((PKG)) PAINTING ALTOID TINS
((TRT: 9:39))
((Topic Banner: Painting Altoid Tins))
((Reporter/Camera: Aaron Fedor))

((Producer: Kathleen McLaughlin))

((Editor: Kyle Dubiel))

((Map: Boulder, Colorado))

((Main character: 1 male))

((Sub characters: 3 female))

((BLURB: A Colorado painter, who paints miniature oil paintings in Altoid Tins, and uses social media to connect with fans and buyers in a big way.))
((NATS))
((Remington Robinson
Artist))
I started painting on Altoid tins after seeing other people doing it on Instagram and it reminded me of miniatures that I had already been doing
((Courtesy: Remington Robinson))
because I was already doing miniatures that were about the same size.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Remington Robinson
Artist))
These are all watercolor paintings that I did in 2017, some of my earliest miniatures right before I started doing the ones that I'm known for. I kind of transitioned from watercolor to oil.
((Remington Robinson
Artist))
I think I first got into art when I was a little kid. I used to go to my dad's office
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and he was an architect. He's dead now but he, I used to go to his office and just play with his colored pencils and his drafting templates.

And I think that like one of the biggest, one of the biggest things I learned as an artist was craftsmanship from my dad.
((Remington Robinson
Artist))
Watching him and seeing how, how he was careful with everything he did and sort of fastidious to some degree,
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double checking things and making sure everything was the way that he wanted it.
Plus, I kind of had to unlearn some of that too, because like that can, that can sort of get in the way of getting stuff done sometimes if you're too precise.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Remington Robinson
Artist))
I started a TikTok account and never posted, didn't post anything for about a year. It was just a blank account. And then one day I thought, you know, because I'd been making videos on Instagram. And then one day, I just put one of my Instagram videos on TikTok. Didn't even look at it until, I think I put it up in the morning. And then somebody said something about it like, “Oh, you're going viral.” And I thought they were joking. When I posted my first TikTok video,
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there was one viewer and I had two followers. And then by the time the evening rolled around, I had 786,000 views on that one video and 22,000 followers. To this point on TikTok, I've got 321.4 thousand followers. I use social media now
((Remington Robinson
Artist))
in the way that I post artwork that I've made that is available to purchase and I sometimes post murals and other artwork that's not available. But typically, I post it online on my TikTok and on my Instagram that generates interest in my work. And then later on, at some point, I will post that I’m selling my work on my website.
So then people will, who have seen my work, go to my website and they buy my paintings when they're available.
((Darcy Kitching
Collector))
I think that Remington produces art that not only speaks to what we love and live for here in Colorado, which is being outdoors, capturing the beauty of nature, but also just the whimsical spirit of, you know, a big imagination and really seeking the light, you know. I love how Remington always finds the right moment for each painting. So, he gets out there, whether it's
((Courtesy: Remington Robinson))
winter or spring or summer and captures just the right light, just the right moment.
((Shayna Larsen
Collector))
My daughter at the time was probably eight. She loves tiny things and she loves art. So, she asked if she could buy one and I said, “Yeah,” and she actually used some of her own money for it.
((Courtesy: Remington Robinson))
And then once she was buying one, I realized I have to have one for myself too.
The joy in this little box, it's not just his skill.

((Courtesy: Remington Robinson))
I actually felt the joy that that he felt potentially being there in this beautiful scene.

((Shayna Larsen
Collector))
And you cannot, you can't fake that.
((Courtesy: Remington Robinson))
((Remington Robinson
Artist))
Sometimes paintings only take like half an hour or 45 minutes because I have simplified everything in the scene and there's, maybe, there's nature scenes sometimes take less time. It all depends on what it is that I'm painting. This one, the one on the left, took maybe about 45 minutes. The one on the right took, maybe, two and a half or three hours.

((Remington Robinson
Artist))

I'm going to sign some of these paintings. I never signed them. Some of these miniature ones in the last few weeks.
Okay, this is a landscape of Boulder [Colorado]. There are the Flatirons [rock formations near Boulder, Colorado] right there, at sunset during a rainstorm. I was painting on the overlook off of Highway 93 in South Boulder.
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You can see a little bit of rain coming down there.
((Remington Robinson
Artist ))
Also, I used to sign my paintings with a pencil and I've been lately signing my paintings with a thread breaker or something, but I've been just scratching my name into the paintings lately. It's more precise.
((Courtesy: Remington Robinson))

((Remington Robinson
Artist))
I think the number one thing that inspires my art is nature itself. But then I also am finding inspiration constantly through artists that I admire, as well as other artists on social media. Some artists I admire that I find inspiration through are, of course, Claude Monet. A lot of painters are really inspired by Claude Monet as am I. I'm inspired a lot by James Gurney. I'm inspired a lot by my great-grandfather, whose name was August Biehle. He was an impressionist painter in the Cleveland area in the 1900s.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Remington Robinson
Artist))
I’m just setting up my tin so I can start another painting. I think I've done four and this would be my fifth one. No, I think I, no, this would be my sixth one. I did three yesterday and I have done two so far today. This is a brand-new tin. I don't always use the same colors just because I like to, I like to kind of keep it fresh and experiment a little bit. I do have a certain set of colors that I typically go by, or I mean if I use all my colors, I go in a particular order.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Lucia Detra
Step-daughter))
I like them because they're really small and compactable, so you can take them everywhere.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Remington Robinson
Artist))
I think I've gone through about 50 cans of spray paint and four or five gallons of house paint. Altoid tins and murals seem very different, but they're really not that different. It's really just constructing an image. One just happens to be very small. One happens to be very large. There is a different process for getting a really large image because you have to get the scaling right. So, like you can use a projector. You can use a grid system. You don't really freehand large stuff like you can with a small image.
((Remington Robinson
Artist))
So, I think for younger artists starting out, what I would recommend is find a niche of something
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that you like to paint but also something that sets you apart from other people. And whether you have a niche or not, it's important to keep creating what you're making and to make a lot of it. So, be prolific. If you really feel strongly about
((Remington Robinson
Artist))
your work and you like it a lot, then other people will like it too, I think.
((NATS/MUSIC))