From the start, this box was intended to be a palette that I could experiment on. All the detailing was done with gloss marine varnish tinted with metallic powders, and very small brushes. Before I began this one, I had ZERO art background. To draw or paint on a flat surface is one thing. To detail tiny images in thick varnish on a 3-dimensional object is, in a word, HARD!
I will refrain from describing all the stages involved here, suffice to say, it took a very long time. Every single line, every single brush mark, were so carefully placed as to be utterly nerve-wracking. I think I did the spider 8-10 times and erased them, before I was sorta content with final one.
There are six types of flowers, grasses, weeds, spider-webs, and bugs.
Again wowow! I like the white color in black/gold and also a spider hanging on the thread, which reminded me of The spider’s Thread, a popular Japanese story. Thank you for the beautiful work!
I kinda have a built in prejudice against painters who can lay down perfectly detailed artwork with seemingly only a few minutes of effort, so glad you sweated a bit! 😀
Impressive job working at such small sizes, my fingers/hand would never be steady enough to even try. Do you use any magnification white working?
987Ron. Steady hand? Nope. Not steady, especially after coffee.
Dave P.
Petey.
YRTi. I do not know that story. There is an old Victorian era story about The Spider and the Fly. But my fly turned out to be a moth.
Splinter. Yes, I use 2X glasses and 3Xglasses - and even then sometimes it is hard to see what I am doing with a tiny brush tip aimed at a jet black target.
Thank you so much, Shipwright. Coming from You, the only higher form of compliment I can think of is if a Japanese Master were to say - Meh....................
Brian, That's really a work of art! What a masterpiece! That's a lot of work on something so small. For those of us who don't think metrically, that's about 4.75" square by 2.75" high. L/W
“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” Benjamin Franklin
