Posts Tagged ‘nfs’
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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Threes
Monday, January 5th, 2015
Threes by Amy Crook
Three trees. Three flying birds. Three elements – trees, birds, sky. Three threes give this painting its title, a little bit of simple magic. I think perhaps I heard that Schoolhouse Rock song a few too many times as a kid.
I really love this sunset with its pinks, golds, oranges, and reds all glowing with the light of a sun just below the horizon.
Threes, 6″x4″ pen & ink and watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Threes, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of the third tree and my sneaky little two that made it into a painting mostly of threes. Below, you can see it in its small frame, just the size for a desk or tiny bit of wall that needs some color and beauty.
Threes, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: crow, horizons, nfs, pen and ink, sold, sunset, tree, watercolor
Plant This Acorn
Saturday, January 3rd, 2015
Plant This Acorn by Amy Crook
Speaking of adventures and inspiration, this piece was inspired by The Hobbit movies, especially the newest one, though the quote is my own.
I would plant this acorn in your name, but I’d rather grow old with you.
I went for simplicity in this painting, layering glazes in shades of brown, gold, and a little red in the leaf, a little green in the body of the acorn. The writing is a version of my own handwriting. It is meant to evoke both nature and sentiment, a connection to the earth and trees but most of all a connection to a loved one.
Plant This Acorn, 4″x6″ pen & ink and watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Plant This Acorn, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the acorn with its little touches of green in the brown, against the red-brown of the oak leaf. Below, I’ve slipped the piece into a warm wooden frame, all ready for its new home.
Plant This Acorn, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Card Design, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books, Words Words Words
Tags: acorn, calligraphy, etsy, hobbit, leaf, nfs, oak, pen and ink, sold, watercolor
Christmas Unwrapped
Monday, December 8th, 2014
Christmas Unwrapped by Amy Crook
This piece feels like a Christmas tree, with green branches and splashes of red for garland, metallic splotches in gold, silver, and green for balls or lights. Nothing concrete, just a slice of an abstraction of a tree, but it gets that holiday cheer right out in the open nonetheless.
The paper is a thickly textured cream, almost a pale yellow, and the paint for the branches is actually called “Christmas Tree Green” and scented with pine, though the scent fades when the paint dries. There’s a border of sorts, but the image refuses to let boundaries contain its holiday joy.
Christmas Unwrapped, 10″x8″ duochrome, interference, and pine-scented watercolor on watercolor paper.
Christmas Unwrapped, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the brightness of the green and gold ‘ornaments’ glowing against the warm cream of the paper. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, bringing some Christmas Cheer to my apartment.
Christmas Unwrapped, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Card Design, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
Tags: christmas, duochrome, iridescent watercolor, nfs, sold, watercolor
Autumn
Saturday, December 6th, 2014
Autumn by Amy Crook
Purple and orange! Two favorite colors of one of my favorite people, who no doubt is wishing I would spell it favourite colours instead.
The purple is dusky, muted, and stormy, with the hint of clouds or even rain in the grainy, textured wash. The reds, golds, and oranges cluster along the gold-tinged horizon, with branches that actually hold leaves. These are totally happy trees, with a central structure showing through and the splotchy, painterly foliage brightening the sky. Seven crows fly above, one dipping down to admire the trees up close, all of them a dark black silhouetted against the stormy autumn sky.
This painting perfectly encapsulates my favorite season, with a touch of Halloween, a little Thanksgiving, and a whole lot of autumnal cheer.
Autumn, 8″x4″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Autumn, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the warm, splotchy trees and cool skies above, and the tiny crows chilling out on an updraft. Below, the piece is in a temporary frame, waiting to go to its new home.
Autumn, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: horizons, nfs, orange, purple, sold, tree, watercolor
Puddle
Friday, December 5th, 2014
Puddle by Amy Crook
This piece was inspired by an Instagram photo I took of a puddle in the rain, hiding under a ledge so my phone wouldn’t get wet. I couldn’t ever get the whole puddle to show all the concentric rings coming off the drops, because the angle of the light washed everything out so you only saw the rings in a little slice from an angle.
So I created this dusky, desaturated blue “puddle” that has surprising rings around the “droplets” when you tilt it into the sun (which washes the whole thing even bluer). The interference blue is basically invisible until light catches it, and then this beautiful pattern of overlapping waves appears.
Puddle, 8″x8″ watercolor and interference watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Puddle, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the sunlight has washed this photo bright blue, but also brought out the nearly-invisible rings around each ‘droplet.’ I handed this painting to a friend and he said it was, “like being handed an actual puddle.” Below, you can see it tucked into a frame, a bit of puddle-wonderful that will never dry up.
Puddle, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
Tags: blue, interference, nfs, rain, watercolor
Sunset Silhouette
Thursday, December 4th, 2014
Sunset Silhouette by Amy Crook
The branches on this tree are fine as lace, a complicated fractal of interlocking shapes with three birds silhouetted inside. A red-gold sunset paints the sky behind, giving drama to this small work of art.
The sky is very loose and painterly, while the tree and birds are stark black in contrast.
This painting is shot of brightness as we approach the darkest time of the year, wintry with the bare branches and yet full of the colors of spring.
Sunset Silhouette, 6″x4″ pen & ink and watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Sunset Silhouette, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can really see the lace-fine details in the branches, and the three birds chilling out in the few open spots. Below, the piece is tucked into a frame so you can admire its compactness.
Sunset Silhouette, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: crow, horizons, nfs, orange, pen and ink, sold, tree, watercolor
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