Tarot Deck
This is a fantasy tarot deck featuring 78 fully rendered cards. The full deck includes the Major and Minor arcana cards, each featuring its own illustration, representing the interpretive meaning of each card. The following images are a select set of example cards from the deck.
Character Design Process
This section will illustrate the design process that I go through when working with a client, from initial sketches and character design to the finished piece.
The first step in my design process is laying out some rough sketches with the client. At this stage I'm taking down notes on what the client wants included in the characters design and the over all vision of what they want the end product to look like.
Making rough, quick sketches allows me to establish the energy of the piece, while also working out logistics for the characters build, such as costume elements or non human anatomy, and how that will effect the characters stance and posing.
After establishing the base elements of the character with the client, I move onto the base sketch of the piece. At this stage I'm figuring out the body language of the character; how they hold themselves, what their demeanor is like.
I then take that into account as I work out the posing and composition of the piece, once I'm happy with that ill move onto building out the frame of the subjects, their physical build, and how they interact with their surroundings. This will form the foundation that all of the cosmetic elements sit over.
Once I'm happy with the form of the characters, I will move on to the next layer of the designs, which will be things like clothes, hair, and accessories. Its at this point that I start referencing my initial sketches and figure out the logistics of the design; how the clothes sit on the characters frame in their pose, how does their hair and outfit interact with the environment, and how can I utilize these elements compositionally? This also gives me the opportunity to block in lighting, shading, and over all contrast.
Next, I'll clean up the sketch layer and complete the line art. once that's in place I mock up a few options for color pallets for the client, if they didn't have a strong vision for the character.
Typically I'll create three palates for the client, each varying in primary color, tonal range, and saturation. Limiting myself to three variants allows me to focus on realistic options for the client, and it allows the client to compare and contrast the pallets without feeling overwhelmed by choice.
Finally, once I've verified the final changes and visual elements with the client I can move on to completing the final render. Now all of the elements come into play, I'll lay out the flat colors, add highlighting and shadows, adjusting for textural differences between different surfaces, then ill add the final touches, in this case blood splatters and aging and weathering the cloak and tunic. the background is often the last element that I'm working on in a piece, so I can build the world around the characters. Once I've finished I'll send the file off to the client for final approval!