Below is a screengrab of the vector paths that make the figure in the world card:

A question that I get a lot when people are asking me about pretty much anything I've drawn is "How big is the painting?" I don't think it's anything bad about the average question-asker that they think all art revolves around paint. I just think it's a simple ignorance, and usually, not their fault. I usually explain that there isn't an existing painting and that the design was done on my 13" macbook. Some of them go "AH!" and ask me more. Others  go "oh." and I can tell some kind of magic was disillusioned. They aren't convinced there's much talent behind using machines to aid the task.

...actually I kind of hate painting....

I've turned down chances to do murals, portraits, prayer-candles, and a few other gigs for the simple matter that I don't paint. I don't think the side of an up-and-coming restaurant is the perfect opportunity for me to trial and error color-mixing on a large scale with something that dries faster than I can think. I've had some fun with watercolor in the past, but usually, that's to flesh out a doodle I've been working on. I have to say that if I'm not sketching (usually in ballpoint pen or mechanical pencils, both of which are considered artistic no-no's) I'm probably working with vector art.

I love it. It's not easy, either.

I would advise a critic of digital artwork to sit in front of any computer-aided drawing program with the intention of drawing something. It will become very obvious very quickly that there is nothing the computer makes easier without making something else harder. The same principle applies to using a computer that applies to using oil paint, or sculpting, or water color, or making a mosaic out of skittles - experimentation and discipline.

If I hadn't been bored out of my mind laying out point-of-sale artwork for beer companies, putting chrome flames on vehicle wraps, or typesetting country club newsletters, I probably would have never branched out into using the same programs to create original imagery. (I'd probably have a boat-loan by now, too, so I think that's a bullet dodged as well.) After a while, people would actually hire me to do the drawings instead of the layout, but I discovered I was far happier doing art for my own ideas. My point is, without years of working with certain programs, I wouldn't have the technical understanding to draw a rabbit man upside down eating an apple. More importantly, I have to give it a feel.

This is the desire for experimentation that anyone who wants to do something has. The oil painter has to figure out where the threshold is crossed when they are no longer smearing expensive goo and are creating an image, and the same goes for me as well as the guy with a million colored beads and a hot glue gun. The discipline comes in when you have to start over, go backwards, or go outside and get a clear head. That's the part that doesn't let us stop until we know it's good.

As I said the other day, I'll be doing this (probably not daily) as a way to supplement card meanings and further my own understanding. I've been using the card of the day feature of the Ellis decK app for my own personal "what should I study today?" prompt. And so, the card it's picked for us today is:

These are some skinny times. It doesn't seem like there is a thing in the world going our way in the Five of Pentacles. Building up to the five (which is always a test in each of the suits) is a great accumulation. What this means in the pentacles is that we may have just experienced the loss of our livelihood, or that the demands of life are quickly chewing up the funds we have stacked up, or that everything we have is breaking and we don't have what we need to get it fixed. Maybe we are sick or injured and the strength we need to make our way through the world has been sapped. Maybe we are longing for the comfort of another with no space for intimacy in sight.  Looking at the material, this can seem like our own personal apocalypse. We are hunched over. The signs of whatever faith we may have bring little comfort.

Scarcity. This is always a symptom of a down-cycle. We were king of the road for a while but now we can't even find work digging a ditch. Movement, specifically the passage of time is about all we can expect to bring a change to the situation. While there may be nothing left of what we had, if we are alive, we must move forward.

The only thing to do is endure. It'll pass if you keep going. Physically speaking, the worst situations can feel a little better if we at least keep our chins up. 

To further my personal understandings of the cards, as well as supplement the little white book I send out with the decks (until the eventual release of the Ellis decK companion book) as well as a break from the graphic novel I'm working on presently, I thought it would be fun to start posting cards and talking about them a bit here in the blog.  I'm taking the first one from my Card of the Day on the Ellis decK app which I like to use as a study prompt myself.

The young person in all of us that rolls their eyes at everything. Often when we have something good go on for long enough, be it a job, relationship, project, or influence, we get so used to it that we take it for granted. After we take it for granted long enough, we can get sick of it or lose our appreciation for it. Something shiny and inspiring no longer has the novelty it once did. Maybe we used to love iced cream and get excited about it, but then we started eating it every day. Then we moved from surprise to expectation to boredom. From boredom, we move into a careless apathy, not sure what to do with ourselves. In a culture where we constantly get new everything thanks to our technology, many of us think this is the best way to be: the first kid on the block to be "over it." The fourth cup could be the ensuing stomach ache after too much of a good thing. The good news is this knock on the head should inspire us into doing something different.

This card is the standstill that happens to the uninspired. Looking at the same things over and over again, and searching for motivation in what has already been done, a stagnation occurs. The futility of trying to get inspired can be just as maddeningly dull as the boredom itself if we stick to what we already know. Especially if we're taking it for granted. The fourth cup will usually come and knock over our untidy kingdom enough to get things moving again. 

The misfortune here isn't that we may get a knock on the head. The problem is we've gotten lazy. When thinking on this card, we consider where in life we feel like a know-it-all and we've stopped listening.

The Ellis deck has sold out of its second run. The third edition will be available after I make a few decisions and select a printer to move forward.

I am truly grateful to anyone who has purchased a deck. It has spread purely through word of mouth via the use of the deck and the preferred social media of those users. Facebook, Instagram, discussion forums, and face to face readings have allowed this to be a success.

The Fool's Dog, who created The Ellis deck app will continue to sell the app in the physical deck's absence, If you are reading this in want of the physical deck, know you can still browse all of the imagery of the deck itself through this app.

If you are interested in news about the next printing, please add yourself to my mailing list by clicking here. I ensure you that I will only use your address to let you know of future availability of my art and not incessantly pelt you with useless information.