Culturae Animal Set Playing Cards

This set contains the following:

1 x Culturae Animals Gold Gilded Playing Cards
1 x Culturae Animals Silver Gilded Playing Cards

Culturae Animalis (the cultural animal/animal culture) is a deck of highly detailed, hand-drawn, luxury art playing cards. It is a deck of stunning art playing cards with a beautiful message of cultural respect and environmental and animal protection. The illustration work alone took over six months, with every card, including pip cards, having its own unique design, and each set of suit court cards being one continuous panoramic scene.

Most of my written and illustrated work revolves around themes of nature, wildlife and identity, and this project is no different. Each suit depicts one animal type and one culture.

Let's begin with the diamonds - where my animal illustration series all started. The diamond suit is a detailed portrayal of cats based on traditional and renowned Japanese ukiyoe (woodblock prints). Focused around Edo period Japan, subjects include geisha preparing their makeup and famous or legendary samurai in battle.

Some pieces are entirely original in design while others are reimaginings based on famous historical works such as those by Utagawa Kuniyoshi.

The spades was inspired by my interest in the medieval through renaissance and Tudor period fashion and architecture of England and around Europe. From knights to musketeers and courtly ladies in waiting to courtly jesters, this suit captures heraldry and enchantment.

To create the compositions I often play with collaging elements of source materials, such the ideas created here with the Bayeux Tapestry (notice they also have rabbit ears).

This hearts is a new edition to my illustrated world and I’m delighted with how it turned out. Inspired by middle eastern nomadic Arabic tribes and into the Islamic nations, coupled with the subject of the uncaged bird, it allowed me to explore new textures and pattern-work.  

Inspirational source material was researched from many areas, from lithographs of Kurdish soldiers to this Byzantine fresca in St Lucas.

The clubs is represented by the indigenous tribes of the world, from Australian aboriginals to Native American Indians. This series allowed me to explore the rightful place of human culture within the animal kingdom, before we, perhaps arrogantly, separated ourselves. I have great respect for the spirituality and connectedness most aboriginal tribes live by and hope I brought a measure of allurement to this suit.

Inspirations were also taken from old photographic images, such as here depicting the sense of a necessity of alertness that we used to share with animals of the wild (from an antique postcard - source unknown).