Playing cards of pacific northwest flora & fauna
In January of 2022 I took on a project that I had wanted to pursue for a long time: I decided to illustrate a set of playing cards. I knew I wanted them to be themed around regional plants and wildlife and to be sorted by suite, but I experimented with what species to include and how to organized them. I considered making the suites revolve around habitat (forest, river, sky, mountain), or by type of animal (birds, fish, rodents, amphibians), but eventually decided on focusing on flora and fungi and splitting them into generalized categories of berries, wildflowers, trees, and fungi. Each card features a unique ink and watercolor illustration, with each numbered card corresponding to the number of berries, flowers, etc. shown. For instance, the three of diamonds shows three Glacier Lilies, and the six of spades features six Western Hemlock cones. Each set of face cards shows a progression of one specific plant - for example the jack, queen, and king of hearts show the growth of a Fly Agaric mushroom from just bursting through the dirt to fully grown.
This project allowed me to play with watercolors and more detailed use of color, and to work to a strict format and theme throughout. The cards are housed in a box designed to look like an old book, a nod to vintage field guides and botanical illustrations, which were two of the biggest inspirations for this project.
