Hi everyone.
I have been drawing and painting for my own enjoyment for a long time now. Since early teens. But apparently I was living in my own bubble, never sticking my head out of it. I have remained oblivious to the concept of Artist Trading Cards. Someone, please educate me about them. What size exactly are they? What do you use them for? I don't really know what questions to ask. I noticed many people sort them, by subject or something else. Any knew knowledge is welcome. Thank you so much,
Mariya.

I'm fairly new to the ATC concept as well, having just done my first two this last month, so I'm no expert.

I did find that WIKI has an article on the subject.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artist_trading_cards

Artist Trading Cards (or ATCs) are miniature works of art about the same size as baseball cards and thin enough to fit inside standard card-collector pockets, sleeves or sheets. The ATC movement developed out of the mail art movement and has its origin in Switzerland. The cards are usually traded or exchanged rather than sold.

M. Vänçi Stirnemann originated the idea in 1996, holding trading sessions in Zurich, Switzerland.

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

While there are no firm standards that limit the size or shape of a baseball card, most cards of today are rectangular, measuring 2½ inches by 3½ inches (6.4 cm by 8.9 cm).

Here on drawspace.com, the two recent ATC activities I participated in, we used the postal service to send the card to each other. Personally I intend to find a fun way to display the cards sent to me from the other artists. Either a scrapbook, or even framed to hang.

Here's another good article on the subject - I learned some items here to include next time I participate.

http://painting.suite101.com/article.cfm/a...t_trading_cards

Things I learned...

1: On the back of the cards, the artist should print their name, contact information (an email address is fine)
2: On the back, the title of the work on the artist trading card, and a number if it is part of a series.

I never included an email, or numbered my cards for each series. I think I will next time.

Hi there,

Jazzmanian did a fine job of informing you on the subject

what happens here on drawspace is a topic is chosen, a week is given for sign up, the number of ppl who sign up is the number of cards required to make per topic in that month. The cards are standard size (standard size being 2.5x3.5 inches) for ATC, which is artist trading card and ACEO stands for artist card edition original. the latter are usually sold and go for good money too. A month is given to create and post your work. Computer artwork or printouts are NOT acceptable, all cards must be hand drawn.
usually between 8-10 ppl sign up per trade but trade numbers rise and fall as the months go by, this month we had 18 in the music trade. It was a great trade.
It is a great way to collect actual mini artworks from all over the world, to meet new ppl, make new friends and socialize here on drawspace. the medium is of your choice, the paper is of your choice, though most of us try to choose a paper that is sturdy. All you need to do is stick to the topic and complete the number of cards required, mail them by their post date and wait for them to start arriving.

many of us keep our cards in baseball card pages in an album. It is addicting as well

I think we covered it all and hope to see you join in a trade soon!

Thank you all!! Greatly appreciated.

If you want to participate in the one coming up let me know. I'm hosting it. The theme will be Countries around the world. Like you can do one country per card and attractions from that country. I don't know if you understand what I mean lol. Maybe because it's my idea it seems harder to explain it. But ya take for example England well I'll draw the flag with attractions like the Big Ben, Tower Bridge, Double decker bus, typical london phone booths etc well we'll see how much stuff I can fit on such a small card. I will go add the new topic after this.

I think I get it:
Russia - Matryoshki, St. Basil's cathedral
France - Eifel tower, grapes, cheese
Italy - Leaning Tower of Pisa, Rome, etc.
India - Taj Mahal, tea, so many other things.
Sounds interesting. What do I do from then on. Make the cards: how many? Mail them? Where? by when?
Thank you.

hello there, first go to the topic in the forum on the coutries atc trade, sign up, at the end of the week you will get to see how many ppl signed up and how many you need to make and when you need to post etc

I see some interest was expressed in ATC..I brought this back to the front so it can be checked out

Can you experiened ATC people give us newbies some tips. I doubled the size of mine on printer paper to lay them out and plan what I want to do as I am not used to working so small. I did my first one yesterday and found trying to hold onto it without smeering it hard. I feel like I need smaller hands. Is is better to tape it down to a bigger piece of paper or what. Looking for tips on downsizing or working on such small pieces. Thanks, I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew.

Hi Nancy,
You will do fine, no worries!

I like to work on a big sheet of paper, drafting film, birch plywood, etc. (for those exploring new supports, the paper should be thick like a playing card and have the same type of durability and stability)
Since I work in a small space by my computer, my paper is usually only big enough to fit 4 to 6 cards on it.
After I am finished drawing, I then cut out my cards.
Here is a picture of some of my safari cards on drafting film, before I cut them.

Click to view attachment

Hey i remember those paulette, that was a great sub theme!
Nancy when i first started drawing the atc's i found it difficult too..after you do a few it becomes easier.
You will be fine

I use a huge piece of watercolour paper and divide it up into the relevant size. When I've completed my cards, I cut them all out. I can get about twelve on one sheet. It's easier to manage than an individual card. I usually don't paint right up to the edge, leaving each card as a vignette!

Just found this pic, which shows the size of paper I use.

Click to view attachment

thats the way to do it, you can get a full work of art out of it as well