Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Artist Trading Cards...

While at the local art supply store here in Asheville, True Blue Art Supply, we came across a pack of ready-cut artist trading cards. Instead of getting five for $2.50, we decided instead to get a full sheet of illustration board and cut it ourselves. (It ended up working out to be 60 cards for $4.75.) So far, only Cynthia and I have gotten a chance to make some. Each of us got ten cards. All ten of mine are shown in the above picture. I had a lot of fun making these. I experimented a lot with different techniques and played a lot with pen and ink. I started out by collaging the backgrounds, building up layers of colors and patterns, and then doing quick portraits accentuated with ink splatters and drips. In some of them, I went back and added iridescent paint. It was a really fun exercise to help open up my creativity and get me back into painting again.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow Andrew! I love them. It sounds like you are having a wonderful time with your family. Enjoy the special moments you are sharing with them.

laurelmoon said...

Those are beautiful! What a great creativity exercise.

Andrew Thornton said...

Thanks Norma! Thanks Lauren! I am having a great time. I think that one of the ways of making good art is to be relaxed - or rather at peace with yourself. One of the ways to get "relaxed" is to do quick work to get the creative juices flowing again. It's kind of like mentally and artisically stretching!

Amanda said...

I may not have read back far enough in your blog to know this, if you've already posted about it - but is your entire family artistic? Your sister is, obviously. You're fantastic. Was this some sort of recessed gene that only appeared in you two, or do you come from a long line of artists?

The artists' trading cards are exquisite - I'm really loving the first card on the second row, the purple one.

Andrew Thornton said...

Hey Amanda! All of the siblings are artistic. Even when my brother was around, he was really good. And as you know, Sheila and Cynthia are both artists. As for the great heraldry of artistry in our family, the need to make ends meet was paramount. My mother and grandmother were pretty crafty, but they still had to devote themselves to the family first.