What is ACEO?

ACEO stands for "Art Cards, Editions and Originals" and they are being created and collected by artists and art enthusiasts around the world. The best part is, being only a few inches in size, it makes it possible for those of us who don't have a whole lot of wall space to become art collectors.

No matter what your taste, there are ACEOs being created all over the world just for you! Watercolour, acrylic, pencil... folk art, realism, surrealism... animals, portraits, landscapes... the styles, mediums and subjects are limitless.

A word of warning! Whether you are creating them or collecting them, ACEOs are highly addictive. Since discovering these miniature masterpieces just over 2 years ago, I have lost count of how many I have created.... the exact figure is somewhere in excess of 200!

Up until a few years ago there was no such thing as an ACEO. There was and still is however, the ATC or Artists Trading Card. As the name suggests they are miniature works of art (the same size as an ACEO and standard trading cards) which artists trade among themselves. A sort of business card which showcases their abilities among the art world.

It was only very recently (in 2004) that an artist called Lisa Luree (Ebay ID: bone*diva) realised the general public were missing out on fantastic miniature masterpieces and decided to make ATCs available for sale. Since Artist Trading Cards are only for trading purposes, a new name was needed and so the ACEO was born.

Limited Editions are prints which are limited to a set number of copies. 100 for example.

Open Editions are prints with an unlimited amount of copies.

Naturally originals tend to be worth more than a print. Some ACEO collectors will only buy originals whilst others may not have a preference. It's always worth making sure that you know whether it is an original or an edition which you are considering purchasing. Thankfully ACEOs are (or should be) all clearly labelled with regards to this.

Ummm.... Yeah! As long as your art meets the size criteria it can be created from absolutely anything! The more common mediums are acrylic, watercolour and oil, and the more common supports are any type of paper but generally anything goes!

The only limit is
your imagination!

As ACEOs are on the small side it's important to use the right tools for the job. If like me you prefer using good old paints then a good selection of small brushes are definitely on the list of things to have.

It's also a good idea to use brushes which are suited to the medium you are using. Synthetic hairs are best for acrylic or oil and squirrel/sable hair are best used with watercolor.

Framing

One way of displaying your ACEO is to frame it and hang it on a wall. The example to the left is of one of my ACEOs in a wooden frame with 2 mounts.

There are a lot of different styles of frame available on the market to choose from, and recently a lot of smaller sized frames have started to emerge....Or maybe I've just never noticed them before! There's oak, metal, plastic, glass, thin, deep, wide, bevelled. Frames which display 1, 2, 3, 4, or even 9 together! Of course it's entirely up to you how you frame them and the possibilities are endless.

Display Books

If you are an avid collector then framing may not be such a good idea. Eventually you'll run out of wall space so a good idea here would be to frame a few and store the rest in a regular trading card display book or folder.

As ACEOs are the same size as trading cards they are ideal and you can either buy a ring binder and buy the display wallets/sleeves seperately, or buy ready made display books. Either way, both consist of PVC-free plastic pages which can hold 9 ACEOS each.