Original Watercolor Painting Blue-Gray Tanager Bird (ATC ACEO size, not a print)

Created using Daniel Smith watercolors, including Cobalt Teal and the new Joseph Z's Cool Grey, a beautiful professional quality paint. To help give a better estimation of color appearance, a variety of images are displayed to show natural light (photograph) and flatbed scanner lighting.

This miniature painting measures 2.5"x3.5" (standard artist trading card size, sometimes called art card editions and originals, ATC or ACEO). This size of artwork became popular about 20 years ago as a way to trade or affordably collect original paintings from a variety of artists. Any paints, brushes or other props in the photo are for decoration or material reference only and are not included. I do not sell copyrights with the original painting purchase, but if you are interested in reproduction rights there may also be a digital file version available in my shop with an option to pay for personal or commercial use of this image.

I use artist quality supplies including cotton watercolor paper, technical pens with lightfast and waterproof drawing inks and professional watercolor paints. How to care for your art: it is never good to let any original artwork or prints stay in direct sunlight, including where it shines in from a window. While most art can remain pristine in indoor lighting for over 10 years, all art or prints by any artist can fade from direct UV light over time. If longevity is of concern, photo albums and artist trading card sleeves for 3-ring binders are a great way to have a coffee table book of original art, while preserving your art for a lifetime. Watercolor paints are not waterproof, avoid placing in areas with high moisture levels.

History of the artist trading card: In 1997, M. Vanci Stirnemann, a Swiss artist, created 1200 cards by hand as part of an exhibit. He invited others to create their own cards and trade with him during the closing reception. There was a great deal of interest in this idea, and nowadays there are ACEO sales on Etsy, Ebay and ATC swaps all over the world.