I Make Unique Collage Paintings By Using Only Playing Cards And Black Paint (18 Pics)

The inspiration to use playing cards as an artistic medium was very much an accident. It started back in 2011 where I was mainly doing spray paint art and stencilling. I had some cards in my flat in London that we had been using the night before for a drinking game - I decided to use my stencil cutting tools and made a small collage using the king and queen of hearts. The composition consisted of the king holding his heart outside of the card toward the queen. I thought it was a special piece but when it went viral online I realised I was onto something and playing cards have been my thing ever since!

I have two different creative processes. One is where I try and use only what I can find in the borders of the card to make the composition. It is quite a challenge to do this and sometimes it takes me years of looking at the cards before I have the idea. I generally use a craft knife and glue to make the collage. The second technique almost treats the playing cards as the color pallet for the artwork. I sketch my design out and then collage the cards over it before adding black acrylic paint to add shading and outlines.

It took lots of trial and error to land on this technique. Experimenting with different brands of cards, glue and paint. Learning to balance the tones and shading using just one color was challenging at first but I improved with practice.

It takes quite a long time to complete a piece - usually between 40-60 hours. I have to allow time when collaging for layers of cards and glue to dry which can make it quite a lengthy process. I make the background first before sketching my outline onto it and then cutting up and gluing the cards into position. I finish with the paint element. I have recorded some time lapses which I have posted on Instagram. They show the whole process sped up.

I feel the cards make the pieces a little more interesting; there are small details in the cards that people might not notice initially until they look closer. I feel it also gives the composition an added depth and texture which I would not be able to achieve with paint alone.