Artist Trading Card Workshop

The  advanced Brush Strokes watercolor class just finished a two part workshop focusing on Artist Trading Cards.   Scattered throughout this blog are photos taken during the workshop. 

Artist Trading Cards (or ATCs) are miniature works of art about the same size as modern baseball cards, or 2 ½ X 3 ½ inches (63 mm X 89 mm), small enough to fit inside standard card-collector pockets, sleeves or sheets. The ATC movement developed out of the mail art movement and has its origins in Switzerland. Cards are produced in various media, including dry media (pencils, pens, markers, etc.), wet media (watercolor, acrylic paints, etc.), paper media (in the form of collage, papercuts, found objects, etc.). The cards are usually traded or exchanged rather than sold.

History

Artist trading cards were used throughout Europe and America as art training tools. Artists would trade the cards between themselves to study each others’ techniques and explore new art movements. The cards paid a particularly important role in the Impressionists art movement. The Impressionists utilized both sides of their artist trading cards, art on one side and a kind of brief resume on the other. The Impressionists were the first known artists to use the cards in trade for anything other than more art. Impressionists often traded the cards with art collectors in exchange for room, board, and art supplies.

M. Vänçi Stirnemann is credited in many circles with popularizing the modern artist trading card in 1996, holding trading sessions in Zurich, Switzerland. This resurgence of interest of Artists trading cards has spawned the popular ACEO (art cards editions and originals) movement. Many people consider art trading cards and ACEO cards to be one and the same. Others feel they are decidedly different pieces of art.

Clubs, trading sessions, and online mailart communities have largely replaced the original concept of trading the cards during individual encounters, and many ATC workshops end with a trading session.

Our class session ended with a trading session; and when we are rich and famous artists, we can proudly say that we own a work of art by a famous artist. 

My blog next week will show some of the individual ATCs and give instructions for creating ATCs of your own.

Happy Painting!
Karen

Archway to Spring

Archway to Spring
Watercolor 11" x 15" Mats to 16" x 20"


The watercolor above, Archway to Spring, is an excellent example of the use of various types of masking and resists.  Liquid masking fluid was used to mask the bars on the window frame, highlights on the rims of the flowerpots, and areas for flowers in the mass of greenery on the left.

A "resist" was used to apply color and texture also.  The resist I used was oil pastels; however, good old Crayola crayons could have been used as well.  . The oil in the pastels acts as a resist when the watercolor paint is applied. Roughly dash in leaf shapes using light green for the tallest bush and darker green for the in the foreground. Drag pale yellow streaks across the stonework under the window. Put in some orange on the bricks and the flowerpots. Put in some light tones of gray or black on the stonework under the window.

Watercolor Tip
Do not paint all areas of the paper - let the painting fade into “nothingness” with little detail on the edges.

Happy Painting!

Tickets, Anyone?

Tickets, Anyone?
Watercolor 11" x 15" Mats to 16" x 20"

The watercolor above, Tickets, Anyone?, is a corner Broadway ticket booth in New York City during the early hours of the morning when everyone is still in bed.  :)    The early morning light is filtering through the tall buildings from the right side of the painting.  Of course, one could put people in the painting, but I prefer to let the play of light on the architectural structures be the focal point.  My opinion is that people in the painting would detract from the painting.

Watercolor Tip:
Let the white of the paper provide the highlists and illuminate all the other colors and tones in the painting.    Leave the areas in full sunlight completely white such as the dome, the front part of the sidewalk and part of the right side of the ticket booth.  Lighter areas of filtered sunlight are on the left side of the painting including the top of the building on the upper left.  The right side of the painting is in shadow shielded by one of the tall building on the right.  Keep the colors on the right darker. 

The ticket booth is the focal point and all the surrounding buildings are vague and blurry.....my favorite style of paintings.

Try a street scene and remember - just because there is a building or object in a photo or on location, one does not have to paint it. As an artist you have "artistic license" and can interpret a scene in anyway you chose!

Happy Painting!

Gourd Harvest

Gourd Harvest
Watercolor 11" x 15" Mats to 16" x 20"

The watercolor above, Gourd Harvest, was an interesting still life to paint - with both challenging areas and easy ones.    

The Challenging Areas:
Painting the water-filled pitcher was the challenge.    Actually, the water was not painted at all, only the reflection of the items in the water.  The glass pitcher was painted by only painting the shadows and highlights. 

The Easy Areas:
Painting the gourds were fun.  One of the reasons that I love watercolor is the ability to blend colors seamlessly.  The gourds were based painted in the lightest shade of the gourd, then washes of darker colors were applied and allow to dry. 

Watercolor Tip:
Don't forget to paint the reflections/shadows of the gourds and pitcher.

Happy Painting!