There's something magical and dollhouse-like to a tiny painting. When you work small you need to distill the objects and carefully compose, to create a semi-abstraction.
I found some small scraps of watercolor paper I saved for some unknown reason, and decided to recreate a series of trees I sketched while on vacation in Florida. I used a small brush and one of my small travel palettes and I really enjoyed the process. Since I had already made sketches (albeit larger sketches) it was easier to break the scenes down further.
Using tiny papers and a small palette is also a great idea for your travel art kit. I talked about a small travel art kit in an earlier post, but there I had a tiny accordion sketchbook. I think having some tiny papers would be a nice addition to that kit.
Painting Tiny Watercolor Trees
Tiny Watercolor Paintings
I ran across some other tiny painting projects at Sandy Allnock's YouTube channel. She posted fun videos, part one and part two, about creating tiny art for a tiny art gallery in a little free library.
The idea of a tiny art gallery got me thinking about what I could do with these four little paintings. Should I paste them into a sketchbook? Cut openings in a mat and frame them? Make little paper frames for them? Find little easels and display them? Stash them away in my Box of Small Things?
I felt like I wanted the feeling of a sketchbook, but something more formal to display these tiny works of art. So, I decided to make a gallery book for them.
I was introduced to book making when studying graphic design. Once I went down that rabbit hole, I was hooked. I’ve made a number of different folded books and a few stitched books. It is so satisfying to create your own book for your writing, painting, collage, or art display.
I liked the Panorama Book design from The Art of the Fold (my favorite book about bookmaking). The design did need some adjustments to fit the tiny paintings, but it made a wonderful popup gallery for them.
The base structure is a sheet of Mohawk text weight paper I had leftover from another project. The cover is from a French Paper scrapbooking pack. I love how the paper structure brought the paintings together into a nice display.
If you’re new to bookmaking, you can begin with some simple zines or pamphlet books. The Library of Congress has a fun download for several types of simple handmade books. If you are feeling more adventurous, you can check out Ali Manning at Vintage Page Designs, who teaches all sorts of bookmaking techniques.
The Art of the Fold Book
Gallery Book Open
Gallery Book Standing
