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Hey guys!

A while ago I wanted to do a second edition for my Lumberjack cards, I got as far as drawing some concepts up but then got really busy at work and had to put everything off.

Recently though, I've had some extra time and decided to breathe some life back into the project. I finished all of the sketches for the court cards and began illustrating them last week.

I'm a really big fan of block printing and that type of art form so I took this deck in that direction. It's going to require a lot of work, but now that the first card is nearing completion I've got the style of how I want things pretty much down.

Here's a sketch of the King of clubs and what it looks like after 9hrs of illustration:


He still needs some more detail on the arm, hand, face and eyes. I'm also experimenting with the pips and typeface for the denomination. So those things are kinda just place holders for now.

Love hear some of your thoughts!

-Kleetz

I love the look, the colours are bold and it really draws you in.

One tiny thing, dont lumberjacks typically hold the sharpened edge on the inside ? I could be totally wrong on this,

volantangel wrote:I love the look, the colours are bold and it really draws you in.

One tiny thing, dont lumberjacks typically hold the sharpened edge on the inside ? I could be totally wrong on this,

Thanks! I'm not really sure what you mean. Are you referring to the highlight on the blade? If so, there will probably be a similar highlight on the other side. The ax is another thing on the list for added detail. I forgot to mention that.

That was what i was referring to =) I thought that the highlighted portion was the sharpened edge. Keep up the good work, cant wait to see what else you will bring us !

Worked on the Queen of Clubs for a little bit. She's far from done but I wanted to post progress. I also added new details to the King and I'm introducing a new wood grain pattern that I plan to use everywhere.



Thoughts?

The queen looks quite nice, but I don't understand how she fits with the theme...

Also this:

The cards look very nice, I'm sure you are not done with the queen and she will definitely be holding some tool of sorts. Currently she looks like a modern day medusa lol

montecarlojoe wrote:The queen looks quite nice, but I don't understand how she fits with the theme...

She's not done, she will have with her something to tie her in. You'll see!

volantangel wrote:The cards look very nice, I'm sure you are not done with the queen and she will definitely be holding some tool of sorts. Currently she looks like a modern day medusa lol

Yeah, she is far from done! I've gotten the "Medusa" comment. I will be making tweaks in the next few days to her hair and surroundings. I'll post progress.

Thanks guys!

Added more detail to the queen and tweaked the king a bit.



Thoughts?

I'm not sold on the log for the queen, I would much rather see her hold her own tool, or maybe even a cup of mulled wine (what do lumberjacks drink out in the forests ?)

Nice work!

rjtomlinson1977 wrote:Nice work!

Thanks!

volantangel wrote:I'm not sold on the log for the queen, I would much rather see her hold her own tool, or maybe even a cup of mulled wine (what do lumberjacks drink out in the forests ?)

Hmm, interesting. I'd have to play around with it. I'll see if I can work something out. Thanks for the suggestion.

Worked on the Jack of Clubs yesterday. Here's a progress shot:

Very far from done, but getting there! Still needs a face and detail shading.


Here's the 99% finished version:

Tweaked the Queens log. Plus what the family looks like.

Working backwards on the Hearts. Here's the Jack of Hearts:

King of Hearts y'all!

First of all, love the artwork on these! But something about that KoH is off, proportion-wise. Neck seems a bit long maybe, and the upper right arm is a bit too hidden to make the two-way work optimally.

MagikFingerz wrote:First of all, love the artwork on these! But something about that KoH is off, proportion-wise. Neck seems a bit long maybe, and the upper right arm is a bit too hidden to make the two-way work optimally.

Thanks Magik, I will make the tweaks!

I took the liberty of making another King of Hearts. This time trying to play up more on the "suicide" history of the card.

Left = second version
Right = first version



Thoughts?

I would go with second version. Looks unique, minimal and generally fills the card. Interesting. I see what you did there. The king is stabbing himself on the second one on the hand. Clever idea for a suicide king. Good Job.

Thanks Levereno! I'm leaning towards that one. It needs some tweaks to the arms. But overall, it's almost there.

Got the Queen of Hearts knocked out today. Here she is!



C&C welcomed!

I reworked the King of Hearts again! I'm torn between the "slicing" and the latest one. Here are all 4 versions for comparison:


What do you guys think?

I agree that the last two looks better, but I'm kinda torn between them myself They both look great!

I worked up a new Queen of Hearts! Here's what I have planned for the Queens:

Queen of Hearts - Tree hugger (nature activist)
Queen of Diamonds - Helper (carrying wood) going to reuse the old Queen of Hearts for her
Queen of Spades - Logger (only queen with an ax)
Queen of Clubs - Helper (carrying wood implied)

Here's the new Queen of Hearts:

@kleetz - On the QoH, the tree trunk is too big. I need to see at least one boob or a hint of a boob.

Of course you do, Russell.

And this has to be the first time I see Tom actually excited for a deck!

sprouts1115 wrote:@kleetz - On the QoH, the tree trunk is too big. I need to see at least one boob or a hint of a boob.

Haha, I'll try to work something in!

sprouts1115 wrote:@kleetz - On the QoH, the tree trunk is too big. I need to see at least one boob or a hint of a boob.

Modified the QoH. I didn't like her neck area (or lack there of). Also added some cleavage in there, hope this pleases you sprouts!

Here's the Jack of Diamonds:


The original idea was to have a rope go around him, similar to what you see now minus the knot. But I was told it was too plain. It was recommended to me to add a knot, so I added a fisherman's knot connecting the two ropes together.

Thoughts?