Posts Tagged ‘spiral’

Blood Moon

Monday, February 28th, 2011

Blood Moon by Amy Crook

Blood Moon by Amy Crook

Tonight I got out some watercolor paper and my paints and sat down to just play. I painted a number of washes for future use. This red-pink circle had dried just enough that, once the paints were put away, I sat with a red fountain pen and just started shading. Once I’d put in a small section of red on red, I started to see the moon shape forming, so I finished it up deliberately. Then, at the end, I took a darker red pen and put in the little spirals, over the places I’d dripped in a bit of blue-black when the wash was still wet.

I used a simpler texture than the one from my Texture Experiment 1, which let the work go faster and less precisely. In general, however, I’m finding a heretofore-unknown penchant for obsessive detail and crosshatching. I must be maturing; the last time I tried it with etching, I hated the fine, tedious work.

Blood Moon, 5″x5″ watercolor, pen and ink on reused watercolor paper, sold.

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Whimsical and Strange
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Texture Experiment 1

Tuesday, February 8th, 2011

Texture Experiment 1 by Amy Crook

Texture Experiment 1 by Amy Crook

A while ago I was working on some watercolors, and I played around making some shapes to use as a base for future drawings. I have a lot of small pieces of this thick, soft buff-coloured paper torn out from my printmaking days, and so I used one of those for this. You can see below a few in-progress shots that give you a better idea of what’s hiding under all that texture.

I was inspired by three things for this, first by Kirsty M. Hall’s tendency to draw abstract shapes and textures over already-done drawings and photographs, especially evident looking at some of the great pieces in her 365 Jars project. The second thing was a Jack Skellington drawing I saw earlier this week on Tumblr of all places, and while I love the image out of pure fangirl joy, I was fascinated by the rich textures in the background. On top of that, of course, I had found the process of doing my crosshatched hatbox quite meditative, so I tried to incorporate elements of all three things.

I’ve just bought a set of Micron pens, so I used the second-largest of those to do the black swirl, and then I used a turquoise Pilot fountain pen from Japan, whose ink bled gorgeously into the pale turquoise of the watercolor, adding an extra dimension of contrast between the two sections. Expect to see more of the Micron pens, which I’m a little bit in love with, though I don’t plan to give up my favorite brush pen — I can have pens on the side, it’s an open relationship.

Texture Experiment 1, 5″x5″ pen and ink and watercolor on Arches cover white paper.

Below are some progress shots I took with my iPhone. Sorry about the quality, I was txting a friend for encouragement, and I decided to share!

Texture Experiment 1, progress shot 1, by Amy Crook

Texture Experiment 1, progress shot 1, by Amy Crook

Texture Experiment 1, progress shot 2, by Amy Crook

Texture Experiment 1, progress shot 2, by Amy Crook

Texture Experiment 1, progress shot 3, by Amy Crook

Texture Experiment 1, progress shot 3, by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
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