Back when I got into woodblock printmaking a started with small trading card size woodblock prints to play around with. Great for low commitment idea generating and play. Seems that I am at it again but with watercolor painting this time. Tiny portraits and other small scale paintings.
A Klimt that I saw in Paris.
My daughter
I've been making small art cards as a way to help generate and try out new ideas for many years now. I have a collection of artist trading cards that I traded for, some that I purchased and I have sold many of my own. These days I am coming up with creative ways to give them to people that I meet. Seems like moving to a new country is a great chance to start giving out little tastes of art while practicing my skills in small low commitment ways.
On location I work small and/or quick with limited colors. People move around a lot and the scene changes, plus I am usually supervising my children and they may need me. I've gotten pretty good at picking safe locations that they enjoy and I can sit back and casually supervise them play while drawing but I still rarely have a lot of time to work on a drawing when I am out with them. In the studio I rarely work big but I do work slow and more complex. My sketchbook is filling up with these color explorations and exercises in patience. Each layer of color needs to dry completely before adding the next glaze of transparent watercolor. I feel my understanding of my watercolors and their colors deepening as I relax and unwind with these complex little paintings.
ATC next to a sketchbook page.
This morning I feature my favorite drawing, painting or print from my week. As always you can find more from my week on my Daily Drawing Tumblr. I spent the afternoon with the windows open breathing in fumes as I added transfer images to a bunch of cards that had either hand printed or painted designs. This one surprised me. I did it enough that my Blender Pen ran out of solvent and i had to stop for the night. But then my Inktense colored pencils arrived and I had time to experiment with those.
I traded for a lot of art and jewelry on Etsy back before my eldest daughter was born in 2007. Full sized work but also a number of small artist trading cards or ATC that I framed together and hung in my studio. It is like a little glimpse of artists hanging out together in a small frame. I love it and I want more! A 2014 collection?
