And · this · is · yours.

Anyone looking for something to do on New Year's Eve? I was thinking of hosting a nerd party with movies, video games, and table top games like Heroscape, Warhammer, Magic the Gathering, and the like. But unless I know people are going to show up I don't want to put work into getting things ready.

This post is all about why I love art cards and why you should, too.  First, a word from responsible work ethic: I am working on art cards -and- commissions today, and I need to color icons, too!  Woo, post-holiday catchup!  Thank you, responsible work ethic.  OKAY ENOUGH OF THAT

Since I draw these a lot, I thought I should make a post to tell people who might not know about art cards about them!  If you already draw art cards, I invite you to link to your work in this post!

Art cards come in two flavors, ATCs and ACEOs.  Both of them are 2.5″x3.5″, trading card sized pieces of miniature art.  The difference is in what’s done with them.  ATCs were the original concept, intended for trade among artists, which is why they’re Art Trading Cards.  Some people decided they wanted to sell their trading cards, and came up with a different name, to avoid stepping on the toes of the folks who trade ‘em.  ACEOs are art cards that are for sale.  It stands for Art Cards: Editions and Originals.  Possibly, it also stands for ART CARDS: ELECTRIC OCTOPI but probably not.  Some people sell print editions of their art cards, and some people sell originals.

You should collect these!  Lots of artists draw them, and I bet a lot more would draw them if you threw money at them and asked them to draw on a 2.5″x3.5″ sheet of cardstock.  It’s an inexpensive way to get original art, and they’re pretty easy and fun to trade for, too.  You can find art cards on Ebay and Etsy, and there are online and offline groups dedicated to selling, trading and making these things.  Because they’re trading card sized, there’s already a ton of protective sheets, sleeves, binders, etc. geared toward collecting them.

You should draw these!  It’s addicting! It lets you put down ideas as quickly as you can come up with them, and have a finished piece to show for it.  I like drawing small, and enjoy the challenge of setting up fun compositions within the limited format.   You can cut your own blank cards, or buy packs of art paper already cut to the right size for dirt cheap.

Here’s a new art card group on deviantArt - http://aceo-atc.deviantart.com/

Here are some art cards I finished!