PT - House of Cards [Side B]

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Because of the (high school) royalty theme and focus on deeper emotions, I wanted to do a set of illustrations for Sam&Sara's story based around cards.
Many of the characters' hidden desires drive a majority of the plot, and I felt the visual reflections showed a truer picture of their personalities.

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With their flipped images, high-ranking cards can represent duality, secrets, and-- almost literally-- a two-faced nature.

King of Hearts: sometimes nicknamed "the suicide king," the king of hearts represents the kind ruler. Hearts are associated with youth, fire, vulnerability, and of course, love and emotion. It's debated whether the sword through the head was put there by the king himself, or by a traitor.

Like the king of hearts, Sam's self-sacrificing nature seems romantic, but the truth behind the gentle demeanor is something very wounded and unacknowledged.

Queen of Spades: associated with the warrior goddess Athena, the queen of spades is the strategic, militant queen. Spades represent winter, water, transformation, conflict, and acceptance. In many card games, the queen of spades is considered an unlucky card.

Aloof but regal, Mal's aggressiveness seems to imply confidence, but is in fact a facade to hide her intense jealousy and insecurities. Her greatest fear is vulnerability.

Ace of Clubs: the ace of clubs is often called "the clover," and in fortune telling, indicates a sudden gain. Aces themselves represent the beginning, the individual, selfishness and desire, while clubs are the suit of irresponsibility, air, and growth.

Surprisingly self-centered, Lissy hides many of her uglier attributes behind a simple but endearing temperament. Though her nature can seem very artificial, she is self-reflective and has room to grow.

Jack of Diamonds: the jack-- or the knave-- represents the adolescent, while diamonds represent responsibility, earth, money, and entertainment. In fortune telling, he represents a jealous and unreliable person that usually brings bad news.

The jack of diamonds can be interpreted as the youth on the verge of adulthood, struggling to transform into someone new-- similarly, Jayden suffers from a self-destructive cycle from straddling two lifestyles.

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Both Side A and B are together on Tumblr

But be sure to check out Side A on dA too!

Can you pick a favorite?