Are Miniatures Art? A Response.

I’ve recently tore through the Hive Scum podcast and in a more recent episode the topic of art as it relates to miniatures came up. The question laid bare that I will generalize is “Are we, who paint miniatures, artists?”. Then, while writing this I got a wonderful submission from John Jambo (jimjambo on the socials) that furthered the question. Originally I was going to write this for our upcoming zine “Sprue & Goo” but since the this topic is already being covered by John Jambo, I’ll let him carry the topic in this summer’s issue.

So, are we who paint miniatures, artists?

Fuck yeah we are. Will my miniature work ever be in a gallery? Probably not, but in what world would I let some else dictate if my expression has artistic value. I can honestly say my world view is better when art is de mystified. Finger painting? Art. Macaroni portrait? Art. A little zombie game piece token? Art. Our hobby even has books highlighting miniature painters with the title “The Art of…” 

It is ridiculous and self demoralizing to not call yourself an artist. We should be proud to call ourselves sculptures, painters, hobbyists. All artists in different forms. In a world of individuals doom scrolling (which I sometimes do) or using LLM’s to generate images (which I do NOT), picking up a brush to render textures and light values is art. Full stop. 

The qualms of calling yourself an artist are pervasive throughout all levels of notoriety. From a nobody like me to Roman Lappat or Trent Holbrook. It’s a right of passage to question what makes an artist and to shift into the realization that we are whether we choose to self describe it or not. 

The title of “Artist” is more of a badge. It is dictated by our actions, by applying color and shaping forms. In “The Creative Act” by Rick Rubin, the process of art and being an artist is described as making choices. From paint on a canvas to ingredients in a soup. In today's world, with all of the cake and circus’s at our disposal, the mere act of defiance of picking up a brush is enough. You choose to paint your little army men, to construct a board to play on. Light values, color theory, composition, all of these things are chosen either on purpose or without. 

If you have trouble feeling like you don’t deserve this badge I have some suggestions. You could paint display models, make a diorama. Put your work in a frame, enter a competition. If none of that works, get over yourself. 

You are an artist, and it’s my personal opinion that you should wear that badge with pride.

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