Cards!!!

This was our first assignment of the new school year, and I had so much fun with it! Each student had to choose at least two cards from a deck, and design a new card face for it.This was such a fun project, I really enjoyed designing different cards, and I actually designed like ten, but I ended up with these three. 

So, card number 1! I chose the 3 of diamonds, and I fiddled around with a couple of designs and finally decided on the poppies. (The other two have a very similar story) I used water color pencils and water to paint the background and actual flower part and for the background of the diamonds, and then I used calligraphy pens for any of the black details. This card took me the least amount of time, because it was the simplest design and I have painted the poppies before for another project, so I already knew how to make them look. So it took me about an hour over all to paint.

Card 2! I chose the 2 of clovers, and I had a lot of fun with the background of this one! I used water color, gouache actually, and salt, which made the texture really cool but it also makes it look really cool too. Then I used calligraphy pens for the tress, and used acrylic for the leaves and snow. This one took me a lot longer because of the salt, I had to wait for the paint to dry onto the salt, which took an entire class period, but actually working on it not counting the waiting it probably still took me about two hours. 

Card 3! Alrighty, so I chose the seven of spades, and this card, although I love the outcome, I thoroughly hated making. Unlike cards 1 and 2 which were made in my sketchbook, this card was made on a big piece of cardboard... and nothing is drawn/painted. It's all cloth, glued onto the cardboard and then onto the other cloth. It was a fun idea, and I was really excited about it, but I should have done it on a much smaller scale, I got soooo frustrated with the glue I was using, and I got fuzz from the body of the dragonfly all over my clothes, but I tried something new and it turned out to be a really interesting piece that has depth to it which I really like. I wish I had done a darker background though, because the fabric I used for the wings was almost transparent and it would have looked better on a darker background. This one obviously took me the longest, I had to cut everything out, plan where it was going, glue it all down, I don't remember how long exactly it took, but probably close to 4 hours. I learned I really don't like cut and  paste, if I can avoid it I will at all costs, but I stuck through it which is rare for me, usually if I don't like something I'll go in a completely different direction, but I'm really glad I didn't this time.