On Saturday I went to Colchester, visiting Framewerks. I placed an order for my portrait miniature – Royal Academy Summer Exhibition piece. I have chosen an ornate gold frame, with a gold bezel to surround the miniature and a black velvet backing. I can’t wait to see the finished product!! You’ll be the first to view it, as soon as I can get pictures.
This weekend I hadn’t completed the 10 hours of painting set aside, which has put me slightly behind schedule. Nevertheless I now have many busy evenings ahead!
Sunday I went to the boot sale and purchased, yet another 24” frame (very cheap and tacky – but I love retro frames) for £1. I also bought an old vintage Victorian photograph for £2.... I was not so keen on the photo itself, but I loved the logo design on the back...
I may use this as inspiration for some ‘Elsie May’ adverts later this year. I also loved this as the photograph was taken in Ipswich, where I live.
Last night on ‘The Antiques Road show’ (a programme I normally watch with a hot chocolate in hand), they had a 5 minutes section on a collection of portrait miniatures. They were beautiful, the skin tones were perfect and the detailing was so delicate. I also found it highly amusing, as I was saying the same comments as the ‘valuator’ about 30 seconds in front of him! Turns out I know a lot more about portrait miniatures than I realised!
Please follow link to watch this again and fast forward to the 20th minute
This also makes for an interesting read...
However a comment was made regarding the painting techniques of miniatures, that only one hair is used to paint them, this is a myth! And from my personal experience would be impossible! Think about it; look at the hair on your head, do you think that with something so fine, you could paint with that? No, that is crazy!
I have uploaded a picture below to show you the brushes I use when painting miniatures....
The red brush is a ‘00000’ size brush and this is my preference, it is just the right size and I can load the brush with watercolours pretty sufficiently. The middle two brushes are ‘0000’s and I would use these for slightly heavier work, normally with the base coat covering of the skin tone. The black handled brushl is a ‘000’, this size is a little too big, but sometimes I would use this as the base coat covering for the background.
Thank you for reading and I will update again soon.
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