Posts Tagged ‘red’
Ignite
Friday, January 2nd, 2015
Ignite by Amy Crook
Some fireworks to start off 2015!
This is the third in my Aglow series, taking the hues completely away from purple and black and setting them alight.
I want this painting to inspire you to coax the spark of hope and creativity in yourself to a proper bright bonfire. Ignite your passions, ignite your career, ignite yourself.
Ignite, 8″x8″ watercolor and duochrome watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Ignite, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the rich red with the gorgeous metallic word both catching the sunlight and looking like they’re on fire. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, with perhaps the most accurate colors of the three images.
Ignite, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Series and Books
Tags: aglow, calligraphy, fire, for sale, gold, metallic, orange, red, watercolor, yellow
Red Wedding Decoration
Thursday, March 6th, 2014
Red Wedding Decoration by Amy Crook
Some of the time when I’m working on abstract art, I’m just thinking about the visuals. Sometimes, like with this piece, I tell myself a little story while I’m working, so there’s this weird little mental narrative behind the art.
In this case, despite having never seen or read Game of Thrones, I’ve been made aware of the whole Red Wedding thing. When the garnet paint (made with real garnets!) looked so much like blood dripped onto the paper, it made me think of that show, which in turn gave me this idea of some poor scribe, tasked with turning the ruined parchment into a decoration. And he had better do a good job, since he obviously knows what happened to the last people that crossed Lord Frey.
Red Wedding Decoration, 7″x5″ watercolor on watercolor paper.
Red Wedding Decoration, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of the painstakingly detailed filigree pattern radiating out from each splatter of paint. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, with the white circle emphasized by the way it intersects with the edge.
Red Wedding Decoration, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: filigree, for sale, game of thrones, red, spirals, 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
Red Sky Firefly
Friday, September 6th, 2013
Red Sky Firefly by Amy Crook
Strings of glowing fireflies flit in the distance through red-tinted dusk in this abstract piece. The night is slowly banishing the last hints of color, but for now the fireflies still eclipse the stars. There’s a dreamy, gorgeous feeling to this painting, with its metallic-bright firefly spots and softly textured ruddy end-of-sunset background.
Red Sky Firefly, 7″x5″ Japanese watercolor and metallic watercolor on Arches cover black paper.
Red Sky Firefly, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the texture of paper and paint, and the soft glow of golden light that seems to float above the surface. Below, I’ve put the piece in a frame so you can imagine it like staring out a window into some fairy world where it’s always dusk, and sailors always delight in the red sky at night.
Red Sky Firefly, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
Tags: black paper, fireflies, for sale, gold, metallic watercolor, red, watercolor
Red 3
Tuesday, March 12th, 2013
Red 3, 7″x5″ abstract watercolor by Amy Crook
This piece is all about courting chaos. I made some artistic choices at the start, and then once it got to a certain point, I stood back and let the process take over, making it a weird collaboration between artist and entropy. There’s an amazing wealth of detail and nuance in the way the paint, paper, and water interacted as they dried. I considered doing something more with it, like tentacles or tiny fandom, but I didn’t want to cover up all that lovely nuance.
Red 3, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the upper lefthand corner in detail, the way the different colors flowed and pooled and settled as the paint dried in one of the wettest parts of the painting. Below, the painting is hanging out with my iPhone, making it look cool.
Red 3, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: black paper, for sale, japanese watercolor, red
Tentacle Deeps 46
Tuesday, February 5th, 2013
Tentacle Deeps 46 by Amy Crook
Something new for the tentacles today! I used the same metallic watercolors from yesterday’s Gold Spirals, though I painted the background on this a while ago, so they weren’t actually sharing a palette. Then tentacles as usual in an opaque Japanese greenish black, and finally the runes borrowed from The Stars Are Right series crawling in shining red up the surface of each, wrapping around and writhing right along with them. I had originally considered doing the runes in green, but I decided the dull glow of red glitter pen would work better for this painting.
Tentacle Deeps 46, 6″x4″ Japanese and metallic watercolor and glitter gel pen on Arches cover black paper.
Tentacle Deeps 46, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the way the runes curve and writhe with the tentacles, against the background that fades upward from rose to lemon gold. Below, you can see it tucked safely into a frame where it won’t harm anyone. Just don’t look too closely at the runes if you want to keep all of your sanity intact.
Tentacle Deeps 46, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: black paper, for sale, gold, red, stars are right, tentacle deeps, tentacles, watercolor
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V is for Value
Thursday, January 17th, 2013
V is for Value, calligraphic illumination by Amy Crook
Value is a term for how dark something is, the range from black to white, so I explored that in two ways with this piece. First the V itself is a simple triangle shaded with a brush and pre-mixed black sumi-e ink. Then the background is shaded more like an old-fashioned etching, using the red glitter gel pen and my own wobbly handmade lines to create a fade in the opposite direction.
I have to admit, there’s something very ’80s music video about the result, like the logo for some new wave band. Perhaps there’s a Victor or Virginia in your life that are big fans of Duran Duran and need this in their life.
V is for Value, 5″x5″ sumi-e ink and glitter gel pen on paper.
V is for Value, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a bit of the glittery red gel pen making the pen-shaded light-to-dark value in the background, and just the little tip of the V where the ink was determined to mostly stay at a middle tone. Below, you can see the V hanging out with the O and a little preview of X to spell “vox.”
V, O and X, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Illuminated Alphabet, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: alphabet, calligraphy, for sale, glitter gel pen, illumination, red, sumi-e ink
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