Upcoming Chinese Themed Line Art Deck

[dougfrye]

Hi All,
I wanted to let you all know about a deck project my partners at Deveo Media and I are developing using Chinese gods depicted in beautifully detailed line art. It’s unnamed as of yet but when I researched the gods to use for the courts I used the meaning of the different suits used in Mah Jongg for my inspiration. Many more details to follow, but here is the first of the artist’s work! The subject is Fu Xi. According to Britannica.com,

“Fu Xi is said to have discovered the famous Chinese trigrams (bagua) used in divination (notably in the Yijing) and thus to have contributed, in some uncertain way, to the development of the Chinese writing system. He domesticated animals, taught his people to cook, to fish with nets, and to hunt with weapons made of iron.”

Thanks!

[flashcards]

I like to collect Chinese themed decks, whether from China or elsewhere (e.g. Sishou Four Beasts or Skydescender). I really like your first drawing. It captures the spirit of the ancient paintings. I'd use caution with the term "gods", however. Fuxi is a mythical being but not what we in the West would consider a "god". A better word might be "deity". Laozi could rightly considered a "deity", for example. However, I'll defer to the Singapore contingent of UC for a more definitive answer. Anyway, I love what you have done so far and am very excited about this project. Best of luck.

[montecarlojoe]

I concur - I love the treatment so far - can't wait to see more art like this!

[dougfrye]

Hi FlashCards and MonteCarloJoe- Thanks very much for the kind words. I appreciate the caution about using the word "god" for this area. "Deity" is definitely a great alternative.
Thanks again!
Doug

[dougfrye]

Hi All,
Here are three more sketches from the Creative Vienna Facebook page. The Queen of Diamonds isn't truly mirror-image yet, we realize. When I looked at them for the first time I loved the detail and in particular the faces' realism. Enjoy

[shermjack]

The artwork is very nice, but the names seem to be a mix of translations from both China and Taiwan romanization, which are different:

Cai (used in China) is the same as Tsai (used mainly in Taiwan)

I am assuming that the KoD is the God of Fortune (Cai Shen), but am wondering who the QoD is supposed to be.

For the JoD (Xing is used in China and Hsing is used in Taiwan)

Hope this helps and Look forward to seeing the other courts!

[4.of.Clubs]

The artwork is very nice, but the names seem to be a mix of translations from both China and Taiwan romanization, which are different:

Cai (used in China) is the same as Tsai (used mainly in Taiwan)

I am assuming that the KoD is the God of Fortune (Cai Shen), but am wondering who the QoD is supposed to be.

For the JoD (Xing is used in China and Hsing is used in Taiwan)

Hope this helps and Look forward to seeing the other courts!

Will the names end up being on the cards? That would be a buzz kill.

[sprouts1115]

"Will the names end up being on the cards? That would be a buzz kill. "

Most of time it does. People like to put names on ribbons in the middle of the card. On the top left wouldn't be so bad. Like this guy did.

Screenshot 2015-07-20 19.48.54.png (13.29 KiB) Viewed 2219 times

I wonder how left-handed people read. Does that look backward from top to bottom? Or is this correct...

[montecarlojoe]

I am assuming that the KoD is the God of Fortune (Cai Shen), but am wondering who the QoD is supposed to be.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lan_Caihe

I wonder how left-handed people read. Does that look backward from top to bottom? Or is this correct...

Pretty sure lefties and righties read the same way... (How many left-handed books have you ever seen?)

[4.of.Clubs]

"Will the names end up being on the cards? That would be a buzz kill. "

Most of time it does. People like to put names on ribbons in the middle of the card. On the top left wouldn't be so bad. Like this guy did.

Screenshot 2015-07-20 19.48.54.png

I wonder how left-handed people read. Does that look backward from top to bottom? Or is this correct...

In this case the names can be confusing since there are more than one way to translate Chinese to English... I would then suggest using traditional Chinese characters then to make it even closer to the theme. The explanation for each face card can also be on one of the ad cards (can't remember which deck did this but there are some).

[shermjack]

I am assuming that the KoD is the God of Fortune (Cai Shen), but am wondering who the QoD is supposed to be.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lan_Caihe

Didn't think of looking it up on Wiki, I was only discussing with my wife and we couldn't figure out the Chinese characters for the Lan Cai He...Mainland China spelling)...

I agree with 4ofClubs that it would be better to use the Chinese Characters as to not confuse whom the god/deity/immortal is meant to be

[montecarlojoe]

Good old Google!

Yes I agree with using the Chinese Characters (and picking and sticking to a dialect - e.g. Mandarin. Whether to use traditional or simplified characters is a whole other debate lol).

An Ad card could be used to give translations to the names perhaps?

[sprouts1115]

I agree. From what I've heard the letters are read from top to bottom. Just remember we need to have the Red or Black suit. It might want to be the shadow of the characters in a tapestry. This is getting more interesting....

[shermjack]

I think that using Traditional Chinese Characters would fit better with the theme (more ancient feeling) as the Simplified Characters were only created after the Cultural Revolution...and yes, the characters are read from top to bottom or both left to right (current methodology most likely due to western influence) and right to left (ancient method - text was written in columns from top to bottom and then from right to left).

[montecarlojoe]

I agree about the traditional characters being aesthetically and thematically more fitting - but they are also that much more complex and detail could be lost when writ' small and under a textured finish. (Not saying that for definite but worth testing out)

[volantangel]

I agree about the traditional characters being aesthetically and thematically more fitting - but they are also that much more complex and detail could be lost when writ' small and under a textured finish. (Not saying that for definite but worth testing out)

Don't worry about that, Sherman and I can proofread if need be

[montecarlojoe]

Irony here is that I built a website for the Local Chinese Association. It's bi-lingual too and I don't speak / read a word. I expect the google translations I've used are highly amusing.

[dougfrye]

Hi All,
Thanks for the lively discussion on the names! When we get to the actual campaign I will have made the convention consistent; my default would be to use Mandarin Chinese. I'm glad this was brought up because I hadn't come to that point yet, just concentrating on whom to use! We don't plan to put the names on the cards themselves but I do see how decks such as Innovators have done that on ribbons across the middle. Using the ad card to list the names is a great recommendation as well.
Here are more sketches for you to see. There are two versions of the Jack of Clubs.
Enjoy and thanks again
Doug

[4.of.Clubs]

Looking at the names in English I have no idea who these people are lol

I vote for the JoC with Rain on his chest instead of the staff.

[sprouts1115]

dougfrye - Big, Fat, Court borders, but it does seem to work in this case. Hmm, I think it's staff or fern. I like the fern. I like a complex transitional from one side to the other. The fade away transition like in the staff doesn't work to well...

[shermjack]

When we get to the actual campaign I will have made the convention consistent; my default would be to use Mandarin Chinese.
Doug

Mandarin and Cantonese are the two major spoken dialects , while with the written language, there is both traditional and simplified characters, which when romanized, can be done in various ways (Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore) dependent on which dialect was used for the romanisation...as you say you wish to use Mandarin, you would be best to choose from either China or Taiwan uses Mandarin as the dialect for romanisation while as Hong Kong uses Cantonese and Singapore uses Hokkien (Kai or someone, please correct me if I am wrong)

As for the names on the cards, I think it would like nice to have the Traditional Chinese Characters on the cards

[volantangel]

When we get to the actual campaign I will have made the convention consistent; my default would be to use Mandarin Chinese.
Doug

Mandarin and Cantonese are the two major spoken dialects , while with the written language, there is both traditional and simplified characters, which when romanized, can be done in various ways (Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore) dependent on which dialect was used for the romanisation...as you say you wish to use Mandarin, you would be best to choose from either China or Taiwan uses Mandarin as the dialect for romanisation while as Hong Kong uses Cantonese and Singapore uses Hokkien (Kai or someone, please correct me if I am wrong)

As for the names on the cards, I think it would like nice to have the Traditional Chinese Characters on the cards

Haha sherman the most widespread use is still mandarin here in Singapore, thats what is taught in school. Dialect is picked up from the parents, i personally know the tiniest bit of cantonese but thats about it. I would say go for the traditional characters, it brings about a more olden feel to the language in line with the characters.

[shermjack]

When we get to the actual campaign I will have made the convention consistent; my default would be to use Mandarin Chinese.
Doug

Haha sherman the most widespread use is still mandarin here in Singapore, thats what is taught in school.

My apologies for not being clearer...yes, Mandarin is the most common dialect in Singapore, but the Romanization of the Chinese into something that can be read by Westerners is based (at least partially on Hokkien), for example:

陈 (simplified character) is spelled CHEN in both China and Taiwan, CHAN in Hong Kong and TAN in Singapore.

Again, apologies for any confusion

[MagikFingerz]

To summarize what Sherman and Kai are trying to say:

Chinese is effin' complicated

[sprouts1115]

To summarize what Sherman and Kai are trying to say:

Chinese is effin' complicated

Yea I'm not getting into that one. What would be nice if the text was white and he made a ribbon or battle flag of the color. Red or Black. Maybe the index suit needs to be at the top. The text is always different, but the index suit has a set space...I'm trying to think of an indices that would be advantageous to left-handers.

[dougfrye]

Hi Everybody,
The sketches are complete and we've moved on to the detailed work as we get closer to a planned late September or early October launch. Here are the WIPs for the King of Hearts and King of Diamonds. Enjoy!
Doug

[flashcards]

Looks great! I'm very excited about this deck. Please keep us informed as things progress.

[dougfrye]

Hi Folks,
The court card subjects are finished, so here they are!
Please let me know your thoughts.
Best,
Doug

Here are the Jacks:

The Queens:

And the Kings:

[dougfrye]

Here is a better view of the detail:

[dougfrye]

And another one: