Card Description:

Hard working, diligent, practical, and determined, the Knight of Earth (Pence or Coins in a normal Tarot deck) represents someone who is willing to stand their ground no matter the cost, and who will steadfastly deliver on their promises.

With a never give up attitude, they can be difficult to work with, but like a plow horse they will get the job done, one step after the next, pushing forward long after everyone else has fallen behind.

Reversed, and the determination becomes stubbornness, the convictions turn to overbearing traditions, and the practicality is thrown out the window as sloppiness and repetitive habitual patterns take over.

Upright, and this knight is your best friend in business or any kind of endeavor that requires hard work and hard play.

About this deck and these drawings:

Some folks have mentioned that this looks like it was heavily referenced at best, or an outright trace at worse — and for these cards that's actually good news.

Although I would like something of my own hand to be visible throughout the deck, with the court cards its important that I get the designs and illustrations as show-like as possible (although, for myself, I'm going to make the legs longer, because Sailor Moon.)

So, especially with the court cards, I'm referencing the source as hard as I can; Lauren Faust's own original character sketches and the information in the Art Is Magic and The Art Of Equestria books.

For this image, I would ideally like to capture the energy and freedom of Lauren's amazing character designs and sketches, while bringing in some of the uniformity and precision that Flash brings to the show. The pose I picked for this card is from Lauren's show bible sketches:

>>472485s

I feel like I'm getting closer, but I may need to redo this drawing four or five more times until I get finished pencils that have the "show look" that I really want for this deck, while retain Lauren's open and confident line.

I know I'll never get 100% to a "Show Accurate Look", because this is going to be a hand inked and colored deck and it will never match what people are doing in Flash. And as much as I'd like to be able to replicate Lauren's amazing line, I draw like me — so something in the ballpark I think is all I'm ever going to be able to get.

The final goal is a presentation to Hasbro, either to have them option the deck and the accompanying book, or to get a referral to one of the third party licensees like We Love Fine, or for a license to produce and sell the deck myself.