Painters Online Logo

Login/register

Studio

Miniature Art

Welcome to the forum.

Here you can discuss all things art with like-minded artists, join regular painting challenges, ask questions, buy and sell art materials and much more.

Make sure you sign in or register to join the discussions.

Hang on Studio Wall
Showing page 6 of 7
Author
Message
michael

Michael Edwards

  • Prestige User
  • Reputation: 3863
  • Last active:
  • Posts: 1556
Posted
I've never really considered painting miniatures although recently I have been painting 'small' - my posting today: Eastern Influence (2) is an example measing 6ins square but when presented in a generous mount plus frame it is now 12ins square and ready for open studios etc. I enjoy these 'smallies' and rather than concentrating on fine detail I prefer minimalism which seems to go down well these days.
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, Napa

  • Prestige User
  • Reputation: 24791
  • Last active:
  • Posts: 8641
Posted
Good to see you here again, Michael. 
Waddesdon Grotesque

Andrew Roles

  • Forum Expert
  • Last active:
  • Posts: 507
Posted
One small picture from me. I can't credit the reference sorry, as this was from about 35 years ago, well before Pixabay. This actually measures 3 x 3 inches.
My Profile pic16

Lewis Cooper

  • Prestige User
  • Reputation: 6309
  • Last active:
  • Posts: 2573
Posted
Yes, it’s good to see you back on POL Michael.  Your little minimalist pictures look great, you’ve managed to suggest wide open space on a tiny image. I like your drawing Andrew.  Probably said this before…we don’t see these miniatures as they really are on our devices…except, maybe, on a phone.  On my iPad Andrew’s 3 x 3 inch picture looks a little bigger, and on my desktop PC it looks MUCH bigger…getting on towards A4 size.   The few times I’ve seen them at the V&A they look minuscule, which is exactly what they are.

Edited
by Lewis Cooper

Waddesdon Grotesque

Andrew Roles

  • Forum Expert
  • Last active:
  • Posts: 507
Posted
Ilike your drawing Andrew.  Probably said this before…we don’t see these miniatures as they really are on our devices…except, maybe, on a phone.  On my iPad Andrew’s 3 x 3 inch picture looks a little bigger, and on my desktop PC it looks MUCH bigger…getting on towards A4 size.   The few times I’ve seen them at the V&A they look minuscule, which is exactly what they are.
Lewis Cooper on 24/02/2026 17:07:22
I tried to make the damn thing smaller but it defeated me Lewis. I’m sure there’s a way to make it its actual size, but not sure how just yet.

Edited
by Andrew Roles

With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, Napa

  • Prestige User
  • Reputation: 24791
  • Last active:
  • Posts: 8641
Posted
I had trouble with that too - one sort of succeeded, but - Lord alone knows how I did that with one, and failed with the other. 
My Profile pic16

Lewis Cooper

  • Prestige User
  • Reputation: 6309
  • Last active:
  • Posts: 2573
Posted
I've tried to correct this in the past, haven't bothered lately.  So here's an experiment...this old miniature is 6 x 4 inches, it's saved at 300 dpi (dots per square inch) in case I ever wanted to print it.  It would give a high quality print... ...as I prepare to post this, it already looks massive on my desktop PC. Now I've reduced the DPI from 300 to 50.  That's pretty low resolution.  Let's see how it looks... ...well, it's looked much smaller as I type this up.  So I'll post it and see what POL's website graphics make of it.
My Profile pic16

Lewis Cooper

  • Prestige User
  • Reputation: 6309
  • Last active:
  • Posts: 2573
Posted
Well it looks OK to me.  At 50dpi I thought it would look ropey.  In fact it's too small, on my desktop this 6 inch pic is 4 inches wide. I'll have another go.  This time I've reduced the original file from 300 dpi to 100 dpi.  (obviously I'm changing the name when I save it.) It looks closer to the actual size.   I have a very old version of photoshop elements that allows me to resize images.  I expect there's a way to do that without photoshop.
My Profile pic16

Lewis Cooper

  • Prestige User
  • Reputation: 6309
  • Last active:
  • Posts: 2573
Posted
On my iPad, the original of 300 dpi and the one at 100 dpi look the same size, the middle one (50 dpi) looks much smaller.  In each case the image size is 6 x 4 inches…it’s the dpi that’s changed.  Dpi determines at what resolution the image is printed. Confusing, isn’t it?
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, Napa

  • Prestige User
  • Reputation: 24791
  • Last active:
  • Posts: 8641
Posted
Yup!  I find it hard to wrap my poor head around  these things; the bigger the image we post of a small painting, the more hideous mistakes tend to get thrown up, too; not, mind, in your case, with this lively image.

Norrette Moore

  • Esteemed User
  • Last active:
  • Posts: 937
Posted
Hi folks, If you put a really large/deep white frame around your image (most apps let you do that), then you should get the result you're looking for. I've used a grey frame to show the effect of shrinking the image. But white will make the frame disappear.

Edited
by Norrette Moore

Waddesdon Grotesque

Andrew Roles

  • Forum Expert
  • Last active:
  • Posts: 507
Posted
That’s a useful tip Norette, thank you. I’ll see what I can do with my drawing.
Showing page 6 of 7