed art by Amy Crook

Filigree Moon 3, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
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Visions of the Moon

Wednesday, February 6th, 2013

From filigree and spirals to quiet realism, I’ve painted many moons over the past few years. Enjoy a few of them.

(If you’re looking at this in an email, you might want to click through to see the post where there’s actual layout.)

Eye of the Moon by Amy Crook, $250

Vampire Moon by Amy Crook, $199

Violet Midnight 2 by Amy Crook, $242

Green Cheese Moon, detail, by Amy Crook

Filigree Moon 2, detail 2, by Amy Crook

 

 

 

Dusk Moon by Amy Crook, $250

Milk White Moon by Amy Crook, $323

Demonsreach, detail, by Amy Crook

Fairytale Sky 4 by Amy Crook, $199

Moonglow by Amy Crook, $323

Midnight Blue, art by Amy Crook, $333

Silver Lining by Amy Crook, $350

Categories: Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
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Dusk Moon

Monday, January 28th, 2013

Dusk Moon by Amy Crook

Dusk Moon by Amy Crook

When I’m avoiding getting things done, I spend a lot of time staring to the east out of the big window in my living room. The other day the sky was this lovely fade right before sunset of a soft dusky purple just starting to reach up to encompass the endless blue sky. A few days later, I saw the moon, waxing and nearly full, hanging in the blue afternoon sky on my way home from errands. I put those two images together here into one quiet, subtle view.

Dusk Moon, 7″x5″ watercolor on paper.

Dusk Moon, detail, by Amy Crook

Dusk Moon, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the opaque white of the moon with its shadows taking on the color of the sky around it. Below, the painting is hanging out in its frame on a shelf in my living room, a little piece of dusk no matter the time of day.

Dusk Moon, framed art by Amy Crook

Dusk Moon, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
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