Process - 6 of Diamonds - #PlayingArtsContest

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I was invited to create a playing card for a competition to be included in an incredible deck of playing cards being produced by Playing Arts, #playingArts. Playing Arts is a collective art project that gathers designers and illustrators from all over the world with the idea to allow the artists to express their idea of an ordinary playing card using their own creative vision. I was invited to submit a 6 of Diamonds.

This is the process that I went through in order to make my 6 of Diamonds card for the Playing Arts Contest, #playingArtsContest.

I really wanted to honor the historical truth that modern playing cards originated as Tarot decks. Over the passage of time, as Tarot decks became used for gaming by the masses, a shift occurred and each card's symbolic and projective value became overlooked for it's simpler numerical value. As the deck of Tarot cards became a deck of Playing Cards the suits changed: Swords became Spades, Wands became Clubs, Cups became Hearts, and Pentacles or Coins became Diamonds. The original symbolic content was also displaced with the imagery now focused on the more simple number value. As I started to work through the design process, I wanted to acknowledge and reconnect my card with this greater history.

Spades = Swords
Clubs = Wands
Hearts = Cups
Diamonds = Pentacles/ Coins

The Six of Pentacles

The positive side is about: Generosity, Charity, Giving, Prosperity, and Sharing
The negative side is about: Debt, Selfishness, and One-sided Charity

The Six of Pentacles is a card representing being in harmony with your money. The amount that comes in and the amount that flows out are in balance, and you are thankful for what you have without being grasping of it, and happy to share with others in need. This card is also about charity. You may either be the wealthy man in this card, giving away his wealth, or the beggars, gratefully receiving what the man has to offer.

As I looked through the artwork that has adorned the various tarot decks I found, I noticed a strong connection to the idea of balance, with the use of the balanced scales as the recurring symbol. I also noticed that there was typically an imbalance in the reception of the charity, in that one beggar would be a glowing recipient, while the other was left in tatters...

The Six of Diamonds

When I began working on the artwork, I first started to explore the presence of the standard six diamond forms...

Then I started to play with the symbols that I wanted to focus on...

a scale, an environment, the givers, the diamonds...

I wanted the givers to be central in the theme, but I wanted them to represent the two sides of charity...

Happy to give everything -VS- Reluctant to give very much

The givers went through multiple drafts before I got the basic outlines completed... Everything was hand drawn first, then scanned and digitized to ultimately make a coloring page for each character...

I used the "coloring pages" to develop each character's colors with colored pencils...

(due to a desire to have a consistent flesh tone I saved all the flesh tones for last)

Each character went through a process of digitization, incorporating the ink drawings with the colored pencil work, and ultimately establishing the final character design...

Mr. Yellow...