ACEO/ATC Pastel Experiment

The painting here is one painting of multiple experiments!  We have a shamrock plant that has tiny white flowers on it and I've always wanted to try to paint them and I finally did it.  I also used this painting as a basis to experiment with 1) using pastel pencils on a very small  support  2) using PastelMat as that support and 3) steaming as an alternative to spray fixative.

Even keeping the pastel pencils as sharp as possible, I still had problems with this small painting.

ACEOs (art card editions and originals if sold) or ATCs (art trading cards if traded) have only one rule and that is a size rule - they must be 2.5 x3.5 inches (or 3.5 x 2.5 as in my painting).  That's a mighty small space to work in especially if you're as "ham-fisted" as I am.  My hands are pretty large which makes it very difficult to work in small spaces but I managed fairly well with this and am pretty pleased with the way it came out.  I could not get a super smooth finish but think that's as much the support as anything else.

Which brings me to the PastelMat that I used for this.  I've worked on this paper before (remember Belle?) and really struggled with it.  I had some difficulty this time also as it's nearly impossible to blend on it which is really my only complaint with it.  The nappy surface holds pastel extremely well and there's very little dust which is wonderful in my opinion!  I think the color of the support should be carefully considered though.  It seems to make a difference since you can't really "tone" the surface easily.  I used the Anthracite color for this painting although I used pastel on the whole surface.  

Although the PastelMat really holds the pastel, I decided to try to fix it more by using steam.  I wasn't sure how to do it exactly but I basically just heated a small pan of water until it produced consistent steam then held the painting face down over the pan.  The PastelMat is a card instead of a flimsy/floppy paper so I was able to hold it by the edges (plus this is a small painting).  I steamed it just long enough to get the surface damp but not wet.  The pastel did not permanently change color although it darkened until the painting dried (which only took a minute or less).

I don't know what, if any, benefit there is to steaming as the pastel will still rub off but I may not have done it correctly either.  There's no loose pastel dust but there was just a minute amount before steaming anyway.  I think I may have to try this with another support to fully gauge the effectiveness.  It would stand to reason that steaming would work as using water or alcohol in the painting process tends to compact and "set" the pastel.  If it does work well, I may invest in one of those hand-held steamers so I can steam without having to hold the painting while I steam it.

I hope you've benefited from these experiments and if you have anything to add, I hope you'll let me know.

ACEO Painting Frenzy

All images copyright Jan Gibson

As you can see, I've been on an ACEO painting frenzy in the past few days. Most of these are watercolor with the little kitty being painted in gouache.

If I ever finish my new website or find the right online sales site, these may hopefully find new homes! No matter, they were really fun to do anyway and even if I never sell any of them, I don't regret the time spent painting them.

Just in case you're new on the internet or to art on the internet or have been on an extended vacation and have missed it, ACEO stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals. The cards have become highly collectible because they are affordable art. The only rule is that the size be exactly 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches. This is the size of one of the sports trading cards and ACEOs will fit into those plastic pages with sleeves used for those sports cards. Many people put the filled pages into a beautiful scrapbook or dressed up binder and used it for a coffee-table book.

Other people frame their little masterpieces either singly or several in a frame and hang them on a wall.

No matter how you display the ACEOs, collecting them is fun and you can get the art you like at very reasonable prices. ACEO prices start at just a few dollars and climb into the hundreds depending on the subject and popularity of the artist.

These little cards are also additive to paint even though it's much, much harder to paint small than it is to paint large. I've had a running contest with myself to try to pack as much detail into these little paintings as I would a larger painting.

Sometimes I win - sometimes I lose but it's always fun!