Almost every artist I know who also works in sketch cards (and has a blog/website) has written a post regarding what a sketch card is. It’s not that it is a hotly debated topic, but it is one of the most common questions I get asked at conventions and exhibitions when sketch cards are my number one presentation piece.

I was first introduced to sketch cards in 2006 when I went to Birmingham Comic Con. My dad used to collect cigarette cards and Doctor Who trading cards when he was young, so I was drawn to the memorabilia stands which had similar items. I noticed one or two expensive cards and thought they were rare TCs or just limited edition autographed pieces, but as I looked closer I realized these were original, hand-drawn pieces of art. I couldn’t afford any of them at the time of course (I was a university student and had probably already spent all of my term text book budget on comics at that very convention) but I remember thinking how affordable these little pieces of fine art were.

A few years later I was in The Kubert School of Comic Art and me and some of the other students were on the annual pilgrimage to New York Comic Con. Conventions had not yet grown to this size and scale back in the UK and just browsing the aisles of this convention was enough to give you an introduction to the business of art. We were all encouraged to help out at The Kubert School booth for at least one hour over the weekend, to give us an idea of how to work the convention floor, speak to customers and deal with the hustle and bustle of a huge show. One of the tables at the end of our aisle had decided to leave early and I remember a bunch of entrepreneurial random people setting up at the bare bones desk and selling sketch cards, which they sketched up at lightning speed so as to make a quick buck before the convention staff caught them and told them to leave.

I ended up landing my first sketch card job in 2013, for an independent British company called Cult-Stuff (Beyond Stoker’s Dracula). I soon found a vast online community of indie publishers, artists and collectors who kept this unique discipline alive. And I learned quickly that it was a discipline. Similar to traditional comic book work it required you to draw within the limit of a confined space (and at incredible speed for some of the deadlines you were issued). You still had many artists who focused on the ‘sketch’ part of the description and would create quick tiny artworks, usually with only pen or at least without colour – but most artists in the field would do fully inked, fully coloured pieces in record time in order to make the process financially viable (sketch cards do not pay well!).

I soon realized that, due to the often tight turnarounds, large runs (at least for the bigger companies like Topps, Cryptozoic and Upper Deck)  it was not a great place to earn a living. But it was a great place to practice your skills, meet other artists, gain clients and work on some impressive licensed characters. Consequently after eight years in the business I can say I have worked with DC, Marvel, Fox, IDW and Dynamite – as well as working on Batman, Superman, Red Sonja, Ghostbusters, Spider-Man, Firefly and X-Men!

What is a Sketch Card?

Anecdotes aside. Sketch cards are one-of-a-kind, hand-drawn, signed pieces of artwork on a small piece of card (usually 2.5" x 3.5" – though this can range up to ‘oversize’ cards of 3.5" x 5"). These are also known as ACEOs (Artist Cards, Editions and Originals) or ATCs (Art Trading Cards).

Many artists offer PSCs (personal sketch cards on their own stock with a printed back, or just on a cut out piece of card) but the most commonly sought after sketch card is one which has been commissioned by a company for their trading card set.

These trading card sets (eg. Cryptozoic, Upper Deck, Perna, Topps, Breygent) sell small packs of printed trading cards, each with a one-off unique sketch card inserted into the pack at random. This encourages collectors to communicate (much-like in the days of schoolyard Poggs and Panini stickers) in order to collect artworks from their favourite artists or of their favourite characters.

Some sets will allow artists to create ‘puzzle cards’ which are a series of individual cards which add up to make one fully realized images. These are usually marked with the notation 1 of 3, or 1/3 on the back of the card and make the cards highly collectable.

There is little to no limit on how sketch cards can be produced. Some artists choose to stick to pencil, pen or marker sketches; while others go full colour with markers, paints, pastels or even spray paint. I have even seen several artists do 3-D sketch cards, lino cut sketch cards or even etched into metal. Card companies have their own rules when it comes to materials, colour and posing, but most of the time if it will fit into a pack, and it has been sprayed so it won’t get damaged (or damage the other cards in the pack), then you can do it.

Working as a Sketch Card Artist

While I meet a lot of people at conventions who may not have heard of sketch cards, most of those who I describe them to tend to fall in love with the idea. A lot of fellow artists even want to try their hand at it. One of the first things I say to these artists is that it is not a well paid gig in the short term, but can be in the long term once you build up a client base.

When you land your first job on a sketch card set, you are usually sent a set of rules and regulations for the art which you can produce. This can range from rules on nudity, violence, restricted styles of art, black and white vs. colour, character inclusion and much more. With a Marvel product, for example, you might be told which versions of character costumes you can include (whether or not to use film versions or comic versions) or which characters you can’t include due to licensing agreements (one day I will get to draw Gambit!) It is very important to follow this list to the letter or your cards will be rejected and you will not be paid for them.

Some companies will give you an option of how many cards you will take on, often with a minimum card requirement. Smaller companies may only ask you to contribute 5 – 30 cards with a five month time frame. Larger companies may ask you to draw a minimum of 50 cards within only two months(!) This turnaround as well as the price they quote you per card will ultimately guide you as to whether you will want to take the job. The other thing which might sweeten the deal is APs.

APs (Artist Proofs) are blank cards provided by the company as part of your payment. Oftentimes these are just blank cards the same as the rest of the set you are working on; but sometimes companies like Upper Deck may stamp the card with a foil ‘AP’ or give you stickers to stick on the back, or even have a separately printed back altogether to help the AP stand out from the normal insert sketches.  These are cards which you can draw on and sell at your own price. This can be either done on a commission basis where a client requests a specific character/pose/costume etc. or you can draw them in advance of promoting them. Either way, the art will still have to be signed off on by the company so you need to be sure to keep in communication with them.

In this way, APs can be a great way to make back the finances you may have lost spending time on low paid cards, as you can set your own price for them, spend more time on them and they are rarer than card insert art. So the inclusion of these as payment in a sketchcard contract is also an essential part of choosing whether or not to work on the set.

Payment times can also vary. Some companies may pay you as soon as they receive the cards though this is rare and most companies will only pay you once the card set has been published and released, as such you could be waiting months after handing in your artwork until you are paid or allowed to show off your art to the public. In that sense it is very similar to working for a traditional book publisher.

All in all, working as a sketch card artist can be a very rewarding job. You get to fill your portfolio with officially licensed, recognizable IP, gain experience working with professional companies, prove that you can work to deadline and spec and even gain a loyal base of collectors and commissioning clients; but as with so many aspects of art it is best to keep this alongside other work. 

More About My Sketchcards