This is going to be a deck to look out for...Good stuff, indeed.

Thank you for your kind words Sunish

Let me start off stating this is fantastic work. The scale of the faces and use of color is pure eye candy and makes my eyes water in anticipation to see more.  Impressive stuff and I feel I could brag on these until the cows come home.  Now I'd like to give my two cents for some considerations for refinement and, in the end, it all comes down to unity/harmony.  All the face cards have free floating hearts in the design (so this doesn't refer to the hearts used within the portraits).  The Queen and King have 4 while the Jack only has 2.  Why?  The Q & K also have hearts extend beyond the red block background while the J doesn't.  (Personally, I love that those hearts extend beyond the edge of the red background and even wondered if, instead of being the peachy/pinky color, let them be white with a red border where the heart extends into the white. That way they pop like the eyes of the portraits do.)  I love how there are 2 hearts in the K card that kind of define a neck and collar.  Could that be implemented on the other face cards as well instead of random hearts floating in the hair of the Queen and provide an extra needed set of hearts for the Jack?  Those are my suggestions as minor as they are.  Looking forward to seeing this deck in my collection.   

Thank you Helshawk for your kind words and great feedback. I like your suggestions and I agree that the floating hearts need attention, they've been playing on my mind for a few days - Updates to follow

These past few days I've been busy painting clubs, which has given me a clearer picture, even though I'm merely 'half-way' in terms of colour schemes (and just at the beginning of the road in terms of the deck) I find that as a project or body of work progresses - individual works start to dictate the direction and adjustments needed to bring them together as a whole. It is one of the things I really enjoy about creating a deck of cards - alongside fresh eyes and feedback from great people in the card community

First: Ink drawings of the royal clubs:



Painted Jack and Queen:





Still working on the King

*wave*

I don't know much, but I know what I like and I do like where you're going......

Thank so much Eddie, glad to hear

Hi all,

I've made a start on a new deck of cards, which I'm hoping to share with you as it evolves ... from inspiration, to drawings, to cards
At this stage, the deck doesn't have a name or a release date - though as things progress, both will hopefully become clear.

This design is all about faces and colour, where my aim is to create a fully custom, playable and surreally happy deck of cards.

Inspiration ...
I am fascinated by faces and love drawing and painting them in all shapes and forms. From detailed drawings to expressive paintings and colourful designs, faces have appeared in my work for decades ... While working in clay I developed a range of wheelformed pots with whimsical faces - bowls, mugs, jugs and teapots ... 





The ink drawings below are in part inspired by their old three-dimensional friends - and the starting point for new and colourful characters to emerge. Lines translate a multitude of shapes to bring out the essence of each individual face. Once painted, the colourful and segmented artworks bear a slight semblance to wood/lino-cut printing - with a nod to playing card history - as kings, queens and jacks face the same way as the (originally wood-cut) standard Anglo/American faces. Colour plays the role of connecting the 13 cards within each suit; where red is for hearts, yellow for clubs, green for diamonds and blue for spades.



Playing Card Design ... starting with the Courts

I always find that starting with ink on paper gives me freedom to translate the ideas in my head into something real and tangible. Once the drawings are finished and scanned, I continue working on them - making adjustments for symmetrical two-way artwork, painting the colours and adding indices.

The suit of hearts is starting to take form in the world of colour, design and indices. The courts feature a royal banner in the background reflecting the suit colour - where hearts are draped with red:







With the royal hearts on the move it’s time to visit the clubs.  As always, I welcome your thoughts and hope you enjoy the ride of following this new deck of cards!

Annette

No problem - and happy browsing

I missed the bumps and twists of the earlier version though I do like the look of your new design Don has a point about colours (it's always good to do a few test prints, even if you just use a home printer to get an idea of what direction colours will go)... If you are aiming for a subdued, natural and slightly darker colour palette, then I think you should stick with it - though it may be worth playing around with a few options to see if more contrast makes that popping difference. I really like the drawings and look forward to more updates.

*wave*

That's a worm!?  I've never seen a worm's tongue before!  It looks more like a baby snake!

My bad - you're absolutely right Don!

NineLives - Very bold to have no borders for your courts.  I see you have 2 black Jokers...

Thanks sprouts1115
A while back, I spent some time researching the ever fascinating Jokers, their meanings and origin (appears, they made their first appearance in the US in the mid 1800s- although the stories may differ). Even in the world of standard playing cards -Jokers seem to live up to their name of being the 'wild card', some decks use 2 monochrome black jokers (one being smaller to make room for a guarantee statement), others include 1 coloured and 1 monochrome (black) joker, others vary the indices (red vs black) ... and I'm sure there are plenty more variations
Both jokers in Nine Lives have black indices, with the colour scheme of the actual joker being opposite (green vs red), allowing a differentiation of sorts if one needs one Joker to trump the other

On the topic of Jokers... I am curious how many of you use them in play?

It's a popular modern look, borderless court cards.

Thanks Don
Your suggestions encouraged me take that step

Annette

It's very similar to how early European playing cards were made - hand-crafted by artisans, usually on commission of a wealthy patron, like a member of royalty or a merchant.  I've even heard of decks being made out of precious metals like silver and gold instead of paper - they were displayed in the home instead of used for play, placed where visitors could see them as a show of conspicuous consumption to indicate (or inflate) one's perceived wealth, and by extension, their status.  We don't start seeing anything even close to mass production of cards until post-Gutenberg; even then, playing cards were still considered luxury items until the Industrial Age caused an explosion of mass production and an increase in high-quality print work, in roughly the latter two or three decades of the 19th century.

Fascinating Don ... I knew of old decks being handcrafted on animal hide (or parchment), though I can imagine those made from precious metals would be in a different league all together.

Thanks Annette for the kind words.
I'm still trying to get my hands on one of the old Indian Tarot deck and would like to do something related in a future project. 

That does sound like an exciting venture (not to take away anything from your current project, which is lovely)

Hello Tom - and welcome

How special to have such a treasure from your dad - along with the inspiration to create your own deck. Hope to see your ideas take form in the D&D thread

*wave*
Annette

25 early birds (bonus deck of first edition) are all gone! Thanks  ever so much for your support

For anyone who wishes to save on shipping (and get a discount for ordering more than one deck) - you can now choose from 4, 6 & 8 decks as well:
http://www.ninelivestarot.com.au/ninelives-playing-cards_poker.php

Questions or comments, happy to help and listen

*wave*
Annette

I only hope the designer's paying attention.  Aside from this fresh wave, there hasn't been a post on this topic since January!

I think I have jumped in on dormant threads before
Hopefully, there is creativity brewing on this deck and an update soon on where it's going

Shifting focus can be about moving your eyes from one thing to another - where the 'other' is still there, though not in focus. If I get your idea right, you want the focus to be on the weapons and accessories of the courts, not the characters themselves? At the moment, the background feels like it is drawing attention away from weapons/accessories (competing). How about looking at negative space? The king that was in focus, is not, but the shape of him can still be there to emphasize the owner of the accessories? Just a thought ...