Artist Trading Cards global swap!

The idea came from an outstanding American teacher, Nic Hahn (here her website MiniMatisse), with whom I share technical ideas and lessons from a few years. In this video, that we looked at together in class, Nic explains what are the “Artist Trading Cards”.

They are small works of art, the size of a playing card, (2.5 x 3.5 inches, or 6.35 x 8.89 cm) that artists from around the world exchange each other by mail. The project started from the school where Nic Hahn is working, the Hassan Elementary School in Minnesota, USA, which will host the international exchange of these special cards among students from around the world. Even my 8th grade students, have decided to participate in this exchange, and together we have created a hundred “Artist Trading Cards” to be sent to America and to exchange with other 100 cards made by students from different schools. They will arrive by mail in January, and I look forward for it.

We have created the cards with a mixed media technique to be implemented in five steps:

1. Collage: front and back of the card are covered with a magazine page with written. After, you add small pictures cut from magazines. On the back of the card you affix a label with name, age and origin.
2. Painting: on the collage, on the front of the card, you paint with various colors, in a free way, leaving you be inspired by the images and colors of collage
3. Colored pencils and markers: on the tempera paints, once dry, you draw some textures, written or freeform
4. Stamps: you can add small graphic stamps on the colored surface
5. Collage with words: you add one or two words cut from magazines, to make sense , or give a title to Your small work of art. At this stage we let ourselves be inspired by the colors, the sensations, the images evoked, or from the words that you can come across by chance through a magazine, and you recognize assonances with our card.

In the end, in order to make “solid” our card, you can add a thin layer of PVA glue on the surface, which will give a paint brilliant effect.

Here are our cards over, ready for shipment … United States, here we come!

1. Collage: front and back of the card are covered with a magazine page with written. After, you add small pictures cut from magazines. On the back of the card you affix a label with name, age and origin.

2. Tempera: above the collage on the front of the paper, you color with tempera of various colors, in a free way, leaving us be inspired by the images and colors of collage

3. Colored pencils and markers: on the tempera paints, once dry, you draw some textures, written or freeform

4. Stamps: we can add small graphic stamps on colored surface

5. Collage with words: you add one or two words cut from magazines, to make sense , or give a title to our small work of art. At this stage we let ourselves be inspired by the colors, the sensations, the images evoked, or from the words that you can come across by chance through a magazine, and you recognize assonances with our card.