Custom Queen of Hearts

[Justin O.]

Hey guys,

Wanting to desing a set of courts, finished my QoH and would love some feedback from the community. Not sure if I am happy with the direction, but it's hard to self critique when you have been staring at it for hours.

I am starting in on the King, but would love some early feedback before I get too far through the courts in case any overarching style/design changes need to happen.

[Adonael]

I'm liking the direction so far, getting a bit of an androgynous vibe which I would welcome. That big black bar seems a bit overpowering though, moving the eye away from the flower so you can't help but think maybe they're holding a black sword instead. I don't know if you've previously designed a deck? Or is this taking matters into your own hands after the Oink Oink deck?

[Justin O.]

Thanks, I see what you mean about the black bar, I will try to break that up and see how it looks. But yeah, it's past time this community does pigs justice. I just haven't dropped the pig nose on it yet

/s I've never designed a deck, but am an artist so I guess it's just been a matter of time.

[Harvonsgard]

Maybe it is because I’m European, but I prefer classic courts in a more potrait/more realistic style. I’m not a fan of these stylized anglo-american like courts. I’ve learned to live with it since playing cards are US dominated, but if one asks me what I would prefer, then I would point towards more mainland Europe style courts.
That said, I would prefer the draft you posted over most (american) standard courts out there. Like Adonael wrote, the black bar definetly needs to be worked on. A detail that looks odd to me, mainly because of the same colours, is the hair which overlaps with the red from the collar. I would change that.
Overall promising. I’m looking forward to see more.

[wingedpotato]

In general I like this a good bit. There's a bit of Edgy Brothers vibe for me. The biggest thing bothering me design-wise is the crown seems disproportionately large, especially as it hangs at that angle. Otherwise a great start!

EDIT: Regarding that crown, I know it follows from traditional court Queens, but I've always felt those were too big also.

[Justin O.]

So this is the card back I designed that I am trying to make courts for. My goal was something very Monarch/Artisan inspired. I really like the Deco elements of Monarch, and the Artisan's Guild monogram design from Artisans. I always wanted to include some Guilloche elements, though I may redo the pattern, I'm not 100% happy with it. But overall I like how it came out.

I am still really banging my head against the courts, can't seems to get the queen quite right, and want to solve that puzzle before continuing on.

[RichK]

Justin,

I don't like the horizontal line under the queen's neck. It cuts off her "collar/neck" ruffly thing which looks very odd. She needs more shoulders too.

Like the back.

[MagikFingerz]

Justin,

I don't like the horizontal line under the queen's neck. It cuts off her "collar/neck" ruffly thing which looks very odd. She needs more shoulders too.

Like the back.

This bothers me too. It's like she's just torso > a cog > head. I know traditional courts aren't exactly anatomically correct, but this stands out in my eyes.

[Justin O.]

Thanks guys. I will try removing the collar, maybe that will help, or at least help me figure out what I am not liking about it.

[Harvonsgard]

I'm thinking about this back design since you've posted it. A detail I like is that the lines are warped. That's about it for me. The rest is underwhelming imo, but I'm not a fan of Monarchs or backs like such for that matter. The Artisan back design on the other hand is something I like very much. So maybe it is some intricacy that I'm missing in your draft. Overall I would say a solid draft, but it definetly lacks something that would let me purchase a deck with that back.

[Justin O.]

I'm thinking about this back design since you've posted it. A detail I like is that the lines are warped. That's about it for me. The rest is underwhelming imo, but I'm not a fan of Monarchs or backs like such for that matter. The Artisan back design on the other hand is something I like very much. So maybe it is some intricacy that I'm missing in your draft. Overall I would say a solid draft, but it definetly lacks something that would let me purchase a deck with that back.

Originally I was thinking I would add floral elements but thought that with the Masonic looking seal that it would look faaaar to much like Artisans to still be my own design. I could still do that, wouldn’t be hard to try out at least.

[Justin O.]

Justin,

I don't like the horizontal line under the queen's neck. It cuts off her "collar/neck" ruffly thing which looks very odd. She needs more shoulders too.

Like the back.

This bothers me too. It's like she's just torso > a cog > head. I know traditional courts aren't exactly anatomically correct, but this stands out in my eyes.

I see what you guys are saying, it breaks up the composition. Maybe I will work on one of the other queen’s designs I have penciled our and come back to this one. I like the collar, but there might not be a good way to make it work. The other queens do not have the collar and maybe starting with the QoH set me up to lose steam faster.

Thanks guys!

[Bradius]

I would thing a ruffled lace collar would work okay and maybe even work better with the curly hair. However, you are probably wise to note the issue and move on to some other cards so you keep moving forward.

[Justin O.]

Still been struggling with getting the faces looking the way I want. May have to scrap the designs and start over. But as a way to procrastinate working on them I have reworked the back design. After adding a filigree element and then deciding there were too many conflicting elements I have split the back into to designs, one a traditional bike back style, taking the guilloche and filigree and adding a Blasphemous inspired bike-style figure to the center, the other keeping most of the first design but dropping the Guilloche I didn't feel was working with the more geometric and deco design elements.

[STLBluesNut]

Not usually my style but I like the top one better.

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