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There's Opportunity in Small Things.

NOVEMBER 14, 2013
Detail of bugs carrying elements to add scale to the painting...
 Alway an utter delight to get to work with SooJin again. The second this one came in I had a strong idea of what I wanted to do. I saw in my head a tiny fabulous little circus of insects and beetles. When I told Lee about my idea she reminded me of the "Bug Story" circus. I hadn't thought of that but it was really good. She cautioned me so I knew to try to stay far away from those elements in the movie. Although I had this one idea, SooJin likes seeing several other ideas. So I did a little collection of thumbnail concepts. 

I really didn't stumble on anything I liked better, and SooJin agreed with a short note
"I like the circus of bugs, please go with that."
It's such a great feeling when things fall into place like that. I thought adding some everyday items would help give it more scale, like the buttons and needles, paper clip... I knew the long horizontal would be a little difficult.
Looking at it after some time I wish I had shifted a few things, maybe left a little breathing room. I think maybe something on that wall might have helped with that, but those thoughts came a few days after the art was shipped and I really was happy with the results.
The tiny wondrous circus of bugs..All Art © Bill Mayer 2013

I did this painting the same way, small gouache painting then editing and darkening. Some color shifts, (the bug on the far left was yellow as well so I made it more orange, darkening backgrounds...) I worked a bit larger in scale this time as I was worried about the detail in the bugs.
Detail of the floor and small bug. Button added for scale...
Detail of the juggler
layout...
Big thank you to SooJin for always giving me a chance to try new things. I love this little piece and it's aways such a joy working with you. BIG thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you....
© 2024 Bill Mayer