More ATC's

 This past week have been working on more ATC's. This time I thought it might be interesting if I worked in a series. This would allow me to try various techniques with approximately the same design using different colors and textures to develop the finished work.

First step was to decide on the theme, I selected Hearts, not quite sure why it just seemed like a fun theme to explore. Then to provide some continuity to the card design I sketched a prototype card.

I didn't go into a lot of detail, after all I would be putting in those on the cards themselves.

The first card I did with pen and colored pencils and hated it when I had it done. I actually tore it into little pieces and didn't bother scanning or making a photo of it before I did, so you will just have to take my word for it that it wasn't very good.

At that point I though about giving up and not making any additional cards, but I realized I wasn't quite ready to do that. I wanted to make at least one ATC with the Heart theme that I actually liked, so started over with a new blank.

Hearts#1

I sort of like this one, but the background isn't really what I had in mind when I started it, the yellow is a bit bright, and I am not sure the green swirls work. Then there is that blue. Repetition is one principal of design, and it really isn't a good idea to introduce a color and use it only once. I really think this would be a better design if I had been able to put the blue in another spot, but the blue was the last color I added and I wasn't able to put it anywhere else. An advantage that acrylic and oil paints have over pencil or even watercolors, you can rework an area with a different color if you find you don't like what was done.  

So it was onto another card:

Hearts#2

On this one I used more ink to provide detail, I also left some areas without any color. But I find the plain background a bit boring. Still I didn't want to add another color so I have just left it as is with the texture of the applied pencil creating some interest. Since I wasn't satisfied with the background on this one I decided to try at least one more time.

Hearts#3

The card above is the last one I have done so far, not much color and much more pen. I used stippling for the background texture and some crosshatching to darken the interior of the hearts to give value contrast. So far this one is my favorite though I probably spent less time creating it then I did the others.

You can see that each card is a bit different from the original design. I played with size, orientation and placement of the hearts on the surface as I created each card. Right now I am not sure if I will continue playing with this theme or not. Not quite sure I have finished exploring what I can do with these shapes on a surface. Actually I am thinking about moving some of this exploration onto fabric. Comments and suggestions would be gratefully received.