How I Create my Miniature Drawings
I have always made small scale artwork. I have shown and sold my work consistently through the years to people who appreciate the intimacy and enchantment that small piece of art can evoke.
To create my artwork, I work with very sharp leads with the piece held about six inches from the end of my nose without the aid of a magnifying glass. (Most people do need one to see all the detail, though.) I'm comfortable working like this and it seems to be what I'm made to do. I recreate every detail of the scene in miniature and each piece has many hours of work in it. I enjoy creating each drawing very much.
The Secret of Miniature Art
The secret about miniature art is the intense sense of intimacy that is experienced when you hold a piece in your hand. When a piece of art is so small that it can rest in the palm of your hand, you are being gently invited to bring it a little closer to your eyes. You bow your head a bit and bring your hand nearer to your face. This is a very intimate pose. At this moment, you have let the piece of art enter into a vulnerable personal area. You would never hold anything dangerous this close to your face. This is the way you would hold a butterfly or a small kitten; very gently and close. Holding a piece of art in this way relaxes you and actually creates a bond between you and the art work.
Larger art allows you to walk by and either engage with it or not. Sometimes larger art demands your attention by size alone. Miniature art, though, attracts your attention like a flower or a pretty stone on the ground; in a quiet and personal way. The piece asks you to come closer and reach out to it.
Miniature art is a gift, a treasure, a secret and special friend. It's not loud or demanding. It doesn't shout its presence to the world but, instead, waits quietly for you to pick it up and admire it. Keep your miniature art close to you so that you can hold it and let it enter your heart regularly. No other kind of art has the ability to touch you in quite the same way.
Definitions of Miniature Art
The definition of miniature art varies from country to country and depends on which miniature society is giving the definition, but there are three things about the art form that all definitions agree on.
1. The most obvious universal definition of miniature art is that the work must be small. Most societies require the work be small enough to fit in the palm of your hand but some allow slightly larger works. Requirements differ on the rendered size to life size ratio, too, but 6:1 is the most common.
2. No matter what style it is in, all societies judge miniature art on it's artistic merit the same way any other sized work is judged.
3. The piece of art (painting, drawing, etching, sculpture) must look like a fully expressed artwork even at extreme magnification.
Miniature art is fine art. The only difference is that the miniature is created in a smaller scale. In order to create such small art, the artist uses traditional art media (oil, watercolor, graphite, etc.) but each medium is applied delicately and with precision. Extra small tools are used and many artists work under a magnifying glass.
Because so much time, patience and talent is required to create a miniature, many owners of this type of art consider the experience to be similar to owning a piece of fine jewelry. As a matter of fact, miniatures used to be worn as jewelry. Today, most people display their miniatures on a wall, in a display case, or on a desk where they can be picked up admired easily.
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