Miniature Painting

Miniature:  Crab Feast
by Jane McElvany Coonce

Crabs and Mallets
by Jane McElvany Coonce

Some of you might be wondering what I've been up to lately.  I started doing a few miniature paintings because there are two shows for miniature paintings coming up in September.  In the past, when I've done miniatures, I've done them in oil.  It takes forever because you have such a small space to work on, and then you cover it with oil paint and then have to let it dry before you can go back and work on it some more.  So this time, I decided to try doing miniatures in watercolor.  Much easier!  Very little drying time between coats. You can even use a hair dryer to speed things up. They were fun to do.  I based them on the oil paintings I had done in a bigger format.  But these guys are tiny.  "Crab Feast" is 4 1/2 inches by 4 1/2 inches.  "Crabs and Mallets" is even smaller - 3 inches by 4 inches.  I'll take them to the framers, and he will put a tiny mat and tiny frame on them and make them look even better.  There are a whole group of people out there that collect miniature paintings.  The shows are juried so I will enter them and hope I get in.  I'll keep you posted.