I thought it was time to start a page with my favorite swap sets and themes! This page is for my favorite 4-5 images from each theme. (By date, with the most recent first.)
Steampunk with Beehive Hair, March 2015
Calliope, Elsa, Jasmine, Francine
Geisha Style, February 2015
Sayoko, Yuki, Tika, Ooni
Flapper Portraits, January 2015
Betty Lou, Virginia, Geraldine, Phyllis
Animals in Fancy Clothes, April – May 2014
Lady Mrowr, Lady Hisst and Sir Thom Kyatten, Duke of Dandelion
What we have here is a love triangle. Two sisters and the object of their affection, the Duke of Dandelion. (Also, Lady Hisst is sure she was adopted.)
Themed Mermaids, March 2014
1970s Vampire Mermaid, Pirate Mermaid, Mermaid Marie, Android Mermaid
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen
Themed Mermaids!
Spirit Masks swap, Februry 2014 (click to enlarge)
Bear Clan Princess, The Herbalist, Shaman of the Vale
Fire Beetle Clan, Spirit of the Forest, Raptor Clan
Spirit masks is a really great theme! A great opportunity for some wild animals and crazy accessories. (My mouths have been improving at this point, too. Thank goodness.)
Fairies and Folklore Swap, February 2014 (click to enlarge)
Ella the Pixie, Dame Edwina, Nunu Thistlewaite, Maire the Elf Maiden
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen
Fairies and Folklore is always fun! I really love the little bird on Ella’s hat.
Fancy Dress Swap (Actually, Victorian & Other Elaborate Feminine Costume – as terribly named by me!)
Nov 2013 – Jan 2014 (click to enlarge)
Frederica, Tudor Portrait, Cecille in the Portrait Room, Leah at the Abbey, Patricia Sweeting
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, gel pen
My most recent hosted swap at illustratedatcs.com, which should have been called “Fancy Dress” from the start (but I guess I wanted to be much more specific). A perfect kind of theme for tiny details.
Trees Swap, Jan 2014 (click to enlarge)
House with Orange Door, Treehouse of the Bird Maker, Red Tree Hollow, Posh Treehouse
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, ink (red tree is acrylics and ink)
Trees Swap – some whimsical treehouses for an early 2014 swap.
Snow Queens, December 2013 (click to enlarge)
Snow Sister, Wise Helene, Hjordís, Bronweyn of Galac Clan, Anistasia of the North
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, gel pen
Snow queens! Always a great swap theme with its mostly monochromatic palette and fun possibilities with costuming.
Halloween 2012 & 2013 (click to enlarge)
The Ghoul Monk, House with Witch Hat, Zombie Sheep Monster, Spook the Cat, Witchy Boot Village, Lydia’s Kitten
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copic markers, fine liners, gel pen
Over at illustratedatcs.com, they do a week long Halloween art-a-thon every October. These are some of my favorite Halloween themed ATCs. (A few more appear below in the Tiny Houses set. )
Tiny Houses, Sept 2013 and ongoing (click to enlarge)
The Clever Inventor’s Shed, Candy Corn Cottage, The Peapod Apartments, The Pitch Inn, Cat Hag’s Shack, Housedress
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, gel pen
The tiny houses were inspired by some of my cityscapes (below). These are just a few of many! You can see all my tiny houses at the 100 Tiny Houses project.
Cityscape Swap, August 2013 (click to enlarge)
Daydreaming City, The Village of Little Sprout, Penny Farthington, Her City Hair, Toad Hamlet, Eyeline
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, gel pen
One of my favorite subjects! I really wanted to do a swap after I started doing some of these cards, but someone else beat me to it. Arrgh! To see all my tiny cityscapes to date, I have collected them in this Flickr set, The 100 Cityscapes Project. (I want to do a poster out of this and other sets, but it’s just an idea with no concrete plans so far.)
Birds, June 2013 and Dec 2013 (click to enlarge)
Harmony Finch, Lionel Shoebill, Horatio Red, Maureen in the Jungle, Peach Crested Hawk, Rupert Blue
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, gel pen
Mostly done for a Birds swap, the last guy was made a bit later.
People of Planet X Swap, June 2013 (click to enlarge)
Winnie the Wonk, Murmak, Melba, Darla Two and A Space Riddle
Each 2.5″ X 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, gel pen
Some of my favorite cards were produced for People of Planet X. The final two pictured still live at my house! I won’t do all their stories again (you can find some of them here), but here is the Space Riddle: “Is it a blind cat alien wearing the eyes of a lizard? Or is it a lizard alien surgeon wearing the facemask of a blind cat?”
BONES Swap, June 2013 (click to enlarge)
Cat’s Eye, Arturos and the Witch’s Eye, Tikki Skull, Red Skull and Lizard
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, gel pen
Less cute than most of my subjects, the Bones swap turned into a pretty cool exploration of giant eyes and fancy backgrounds, which continued into the next swap, People of Planet X! (Both swaps were run by AnnD, and they were so great!). Lots of progress pics here.
A favorite tale, for the Tikki Skull image, above:
This carved and painted image was discovered hermetically sealed in the hull of a 19th Century steamer wreck. It is in fact just a small fragment of a six foot by eight foot fresco that featured hundreds more skulls of varying sizes, no two with features exactly the same. A sixty pound volume found beside the huge piece identified this image as the “Tikki Skull” and alluded to magical powers it could bestow upon a human, provided the asker was willing to allow an alien creature into his body for a short period of time.
Scientists of the time could not identify the wood from which it was made, and the whole of the artifact disappeared in the 20th century.
People of the Forest Swap, May 2013 (click to enlarge)
The Last Lizard King, Lavender Rabbit & Friend, Juvenile Forest Imp, Llama Girl, Bear the Wise
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copic markers, fine liners, gel pen
People of the Forest was the second swap I hosted and one of my favorites of all time. It also inspired many other “People of” swaps, run by others, like People of Planet X, above. The story of the Last Lizard King, as well as a photo of all the cards submitted for this swap can be found in this post.
Gargoyles Swap, April 2013
Each 2.5″ x 3.5″ Copics, fine liners, white gel pen
Gargoyles! Cute plus creepy can be a fun mix.
Thanks for visiting! Do you have your own swap set page? Link it in the comments!
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You do such fantastic sets – incredibly coherent but diverse at the same time, with each card have its own personality. I had forgotten all about Bear the Wise, but he is kind of the greatest. Your skulls for the Bones swap SO rocked!
Thank you! The Bones and the People of Planet X I really loved. This whole ATCs business but especially iatcs has really inspired some great things. I need to add more sets. I would also love to see pages of other people’s sets. I wonder if there’s some way to start a trend. :D
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Fun page — I love the idea of an art swap! Your figures are so whimsical!
Your art is SOOOOOooo incredibly INSPIRING.
Hi! I teach elementary school art. Every year the 3rd graders study George Rodrigue’s Blue Dog. They create their own arbitrary colored dogs, usually with full bodies. Your art has inspired me to have them make dog portraits this year — but just the busts. I think that your art will be inspiring to our young artists. I look forward to sharing the results with you. Thank you.
You’re such a creative, talented artist! I love how colorful your illustrations are. I’ve been a fan for years now when I first stumbled across your mushroom houses ATC set on Pinterest. Keep up the amazing work!
I don’t know how I missed this comment when it was posted, but on the off chance you come back or see this message, thank you so much for the kind words! It is early 2021 already. I have been trying to learn to paint portraits in a more traditional style the last few years, but just in the last couple days have decided to return to my first love, imaginary animals. I don’t know why I didn’t stick with them all this time. I am also at cindydauer on Instagram, which will probably be updated more!