Friday, 28 January 2011

Miniature

In some ways I'm disappointed with this latest painting as it's a bit too 'rough and ready'. On the other hand, I'm quite pleased with the overall effect as it is only 3" x 2" in size. I don't know if there is a generally recognised size that defines 'miniature' but if this doesn't qualify, it's certainly very small.

I found working with watercolour quite interesting at this scale as there just isn't the same scope for running out the water. It was all to easy to just deposit a drop of paint on the paper and find it bound by its own surface tension. Working drier than normal seemed to be the best way.

The other problem I had was actually seeing what I was doing. I have to take my glasses off to see things very close up but I was copying this painting from a reference photo on my computer. I can't see my computer monitor very well without my glasses and I couldn't see my painting properly with them. So most of the time I had a brush in my right hand and my specs in the left.

It was another of those things I wanted to try, and I enjoyed doing it. Might have a go at something smaller next.
View more: ,

8 comments:

  1. Barbra Joan28 January 2011 at 22:11

    Oh John, despite all your 'spec' problems you did very well.. Yes I would say this definetly comes under the heading of miniatures.
    And if you had made it
    3 1/2" x 2 1/2" it could be under the ATC guide. ATC's are Artist Trading Cards in case you don't know.. they are traded, never sold and are a whole other world.. I used to belong to an ATC yahoo group.. Oh yes, something else to do !!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. John (JWJarts)29 January 2011 at 09:49

    Thanks Barbra Joan.
    I'd heard something about paintings on cards that got traded around but didn't know any more than that. I'll have to find out more about ATC's - sounds like good fun.

    ReplyDelete
  3. _Frankb1029 January 2011 at 14:12

    Nice little painting John, simple, affective and once again very colourful.
    Sounds like you need varifocal lenses in your specs.

    ReplyDelete
  4. John (JWJarts)29 January 2011 at 14:18

    Thanks Frank.
    I have TWO sets of specs, both varifocals. One set ranged from about a metre to infinity for everyday stuff, and the other ranged from about 12" to 1 metre for reading, computer and desk work. They work fine most of the time, but not for real end-of-your-nose close work.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sandra Busby30 January 2011 at 17:03

    I can't believe you managed this on such a small scale! I must try one one day :0)

    ReplyDelete
  6. John (JWJarts)30 January 2011 at 18:46

    Please do Sandra, it makes a lovely change to scale things down. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. padmaja8 February 2011 at 08:41

    I am amazed at the details you arrived at with this miniature and it is looking fabulous! I found your art through Barbra"s blog today!

    ReplyDelete
  8. John (JWJarts)8 February 2011 at 12:03

    Thank you very much Padmaja.

    ReplyDelete

Your comments are very much appreciated and I value every one. Thank you

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)