I had never heard of ACEOs ("art card, editions and originals") or artist trading cards (ATCs) until my brother created this one, a great little self portrait. (He's even listed it for bidding on eBay.) These are essentially miniatures created by artists and traded amongst artists and regular folks, with a modern-day popularity, which can apparently be traced to M. Vänçi Stirnemann in 1997.
They're kind of like visual haikus, since the artists are limited to creating their work on a 2 1/2 by 3 1/2" trading card - for example, a baseball card. Though they're usually made on card stock, ATCs can also be made on all sorts of other materials, including metal, fabric, glass, wood and leather.
Interestingly enough, ACEOs are considered a spin-off of ATCs, since they were created for selling whereas ATC were traditionally traded. So there's some controversy among artists, since some believe ATCs were intended only for trading. Ah, it's the old "sell-out" argument again I suppose. I think if an artist wants to make a little dough off his work, that's his business (perhaps literally) and more power to him.
With that in mind, check out some examples below, and consider making a bid on me bro's work!
Related:
ACEO - site with auctions
ATC Gallery
Illustrated ATCs
Listing of my brother's work available on eBay
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