Swaping art for art :)

I got back on the swapbot.com bandwagon recently and participated in 2 swaps! I worked on a third today and thought I should share. Here's a little background. When I first began my love affair with photoshop and digital art, my canvas was usually about 12 by 12 inches. That is the size of a scrapbooking page and also about the size of my typical cafepress design. So,when I learned about ATC or artist trading cards... I was really kinda stumped by the smaller canvas! Only 2.5 by 3.5 inches?! How on earth was I going to work with that? Well, a challenge is usually envigorating so I tackled a few and really liked the results. Shortly before Halloween I joined an ATC swap with a Raven or Crow theme. Ooooo! Fun! But for some reason I couldn't seem to get myself to sit down and do it! Now you all now how much I love crows! I was a little confused by my own reaction. Now I think it has to do with my poor little T-rex arms...

I was not looking forward to manipulating tiny bits of paper, especially with glue on them! I have tendonitis and it sometimes thwarts my crafty urges. Anyway, I immediately felt motivated when I decided to go digital for the ATC. My inspiration came from this goth image from my youth...


Here is "Legacy of the Crow".


My next ATC swap assignment touched on another great inspiration of mine, Ancient Egypt. The host of the swap promised that we would represent many of the gods and goddesses in turn. But here is the first!
"Horus the Great".

The second one is very typical of my style, a little bit busy ;) The Crow card came out as I envisioned it but I was a little startled by the simplicity of my vision. Maybe my style is in flux? You can be the judge of that when I post the PLETHORA of paper rosette ornaments I am creating for Christmas. Heheheheh!
Until then, thanks for reading :)
Allison