question about original art size

[littleiris]

so, i've had two decks in the making for a while. mostly, i have sketches but i am close to starting the actual artwork. should the artwork be larger than the final product or the actual size of the finished card? just wondering...

stacey

 

[Babalon Jones]

hi stacey

The common thing to do is to make the art 2-3 times larger than the finished card, but it is not a rule. It just helps with getting the details in and having a smoother looking finished product.

That said, I didn't do that with my deck. I made the art originally to be the finished size of the card. It was really difficult to paint the small details - I had to use the smallest paintbrush I could buy, and hold my breath at times to avoid shaking when painting stuff like details or faces. When I do the next one, I intend to work larger.

I did end up shrinking the images ever so slightly for the cards. Hardly anything at all, they are still very near to actual size. I didn't want to shrink them at all as I wanted all of the details in the art to show, but I wanted the finished cards to be easy to shuffle for us small handed folk. And the shrinking was so minor that all of the details are still perfect.

Good luck with your deck!

 

[marimorimo]

Nobody's stopping you from making a 1 inch by 1 inch or a foot long deck

However, if you're making a deck with the intention of having it published in the future, I distinctly remember reading in the U.S. Games site that they require artwork to be at least twice the size of the card or letter paper size. (Check out their site and submission guidelines for the exact recommended measurements).

 

[littleiris]

thanks guys!

yes, I hope to get one of them published at least. the other may become a self published project. i've been reading about that too.

and i always liked the "mini" or smaller decks...pocket sized can be good! never thought about a JUMBO deck! LOL

 

[Babalon Jones]

US games submission rules for tarot art just says that all art should be the same size and "preferably" twice as large or up to three times is ok. But twice as large is not a requirement, just so you know...

 

[Chronata]

A few of the decks I have created were about one and half times larger than the final cards.

But all my playing card size decks are actual size to the artwork.

Then again, these were all mostly self published, so i didn't have to worry about anyone's guidelines.

Reproduced art looks great when it's reduced in size...unless you do large canvas work with lots of little details that would get lost.

 

[littleiris]

thanks for that info!