Scaling down: My thoughts on ACEO paintings

 I’ve recently been working on some original ACEO paintings, or artist trading cards as they're also known. Basically they’re teeny tiny paintings the size of a playing card. I’d bought one last year from one of my friends, who’s also an animal artist, and thought I’d find it difficult to work on such a small surface. After all, my earlier work had been close to 150cm on the longer side, and I'd found it difficult enough to work with HALF of that a couple of years ago! In 2014 I gradually learned to work back at the standard A4 size, and I still use that now to some extent since it’s easily frameable, scannable, and the most popular size among buyers. I do enjoy sizing up now and again, but no more than A3 – I’ve had more than enough of MASSIVE paintings that I lumber myself with, thank you very much!
But getting back to the ACEOs, I’d been wondering whether they’d be worth a go recently, as I kept seeing them posted by my arty friends on Facebook and Etsy. After a little bit of casual research (read: pouring over the response other artists had been getting from their followers), I found there’s quite a nice market for tiny originals, since they’re usually very affordable compared to full-sized paintings, and it’s a nice way for fans of artists to collect something unique and special. They’re also enormously cute - perfect for dog illustrations! ;)

Skye Terrier Puppy ACEO

I’ve done four dinky little doggy watercolour ACEOs in the past week to see how I’d fare, and I’ve discovered two things: They’re properly addictive to paint, and people really do seem to enjoy them! One’s already found it’s new home, and the other one I’ve popped in my Etsy shop has had A LOT of interest, much more than my A5 gouache originals or even A4. It also gives me a fab opportunity to try simplifying my paintings in a natural way - there's only so much you can fit on an ACEO after all!

Little Sealy has found his new home already!

So onto the practical side of working with 2.5 by 3.5 inches of painting surface. It’s initially quite off-putting to downscale SO much, I admit. For me it’s easier to work with a rough sketch in a larger sketchbook and then move onto the actual card, much like I would when scaling up onto larger surfaces. Painting on a little surface like this requires quite a lot of self-control and patience (if you're anything like me, shaky hands occur surprisingly often when concentrating on teeny tiny details!), plus a very small paintbrush. I use a set I picked up for a few quid that’s intended for use as nail art brushes, and they work like a charm. The great thing about a little painting is that it’s very quick to go from start to finish, so if you had a lot of ideas ready you could easily do a few in a day.

Smile! Yorkie ACEO

I do think they’re heaps of fun, so it’s nice to have an option for those days when I just can’t face starting a big painting but want to work on something new. And to all my artist friends, I really recommend giving ACEOs a go too. :)

Comfy Freija ACEO