25 April 2012

How to... Display Miniatures professionally?


Traveling the Palazzo Strozzi in Tuscany some time ago I stumbled upon some veeery interesting Work that made me think quite a bit about displaying our tiny Passion Fruits...^_^...

The following are works from Mr. Thomas Doyle, who specializes in creating small sceneries of Houses and quite peaceful settings, that have felt victim to some kind of disaster... With this, an uncanny Atmosphere is created, a kind of void or rupture in the seemingly idyllic envoirment...





Not only I like this Idea, I LOVE the way the Projects are displayed! Placed on the very edge of those long tongue like shelves it bizarrily stresses the immanent danger those filigrane structures are exposed to... One careless Visitor and you can take out the Super Glue for good...^_^...

The next Artist is Mr. Partick Jacobs... He specializes in creating hyper realistic, highly elaborate Sceneries that can be seen through peekholes in a Wall... It´s a like a small wonderful World in a Glass and creates the mind boggling illusion of real miniaturized Nature! Incredible...



We can learn at least Two things from these Projects:

1.) It actually IS possible to build a realistic looking, miniaturized lush Grass Field (with small Flowers, Bees, Cow turds and all that...)... We will have to experiment on how to achieve it to make it look that Good since I have rarely (meaning never...) seen something as simple as a Green Grass field in our Hobby... If you think about that nearly any Fantasy Miniature should be standing on Grass rather then the usual Sand or Pebbles most people use...

2.) If we want to be taken more seriously as Artists we will have to learn much more about this kind of Presentation and Professionalism (and I put some more importance on the IF, since I know that it is only true to a fraction of Miniature Painters... to become a "True Artists", adress many other people that cannot relate to the mainly ClicheĆ©, Brutal, Unintellectual and Kitsch World of Warhammer "Toys"... And eventually make a Living out of Miniature Painting...)... As our work is physical, real, even haptic, we will have to think about how to increase certain aspects like the Miniatures fragility by displaying them this way... Here´s another example from Edgar "degra"s absolutely BRILLIANT Exhibition a couple of years ago...







Not only that I seriously think that this is an absolutely lovely way to allow people seeing your Work in a Good Distance and Light safely, it really makes something with the Space! It transforms it into a meeting place, people can see the Miniture closely and speak about it at the spot... Wander through the Forrest of Light  and appreciate all it´s tiny details... Great!

I hope this inspires you somehow and starts some great thoughts in you! As Jungle Critters we are very curious about what you are thinking, please let us know! :)

And please follow these Links to find out more about the Artists Work...

Thomas Doyle

Patrick Jacobs

Stay Happy! Start Painting...:)...

7 comments:

  1. Matt, where did this exhibition od Degra's works take place? And when was it?

    The way his works were presented is amazing.

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  2. Yes indeed... If you follow this link you can read more about the Exhibition...

    http://tinyurl.com/cfvx54n

    It was held in Vienna on October, 15th of 2010... I don´t remember if Edgar came up with the idea himself or his friend Martin Aigner (display and presentation), anyways it´s an absolutely fantastic way doing it... In fact, I have three of these Lamps at home now...^_^... It´s super easy to build and the costs are rather moderate...

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  3. I think their's still a lot that can be achieved in miiature creating (that is scupting and painting) as an art. I'dd love to see more abstract miniatures.
    I like salvador dhali's art a lot, and I think comprabl things can defenitely work in 3D. As I said, a lot has yet to be explored.

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  4. Very interesting and very true article.

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  5. I wonder how it would fit a "typical" miniature in Patrick Jacobs kind of dioramas. I mean how to do it? That should be great!

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  6. A lot of Epic moments are waiting for us.
    This exhibition opens new ways to see the "miniature world".

    @ Matt: Is there any chance to read a tutorial for those lamps on MV??

    Enjoy painting, enjoy art, enjoy life...

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  7. Great points raised in this, very valid, and it takes someone like that, who has expended many 1000's of hours to get to that level of repeatable finish, to get us check our results, and set out standards higher.

    great post, and thanks for sharing!

    Cheers

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