I enjoy collecting seashells and have many different varieties. Some of them are small enough that I can display them in old printer drawers. One of my recent paper sculpture illustrations was inspired by some of the shells I have collected over the years.

This miniature paper sculpture illustration is three-dimensional. The shells come up and out of the piece of paper and are quite small. Even the sand on the beach is made of paper that was cut by hand and then painted in watercolor and gouache. The outside frame measures just 3.5 inches by 4.5 inches.

Sometimes when I’m working on a miniature painting such as this one, I use a 000 brush with just has a few short bristles. This allows me to add a lot of detail on such a small scale. The brush marks that I need to make are tiny, so I can only put a small amount of paint on the bristles.

By the time I move the brush from the paint to the painting, the paint is already completely dry. In order to remedy that, I will sometimes mix the paints right on the side of my hand. Then I can quickly move the brush immediately to the painting to add the necessary details. This is one of the adjustments I (and probably many others) make when working in such fine details in miniature art.

Here is a photo of me working on the “Stars and Costars” painting.

I wanted to really emphasize the colors and exaggerate the brightness of the shells, drawing attention to their beauty. I also imagine there are still many more “star and costar” shells under the sea that are yet to be discovered, waiting to show off all their glorious colors under the sea.