What do I mean by "REAL", well I started on the 2.5 x 3.5 inch format with painting, but it was done with a view to selling them on Ebay - at which I was quite successful - so I knew them as ACEO's.
Reading about ACEO's I accidentally came across the term ATC and it was in connection with collage and mixed media, so to me real ATC's are mixed media/collage. Silly, I know, especially as I have written a Squidoo lens titled, Making Artist Trading Cards - 1001 Techniques</a> but we all have our little foibles. Now, now, no silly comments please! I am still making collaged ATC's several years later, which I consider my "style". I have toyed with other techniques but always return to the collaging.
Here are my latest pair, created for a challenge on PDA with a theme of "misfortune". I keep setting some corkers and end up having a hard time trying to make something to meet my own themes.
The first is titled, She had the misfortune to be drawn both ways
The second is titled, Miss Fortune, a very lucky lady.
If I am not posting much in the way of crafted art work at the moment it is because I am enjoying creating miniature acrylic paintings on ATC sized stretched canvasses.
I came across a box of these canvasses in a local book shop and though to myself, "I can use these". Well I did then bought some more, and then some more. It looks as if it might just have been a one-off as they no longer have any. I have tried to find a source on the internet but no joy so far; someone must do them. I have seen art on these miniatures in art/craft shops so I am not the only one who finds them worthwhile. The issue now is whether I can sell them on Etsy or Ebay.
Here are a couple of photos showing some of these paintings.
-and just to prove the size here is a photo of two of them on my laptop.
I think they would make a great present, each with its own tiny easel.
It has been some time since I did any collaging, things at home have settled down but my craft stash is all packed away and difficcult to access at the moment. I have been painting as you may know if you follow my blog Painting with John.
But here are two I have managed to do despite bonfire parties this weekend. The theme of the challenge was Weather, I chose to work with summer/sun. As usual. larger images are available on my Flickr account.
Enjoying The summer Sun
Enjoying The Sun With My Friends
They are not perfect but are a good start to rediscovering a favourite technique for creating art. I have seen imperfections since posting large sized images which I had wished I had noticed before. Do all artists find this with their art?
Here's hoping more will follow, I need to unpack my stash and get down to some real messing about with all my toys and materials.
I do seem to be rather inward looking on these blogs, always posting my own art - well that was the original purpose but perhaps I should take a step back once in a while. Like now! My wife is very creative in her own field -cooking; and when she showed me a batch of cakes I thought, "Wow, I just gotta take a picture of these".
Enjoy:-
And believe me they taste as good as they look. Now you will have to excuse me as I go for a cup of tea and a piece of cake. Do you remember Wurzel Gummidge and John Pertwee in the TV production. A favourite of mine as a young teenager, of course most kids of that age now would find it definitely uncool.
Inchies are not new, having been around quite a time but although I love working on a small scale I have never really gotten around to creating many. I made half a dozen for a challenge once upon a time. It was actually a challenge to create an ATC on the theme of squares and It seemed to me at the time that a set of inchies would just do the job if arranged on the ATC.
So what is an inchie. The answer is so simple and of course most of my readers will already know the answer. For those of you who are not really aquainted with the format, because that's what it is, I will explain. An inchie is simply made to an art format which is one inch square. Simples!
Usually they are a mixed media creation but not necessarily.
The reason for this posting is in fact another challenge and I thought I would do a quick search for examples and other mentions on the internet. It may give me some ideas and it would help anyone who has yet to come across them.
I came across this video on making inchie panels, or in other words sets of inchies which will fit together to make a larger image, which is then glued down to form a card similar to the one I show above.
The one issue I have with this sort of tutorial is that it is about selling a specific product, even the white pen is an INKTENSE white pen. I am quite capable as should any artist, of using the correct item without needing to know a trade mark. Of course advertising is acceptable in its place, but this sort of advert seems to say that if you want to make /create this you need this specific product. A step too far.
Well, I hope this gives you some ideas, if the format is new to you, maybe you will be having a go. I will come back with my own inchie adventures very soon.
This set of inchies is by Jean R Roman and was used on PDA group, Get your Art On which Jean moderates, to show potential traders what an inchie is. Note the inchies made with three-D embellishmenst which many of the earlier links do not include.
Still having issues with real life which are preventing me getting back to regular crafting but it is starting to ease off. These cards were created for a challenge/swap on PDA with a theme of Africa. It led to a number of very different interpretations as you can see on the PDA ATC blog.
I found most of the images on a Flickr group, Images FOR Africa, dedicated to providing images licenced by creative commons.
They both are collages rather than mixed media and have a humerous interpretation/title.
Stanley had an audience wherever he went.
Anything you can do .............!
Both very simple designs, but at least I am starting to make art after such a long hiatus due to personal issues. The former uses an image of Stanley shaking hands with africans and is overlayed by an image of a giraffe and two versions of the same painting of an african woman. I reversed it and altered the hue for contrast. The top right hand sports an image of a Mauritanian postage stamp.
The second has a background of orange tissue with a stamping on white card in the centre. After seeing the image of the painted warrior and comparing it with a zebra, I had to put them together.
Just had to brag about my latest purple star award from squidoo.
A little while ago I wrote about collaged gluebooks on a squidoo lens; this has now been recognised with a very much sought after award ( on sqsuidoo) - a purple star. I am over the moon. I always knew it was a good lens but never seemed to do very well in the site rankings. I am terrible at SEO and those other boring things which get your websites found on google. Antway, I feel vindicated.
Friends who know my work may recognise some of these images from books I have created, but if you would like to see more read the lens, collaged gluebooks or view my photostream on flickr.
Great fun to make and easy for kids on a rainy day. Any sort of book you like, a stick of glue or similar and a few magazines. Why not have a go yourself? You know it makes sense!
It has been a very long time since my last post. Mainly due to the issues of dealing with my MIL's estate after her passing away. I hope that I can now resume my artwork where I left off. The first post will be to show off a couple of artist trading cards which I have made in the sstyle of PG Gravele whose work I wrote about in the last post.
I entered a challenge on Paper Digital Art and Images by Kim and used Gravele's style to create a background to a short word as the theme was text. In both cases the title was the text on the card.
Unfortunately the images are not terribly good, taken late at night in poor light. I will try to get better photos which show off the metallic foil in the atc's and replace them.
On a weekend away the hotel we stopped in had as usual prints on the walls. There were some collaged art works which really took my fancy. So much so that I took a couple of photos, meaning to use the style as a reference for some of my own work. These were:-
In fact googling the artists name, PG Gravele, I found that he is considered collectable especially in the Midwest (USA).
I also found that many of his works are available through All-Posters, which is very worth while a good look if youe are into mixed media. I did a little research into collage in Fine Art for an article published on Squidoo, Collage In Fine Art which did not throw up this artists name. However, this was probably because I was reading the historical angle rather than looking for modern artists. I will have to review the research and consider a wider search.
I will definitely be considering some work of this nature myself and will post here when I am happy with the outcome.
It has been difficult to find time to post on this blog for the past few weeks because of a succession of illnesses and a bereavement in the family. Just to keep things flowing I hope you won't mind if I take stock of where I am with my series of Squidoo lenses (=web page) on the subject of ATC's.
My very firt Artist trading card in watercolour - sold on Ebay.
Portmerion, location for The Village in The Prisoner (TV series)
I originally started writing these lenses as a way of recording some of the research I was doing on the internet to widen my knowledge of the subject of ATC's. As a painter, I had discovered the format on Ebay and sold around 80 watercolour cards (ACEO's as they were sold!) within about 12 months or so. But of course I couldn't fail to notice the mixed media and collaged versions. These attracted my attention and I wanted to find out all I could about them -how many ways of making them were there? How should I display or collect them? Can I make and sell them? A lot of these answers were readily available and I joined a number of groups wher I became addiccted to swapping and forgot all about selling the cards. I now have a large collection and these lenses represent a personal view of this hobby.
A scultured artist trading card, made using layers of tissue paper.
There are four lenses which tell my story and record what I found on the web and these themselves link to other lenses which cover more specific information, such as tutorials for beginners and easy and free backgrounds for mixed media cards. The links to the main lenses are:-
I hope to go on adding to this tally and by so doing increase my personal knowledge and interest in this fascinating and addictive hobby. May you find something in these lenses which will be of interest to you.
I have started posting some old family photographs on to RedGage. An example is:-
The adults are my mother's parents. I accept that once a photograph is posted onto the internet it becomes fair game to some people, but I would be happy for these to be used in creating art. Only a few to be found there at present, but I intend to put a fair number on that page. Another example is:-
I am not even sure who these are, my mother had a collection of photos that she kept to herself for some reason.
Please feel free to visit my RedGage collection of vintage photographs to see if there are any of the photos that you feel you could use. I would be grateful for a mention and to know if you have used them but it is not a condition.
You might be interested to know that finding this collection upon my mother's passing, was instrumental in converting me into a collage artist. I have written about my first collaged ATC else where on this blog.
I posted yesterday of a new blog I am starting called Poems and Poetry on Life, as a starter for ten I have included what I consider to be my best 5 poems in a TOP 5 on best reviewer. This is really just a quick review of what I have been posting on the new blog but if quick is what you want, see what I think are my top 5 poems available on the web so far.
The other reason for this short post is to recommend Best Reviewer, actually a possible way of earning a little cash from on-line activities, especially if you have some thoughts on the sort of TOP x lists that might get lots of readers. If you want to join and make a few lists of your own why not try, register here.
But be warned this is not a get-rich-quick scheme, time patience and maybe lots of lists may be desired.
Due to issues at home my available time for crafting is very limited at the moment but I have managed to at least get this one ATC finished in time to enter this challenge on PDA. The theme was broken pieces and boy did I have a little fun preparing the raw materials for this piece. A small hammer was the tool and a clam shell (I think) was the main material, which I smashed into quite small pieces. The idea was to use this to create a landscape on the ATC with the mother-of-pearl side uppermost to show its natural sheen.
I call this "Hot on the Rocks", the background is a marbled paper from my PDA friend Lynda Gilchuck for which I am very grateful. The sun is a metal charm sold for embellishing cards which I aquired (legally) from a local Pound Shop. The title is of course a play on the words of that popular drink, "Scotch-on-the-Rocks".
I do hope that I am able to find time to get back to crafting/art regularly in the near future, I think that I am getting withdrawal symptons and getting involved in too many other things which will take time if I keep them up. For example, I have just started a new blog to cater for a new interest (well, a rediscovered interest really) in writing poetry. Something that has always gone hand-in-glove with my songwriting.
I have been busy with so many things just recently that crafting has taken a bit of a back seat. I have joined an on-line (free) art course. The artist is intending to produce one lesson per week over the next three years. A tall order but as an art teacher she believes it possible to create a course equivalent in content to a three year art school course. Without the final qualifications of course. The Art School - Learn How To Paint and Draw is only just starting, time to get on board, you can't lose. There is also a group on FaceBook to act as a focal point for contact between the members of the course and allow tutorials.
I have also started to take up my guitar again, seriously; and have attended what could be an inaugural meeting for a new Shadows related guitar group. First time that I have played in public and really enjoyed myself.
I have also been adding a few images to products iin my Zazzle store, hopefully a way of earning a little pocket money from my art. I thought it warranted a few examples posted on here.
A tee-shirt using a marbled paper design is the first:-
Most designs can be seen on a wide range of products which can be customised by potential purchasers. If you prefer, you can also see the same products in my UK Zazzle store.
I have recently joined the site Best Reviewer, which allows you to make top tens ( eg) for all sorts of things. My first top ten was the ten most popular methods/techniques for making artist trading cards. The top ten is probably quite subjective but based on a wide experience of cards found on the web so I do think the list is a reasonable attempt at ordering these techniques. Unless you know better?
I would love to hear from any artists who find the list inaccurate, it would help me to make it more objective. Many of us tend to stick to a short list of favourite techniques and I think that tends to colour our view of things like this. So if you have a view, let me hear it - please.
Art and Craft has taken a bit of a knnock for me at the start of this year but I am hoping that the issuesa which have prevented me from creating have run their course and I will be able to get back up to full steam. I have four new atc's to show off today. As with many of my creations nowadays three of them were made for challenges on PDA and the last came out of a session whilst I was trying to organise my stuff - which I am terrible at. Not a lot to say about them so I will simply put them up.
Milk Anyone?
This was to have been on a theme of altered photographs, I guess cutting them up and layering them does constitute altering but not in the way I had intended. I have recently aquired a book on altering photos and I was taken with a number of the techniques therein. But things got in my way and so maybe manyana. The building is from a (modern) postcard of a medieval merchants house not far from where I live, the young lady was from a photo of a painting. I added a little gingham, because it seemed rustic and the text across the top to complete the composition.
Some secrets are hard to keep
Can you keep a secret on the telephone?
The theme here was keeping secret. Lots of bits and bobs added to both collaged cards to tart them up a litttle.
Behind every good man.....
As I said I was trying to instill some order into my stash and thought, ah!!!! steam punk! I ferreted out the bearded man and a slighthly smaller image of the lady. They went together for me because of the direction sof their respective gazes. Just to finish off I found some ephemera and used some distress ink pads I had been given by a good friend on PDA, Jean.
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