Comments
This
painting really surprised me. Through the whole process of
visualizing it I was sure of how it was going to
look; until I actually sat down to paint it.
In the process of doing the color comp I went through several
versions, (see the final comp here) each getting simpler than the last.
As I added the butterflies to the last comp, I put in just a
few--originally I had planned many more--and I realized I liked
the simplicity of it. It reminded me of a Japanese
composition; spartan, but carefully, and chaotically,
arranged. The final painting turned out better than anything
I had imagined for it. While I didn't think of this until
after the fact, I'm really pleased with how the simplicity of this
opening spread sets up the splendor and color of the next spread.
This
is the first spread of the story and describes the young John Farrington
coming outside one morning to find Monarch Butterflies resting all over
his house.