Artist Trading Cards

Artist Trading Cards, also known as ATC's are a fascinating bit of art. About the size of a baseball card, they're intended to be mini bits of artistic expression - and always traded, never sold. You can read a bit more about the specifics at the Wikipedia article.

ATC's are made in every kind of medium imaginable - paper & ink, fabric, polymer clay, mixed media... it is a fascinating and amazing little niche in art. I think of them as inspiration starters - there's really no wrong way to make them (save the size, which is fixed), and it seems that they'd be an amazing way to jumpstart your creativity. I know I've gotten some amazing ideas just surfing through photos - try doing a Google Image Search for ATC or Artist Trading Cards.

I've not made one yet, although I'm itching to. I've started assembling supplies, and talking to people about it. To help out in this area I've started a Gallery site for trading purposes, and a mailing list for ATC related chatter. If you are interested in either please email me at atc_info at gundo.com. Anyone who makes or is interested in making ATC's is welcome to join, but membership will be approved first.

Join us! I'll send out an email with info on how the Gallery site will work, and a login so that you can create your own folder of cards you'd like to trade, as well as photos of cards you've made and traded previously. The email list will deal with all sorts of questions about the Gallery, as well as discussions on ATC's and art in general.