An elegant but different card design

[James Johnson]

For the card game I created, here will be the Trade card...side 2

[James Johnson]

The Broken Hearted King/ King of Hearts side 1

[James Johnson]

The Broken Hearted King/ King of Hearts side 2

[James Johnson]

The Broken Hearted Queen/ Queen of Hearts side 1

[James Johnson]

The Broken Hearted Queen/ Queen of Hearts side 2

[James Johnson]

and finally ( for now) the beginnings of Despair.

Should have some updates in the next few days. Would love to hear what you think so far

[STLBluesNut]

I really like the art on these and I have always been a big fan of dual sided courts. Looking good.

Sent from my S10+ using Tapatalk

[James Johnson]

I really like the art on these and I have always been a big fan of dual sided courts. Looking good.

Sent from my S10+ using Tapatalk

Thank you so much! Feverishly (bad word to use at the moment) working on the artwork right now. Want to have a really good update for everyone next week!

[BaconWise]

These have really started to come together, James! As ever, these look incredible.

[James Johnson]

Really appreciate it dear friend

[James Johnson]

Been busy busy busy... a quick update on one of the cards

[Eric Lee]

I have to say that this deck is crying out for a backstory for each courts. Absolutely lovely and well worth the time taken to create these amazing courts. Now this is truly a deck that's years in the making.

I'm curious to know if you actually had a story going on in your mind when you created these courts or this is just from sheer inspiration/following the theme?

[James Johnson]

Thank you so much Eric, I so appreciate the compliments. Sorry it’s take so long to respond, just got the news a couple days ago I was let go from the company I worked for for over 20 years, so trying to figure out how to proceed with this crazy thing called life.

Yes, I actually have a back story for the deck and not only each of the card characters but the worlds they live in and how something as simple as Rocks, Papers, Scissors is so so SO much more than people realize. Would love to do a pitch to Netflix and tell them how it would be as epic a tale as Lord of the Rings, but fully animated . I do hope as soon as I can , (finishing up the Broken Unicycle deck tweaks and improvements to the art to hopefully kickstart it in June using USPCC ), I can get one one the cards completely finished (The Queen of Diamonds) before the end of June for the Copic contest and everyone can FINALLY see what I have planned for the scroll area!

[James Johnson]

Still at work with both the Broken Unicycle deck and this one, thought I would post an update on one of the newer pieces

[CardCollectiveCo]

First post here, and I am absolutely in love with the detail AND consistency in these drawings. Can't wait to see more dude! Sorry to hear you were let go, but that can also help generate motivation to do even better! Power on.

[Fud]

I've been watching this thread for ages, and at thing point you could almost name your price - I'm picking up a few of these.

Great job!

[sms69x]

Oh my, oh my... I hanven't checked this thread for sometime, but I know now I've been missing a lot!
Just let me know when and where.

Congrats James, this will be one of the best decks ever, up there with Wicked Kingdom by Wylie Beckert.

[PiazzaDelivery]

I am a magic-first card collector, which is to say that all visual aspects of the decks that I buy must be consistent with the conjuring arts. Unfortunately, one-way designs don't fall into that category.


























































BUT WHO GIVES A FCK. THIS IS ONE OF, IF NOT THE GREATEST PLAYING CARD DESIGN I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE. YOU DREW THESE BY HAND, ARE YOU SHITTING ME? NOBODY IS THIS TALENTED. I THOUGHT THE GOAT HAD ARRIVED WITH LOTREK BUT FCK IF YOU'RE NOT GIVING HIM A RUN FOR HIS MONEY ON THE STRENGTH OF A SINGLE PROJECT. JFC THIS IS AMAZING. I WILL DONATE MY NECK TO YOU SO THAT YOU MAY FINISH. I WILL BUY ALL OF THESE DECKS AND SPEND MY WANING DAYS WALKING THE EARTH, SPREADING THEM FAR AND WIDE, CONVINCING CRITICS THAT PICASSO WAS A HACK. I WILL BURN TO THE GROUND THE PLAYING CARD FACTORY THAT WILL HAVE PRINTED THESE, FOR THEY WILL HAVE NOTHING LEFT TO ACHEIVE.

I AM UNTETHERED AND MY AMAZEMENT KNOWS NO BOUNDS.

[Bradius]

Your unique take on playing card design and exceptional art skill is wonderful. I agree a backstory booklet would really be nice. Frankly a sketchbook would also be something I would be interested showing the design evolution, or just another opportunity to get more of your art in my hands.

I am getting impatient now and want to get this on Kickstarter. Oh heck, I don't care about Kickstarter. I want the deck in hand!

[James Johnson]

Thank you everyone for the very very kind words of encouragement and support I’ve received both in and off of the forum. To say I deeply appreciate it would truly be an understatement!

So some updates...

I’ve been ridiculously busy on finalizing the Broken Unicycle deck, (literally redesigned the cards 7 times until I think I nailed what I wanted to do with the packaging, artwork and overall feel of the deck) and am working on the last of the animation for its commercial I’ll post on Kickstarter when I launch.

Now onto the fantasy deck....

I have a bit more finished on 7 of the cards, but will wait just a bit to post a bigger update as I want to show everyone a major update when I post next time. But if you compare the first post of the King to this version, I think you may start to see now that I’m beginning the next pass on the art to start to bring more details and depth to the designs.

As my goal is to accelerate more on my projects, and hopefully have less problems health wise with my neck, I really am hoping that I can push for a faster turn around on everything and possibly even start showing some extra special things I want to do for this deck, I’m sure you all will enjoy what I have planned!

Sooooo, back to the drawing board and the computer now to continue working. I hope you all are doing well, staying safe and healthy my card loving brothers and sisters, and I hope that my updates you all will enjoy!

[James Johnson]

First post here, and I am absolutely in love with the detail AND consistency in these drawings. Can't wait to see more dude! Sorry to hear you were let go, but that can also help generate motivation to do even better! Power on.

So much appreciate the kind words , and so sorry it’s taken me so long to respond! Been crazy busy with a variety of things, but will be more active on the forums finally. You will get to see more of my madness soon

[James Johnson]

I've been watching this thread for ages, and at thing point you could almost name your price - I'm picking up a few of these.

Great job!

Thank you so much for the kind words and encouragement! So sorry it’s taken awhile to respond, so much is going on, but lately all good....fingers crossed it stays that way

I have quite a few wild plans coming up, extremely excited to see what everyone will thinks, stay tuned!

[James Johnson]

Oh my, oh my... I hanven't checked this thread for sometime, but I know now I've been missing a lot!
Just let me know when and where.

Congrats James, this will be one of the best decks ever, up there with Wicked Kingdom by Wylie Beckert.

Thank you so much, and high praise indeed! Love Wylie’s work and I hope my style is something everyone will enjoy!

Sorry it’s taken a bit to respond, but I think finally I’ll be back to post quite a bit more, LOTS of things to share with everyone!

[James Johnson]

I am a magic-first card collector, which is to say that all visual aspects of the decks that I buy must be consistent with the conjuring arts. Unfortunately, one-way designs don't fall into that category.


























































BUT WHO GIVES A FCK. THIS IS ONE OF, IF NOT THE GREATEST PLAYING CARD DESIGN I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE. YOU DREW THESE BY HAND, ARE YOU SHITTING ME? NOBODY IS THIS TALENTED. I THOUGHT THE GOAT HAD ARRIVED WITH LOTREK BUT FCK IF YOU'RE NOT GIVING HIM A RUN FOR HIS MONEY ON THE STRENGTH OF A SINGLE PROJECT. JFC THIS IS AMAZING. I WILL DONATE MY NECK TO YOU SO THAT YOU MAY FINISH. I WILL BUY ALL OF THESE DECKS AND SPEND MY WANING DAYS WALKING THE EARTH, SPREADING THEM FAR AND WIDE, CONVINCING CRITICS THAT PICASSO WAS A HACK. I WILL BURN TO THE GROUND THE PLAYING CARD FACTORY THAT WILL HAVE PRINTED THESE, FOR THEY WILL HAVE NOTHING LEFT TO ACHEIVE.

I AM UNTETHERED AND MY AMAZEMENT KNOWS NO BOUNDS.

First off.... you made me choke on my apple cider when I read your post, LMFAO! Soooooo much appreciate the wonderful comments and your generous neck replacement offer, lol. But dear friend, I wouldn’t wish it onto anyone. I’m doing my best to make it a non issue, sooooo much other things I have planned to do and work on, this will not stop me (and lately with the things I’ve been doing with inverted tables and watching my posture, it keeps things down to a manageable minimum

Have some really cool updates planned soon... the last couple months I become extremely productive, enjoying the cooler weather and the upcoming holidays gets my creative mind going into overdrive, lol

[James Johnson]

Your unique take on playing card design and exceptional art skill is wonderful. I agree a backstory booklet would really be nice. Frankly a sketchbook would also be something I would be interested showing the design evolution, or just another opportunity to get more of your art in my hands.

I am getting impatient now and want to get this on Kickstarter. Oh heck, I don't care about Kickstarter. I want the deck in hand!

Lol, thank you and I too am impatient to see this done, but it is what it is.

So sorry it’s taken a bit to respond, been really busy with everything but more updates sooner are a coming

[James Johnson]

Playing with the idea of having vine cloves as the Clubs pip. If I go this way, the coloring would be soft, like a watercolor approach. Would definitely make it more over the top than just a traditional Clubs pip, not completely locked down as of yet, I do have the paper version for the specialized card game I created laid out, that kind of follows this approach.

[James Johnson]

It’s been quite a bit of time, been working on 4 different projects, but thought I would show an update of the Tree King... more updates to come sooner now as the new year gets closer

[Malthus1]

Damn, I'm so in awe of your deck!

Easily my favorite I've seen so far. A huge inspiration for me, working on my own, just seeing what kinds of artistry are possible!

[James Johnson]

Thank you so much Malthus1, loving the progress on your cards! It’s amazing how many great concepts and artists are on the forums here, very inspiring

[James Johnson]

Quick update on 3 of the cards. Have something special planned for the pip and indices, but that has to be last thing to work on before I finish everything else... looks like very soon I can devote all my time to finishing the first of the 2 versions of the deck, once I FINALLY get the Broken Unicycle deck Kickstarting in January.

Amazing the learning curve you have to go thru to make a card deck, let alone 4 AND a board game...geeez. Lol