Prep Work

I roughed in my first 7 paintings for the challenge. Five of them are ACEOs, one 4x4, one 5x7. None of them are much to look at, at the moment. This is the only one that makes some vague sense:

 

 I don't know why this app insists on rotating it.

Interestingly, this ACEO paper seems to dry faster than canvas. And I love my black gesso. It's a lot cheaper, especially on large canvas, to base coat it with black rather than using expensive oil paint to make a dark background. Not to mention it dries super fast.

Maybe I should explain what an ACEO is.  It stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals, and they're also called ATCs (Art Trading Cards).  You can browse the Art Cards site to check some out, and you can also find lots of them on Etsy. 

They have one main rule - they must be 3.5 x 2.5 inches, the size of a trading card.  Collecting them is a cool way to buy affordable art (they're affordable because they're so small), and support artists, without breaking the bank.  They can be any subject, any media, or mixed media.  If you make them, I'd be open to trading, just because it's fun :)

If you buy some, check to see whether you're getting an original or a print, just so you're aware. 

Because I'm trying to crank out 30 paintings in the next month, and because I've always wanted to dabble in making ACEOs, I plan to do a significant number of these this month in oil (mainly), watercolor, pastel, maybe colored pencil, and probably a few Zentangles and other similar stream-of-consciousness art (expect spirals... I love spirals).  You may even see wire show up on a few of them, since my main art at the moment is jewelry.

A good start, I think, and some of the work I've been doing for the past few weeks is close to being done too.  Wish me luck! :)