I wanted to do an homage to the Cezanne’s painting “The Card Players 1894–1895”, one of the works that started the idea of Cubism in art history.

2 elements + 1 spontaneous idea = guardian of 4 spades. Actually, when we thought about 4 spades, the most obvious was to play with 2 elements: spade and number 4. We tried to get answers for the following: How to combine them? How to present them in the most creative way? How to make understandable for player to know which card he take in his hand even within watching in its value.

No heart, no game!

This is literally came to me in the shower as i have a shower curtain with tattoo flash all over it. I noticed the elements of the anchor and rose resembled heart shapes, so i wanted to bring it to life in 3D like i have done with previous tattoo illustrations in the past.

I love the infinite loop of the number 8. I have always been attracted to its power. This piece is a celebration of the Infinite 8.

When I set out to make the card I jumped around in a lot of different directions. I originally was planning on making an image that related to the metasymbology of the card. At one point I was going to create a portrait of Jane Fonda as the iconic character Barbarella, because I found out Jane Fonda was born as a 10 of Hearts. In the end I ditched that idea because it felt too stiff. I agreed to loosen up and create an image that wasn’t related to metasymbology, but rather my own inclination when I thought of the words “Ten of Hearts.” Somehow I got to the image you see here. If I could sum up the image in a few words it would be: An elf is helping a tree grow anew. A tree stump felt like a strong base for a stand alone image, and the elf and plants grew around it to create the final idea.

Before i design my card, i search some informations about the signification “Queen of Spades”. Queen of Spades: A malicious, dark woman, generally a widow. An unscrupulous woman. A very dark-haired woman. A cruel woman, one who interferes. For women, a betrayal by a good friend. For men, a woman who will use them for their own gain. Widowed or divorced woman; or a woman with Air predominating in her chart. Dark haired woman, seductive or unscrupulous, treachery, betrayal, malice, widow. Treachery, betrayal, malice; a widow or evil woman and death symbol… The concept was to create a design in the spirit and style of a card to play and represent a dangerous woman symbolizing death and the dark side of some women lend anything to happen to get the one they want. Playing cards and dice represent more or less the uncertainty of the intended.

I think ’King’ has a originally strong character compared to the others, a leader. King of Clubs and my original character, Bluboo, have similar things. Bluboo wore a crown that could be related to King and Clubs represent many things for me, such as energy, happiness, flow, and creativity. I don’t know, i just like it.