Years ago, I tried to start a group on deviantArt focused on getting a variety of different kinds of artists (artists, writers, sculptists, musicians, sewists, etc) to trade together. It was a bit of a challenging idea and maybe too vague at the time. It never really took off or had much of a chance to start.
I absolutely love Art Trades! I love working on and appreciating other people’s designs. I get to see things that I may not have done myself or thought to do. It’s always a fun experience to see what people come up with. I’ve made friends with people through art trades in the past and it’s also a nice way to make better friends with someone already. New people, new challenges, new ideas, what’s not to love?
I’m so glad I was able to try again on BlueSky. I’ve had a lot of fun designing a website using carrd:
The crazier part is that people JOINED. People liked the idea and participated. I’m over the moon that other people enjoy trading as much as I do. You can see trades done below with the hashtag:
There’s so much that I had to do to put together. A schedule, rules & guidelines, templates for posts. I basically had to make a rulebook for myself to adhere to. Overall, it’s been a lot of fun doing. I even made things on the side for the fun.
While working on this event, I ended up finding a sort of theme. A little focused on playing cards. The mascot, Jack Trade. Though sometimes, in my head, I call him Jaq de Commerce. Inspired by a Jack playing card with a beret on his head. I eventually decided to add ranks in the form of suits (Heart, Clubs, Spades, Diamonds).
Of course, I wanted to make a comic explaining how Jack of Art Trades works as an example, so I ended up making more mascots, Ace (red) & Deuce (blue). I cannot draw anything without giving things stories. So Ace & Deuce have their own personalities, too. Ace is more curt which can be offputting with clean sentences. He writes properly. Deuce is more emotional and excitable, preferring to type in lowercase. Sometimes messing up his words.
It’s maybe not my best comic, nor is it super accurate. But I hope it explains well enough. At the very least, I had fun making it.
I have always loved coming up with ideas & event planning. I still have more ideas for events later on that I hope more people can participate in, even if this event isn’t for them.