Hello from an Artist, Art Fan, and Game Developer

[gameogami]

Hola!

My name is David Sanhueza, I am a professional artist working in the game industry. Besides being an art-maker, I am also an art-lover, game designer, volunteer, and world-traveler. A few years ago I started my independent game company, Game-O-Gami, to create board and card games "with character." I have started to add custom playing cards to the list of my projects, with my first custom deck featuring artwork of mythological characters, titled "IMMORTAL".

As an illustrator, I find playing cards to be an awesome medium! They have an established format and conventions, yet you can really innovate on those conventions to create something new and unique. They're also the perfect way to showcase a series of illustrations - to be flipped through and admired during and apart from play.

My artwork: http://theartofsanhueza.deviantart.com/gallery/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My indie game development studio: http://www.game-o-gami.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here at UC I hope to learn more about what cardists are looking for in custom art decks, and be inspired by the great work of other artists here. Feel free to say "hi" or drop me some questions!

- Sanhueza

[blejanre]

If you want to make a deck of cards "with character", I don't think ancient mythology is the theme you want to go with. It's been done a few times. Welcome to the forum though! It seems like a great place. I, like you, am also illustrating my first deck. Looking forward to the feedback

[ecNate]

Welcome! As mentioned it's a really overdone theme in the past few months so it will be a struggle, but perhaps the game deck will carry it through. Good luck!

I also created a thread for the project here - http://unitedcardists.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=7815

[gameogami]

Thank you very much for the warm welcome, Ben and EC Nate! And thank you, Nate, for starting the project thread for Immortal - Mythology Playing Cards.

Yes, you are both right, mythology is a popular theme, and I too have seen several playing card projects with that theme recently (mostly Greek mythology.) However, I think Immortal has several distinguishing characteristics which make it stand out from the pack:

• EVERY card in this deck has unique artwork of a mythological character, not just the face cards
• Immortal's painterly concept art style really stands out from the typical graphic style of many custom decks
• More than just focusing on one culture's myths, this deck includes Norse, Greek, Japanese, and Egyptian mythology (plus Native American and Celtic as the 2 Joker characters)
• And these aren't just any depictions of ancient mythology, these are Game-O-Gami's original take on the characters!

So I believe we're doing something new with this deck, putting our own unique spin on a popular theme. That said, I'm sure there is a lot I can learn from this project, and from you guys, who are much more experienced in the world of custom playing cards than I am. So I do really appreciate any advice you have to offer. Thank you!

Here's the project link:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gam ... ying-cards