LADY IN THE FOREST ACEO

Another new ACEO, meet "Lady in the Forest"! I know, super generic title. I'd rather call my artworks 'Untitled 1', 'Untitled 2'.... because I'm not good at coming up with names lol. The card is made with markers and pastels on acid-free cardstock paper. The pastels give it a soft shade which is nice. The border was inked in April last year but I couldn't decide what to add in the center till this nouveau-inspired girl came about. Hope you like it. It is available in my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/listing/223593672/

ACEO - BLUE SUNDAY BEST

Finally came up with something coloured! Titled 'Blue Sunday Best', shoujo-styled, made with pen, markers and pastel, and then sprayed with fixative to keep the pastel on. She is already sold to a friend, just as I listed it. Thanks Kei!

This ACEO was sketched back in April 2014, while I was still in the US. Never got to complete her because I forgot about it and she got buried with my other prints. Also bought some new pastels lately and tried it out on this because the paper (Canson mixed media paper) has some tooth to hold the colour. I like the effect, the pastel colours are limited and a bit messy to use, but at least there is an additional source of colour in case I don't have the right shade of marker inks to do those graduating tones.

A WHOLE BUNCH OF ACEOS

These are the ACEOs I made in the past 2 months. Some of them are still available in my Etsy store so check them out if you'd like some original art to collect. They are all made with markers and pen. Thanks again for collecting my art!

"Phoenix III"
https://www.etsy.com/listing/181078597

"The Wizard of Oz"

 

"Beth and Greyhound"
https://www.etsy.com/listing/181813810

"Among the Lotuses"
https://www.etsy.com/listing/182029041

"Turquoise Fairy"

 

"Blue Rose Fairy"

"Leaf Fairy"
https://www.etsy.com/listing/182897179

"Outdoors with Cat"
https://www.etsy.com/listing/182019582

"Stairing"
https://www.etsy.com/listing/182887614

"Strawberry Plaids"

"Pop Floral Shoujo"

"Psychedelic Daisy"
https://www.etsy.com/listing/186322394

"Heliconia"
https://www.etsy.com/listing/187142307

 

"Delightful Aqua"
https://www.etsy.com/listing/187304207

DAISY & VIOLET SHOUJO ACEO

https://www.etsy.com/listing/181079469

https://www.etsy.com/listing/181067932

Just made two new ACEOs shoujo in markers and pen, available in my Etsy shop. ACEOs are art cards made in a standard 2.5 x 3.5 inches. I have been making a few lately and will be offering some on Ebay too! Since I am currently in the US till end April, you can expect a shorter waiting time if you reside in the US.

ROSE SHOUJO ACEO

Here's another new ACEO, drawing my favourite shoujo style! I'll probably make more.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/179693507

MORE TOADSTOOL CENTRAL ACEOS

https://www.etsy.com/listing/179681198

https://www.etsy.com/listing/179693037

I made 2 new art cards in my 'Toadstool Central' series, and haven't made ACEOs (non-customed kinds) since 2010! They have golden accents on the roofs as always, which cannot be seen in the scan. Available in my Etsy shop. My old ACEOs are on clearance and going for $10 each so grab them if you have any favourites!

GOTHIC BAUBLES II ACEO & CEMETERY PICS

My latest ACEO commission, thanks Jocelyn! This one is based on an early ACEO I made some years back entitled 'Gothic Baubles'. I drew quite a bunch of cemetery scenes back then! Love visiting cemeteries. Recently went to Singapore's largest cemetery (also the only one left that is open for burials and will probably be gone in the future due to land constraints). Here are some photos:

Christian section. There are government plans to exhume the cemetery for redevelopment.

The chrysanthemums I bought from the graveyard stall - christian section. There are 2 tented stalls side by side run by an old gentleman and old lady, they sell cheap bouquets, artificial flowers and windmills for you to place at the graves.

There were many stray dogs in the chinese buddhist/taoist section, I was a little scared that they might attack since they stared for a long time whenever we walked past.

Unmarked graves, only numbers. I'm not sure who or what they were for.

The whole lawn is full of even smaller ones, they could be foetus' graves.

I WILL BE ON LIVE RADIO!!

Yup The Breakfast Club on 938Live =)
I will be talking about art cards, ATCs and ACEOs live at 7.10am, 7 March 2011, Singapore time. Tune in if you are interested to know more about these little works of art. Thank you for the invitation 938Live, hope I don't mess up!

I have just added a bunch of ACEO prints as well (finally), giclee archival prints! The colours are nice and vibrant, on 100% cotton rag paper. Do visit my shop if you have missed my early ACEOs from 2007, they are in very limited runs of 25 to 35 pieces each. Here's the direct link to the prints category in my Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/lemonshortbread?section_id=5533573


Next, these are my latest original ACEOs:

Dryer Day

Sold to Terry, thanks!

This bunny was fun to make.

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Maybe It's Dawn

http://www.etsy.com/listing/68209455/maybe-its-dawn-original-art-aceo

I wanted a psychedelic quiet atmosphere.

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Slice and Dice

http://www.etsy.com/listing/68152015/slice-and-dice-original-art-aceo

This is just wierd.

WONDERLAND ACEOS

Made 2 other Alice in Wonderland themed ACEOs recently! They are available in my Etsy shop.

I love the part where she was too big to go through the door but could see the greenery outside.
Wonderland: Eat Me
http://www.etsy.com/listing/67768748/wonderland-series-eat-me-original-art

My favourite character in the story.
Wonderland: Cheshire Cat II
http://www.etsy.com/listing/67822743/wonderland-series-cheshire-cat-ii

3 ACEOS COMMISSIONED

I did 3 commissioned ACEOs recently, all are variations of cards made earlier. Thanks Jocelyn! They are created with markers and pen. ACEOs refers to 'art cards, editions and originals' in a fixed size of 2.5 x 3.5 inches.

Wonderland: Alice & White Rabbit

Wonderland: Queen of Hearts II

Star Maiden in Pink

I did the Queen of Hearts with more details (hearts) this time =)
If you will like any customised ACEOs or artwork, feel free to send me an e-mail: info (at) lemonshortbread.com
or send a convo msg to my Etsy shop at http://lemonshortbread.etsy.com/

MONEY IN, MONEY OUT ACEO

Markers and pen in ACEO-sized, 2.5 x 3.5 inches.

Year in year out, money in money out.

Nonetheless, here's wishing everyone a Happy New Year! =)

Available in my Etsy shop: 

http://www.etsy.com/listing/64234405/money-in-money-out-original-art-aceo

PINK HAIRED 80S ACEO

A followup to my previous 80s-inspired ACEO, this time in pink wavy hair. She's wearing purple triangle lucite earrings. There's probably one similar in my jewellery shop! And she has silvery eyelashes.

Available in my Etsy shop here: Pink-Haired 80s - Original Art ACEO

This is made with markers and archival pen. The background is more yellow with a tinge of orange, and the orange triangles are made with a new Pilot fluorescent yellow pen - the scanner ate the colours.

Before I forget, wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

80'S STAR ACEO

My newest ACEO card since Sept, featuring a 80s style girl. Pen and markers on cardstock.

Available in my Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/listing/64223868/pop-80s-star-original-art-aceo

She's half-inspired by Jem and Creamy Mami (both 80s girly pop music cartoons), I've always wanted to do fanarts of them but never had. Love the shows as a kid. Jem is a little soap operaish, Creamy Mami is mostly cute romance. They are both magical transforming girls, one with magical earrings, one with a magical compact.

Creamy Mami

Jem

Jem was the first doll I ever wanted, although in the end had to settle for a colouring book... wondered what happened to that. I also own a Creamy Mami colouring book.

'TOADSTOOL MARION' PAINTING

'Toadstool Marion'

Acrylic on canvas painting, she came about from an ACEO art card series called 'Toadstool Central'. Two of the ACEOs are still available in my Etsy shop! The yellow background is a pale mustard yellow, I love the combination of yellow and blue in that vintage sort of tone. On my recent USA trip I found an Art Deco era teacup in a similar colour combination and had to get it even though it would be a hassle to bring it back with me to Singapore. Will share about it on my next blog post.

The smaller mushrooms were a pain to paint, still not used to using finicky caked MALLEABLE wet bristles, not in tiny scale anyhow lol. The whole painting is only about 9.5 x 7" so the hard-to-reach parts were filled in using a toothpick. She is available in the Bear & Bird Gallery group art show too.

Toadstool Central 1

Toadstool Central 2

Toadstool Central 3

STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL ACEO

Just finished a new ACEO (art cards, editions & originals) yesterday! Entitled 'Strawberry Festival', made with pen and markers. The scan's a little faded for some reason. The artwork was inspired by the Sarah Coventry vintage brooch of the same name. I bought one last week because I wanted it for so long and finally saw one with the right price!! Now to get the matching pair of earrings lol.

Mmm so pretty. I love Czech glass fruities. It's the first fruit-related in my brooch collection lol (I collect flower power brooches maybe one day I'll show them all lol)

The ACEO is available in my Etsy shop here: Strawberry Festival - Original art ACEO

ROLLING TROPICS ACEO

A psychedelic artwork in markers and pen. I was watching a chinese historical drama while inking this and Akira Kurosawa's 'Dreams' while colouring it. I enjoyed 'Dreams' alot, it consists of 8 short stories based on the director's dreams and is reminscent of Natsume Soseki's 'Yume Jyuu ya' (Ten Nights of Dreams) which also had a movie made in 10 short stories by various directors; Kurosawa's was less absurd though. It's slow-paced and mostly talks about man and his interaction with nature with no apparent ending but I found it rather artistic.

Back to the ACEO: The double floral border was fun to draw, maybe I'll use it again on another artwork. ACEO refers to 'art cards, editions and originals' and are limited to 2.5 x 3.5" size.

It's available in my Etsy shop here:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=29842120

ARTCARDIST.COM FEATURE!

Huzzah!! An ACEO-ATC-ArtCard site just featured an article on my artworks =D

Visit Artcardist.com to read more: http://artcardist.com/gallery-2/vera-ma

Why art cards? Well this is an easier reference to 2.5 x 3.5" artist-created cards that can function both as ACEOs or ATCs. Usually ATCs are strictly for trading without intention to sell and ACEOs are strictly created for selling. Ditto if you are planning to join a specialised collector's club or forum. For people who don't want to choose a side (like me), the term 'art cards' is more convenient and speaks for itself, although I am currently only creating ACEOs. Everywhere else outside my Etsy shop/Ebay/blog I always call ACEOs 'Art Cards' anyway because no one understands what the acronym means!

For the uninitiated, ATC means 'Art(ist) Trading Cards' and ACEO means 'Art Cards, Editions and Originals'.

Many thanks to Corey Brown for taking the time to create the feature!