Did you know that besides landscape painters and portrait painters, there are also miniaturists? That these artists have a skill that may even exceed the artistic abilities of others?
Why is this so? What are the types of miniature painting? Where are the most popular products manufactured and where are miniaturists trained? You will learn all this by reading the article.
What is miniature painting?
From the name it is clear that miniaturists make small paintings. From under the brushes of the masters can come out both portraits and abstractions with landscapes. Sometimes you look at a tiny picture drawn to the smallest detail, and you cannot believe that someone has such golden hands!
In principle, everything that relates to painting and has a small size can be considered a miniature. Nevertheless, it can be divided into several types.
What are its types
You can’t think that art miniatures are the same pictures, only tiny ones. In fact, this direction of art is quite common in many industries:
- Book graphics. Tiny but carefully traced pictures in any books can be considered miniatures if they are not made on a computer.
- Miniature painting is used when painting cars. Unexpectedly, isn't it?
- Tiny portraits that were previously inserted into pendants around the neck can also be considered an example of miniature painting.
- Fedoskino miniature - a topic for a separate article. It is extremely popular both in Russia and abroad. Many foreigners are not averse to receiving a gift box that at least resembles a Fedoskino!
- Art miniatures also include the creation of small copies of famous paintings. Mona Lisa palm-sized? Canvases of Aivazovsky, each no bigger than a regular photograph? A miniaturist is able to make such pictures.
Fedoskino miniature painting
Fedoskino is a village that is located just thirty kilometers from Moscow. For more than two hundred years, the main activity of the inhabitants of Fedoskino is the creation of varnish miniature painting.
The activities of Fedoskino masters are considered true masterpieces. In a year they produce for sale no more than a thousand products, since each is made according to old technologies. Fedoskino miniature painting is considered to be the successor for chinoiserie, which is a stylization of the style of China. On the other hand, it is compared to the snuffboxes of Johann Stobwasser.
The main line of work of Fedoskino masters is the creation of boxes with a painted lid. It can have absolutely any picture: portrait, sketch, landscape. A miniaturist is able to portray anything.
Tiny paintings on the box are painted on a black background, layer by layer overlaying paint. Due to the contrast of colors, the miniatures are filled with color and acquire a certain fleur of antiquity. The casket just created by the master may look as if it had been pulled out of the past from the bedroom of some noblewoman. For creating a certain atmosphere and the opportunity to plunge into the past, they also love the products of Fedoskino masters.
Most masters from Fedoskino specialize in portraits. We can say that miniature portraits have become the hallmark of these artists.
How to become a miniature painter?
If you are interested in the opportunity to create miniature painting, then you can become a professional artist if you enroll in the Fedoskino school. The village, which has retained its main activity, will provide you with the best teachers and centuries-old experience of craftsmen.
The school has been successfully preparing graduates for over eighty years. Studios are mastering not by textbooks, but in practice, performing drawing after drawing. In addition, at the moment there are simply no textbooks on miniature painting! You have to comprehend everything from your own experience.
If you are not ready to move to become an artist of miniature painting, then do not despair and throw this direction of art out of your head. You can write miniatures for yourself as a hobby. Why is such a pastime worse than any other?
You will need thin brushes, good colors and a sure hand. Even if the brush trembles, do not worry: it will pass with experience. It is better to start work in the style of miniature painting not with varnish products, but with simple drawings. Only very very small.