25 reasons painting MINI paintings makes BIG sense

Switching to painting mini paintings was the best thing I did.

There’s a saying in the art world that in order to paint a subject well, you’ll need to paint it 100 times.

As a late-blooming artist who needed to catch up fast, I quickly learned that painting 100 mini paintings takes less time to paint than 100 big paintings. A lot less time.

So I switched to painting on small canvas and the rest is history. Now I’m a committed advocate for “the art of the small” — and a believe in the power of small incremental steps. Small steps really do make things easier!.

So beyond saving time and money, and being just a fun way to learn…

Here are 25 reasons to paint small

1. Mini paintings are fun to paint and an inexpensive way to learn.
2. Supplies will cost less when starting out. A small 5″ x 7″ mini canvas panel is usually under a dollar, while a 36″ x 48″ stretched panel can cost $50 and up. Plus big paintings use far more paint.
3. Mini paintings take less time to paint. You can usually finish a mini painting in 30-90 minutes.
4. The more you paint, the more you practice, and the more you practice, the better you get.
5. Because they take less time to paint, you can find time to paint more easily. Even busy moms can find an hour or two to paint a mini.
6. Painting minis can become your daily arts practice. In fact, there is even a daily painters movement.
7. Finishing a painting feels great. Pride and accomplishment in creative work brings out a cocktail of feel-good hormones for us humans.
8. Painting small is a great way to test out new supplies. With each new painting you can test a new paint brand or colour, or a different painting mediums.
9. You can also try out new techniques, e.g. painting with a limited palette or toning your mini canvas with yellow ochre first instead of painting onto a white canvas.
10. Painting small also lets you try painting different subjects quickly (landscapes, still life, portraits) to see which ones you like painting best.
11. It’s less intimidating to stare at a small blank canvas than a big one, and that means more fun.
12. And when practicing is fun, you will want to practice more.
13. It’s easier to be experimental when you paint small. You are more apt to take more risks, and that means more learning.
14. The more you experiment, the faster you will find your style.
15. If you flub a painting, it doesn’t hurt (as much).
16. The principles of fine art painting are the same whether you paint on big or small canvas.
17. Painting small is perfect for outdoor or plein air painting. Plein air painters usually paint small so they can finish the painting in a few hours..
18. You don’t need a large studio to paint a mini painting. A table top and chair is fine. I call it plein chair painting.
19. It’s easier to travel with a mini-painting kit.
20. Scientific studies are showing that taking small steps is a proven way to make progress and to develop a long lasting habit.
21. If you create one painting a week – totally doable as you can create a painting in under three hours, at the end of the year you will have finished 52 paintings!
22. Mini paintings can help you break through procrastination, because taking on small tasks don’t overwhelm us like big ones can.
23. Mini paintings can be used as a warm up (John Singer Sargent used to do this).
24. Small paintings can make great studies for larger paintings.
25. And one of my favourite reasons mini paintings have cute power on their side. They are just plain adorable.

So, in conclusion, painting small is an economical and efficient way to learn to paint. You will be able to paint more painting, try more exercises, take more risks, and learn the principles of fine art more quickly.

The best part is everything you learn can be applied to big paintings — the principles of art are the same!

BTW, what size is a small or mini painting?

There is no set standard, but I think a good ball park range would be:

• 12? x 12? and under is a small painting
• 6?x 6? or 5?x 7? and under for a mini painting
• Artist Trading Cards (ATC) or ACEOs are super tiny at 2?x3.5?

That’s it. Now go, paint!

P.S. If you need help with supplies, check out my oil painting supplies for beginners