If you’ve been reading this blog and my newsletter, then you know I believe in the power of small things. I think little ideas, tiny gestures, and miniscule improvements can have a huge impact on people’s lives.
But it’s just as mindless to establish a rule that smaller is always better as it is to etch its opposite in stone.
The Size that Binds
If bigger is always better, than we should all be painting murals on high cliff walls. If smaller rules the day, then all our canvases should be the size of postage stamps.
Whenever we follow such arbitrary rules, whether we’ve inherited or created them, we eliminate ourselves from the equation. We stop paying attention to our own needs, moods, and interests in the moment.
The worth of an endeavor is not measured by the size of the tools being used, the space being utilized, or the mass of the outcome. Instead, it’s the degree to which we are fully engaged in whatever it is we’re doing.
Change Things Up (or Down)
Today, we may feel like doing something more intimate and detailed. Tomorrow, we may be compelled to work on a larger surface, tackle bigger ideas, make wider movements, or use brighter colors.
At the very least, we should be consulting what’s going on inside of us.
Also, our small attempts may be attempts to exercise more control, be more predictable, and attract less attention. If so, we may need to let go and go bigger.
And our larger gestures may be tricks we use to mask our discomfort with details or our fear of going unnoticed. In this case, it could be helpful to work smaller so that we face such matters in a more focused way.
The Variable Nature of Art
Artists are like scientists; they conduct experiments. If you and I are going to be artists, then we have to be willing to manipulate the variables, including size, and see what happens.
Get engaged. Be curious. Be playful.
If you always paint on a large canvas, try a small one.
If you always write with a fine point pen, go bolder.
If you can’t think of anything to put on the page, grab a bigger piece of paper. You could be stuck because you’re trying to find the perfect thing to put on a 8-by-11 sheet of paper. Try writing on a giant sketch pad and throw everything you have at it.
If the page seems too big and scary, draw grid lines and fill one box at a time, or grab some index cards and write on them.
If your idea seems too big, break it down into smaller ones.
If you always deal with small details, spend some time playing with big ideas and far reaching visions.
Notice the Difference
Throughout all of this, pay attention. Note how the change in scale makes you feel and impacts your work.
Are you less afraid or more open or bolder? Or does it have the opposite effect?
Are the end results more pleasing, more whimsical, less chaotic?
Whatever the impact, it’s neither good nor bad. It’s merely different, and that’s what makes it so interesting.
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