Inspiration from Artists Wk 182 Featuring Artists : Jill Soukup and Brian Crosby

Illustrated Playing Cards:    This is the text of Lew's post that was removed by the system in error.  I hope it'll appear as he intended it! It's odd what prompts the fickle muse of inspiration.  Recently I've taken an interest in illustrated playing cards.  Two things set me on this path.  I've been known to loiter with intent in second-hand bookshops and Charity shops.  In one such Charity shop I bought an art book for the princely sum of £1.  It depicted work from Fantasy Artists sketchbooks.  Right up my street.  It's part of a series of art books, my find is now out of print.  Second-hand examples can be found on the internet priced from £30-£40!  So lucky me. Inside, an artist commissioned to create illustrated playing cards was showing her, admittedly detailed, sketches.  Here it is... The artist, Wylie Beckert, went on to produce the finished work in ink and watercolour.  The card suit symbols and numbers are added at the printed stage.  Here's one of her finished cards... The second thing that got my interest was my Grandson turning up with a pack of cards  illustrated with Tintin drawings... Now the old grey cells start to tell me it must be expensive to have such cards printed, you'd need 52 different images plus 2 jokers.  A quick squint around the internet surprised me.  To have ONE such pack printed would cost about £20, the more packs you buy the price per pack comes down drastically.  Now I'm 85, I like the quiet life, I'm not about to go into business producing cards, I'd just want a few packs for family and friends.  At this price it's doable, and would give me an incentive, a focus, to go on drawing stuff.  I need that. So I find a printer, there are many all around the same price, I load their app onto my desktop.  This allows me to work at my own pace (slow), and I can save what I've done.  It will be a mix of Fantasy and Sci-Fi pics I've done, plus some new stuff...which was the whole point. First, I need to work out the layout, to know how much space I have.  So,  from within the app, I screen printed a blank card...here it is... ...so I have to be aware that the suit symbol and number will cover some of  the art.  But that's not too bad.  Here's what a screen-print of the app looks like... ...I crop this to produce just the card... For the existing art that I'll be using, practically anything done in portrait format will fit.  Here's another screen-print of a recent  painting done with no thought of playing cards... So, I'm up and running.  I'm even thinking of doing a PEN & INK pack.  I like mono art... I realize this subject may not be of any interest.  My enthusiasms are just that, and I can't expect others to be interested.  If there is any interest I'll post some more stuff...I've found the history of cards interesting in itself.

Strange.  I’ve no idea how this got into Paul’s inspiration thread.  I started a new topic entitled ‘illustrated playing cards’, it was, and should be, within the inspiration forum section.  Perhaps I’m going ga ga.

No, it's not you, it's me - I put it in the wrong thread: so proud of myself for saving the post which the system removed, I then plonked it where it shouldn't have gone: apologies - I know I'm around ten years younger than you, but I think I'm the ga ga one. 

Odd that it should be spammed by the system, I was writing in pretty general terms.  I’m guessing there must be some key words that flag it for the spam bin.  I’ll see if anyone notices it here, if they don’t I’ll delete it.  It’s probably not of much general interest, I was unsure about posting it anyway.

No keep it - someone, you, Paul, any of us, can always copy and paste it to the correct thread if necessary: it just needs to be highlighted, copied, and removed to the thread for which you intended it.  The system  picks up on all sorts of things - words, images, punctuation, links: such is the techno-world in which we live, in whose environs I am not entirely comfortable: I don't think it sits badly here - you've offered work which should inspire and encourage, and that's what the thread is about basically.  I am sorry that I plonked it on the wrong thread, though - but I couldn't see where it would otherwise go: I need new glasses, apart from anything else: my optician is a bus ride away, and it's been too hot to even think of attempting it: and if that's not a good excuse, well I don't know WHAT  is...

I just started a new  thread in the inspiration segment, copied and pasted as you suggested...and got spammed again.  I suppose that had to happen.  It said it's been created but held in a queue for the moderators. So clearly, it ISN'T something I can do.

It might be useful to identify the source of the problem so far as we're concerned.  In brief, the system identified the original  post as spam; in trying to restore it, all I managed to do was confirm it had been removed: which caused it to disappear from the moderation queue.  I was then able to retrieve it by going into old reports, highlighting and copying it, and then pasting it into a new post under my name.  What I SHOULD  have done was open a New Topic, and paste it in that; but what I DID do was plonk it in an existing thread. Moderators should be able to do the same, i.e. highlight the post, copy and paste into a New Topic under the heading of artists' inspiration.  Restore might not be effective.  Once we've got this right, I'll remove THIS post, which will just be in the way when no longer relevant.   Given Paul has said he'll try doing this, I'll leave it to him: unless he wants me to try it.  

OK