Saturday, January 24, 2009

Why Do I Make ACEOs?

I was an art major in college, and painted in my spare time for several years after graduating. As I got busier and busier, I spent less and less time on my art. Before I knew it, a dozen years had gone by and I’d done no artwork at all.

Trying to restart my art was tough. How would I start again? Browsing the web in 2006, I discovered other artists who were making wonderful little artworks called ACEOs and the idea intrigued me. How could anyone make artwork that small? I was used to working large. Making something tiny seemed impossible. Of course I had to try.

A couple of ACEOs later and was hooked. I loved them! They gave me a way to restart my art on a scale that fit with my schedule and studio space. Little did I know how challenging and enjoyable these tiny artworks could be!


See mine here:



LifeNeedsArt web site

ACEOs on Flickr

Purchase ACEOs


The next question is...why do YOU make ACEOs?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing. I miss painting, but like you don't have the time to do a big project. I'm going to look into this. :0)

lifeneedsart said...

Thanks, Stacey! If you try them, let me know or post a link here. I'd love to see them.

Helen Harris said...

I started to do ACEOs after doing work for Artomat.org (slightly different size & vended from refurbished cigarette machines!)I also found that they were affordable and popular with the online shopping venures like Etsy & Artfire. I sometimes do them as preliminary studies for larger work

lifeneedsart said...

Thanks, Helen, that's a good point about ACEOs being preliminary studies. I do the same thing. I have a handful of ACEOs that I've made that I just can't sell...I use them for inspiration too often.

AnnRan said...

I discovered ACEOs in late '06 and have been hooked ever since! I work small anyway 5x7, 8x10 . . . so 2.5 x 3.5 was intriguing. I found out about them on eBay and saw there was a market for them. I like ACEOs because the small size makes them portable (if I'm working in pencil or color pencil) and they don't take as long to do as larger sizes. I've also purchased a fair number of them. It's a great way to collect a variety of original art at an affordable price!

lifeneedsart said...

Thanks for the note, PaintDog. Good points about ACEOs being portable and affordable.

Unknown said...

I'm a digital artist, and first starting making ACEOs to add smaller, lower-priced items to my 'real world' shows and exhibits.

A bit later, I offered them in my Etsy store where I've been lucky enough to sell dozens of them.

Despite requests from buyers, I've learned that not every image works for the tiny, ACEO format; but, it's a great showcase for art that shows well 'small'.

I love 'em!

Thanks for this great post!