Halloween Artist Trading Cards

ATCs by Phillip Hoyle 2017

The past five years I have been hanging out with artists who have a visual interest in the dark side that I don’t share. Of course, I’ve been around long enough to have my own dark times: the taste of depression, grief over deaths of relatives and loved ones, the end of a fine marriage, leaving a rewarding career, and continuing concerns over the wellbeing of ex-wife, kids, and grandkids. I’ve been with many other people through their losses.

But I don’t like the horrors of Halloween, haunted houses, scare stories, and things that go BOO in dark places. Something in my body says NO to these images that thrill others. I am rather Pollyanna-ish but still I know life is more than the bright side of things.

Eclipse Spider ATCs by Phillip Hoyle 2017

My Artist Trading Cards for this October did involve a lot of dark images—the lunar eclipse, many black widow spiders, even white spiders on black backgrounds. I combined these spiders with some Day of the Dead skulls but avoided the walking dead, bloody fangs, and other such dark images.

Ghosts in my library ATC by Phillip Hoyle 2017

Oh, I do realize the power of the dark but choose to walk on the sunny side of the street in full knowledge that the sun is present only one half of the time. I accept the balance but still I would rather laugh and play within the full sun of loving relationships. In my teenage associations with Native Americans I learned to dance in full daylight to celebrate the eternal mysteries and the beauty of costumed movement. I’ve learned also to dance in the dark to seek a certain kind of mystical intimacy with a partner, to hide certain aspects of communication that seem too precious for open view. But even then I want a candle shining in the dark like a beacon of love, life and, of course, laughter. I like to giggle in the dark.

Laughter—light or manic or simply jolly—leads me to worship Luna as well as Helios, but the cult I most pursue is that of Apollo. Welcome to my sun on this dark eve.

©30 October 2017

ATCs Ones I'm not going to trade

White Spider ATC by Phillip Hoyle 2017

When I go to the Artist Trading Card workshop this week, I am not taking this card. I'll call it my no-trade card. I've made lots of spiders to trade this October. In fact, most of the 45 cards I'm taking this week are spiders. But when I finished this card, I decided to keep it.

Most of my spiders are black, their bodies treated with a craft product, Glossy Accents (available in craft stores near you). The clear acrylic creates a 3-D look. The spiders look like they're ready to crawl off the page onto your hand. That's kind of Halloween creepy to me. they are fun to drw on a variety of backgrounds.

Last month I tore out a bunch of ads from magazines to treat variously for making ATC college grounds for cards I was approaching without a real plan. Among them ws a man's black pinstripe suit. Last week while looking at it I decided to cut it into triangles to fit together. It was fun to create and looked nice to me. With spiders on my brain I decided to imagine it as a web of sorts and draw a white spider on it. My research has discovered spiders in an amazing array of colors. I liked this one so much I decided to keep it for myself.

Halloween ATCs by Phillip Hoyle 2017

Among other cards I made in the past week, ghosts came back into the picture and other new spiders. So I will trade "Giant Ghost House" and "The Three Creeps." 

And I look forward to the costumed neighbors who next week will be begging at our door for treats. Perhaps their costumes will inspire new Halloween art for next fall. Have fun. I'm planning to do so. Oh, take time to make an ATC or two and find someone to trade with.

I save a few cards, at least one a month, to enter into the Artist Trading Cards display at the Denver County Fair Art Show.

Creepy Artist Trading Cards

Ghost in my Bed ATCs, Phillip Hoyle 2017

Although my ATCs tend not to be very creepy, a lot of other artists made very creepy cards. I like humor over gore wuss that I am. I was a childhood fan of Casper the Friendly Ghost although I also liked the designs of the bad boy ghosts who caused him trouble. I'm sure it's a quirk of personality. But I was happy to trade about 30 cards on Saturday at CORE New Art Space. The artists really love October for its Halloween and Day of the Dead themes using the same themes each year.

Eclipse Spider ATCs, Phillip Hoyle 2017

Walking up 17th Avenue on the solar eclipse day I noticed strange and beautiful shadows on the sidewalks. Luckily I had my camera and so took shots up to Clarkson then down the alley and on up 16th Avenue. I realized the designs were the shape of the sun as the eclipse continued to make it smaller and smaller. I was thrilled to see the eclipse a hundred times at a glance while never threatening my already weak eyes. I began taking the photos to make backgrounds for spiders. Here are a few of them that I traded on Saturday. Oh, Happy Halloween. It's just over two weeks away!

Ghosts in my Library, Phillip Hoyle 2017

Halloween Artist Trading Cards

Artist Trading Cards mixing Halloween and Day of the Dead images
mixed media Phillip Hoyle, 2017

Here we go again, making preparations for two Halloween and Day of the Dead ATC swap meets. I'm trying to stay ahead of the game since both have the same theme. That demands more cards, but I anticipate the high level of participation and excitement. In these two Denver groups these themes seem to be the most enthusiastically awaited. I know some people have been working for weeks!

ATCs in mixed media. Phillip Hoyle, 2017

I too have been working. I copied the lining to some old shorts I was giving away, ones with Day of the Dead lining, then made generations of copies on printing paper. Then I made a sheet of spider web drawings and copied it over the first copies. After mounting and cutting them into ATC size (2.5x3.5") I used ink to draw an assortment of spiders from the Halloween eerie tradition. 
I even drew several spiders from the backyard. Enjoy.

Quoth the Raven

Raven ATCs, Phillip Hoyle 2016

Finally Halloween has arrived! I've been stuck on those images for weeks and will enjoy moving on. But I wanted you to see a few raven cards. I think they actually look more interesting and even a bit ominous in hand than in these scans, but that's the way things go. 

I took 29 Halloween cards to last Thursday's trade. As usual the Halloween theme prompts artists to create many bizarre things. Mine usually look a bit tame. Guess it's all in the imagination, but I took plenty of creepy spiders and several of these large black birds. And I came home with funny and frightening images for which I traded. 

Halloween ATC's, Phillip Hoyle 2016

Tonight I am preparing to hand out lots of candy. Last year we had over ninety begging 'Trick or Treaters' come to the door. We're expecting a big group this year since the weather is so mild. 

Denver, 2016

More Halloween Artist Trading Cards

ATCs by Phillip Hoyle 2016

My ATC fever for Halloween has led me down creepy ways. Here I say “boo” or simply scream loudly to unsettle my artistic reluctance. But I did make more cards. I suspect you will see even more next week. I stuck with spiders and hope to make something of ravens. Check out this latter idea on Halloween.

The black and orange backgrounds were made from crepe paper that I wadded up and glued onto matboard scraps. I used glue stick and then a wooden roller to make sure the thin paper adhered. Then I drew with jell inks and glued a few other things on them. And I enjoyed the work.

Hope your Halloween plans are leading you into both fright and frolic. Make both artistic.

Denver, 2016

Out of Focus ATC
Phillip Hoyle 2016

Halloween Arts and Crafts

Halloween ATC by Phillip Hoyle 2016

I'm sorry to be so late and to have such a craftsy ATC to show. I'm hard at the work but am making backgrounds for some spiders that are more complex and more artsy! Also I will be making some ravens that I hope will be more omnious than this little spider fellow.

But what do you expect with googly eyes. Sometimes children come to the trades. Perhaps one of them will want this googly eyed spider with an eye for a body. I showed it last night to a friend who said she loved it! Art. Does anyone really know how it works for us? As soon as I finish the eighteen or more pieces I've begun, I'll have to do the front porch. I have a couple of boxes of goodies to choose from. Probably I'll work in all of them. Hope you are making your plans for receiving the neighborhood hobgoblins.

Oh what an October.

Denver, 2016

Halloween Artist Trading Cards

Artist Trading Cards by Phillip Hoyle 2016

The people I trade cards with seem to be crazy about Halloween, so much so that both groups I trade with have the same October theme: Halloween or Day of the Dead. Every year!

I knew what to expect but always wonder what I will care to do. I'm not particularly interested in scary things. Perhaps I'm just too nervous for that. Like a couple of other years I decided to make spiders. Looking online for images I thought, among other selections, to click on orange--orange spiders, that is. So I could have Halloween spiders. 

The trade went well. I returned home with only one of my own spiders plus quite a few cards made by others in the group. Ghouls, goblins, jack-o-lanterns, skeletons, and much more. I'm happy for it will help get me in the mood to decorate the front porch and room in preparation for all the little ghouls and goblins that will ring the doorbell on October 31. And when they ring the bell, a hairy grey spider will drop from its perch to startle them.

More spiders by Phillip Hoyle 2016

Happy Halloween. You have only three weeks to get ready for tricks or treats.

Denver, 2016

Halloween Returns

Haunted Houses and Ghosts Artist Trading Cards
Phillip Hoyle

You may have to get close to the screen to see the printed house outlines in the five black Artist Trading Cards. I printed red on black and had to highlight them with thin lines in white pencil. The photo doesn't make it quite clear enough. The white figures (eyes, teeth, and hair) are done with paint and white gel pen. 

The ghosts were cut from a photo of a geyser and with tiny holes punched out. They are mounted on a cut-up painting, acrylic washes on watercolor paper, a painting in which the brown got too brown for whatever I was trying to do that day. 

The trade last Thursday evening was fine. I traded over thirty cards and collected some winners! These ATC artists love Halloween and Day of the Dead for the wide variety of often weird images they suggest. One woman came dressed in a black robe and interesting feathered mask. We shared cards and food, and then made cards for another hour and a half. What a nice celebration.

This weekend I decorated the front porch with spiders, bats, and spiderwebs. We put pumpkins, spiders, bats, and lanterns in the living and dining rooms. We're almost ready to receive the young neighbors begging for treats, and we've got enough chocolates and Skittles to upset the hardiest stomachs. More and more the little ones are accompanied by costumed adults. Last year we had 86 kids at the door. We're ready for even more.

Happy Halloween.

Denver, 2015

Halloween Art

Spider ATC's by Phillip Hoyle

I have acquired quite a large collection of Artist Trading Cards, the result of several years of trading these baseball trading card-size pieces of art with other artists. As a result I’ve had to increase shelf space to accommodate the growing number of ring binders in which I store them. Still, by comparison with two other collectors who have over 22,000 cards, I’m only a beginner.

In the collection I have many cards related to Halloween and Day of the Dead because these topics are always the October themes of the two trades I attend. Thus I have collected cards of glowing jack o’ lanterns, witches in pointed hats, flying bats, black cats, spider webs, and so much more. There are skeletons wearing party clothes, flying ghosts, ghastly ghouls, walking dead, on and on—designs I don’t particularly groove on yet ones that have become increasingly popular in American life and entertainment. 

Eclipse ATCs by Phillip Hoyle

On Saturday I took several sheets of gloomy ATCs to a trade at CORE New Art Space in the Santa Fe Street Arts District. My themes were spiders, the moon on a dark night (actually the lunar eclipse a couple of weeks ago), and the word BOO. I had other new cards as well, ones I prepared in case some folk should not be so deeply into fright. While I don’t find the topics exciting, I did look forward to the creativity of the Halloween enthusiasts. The October trades generally bring out larger participation!

Even though we did not have anything like a record-breaking attendance, I did take home about thirty cards--really nice ones: clever, arty, skillfully made, funny, weird, and always creative. Check on line searching for Artist Trading Cards, Denver to see more cards and, if you like, get a mild artistic scare.

Boo ATCs by Phillip Hoyle

Denver, 2015

Spider Mania

Spider ATC by Phillip Hoyle

Perhaps I am just trying to emulate the enthusiasm of some of the artists I hang around with, but I found myself making more preparations for Halloween Artist Trading Card swaps. In addition to the spiders I made last week, I have made even more. These critters are on orange grounds made from photographs of shadows of fall plants as they appeared one night on the sidewalks in my neighborhood. The street lamps cast an orange glow. I added spiders! Don't get scared or have spider dreams.

Spider ATC by Phillip Hoyle

I drew spiders and then added a clear coat to their bodies to give them depth and a creepier look. I think it added just what I wanted. At Saturday's ATC swap several people thought the spiders were stickers I had put on the cards. I explained that they were drawings with a spot of shiny! I traded all 18 of the spiders on orange! I was pleased; also I am enjoying the many cards I brought home from the trade.

Spider ATC by Phillip Hoyle

Spider ATC by Phillip Hoyle

Spider ATC by Phillip Hoyle

I also traded all but two of my black and white spiders. (See some of them in last week's post.)

Halloween is coming; get your costume ready. I, too, will be busy because I am proposing more sheets of spiders, these as Sci-Fi characters.

Denver, 2014

The Holiday Approaches

Halloween spider ATC by Phillip Hoyle

A few posts ago I warned that Christmas is coming. I made the public announcement in order to motivate myself. Thankfully I got all my cards printed and am ready to rework my mailing list!


But of more imminent concern is the quick approach of Halloween, which concerns me not because of a costume. I won’t dress up this year. I don’t worry over candy; my partner takes care of that. But I do go to Artist Trading Cards swaps twice a month, and every October the theme is Halloween and Day of the Dead. The people I trade with get intensely interested in images related to human death—sometimes grossly, sometimes humorously. Usually for the October trades I have made miniature masks (2.5 x 3.5 inches) inspired by primal cultures or made up on my own. But this year I have turned, at least initially, to spiders. 

Take a look at the cards, but don’t get scared. I’ve been observing these interesting creatures as I clean the house and yard. I hope what I’ve done entertains you.



Denver, 2014