Small Art

I made some small abstract watercolour pieces recently.

 

They are the size of Artist Trading Cards (2 1'2" x 3 1/2").

They would also work on the front of greeting cards.

I created them from a larger piece.

I got the idea from Ceecee.

Here is the 6" x 9" piece I cut these from.

What Can I Do With All Those Gelli Prints?

I often try and ask Mr. Google this question.  The best answer, as usual, is within me.   

Recently, I had a whim to print with gold paint on black paper.  I made an artist trading card (above), and a few Christmas cards (below). 

October Artist Trading Cards

Fall is firmly ensconced in the rain forest, and it is Thanksgiving in Canada next weekend.  There isn't much art going on in my world as my spare time has been spent doing a major clean out of art supplies.

I did manage some ATC's, some of which included some collage bits I stumbled upon in the clean out process!  I used watercolor crayons on a gelli plate to create the backgrounds and Inkadinkado and Cornish Heritage Farms stamps.  I have an old John Bull printing set that I used to make the word "October" and stamped that on washi tape.

Opposites Attract

Suddenly, in the midst of working large, I got the urge to make a small, handcarved stamp.  

I immediately used it to make some artist trading cards for our local swap.

Tom Cat ATC's

These are a few of the artist trading cards I made for the local swap last Sunday.

More Men in Hats

ATC, Markers

It Didn't Start out Purple

Artist Trading Card, Markers

For these value studies, I thought I pulled out the same gray marker I used in my last post.  The barrel of the marker is gray.  It went on gray.

By the next day, it had dried purple.  And what's more, it isn't actually this grape colour, it is more magenta.  Usually my scanner is good with colours, but not this time.  These really are "magic pens", as advertised, only in a slightly different way!

Men in Hats Artist Trading Cards

Markers

Some men in hats jumped out of the journal and onto artist trading cards for our July swap.

After doing one in colour, I decided to play with values:

Good Samaritan 5

The Good Samaritan 4

ATC, Markers

The Good Samaritan 3

Artist Trading Card, Markers on Card

The Good Samaritan 2

Artist Trading Card, Markers

The Good Samaritan

ATC, Markers

I've started a new Artist Trading Card series - The Good Samaritan.  Once again, these are drawn with markers, this time on plain white card.

I'm surprised at how much I like playing with markers; I have a lot of makers but I haven't really used them much.  It may be because of the card I'm using.  The hostess for our swap works in a printing shop and she makes blank ATC's from the off-cuts.  They are very smooth and thick, which turns out to be perfect for markers.

What Are You Reading?

These are the final two (for now?) artist trading cards for the swap this weekend.

Sharpie and other markers on gel print

What Are You Reading?

Artist Trading Card, markers on gelli print

What Are You Reading?

Here are a few more Artist Trading Cards done in Sharpie and other markers.

What Are You Reading? - 3 More ATC's

Each one of these takes about 10 minutes to draw and color, once I have the gelli print background done.  

I use a Sharpie marker for the drawing and then use regular markers to add colour.

What Are You Reading?

Artist Trading Card, Markers on Gelli Print

What Are You Reading?

Artist Trading Card, Markers on Gelli Print

I received great feedback on my "Let's Do Coffee" artist trading card series, so I've begun a new series featuring people reading.

More People Do Coffee

In preparation for the Vancouver ATC Swap tomorrow, a few more people are having coffee.

I drew all of these little coffee shop scenes with a Sharpie onto scrapbook paper.

I then added colour with regular, water based markers.