Artist Trading Cards with Monsters & Textures

These monster artist trading cards are so easy and fun to make that students will have no problem making several to trade with their friends or give away. Once you see the easy step-by-step tutorial you won’t be able to make just one!

What is an Artist Trading Card?

Artist Trading Cards are 2.5×3.5 works of art on paper that artists can trade with each other. Sometimes there are organized swaps between art teachers.

Art Supplies

This quick and easy lesson takes advantage of Expressive Monkey’s Monster Adjectives: Fun Drawing & Texture Art Lesson. The picture below shows the Roll & Draw page.

Start with 2.5x 3.5 cardstock. (ATC or Artist Trading Card size.) This drawing set has utilized the bottom of the page as the monster’s body, so all that is needed is a line for the top of the head and monster features. The last column is the texture of the monster. I drew with a pencil, first, then went over my lines with a Sharpie marker.

The picture below shows 4 different sample monsters and the Roll & Draw page I used to make the artist trading cards.

texture monster roll & draw page with 4 sample artist trading cards, drawn with black Sharpie marker

Next Add the Texture Rubbing

demonstrating the texture rubbing process using a file folder texture rubbing plate

To make a texture rubbing, you’ll need a textured surface and colored pencils. You can use store-bought texture plates, or make your own using my tutorial. I’m using Maped colored pencils, which have 2 colors per pencil. They are also triangular, so they are less likely to roll off the table. You can find Maped supplies here.

Make the Borders with Marker

showing colored marker around the edges and what happens when the edge of the marker is softened with a wet paintbrush

I outlined the edge of the page, top of the head and some of the features with a colored washable marker. To soften the edge of the marker, I painted the marker with a wet brush (just water).

Everything is Better with Googly Eyes (well, almost)

Another option for this lesson is to use googly eyes. I like the kind that peels and sticks.

Want to Learn More?

How To Make Texture Plates

Monster Blog Posts

The Benefits of Drawing

Click on the image to get your free infographic!

Use this infographic to display in your room or share with parents, administrators, or other teachers as a way to point out some of the academic benefits of learning to draw. While they are not the only reason for using drawing as part of a balanced curriculum, they are certainly worthy of celebrating and may help you advocate for including drawing as part of your art or classroom learning experiences.

You can read more about The Benefits of Drawing in this blog post.

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Art Lessons, Art Techniques, Mixed Media, Texture in Art

Stacey Peters

I create engaging drawing resources that help students build confidence and express themselves through art. I'm a former elementary art teacher of 25 years turned business owner. Giving you the tools you need to bring more drawing into your classroom brings me joy.

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I create engaging drawing resources that help students build confidence and express themselves through art.

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