I recently picked up the book Tiny Experiments by Anne-Laure Le Cunff. Her thesis is that it is better to design small experiments that prioritize curiosity, discovery, and learning rather than setting big goals. Those can often lead to anxiety and overwhelm. As an ambitious person myself, I have often burned out and abandoned my projects when they became too big.

I have a number of experiments that I want to do, all related to making art. I picked artist trading cards specifically because they are small and I can iterate fast. I’m already 4 days into my 10-day experiment and it is already revealing some unexpected results.

I’ve been painting the same theme (orchids) with watercolor but in different ways. In one set of cards, I added detail using colored pencils. In another, I used the backrun (or bloom) technique to produce areas of interest.

Doing this as a tiny experiment feels freeing. I think a big part is that the goal is not about making 30 ATCs. It’s about iterating, allowing failures and mistakes, and learning something from it.

I like that it is time-bound to only 10 days. Because at that point, I’m pretty sure I will have learned something and I’ll be ready to move on to the next experiment.