Posts Tagged ‘salt’

Texture in Brown

Monday, March 28th, 2011

Texture in Brown by Amy Crook

Texture in Brown by Amy Crook

Everything about this piece is a combination of deliberation and randomness, letting my choice of materials dictate the final product.

I didn’t like this when I started it out, at first just the red-brown leaf shape at the center of the page. then I added the redder wash down at the bottom, and an even softer red wash in the upper area, and used salt to give a rough texture to the lower area. I let that dry and sit a few days before coming back to it with a quill and some ink that used to be black, but has aged in its bottle to a soft, walnut brown. The quill caught and stuttered on the rough paper, giving the lines a rough look as the ink bled.

I think the end result looks like some sort of landscape, each piece working together to create a rich field of texture and earthy color.

Texture in Brown, 7″x5″ watercolor and pen and ink on watercolor paper, $129 with free shipping.

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
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Impact

Thursday, March 24th, 2011

Impact by Amy Crook

Impact by Amy Crook

Paper and paint both matter a lot to how the salt affects the work, and this one actually went through several iterations of paint and salt. The more opaque of the Japanese sumi-e inks don’t seem to react as dramatically, but you can get some subtle texturing out of it. The more transparent inks run and pool, but this paper has a different absorbency than the one I used for Salt Cell, so the paint tends to dry much faster, giving it lest time to change the landscape of the colors.

Impact, 7″x5″ watercolor on watercolor paper, sold.

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird
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Tentacle Deeps 6

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011

Tentacle Deeps 6 by Amy Crook

Tentacle Deeps 6 by Amy Crook

When I did the first one of these, I had no idea it would turn into a series that helps me explore all the techniques I’ve been working with this year.

For the sixth installment, I’ve used salt both on the background wash, and then separately on the tentacles themselves later. The places where the background is textured from the salt are subtle, the most obvious one being the cell-like structure in the upper left. The tentacles, on the other hand, have a strange mottled texture that definitely gives them a bit more dimension. There was also a bit of color bleed on the lower edge, which seems to be another side effect of the salt, giving the paints a powdery texture once it dries that then dusts itself onto the white when I brush the salt crystals away.

Tentacle Deeps 6, 5″x7″ watercolor on watercolor paper.

Tentacle Deeps 6, framed art by Amy Crook

Tentacle Deeps 6, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles
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Salt Cell

Monday, March 21st, 2011

Salt Cell by Amy Crook

Salt Cell by Amy Crook

I’ve been doing more experiments with my paints lately, and today’s piece is a very simple one done using a single color of paint and a small handful of coarse Kosher salt. The paint, originally in a fairly even wash, pooled and patterned in a way that makes me think of cellular structure under a microscope. And to think, I once had a biology lab instructor tell me I ought to go into scientific illustration.

Salt Cell, 5″x5″ watercolor on watercolor paper, sold.

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
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