216. The Best Tiny Stories you Wrote this Year
an idea about art from sharing drawings of tiny people.
Dear reader,
We have played this game many times this year. I share tiny drawings of people from my world. And you write tiny stories for them. In this way, you take them from my sketchbook page and bring them into your world. In this way, you give them tiny life.
In today’s post, I share my favourite tiny stories that you wrote this year. Vote for your favourite in the comments. Or add a sequel to the story of your choice!
The SneakyArt Post is a publication of secretly drawn art of the world. Every week, I share the latest drawings from my sketchbook and the best ideas from my journey as an artist and writer.
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What makes a Tiny Person?
To begin, there is a person, a real full human being, crossing the street, sipping coffee at the cafe, or waiting patiently at the bus stop. In the chaos of spacetime, if you watch carefully, brief moments of great beauty are created wherever life intersects with other life.
SneakyArt is created at this intersection when worlds collide.
Rich, complex reality is turned into simple lines and shapes. But left to themselves, what do the lines and shapes mean? They are just scratches of ink on paper. They must wait around to be given meaning, and context, and purpose.
They must wait until they are seen by you. You put them together. You add your ideas, biases, colours, and moods, and thus reconstruct their reality. You turn that thing of lines and shapes into a tiny person.
Reader, can art exist without an audience? Is a book still a book without readers? Is a painting a painting when no one’s watching?
This year I have asked myself some difficult questions. There is no one to say if I am right, but I think the answer is this -
You cannot be an artist on a deserted island.
The Best Tiny Stories this Year
In March, I invited readers to write tiny stories for the tiny people of New York. Read them here. Stories below by
and .
In May, I shared tiny people seen on another trip to the US. Stories below by
and .
In October, I invited readers to write tiny poems for tiny people. It was a haiku thread! Poems below by
and Cris.
In November, we wrote scary stories! Two completely unique stories about the same subject below, by
and Katie.
Vote for your favourite story in the comments. Or add a sequel to the story of your choice!
Next month with Insiders, I am doing a multi-part audit of my work this year. This includes an honest assessment of everything that did and did not work for me this year, deep thoughts about AI and the future of art, ideas from the best conversations on the SneakyArt Podcast, and notes from one year of being a huge Instagram account. To be in the loop, become a SneakyArt Insider.
Thank you, dear reader, for your time and attention. I am glad to have a space in your inbox.
I love the tiny stories as much as the tiny people...
I vote for Ben Wakeman's "Homeless Man". It captures a massive point of view, in a tiny story about a tiny person.