The Emperor Strikes Back!

Not to be outdone by the Empress, it's the Emperor! Featuring Actor / Singer / Carpenter / What can't he do?? / David Weiss! I spent a couple of hours on the final card edit, and I think it looks great! It's the photo that headlines this post.

Want to learn more? Let's start with a look at this handsome guy!

I've worked with David a few times, including an Escape Room project. However for this I had David shave his beard. Why? So I can attach...another beard! :P

That's a lot of beard, my friends. You can see that I wanted lots of volume (and gears)! Which makes sense, since the Emperor is a well oiled machine. Stable, strong, and reliable.

I wasn't happy with the original choice card choice, and much like the Empress, I found a better photo. Normal part of the process for this final release! So let's look at (but don't get too attached to) the first selection:

As well as this stunning photo that shows off the beard:

For the final edit I wanted to tackle a few things. First, make the crown a *bit* more grand. Same with the beard, and other details. Nothing major, but mostly tweaking things to make them more jagged.

Second, I need to balance the colors to fit the vibe of the rest of the series. That also meant no over-the-top special effects. A simple star background was painted, as well as some atmosphere to make things flow.

Finally I updated the eyebrow shape/makeup to appear more masculine (and defined). The pressed powder that I used for shading didn't pop like I would of liked, so it was fixed that as well for the final selection.

Finish it with a cool Tarot Card border and you have a really stunning ruler! What do you think? 

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Love And Creative Fire,

Brandon (your Magician)