The Lady with Eyes in her... ahem...

"The Bonnet" Loteria Card

"The Bonnet"

"Eisnerbrecht" is actually the mistranslated term for this image.  This card is based on the practice of creating a gap in a circuit for protection against spiritual forces.  This would be similar to providing a ground in an electrical circuit, although in this practice the subject is deliberately creating a defense against supernatural beings.

"Eisnerbrecht: A wooden stake with a silver core, bound with three iron bands."

This loteria card for "The Bonnet" shows a wooden manikin head which has been pierced repeatedly with metal nails for good luck.

The Barrel : Eclipse Gallery

"The Barrel" Loteria Card

"The Barrel"


Card #9 for "The Pope's Deck" or "Baraja del Papa"

This painting is one of a series of 58 images which will be published as a special loteria deck upon completion.  Loteria is game popular in Mexico and the Southwest, similar to bingo.  Each card of the deck has an image of a common scene or basic household item.  For this reason, the images that appear in a deck of loteria cards are instantly recognizable to the players.

This deck will have the addition of four suits and numbering markers in the upper right corners which will allow them to be used for most American card games.

The images appearing in this deck are based on descriptions of the only deck of loteria cards blessed by the Catholic Church.  In 1785, Pope Pius IV consecrated a specifically commissioned deck of cards for missionary work in the New World.  Of those decks, only four are assumed to still be in existence, and none have been made available for viewing.  However, the documents which organized and defined the images which would later be created for this project are part of the public domain and it is from this source that I am attempting to recreate the original deck of cards.

Further online information about this project can be found at the Sandow Studios website or the information page about the artist.

The Brave One : Fitting title for an ambitious project

"The Brave One" Loteria Card

This card is chock full of symbolism.  The "Brave One" of the loteria deck is usually shown with a sharp dagger or skinning knife in one fist while a towel or poncho is thrown over the other.  If you just think of the standard bull fighter, you'll get the picture.  For this image, I've added additional spots of blood on his bronzed skin which are configured to align with the Orion constellation.  Wow!
Also shown in this painting of the loteria card is a star-spangled cape for El Valiente himself.  OK, that is more layers of meaning than my mind can handle right now.
By the way, his feet came out kind of funky.

This card can have many interpretations because of the variety of cultural symbols used.  For information about how this card is viewed during fortune telling readings, I've set up a special page.

Dragon Pear

"The Pear" Loteria Card

The loteria card "La Pera" is traditionally shown with a halved pear as the subject.  However, as I'd discovered earlier, the easier the subject of the card is, the more creative you have to be to paint it.  Sure, anyone could paint a regular pear for the subject, but it would be so boring to do, such a tedious grind, that it might take forever to actually finish.  When coming up with over 72 unique images for this deck, time isn't something that I have in spades.
For this pear I chose the image of an "Alligator Pear", which is actually much more approperiate considering the southwestern influences of the loteria deck.  The pit of the avocado is pictured as an embryo for some reptile.  As an interesting note, this wouldn't be that much of a stretch.  Amphibians are hatched, and so an egg-like embryo wasn't something that I could lay claim to having invented.  Mother nature beat me to it.

I've included a page explaining the divination interpretation for this card.

Old Suit, New Suit

The end is finally in sight for the first suit.  For the project that I'd set for myself of painting a complete loteria deck, I started with the lowest numerical suit first.  In this case, I started with the 2 of clubs and worked my way up.  Now after a month of painting and a lot of fun, I think the suit of clubs is almost done!
The hardest one by far is "The Bonnet".  There is something about that subject that really made me stuck for ideas.  But the painting is about 1/3 complete, so things are looking good.

Dee gave me a message today saying that Twink may have to be put down.  Twink is one of the sweetest cats it has been my privilege to know and I'm very sad to think that she might have to make that last trip to the vet.  What a wonderful cat who brought such joy and love into the world.

The Storm Loteria

"The Storm" Loteria Card

I couldn't help myself with this one.  I was going through the new loteria site and I came across my painting "The Red and the Black" that I'd painted for the Redlands Art Association's gallery exhibit about a year ago.  As I looked at the striking image I couldn't escape the idea that this would be a wonderful piece for the loteria deck.
But the standard loteria deck didn't have a card that fit an image such as this.
So I created one.  Behold!  The Storm!  The original picture that I used for this was a little fuzzy around the edges, but when reduced in size to fit the template it's hard to tell.  If anything, it looks more compact and complete in this new size.  I've made this card 55, so it will be one without a standard suit.  The club graphic is just there for a placeholder.  I've been toying with what the new suit should be and think it will be a light blue star.
Just a happy coincidence that the word for 'storm' in Spanish is 'Tormenta".  That's what I should have entitled this painting to begin with!

Juicy Melons

"The Melon" Loteria Card

This card does some interesting things to colors when it's resized.  The actual painting is much more green, and the colors are softer.  I actually prefer it in these natural shades with clearly delineated shapes.  My one concern about painting a loteria deck is the loss of detail when the image is shrunk.  When I see things come into sharper focus as the picture is resized... well.... it's not what I'm used to.
It's not easy to come up with a painting based on a common item like a melon or shoe.  In one way, that's what makes this project so much fun to do.  You really have to dig deep and tap into the natural creative impulse to come up with something that is interesting to paint.
The "Green Man" face in the leaves is intentional.

Update:  For more information about this card and the divination meanings when it appears in a reading, check out my loteria page.

Insight into Drama

Saying "I don't cause drama, people around me cause drama and drag me into it." is like saying "I'm not Jack the Ripper, but no matter where I go I'm surrounded by bodies of dead hookers."

Howl's Moving Castle In Progress

About a million cuts and countless daubs of Elmer's later...

Deviant Art for Sandow

In an effort to boost clicks, I've added some of the current loteria cards to my DeviantArt site.  There isn't anything there that you can't find on this blog, so don't feel obligated to check it out.  After all, this is the primary source of information about loteria divination and fortune telling.  That site is for search engines.

Are those airbrushed?

"The Lady" Loteria Card

In a word, yes.  This image was harder to do because I really haven't factored in the size issue with the original canvas.  The canvases that I'm using to paint the cards for my loteria deck are small, and so the weave of the material is very coarse.  This also means that there is lots of detail which I just can't get into the image.  There are some stunning effects, don't get me wrong.  The paintbrush wants to add dramatic flairs with the paint whenever it touches the surface.  But as far as detail goes, I'd imagined that as long as I used s fine enough brush, that wouldn't be a problem.
It is.  Size has nothing to do with it.  Add your own artistic pun here.
Even tiny brushes just can't put in the level of detail without looking forced, overworked or just awkward.  There isn't any such thing as having natural picky details after a certain point.
But the painting is one of the best that I've done and I was very excited to put it in the template and make the card.  When I did that, I found out that the loteria banner covers her cleavage!  Now I'm not the sort of person to say that a woman's image can't be dramatic and powerful in a painting without having a cleavage shot.  Also, when using loteria for fortune telling, it wouldn't be a requirement that the card symbolizing femininity and beauty also have a long leer down her top.  But I gotta be honest... the image lacked something.  So I used PhotoShop to pull her dress down so you could see the hem below the banner.  Yeah, it made the card better.  I just wish I didn't feel so dirty afterwards.

Update!:  There is a special La Dama Loteria page!

Using Loteria for Divination

Incomplete?  Yes.  Awesome as hell?  Oh yes! 

I've completely revamped the old site to provide a more comprehensive guide for using loteria for divination.  While updates will be posted here first, the site is worth another look.  I know that it's trite to say, but I'm really interested in getting feedback on this, so please let me know of suggestions to make it an easier resource to use. Loteria fortune telling is just a click away!

Who are you calling a Gentleman?

"The Gentleman" Loteria Card

I'm really beginning to see some advantages to running a painting through Photoshop.  This image is a perfect example of how it can be used to improve the final product.  The "Gentleman" card was one that I started early because of it's place in the deck (I started numerically at 1 and am working my way from there), but didn't get around to finishing it until now.  Painting figures is probably the hardest subject there is, and I had some trepidation about this.  It was justified.  Grrr.  I knew roughly what I wanted it to look like, but everything from the background to his nose caused me issues.
Most obvious was his raised arm.  You can't tell it from this picture, but in the original painting his arm is WAY too long.  I didn't catch it at first, probably because I was not looking too closely, in case I got frustrated at all the nit-picky things that were going on.  But his arm was long and detracted from the card.  Normally I'd just say that I'd be the only person to be bothered by it.  Anyone else just coming across the picture wouldn't give it a second thought.  But you'll have to trust me on this, it was obvious.  Obvious in a very bad way.
Enter Photoshop.  Some cutting and pasting and cosmetic surgery on the scan and suddenly he doesn't look like Plastic Man in a pin-striped pimp suit.  He actually looks pretty darn good!
Yes, his feet suck.  Tell me something I don't know.  Painting human figures is hard.  Painting feet correctly is next to impossible.  Give me credit that I didn't show him ankle-deep in the pond.

Update!  To find out the loteria divination interpretation of El Catrin, click here!

Green Girls

"The Mermaid" Loteria Card

When I first started out to do this card I really wanted to have something a little different than the normal mermaid design.  I've never been a fan of mermaids, and their boost in popularity for whatever reason has left me cold.  I turned the classic tail into a tentacle and really like the result!  But the face on the other hand eluded me.
I swear I tried to give her a pretty face.  But the perspective was just off enough that I couldn't get the effect that I wanted.  Also, this is a small image so adding details like lips and a nose were almost impossible.  Any details would have likely been lost when the image was scanned in anyway.  You don't want to know how many redesigns her face went through.
Finally in frustration I went for the London "Green Girls" look from Jeter and this is the final image.  Yeah, that ship being torn apart on the waves couldn't have been better and the suckers on the tail look eerie.  The shine off the scales is top notch as well.  But the fishy look, the glassy eyes... Oh well, there are always other cards and other canvases to try again on.

Update!  For a tarot like interpretation of the loteria Mermaid, click here!

Cinco De Mayo Lucha!

I missed it last year and I was determined not to let the same opportunity to go this time.  I scored tickets to Lucha Va Voom and had a blast!  It is the perfect mixture of excitement and absurdity and I'm hooked.  It's hard to describe, so I'll just put a quick link to the intro video here:

Needless to say, save a ringside seat for me for next year.  I'm there!

Just a Numbering Change, no biggie

After looking long and hard at the numbering font I've used in the upper left corner of these cards, I've decided to do some changes to make them more legible.  It was a pain and took me most of the morning, but the difference is worth it.  When the images are reduced to card size, the numbers and suits will be easier to see.  I was really pushing to have a unique feel to the number layout, but practicality has won this round.

Over a Barrel

"The Barrel"

The one problem I've found with people talking about fortune telling using Loteria cards has been one of the images being too simple.  With a traditional deck of tarot cards, the images are broad and detailed enough to allow any sort of meaning to be divined from them.  But loteria cards have images that are extremely simple.  Some of them are mundane objects which would be a stretch for anyone to determine a deeper meaning from.  "The Barrel" is one of them.

To jazz it up a touch, I painted a barrel in a tempest.  Now we're talking!  This card is positively dripping with subtext!

Yeah, I'm tempted to play around with adding detail to the frothing spout coming from the tap, but other than that I think this came out quite well.  Look at those waves and compare them to the rain from "The Umbrella".  I'm getting better at painting the wet stuff.

Update!  This painting is now in the Victorville Eclipse Gallery as the first look at my divination loteria deck!

Flipping the Bird

 I encountered a strange problem with this card.  When I painted the tree clinging to the precipice, I used my default setting for composition.  I had the spire appear on the left with the tree flowing out to the right.  The lighting source usually would have been in the upper left shining down to the lower right.  However, when I put the banner over the image I got this.

It's not bad, but too much of the spire is covered by the title of the card.  I could have used PhotoShop to have the spire appear over the banner but that would have resulted in too much of the text being covered.  I had to fix it.

"The Tree" Loteria Card

I flipped the painting, but because I painted with the understanding that the corner would be covered and the banner would hide the part of the painting behind it there were big bare patches that needed to be remedied.  You can still see a light streak on the water where I hadn't painted a thing but I liked the effect.  The pencil lines of the template were a more serious problem and required a bunch of fiddily manipulating to blend in.  The end result is much better though, and the composition is more suitable for the card.  So I'm keeping it this way.

Oh, I'd neglected the fact that the deck will have cards with a value of "10", which are two digits wide.  I crunched them together and they fit.  Barely.

Update!  The final version of the El Arbol loteria card can be found here:

Working those colors

Historically, this card is "The Bird", but I really couldn't get the image of two brooding broods for this card.  So yes, the title is singular and the subject is plural.  The effect is greater this way and I think works rather well.
On the painting the background is a little muddier, the reds not quite so fiery.  When adjusting the contrast in PhotoShop I had to choose between having a dull background with the flowing texture or a brilliant background with no details.  This was the closest I could get to a happy medium.

Update:  This image will become one of the primary icons for the Pope's Lottery deck.  Further information is here.