A Little Balance Goes a Long Way

I made this guy today.  I'm kind of in love with the way he turned out.  I think he'll look really snazzy once I mount him on a panel.  The boxes that I've been painting for the Teeny Tiny Art Show are more labor intensive than I realized they would be, and I've been fretting about finishing on time.  I've also been feeling a little bit exhausted and icky lately.  So I spent some time last night and this morning regrouping, and trying to think of a way to simultaneously give myself a break and make really good work.  I decided to make a series of simpler, small works on paper to go along with the three boxes I've finished so far.  I let myself (forced myself?) to be a little looser than usual with the ink and paint.  I felt really balanced while I was making this piece–like I was painting skillfully without working myself into a frenzy of crazy perfectionism.  I'm going to try that again tomorrow:)

Here are some shots of the boxes I've finished since my last post:

 Anya guessed the idiom!  That ghostly subtitle at the bottom reads: "The Tale of a Dubious Friendship." It opens up to this:

This next one is super tiny:

And the idiom is harder to guess.  But can you?  I'll give you a hint:  what is the malevolent-looking girl on the left doing?  The word "gesture" in the title is also helpful.