Posts Tagged ‘turquoise’
Kelp 2
Sunday, April 8th, 2018
Kelp 2, 7″x5″ watercolor on Arches cover black paper
Shining fronds in beautiful blue-green rise up through the charcoal depths of this lightfast paper, with the occasional horizontal detour into shelf-like protrusions.
Another installment in the Pathways series, this painting takes a simple monochrome palette and breaks it into glittering particles. Each little piece of color seems to shine with its own shade of blue, green, or silver, shifting oh-so-subtly as it moves through the light.
Where do you need something beautiful to catch the light in your life?
Kelp 2, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the subtle sparkle of mica-laden paints and the beautiful rivulets of thick paint and dancing void. Below, the painting is sitting in a frame, a waving undersea frond trapped in its own little aquarium.
Kelp 2, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Series and Books
Tags: black paper, duochrome, for sale, pearlescent, turquoise, watercolor
Whorled
Thursday, April 5th, 2018
Whorled, 8″x8″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper
Swirls and whorls and spirals decorate this beautiful turquoise abstract. The shining texture of the overarching spiral gives it a dragon-like feeling, with its copper eye and snakelike head at the center.
The detail photo has perhaps the best color, but like so many things in life this one has to be seen live to be properly appreciated.
One patron said, “Oh, it’s another Moana painting!” and while they’re not wrong, this one has more of a sly, sideways reference, bursts of shining heat within the ocean’s cool blues rather than a direct quote.
Whorled, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the sun shining off the iridescent paints, bringing out the coppery and turqouise tones. Below, the painting is framed and waiting to bring something shiny into your day.
Whorled, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery
Tags: aqua, duochrome, nfs, sold, turquoise, watercolor
Splash 2
Tuesday, April 8th, 2014
Splash 2, abstract watercolor by Amy Crook
You may be wondering what happened to the first Splash, and the answer to that is that the artist didn’t take off the masking tape in time, oops. Still, I really love this second version — it’s got a lot of delightfully layered texture reminiscent of waves breaking over and over, plus if you turn it on its side you can kind of see Godzilla.
I was playing with implied boundaries here, and also testing the color gamut on my printer — I’m sad to say that this doesn’t reprint well at all, because the delicate shadings of blue and turquoise turn to cyan mush.
Splash 2, 8″x8″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Splash 2, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up that shows the layers of color and texture that give this work its depth and beauty. Below, you can see it in a frame, brightly lit by the spring sunshine.
Splash 2, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
Tags: blue, for sale, godzilla, splash, turquoise, watercolor
Skull Paper
Thursday, March 28th, 2013
Skull Paper by Amy Crook
Another foray into Victorian-style wallpapers with a limited palette, this piece combines loose brushwork with muted, complementary colors. The top copper shade is slightly iridescent, which adds a certain decaying glory to the erratic pattern. It makes me think of a design mouldering away in some abandoned Gothic manor house, the grinning skulls only adding to the haunted gloom of the place.
Skull Paper, 4″x6″ watercolor and iridescent watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Skull Paper, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the light reflecting off some of the warm copper paint, which is at its darkest and most iridescent in the halos around each skull. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, hanging out on my desk with some other examples of scribbly, imperfect wallpaper.
Skull Paper, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: copper, for sale, iridescent, skull, turquoise, victorian wallpaper, watercolor
Tentacle Deeps 12
Tuesday, May 17th, 2011
Tentacle Deeps 12 by Amy Crook
I think I may be just about done with the tentacle series, so in a few weeks I’ll have to think of something else to do with my Tuesdays.
This one got two layers of washes, one darker than the other, so I decided to keep the tentacles themselves to a single, matte black layer, contained entirely within the darker wash, at least at the bottom. One of them does break out of the top, as tentacles are wont to do. The rich colors of this were lost somewhat in the scanning process (I do seem to say that a lot, don’t I?), but this handmade (not by me, though) postcard looks great in a simple black frame.
Tentacle Deeps 12, 4″x6″ watercolor on handmade postcard.
Tentacle Deeps 12, framed, by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: for sale, tentacle deeps, turquoise, watercolor
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Tentacle Deeps 6
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011
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
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: for sale, salt, tentacle deeps, turquoise, watercolor
