Artist Hideout

When I was about 9, I used to enjoy trading baseball cards. Phrases come back to me of “I’ll trade my Jose Canseco Dream Team card for your Nolan Ryan?”. I must admit I was a big fan of Nolan Ryan. Baseball fanatics today don’t know the love of the game that once existed. I’m not old enough to know it at it’s peak, but I remember the enthusiasm I had opening up a brand new pack of Upper Deck baseball cards and going through them and sorting out the “commons”. There is something about that I miss. Maybe it was the baseball strike that did me in for baseball. I really don’t know. I may have just turned my eyes to new interests. It was about that time that I began getting interested in art, so maybe it was a good thing altogether.

Trading cards have taken a different turn here in the last few 15 years though. Probably right after I collected the whole set of Desert Storm cards. It was happening then too. Now you can trade and find cards featuring everything from tv show memorabilia to the latest shoes. Of course there is the underside of that market too where people trade grotesque medical disorders and porn too. Oh the fun. Swap them, trade em, collect the whole set!

Gone is the originality and the art of the trading card. Until now….

I am pretty excited currently. I have ordered my first set of 15 art cards from www.artcardswanted.com with my artwork on them. I chose the painting “Storm Daises” for this.

It is one of the more recent paintings that I have received quite a bit of interest in when people have seen it. It’s very colorful and perfect for printing in vivid color on a trading card.

So I want to take you through the company website I am using to facilitate this amazing concept where trading cards and art come together.

ArtCards Wanted

Firstly, I love the fact that they post recent additions to the site in terms of Art Cards for sale by artists.

You can see this at the bottom of the front page of their site. In all, it comes across as a clean and easy to use design. I like this. I have been to art sites that are difficult to navigate and sell on. Initially, I have found ArtCards is good about taking this into consideration.

Once you register and get your free login you are presented with a whole new set of options on the left.

Now it took me a little while to realize this. When you sell cards. You have to have the cards printed first and in your possession. For instance I thought, you know I don’t have the money for this just yet and thought “hmm … I’ll just sell cards first and maybe try to make a little money first, then I’ll buy me a card of my own.”

It doesn’t work that way. Why? because they don’t do print on demand for orders for your customers. They print for the artist who then lists the cards for sale via their website. These cards are in the possession of the artist, not ArtCards. This allows for that personal touch between the artists and the buyer of the work. So the artist can sign the cards too. Nice feature guys! I really like this.

This adds to the rarity of certain cards. If the artist doesn’t want 14000 cards printed and delivered in packs all over the country, then they aren’t. Limited edition cards are worth more this way. An artist can say “I’m retiring this card” and never print any more of it.

One additional idea I might suggest is an artcard tracking number option for cards and a website where people could track their cards. Much like what bookcrossing does or Finders Keepers Art Project does on their blog with real art. Then an artist could give out the cards and people could register them somewhere and track where they go. Good idea?

Now, we get to the fun part. Putting together a card itself.

There are four different options to get you started. Click the image above to see these options larger.

I went with the set of 15 cards and was brought to the page where I could put together my card. I love the options they have presented here.

click that image above for a larger version to read all the options.

I did the “Storm Daisies” image with the front image also on the back with a 50% zoom for detail to be shown. I also put the title of the work, my name and the web address of Artist Hideout on the back along with a place where I could sign the cards once I get them. I also put a digital proof check in the box so I could see what they will look like beforehand.

Simple elegant interface that lends itself to creating without a lot of technical knowledge.

Art Cards also has a great tutorial for preparing your images to get the best results here.

I’ll report back when I get my card review and when I get my cards. I am excited to try this out.

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