Artist trading cards (ATCs) come in all shapes and sizes, and can incorporate a variety of materials (mixed media). I tend to stick with the hand-drawn or hand-painted swaps, but sometimes, I step outside of my comfort zone and play with different collage techniques.
With this art challenge, you create 3 windows, 1 door, and a roof. In return, participants get five cards from different artists all around the world to build their own art house.
Immediately, a vision of a Wizard of Oz themed house popped into my head. I wanted to incorporate the main characters from the movie…and the final result was ‘the most popular house on Yellow Brick Road.”
Roof with Glinda the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch of the West
I knew I wanted the roof to represent the good versus evil aspect of the two witches. Glinda the Good Witch’s dress is decorated with metallic silver gel pen that shimmers in the light. The colorful lollipop cutouts in the window pay homage to the Munchkins of the Lollipop Guild.
Materials Used: photocopied characters, metallic silver gel pen, colored pencil, gel pens, watercolor pencils
Window with Dorothy and Toto
The only thing I drew for this card was the roses and leaves (separately), which I pasted underneath the window. The background is a premium craft paper design.
Materials Used: photocopied character and window, colored pencil, gold gel pen, craft paper
Window with the Tin Man
The Tin Man shimmers in the light because of the metallic silver gel pen used. The background is aluminum foil to really hit home the tin man theme. The curtains are made with paper towel dotted with a fine tip Sharpie pen.
Materials Used: photocopied character and window, aluminum foil, paper towel, colored pencils, metallic silver gel pen, fine tip black Sharpie pen
Window with the Scarecrow
Materials Used: photocopied character and window, gel pens, paper towel, colored pencil, craft paper
Door with Cowardly Lion
The window of the door is cut out, and the Cowardly Lion hangs out of it, with a little bit of texture since I used tape to create a slight 3-D element underneath his body.
Materials Used: fine tip black Sharpie pen, watercolor pencils, printed-out ‘209’, gold gel pen, tape, colored pencils
