little boxes

In a recent thread over at artand perception.com, McFawn offered an exercise:

"Draw a ½ inch by ½ inch box with a pen. Then, fill the box with forms–but make it interesting. This is very difficult because you can’t work with nuance, texture, etc–just a fat penline in a small space. Do about ten of these and you’ll see both how limited an artist’s choices are in terms of overall forms, and how interesting a little box can be."

So I thought I'd try it. I didn't collapse into quivering frustration, so I'm sure I've done it wrong (forms? qu'est-ce que forms?), but here they are. The last one is an idea I've been incubating for a tiny (4-inch square) expression of the vernal equinox. Now that the solstice is almost upon us, and if the general excavating of a workroom continues at a good pace, maybe I'll get it done. The bottom band will be robin-gray, the next one up will be red-breast-rust, and the next robin-beak yellow overlain with yellow bugle beads, and the top will be bird-head black.