More Card Deck Research

Sometimes looking at reference can be inspiring, sometimes crippling. At some point I'm going to break away from it for a while. I do have a habit of wanting to be the artist I am looking at instead of myself.

More Robots and Whatnot

Learning quickly that I suck at drawing robots. Also, I want this to have my influences but not copy them completely.

Shogun Warriors started to pop up in my research and ended up rekindling an old fascination with these guys. I mean... how cool are these?

Kinda got derailed wanting to do my cards in the bright font mimicking the Shogun box. Once I drew a few it looked cool incorporating the face cards into the design but really just seemed like a novelty. Like when someone draws like, I dunno, Mario in the style of Mike Mignola or something.

Speaking of Mignola that kinda helped me get back on track. I can't draw robots very well but maybe if I go for a little more realistic yet simple approach I can get this to work. I'd really like an amalgamation of all this stuff... just tough to do.

Still, it's good stuff to look at, regardless. Just need to focus on my own look for the cards. Maybe I'll just draw some images and let the design of the actual card come second.

Card Deck Proposal

My initial idea was to do a sort of fantasy card deck as opposed  to a typical card deck. I thought of the idea of doing classic movie monsters with their powers, abilities and so forth on the back. I love monsters so I thought it would be fun to do in a cartoony style.

Here's an idea I had with the monsters being part of a typical card deck.

Also visited Greek mythology, monsters in Greek mythology, old west themed cards, and Norse mythology as well as my comic ideas that I'm working on.

 It'd be nice to have some art to sell with my comics tied into them. But, they aren't a comic yet and I don't really want to have promo materials for a comic that I'm not even finished with the story yet. Kinda like having a band t-shirt without the band.

Here are some artists I have been looking at lately that have really inspired me. I'm finding that I am more interested in stark black and white images as opposed to the painterly look. I'm also just loving angles right now.

Mike Mignola is kinda my guy right now that I can look at if I don't feel like drawing. Looking at these though, I thought of how cool an actual playing card with Mike's version of a king would look. Or a Frankenstein as the king. Here's some ideas I was messing around with.

Here's another artist I have been loving lately, Dan Hipp. His style is similar to what already comes sort of naturally to me just way, way better. Something to aspire to for sure. Dig his Mignola influence too.

I can already see this on a face card. Stuff is starting to come together. Still, though I am not sold on the monsters idea. Just doesn't seem to have much originality other than maybe the style I would draw it. At that point for some reason I just start thinking about stuff that I like to draw or would like to get better at drawing.

Robots. Especially like big Japanese mech ones. Never have drawn much of those but it seems like that would be a neat take on the King, Queen, Jack and Ace. So I go to yet another artist I love, Jake Parker.

The card could even look a little tinted or weathered like it was from a sketchbook. And the robots would be my own design so seems like it would make for more originality than just the movie monsters. Kinda liking the way this is headed now.

 Robot drawing practice. Another reason I picked this. I'm not necessarily all that great at drawing robots but I would like to be. This will be a good way to practice that while I work on the assignment

The main thing I am trying to get incorporated into either the mech design or something that accompanies it is the suit and the value of the card. I like this guy. The King of Spades.

                                More ideas incorporating shapes. Also an idea for the back of the card.