Tate Gallery: Miniatures range from about three centimetres in height to as much as twenty-five centimetres and are painted in watercolour or gouache on vellum, enamel, ivory or, often, a playing card. More generally, the term miniature or in miniature is applied to any work of art produced in a size much smaller than the normal size for that type of work.
Artists reacted in various ways to lockdown. Some of my students and fellow artists could not bring themselves to so much as touch any form of art making and never entered their working spaces. As was the case with another group of artists, I reacted to the opposite: I could not wait to get into my studio in the morning. I had several commissions, but I could not get myself to work on them. At first I just doodled – little meaningless scribbles or tiny abstract water colours. I cleaned my studio as if that was the be all and end all of all activities, much in the same way that people baked banana bread – which I gladly ate when offered, I am just not a baker! That room was never so organised and clean!
A week after lockdown began I got down to it. I recorded everything: flowers and insects during my walks in my garden, birds that I took photographs of, the grandchildren….
Then came the request for video demonstrations for Duif Art Centre, which I did with much pleasure and commitment. I did several, but I think the most popular series was the one on “Recording your Travels”. I demonstrated how you can record all your travels and adventures by carrying an A6 watercolour pad (post card format), a tiny watercolour set and a brush with a built in water reservoir. With this in my bag or pocket, I travelled through Spain, did lots of paintings and sold them all. The same applied to South African travels and even visits to the theatre.t
Some people are just so very, very creative. The name of my friend Kotie’s art shop is WizzArts Imaginarium – I just love it. From her I bought round water colour paper, 10cm in diameter on which I did bird paintings.
Kotie came up with a project called WizzArts Imaginethat, whereby you fill a fold-out sketch book with paintings following a theme.
Approaching October the scene really warmed up: during October we did INKTOBER, which is a world-wide project initiated by one Jake Parker. He annually publishes a prompt list with the subject of the day. Artists then publish their daily ink drawing on Instagram. That was 31 miniature art works done.
It was however not all for October: Andrea Holmes, an artist from Texas initiated a project known as BIRDTOBER. I contacted her regarding copyright, since I wanted to do a South African prompt list, as the American and Australian birdies are very foreign to us down here. (more about copyright in a later blog.) And there we had another 31 miniature art works for October.
In November we did HUEVEMBER, which produced its own and in December DRAWCEMBER – and I did not bail out, I did it all! (not every day in November and December though.)
All these miniatures will be for sale on KRAFTEMPORIUM – many already are.
WHAT IS MINIATURE ART?
There are many definitions for miniature art. The purists will probably go with the earliest definition: during the time of King Henry VIII, miniatures were done as portraits set in pendants and originally the criterion was that it was to be no bigger than a person’s hand palm. To this day there are several miniature art associations around the world, competing, being adjudicated and often exhibiting their art.
As seen above, the Tate Modern Galley in London defines miniature art as art produced in a size smaller than the normal size for that type of work, and it must be possible to be hand-held.
What I discerned for myself and used during the two decades of being initially examiner and later moderator of matric art is that miniature paintings should have enough “punch” to draw the eye in – whether it be colour, subject matter or detail. It is also of utmost importance that it should answer to the elements necessary for a good painting, regardless of size. It is even more so for a miniature work of art, as the viewer will get close to the painting or drawing or sculpture, etc. On this scale, composition, colour, and balance are all super important as well as a quality that provides that little, indefinable something – a world of wonder, maybe soul! It should be both intimate and powerful as well as detailed on such a small scale, or it may become insignificant amongst other, larger work.
Most artists use small scaled paper or canvas for preliminary sketches. They are then discarded or kept in sketch books in boxes or drawers. Tate mentioned playing cards. My friend, the illustrator KoTie, did a series which became a full deck of cards as a result of the Inkober prompts.
I have always loved working in a variation of size and format. However, during lockdown I worked mainly in A6, A5 and A4. The reason for this is that I did a painting a day and would otherwise not have been able to make time for meals…..mmm…..should have painted beeeg!
A very good tip from my great mentor, the late Juliana Paton, is to do a miniature painting on location, take a photo of the same scene, and then complete your large painting in the studio. According to her, and I have made this my own because it works, is that this method allows you to take in the atmosphere, determine the composition and then have the photo for detailed information. When considering a theme or series, these small paintings are a very effective way to experiment with theme, colour, technique, and general feeling. These can be carried out quickly, without pressure of having to produce a masterpiece. Eventually I grew to love these miniatures and they developed into finished paintings, even when did on location. I also realised that you hardly ever carry that spontaneity and freshness of technique over into a large painting.
The Australian artist John Lovett writes: “In preparation for an upcoming exhibition I decided to rough out some ideas using small (4” x 3”) sketches. Once I got started on these small paintings I couldn’t stop. They were such a lot of fun – no pressure to produce a masterpiece, just quick, exciting experiments that revealed numerous options I would have otherwise never have considered.” However, he ended up using these little works as part of his exhibition.
My TRAVEL PAINTINGS soon got a life of their own. I mostly done them in a water colour wash and ink. Always having loved drawing, this was a natural development. These little experiments became very popular with buyers and commissions soon followed. KRAFTEMPORIUM can take care of the rest thereof!
If you want to try out these miniature travel paintings, here are a few tips:
START PAINTING – KRAFTEMPORIUM IS AWAITING YOUR MASTERPIECES!
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