Hello again, Internetland. My name is Jesse, and I’ve been blog-post clean for 3 years. If blog posts were an addiction for me that would sound like a good thing, but they’re not… so it’s bad. I have not been holding myself accountable for my art-accountability and, as this blog was created help me stay on track with growing as an artist and not stagnating, it’s high time I hop back on the horse. So… HOP!
My last post was about being chosen as the card artist for Hand of Fate and, to make a long story short, it did great, sold a ton of copies and now we’re making a sequel! Woohoozy spazzamatoozy!! The guys at Defiant have been an incredible group to work with, generously allowing me to stay on the project through some of the hardest years of my entire life, though there were some close calls as I struggled deeply with emotional and mental health; riding tidal waves of enormous life changes (both negative and positive). I owe them a lot… basically the entirety of any future I have as a commercial illustrator. No biggie. Thank you, friends. (They’re really cool.)
But things are moving along nicely with the sequel! And if anyone was wondering if it’ll be an improvement on the original, the answer is HOLY CRAP YES. The design team is pounding out “new” every time I check in: new play concepts, fantastic new engine/graphics features, new storyline, new characters, the works. It’ll still have the H-o-F feel, but it’s emphatically a sequel. Check it out for yourself:
They’ve allowed me so much freedom in envisioning the cards it’s unbelievable and makes my role so much fun. After the initial faux-medieval simplicity of the first game’s deck design, I’ve gone a little more baroque and dense with these cards, and having a good time with it. And I need to give a huge shout-out to the amazing Nick Smith whose gorgeous concept art I often get to ‘medievalize’.
Enough words- more pictures! Here’s a bunch of recent cards for HoF2, but I never posted anything else after that first conceptual bunch 3 years ago, so for much, much more please check out my DeviantArt gallery which has separate folders in the sidebar for both games …..and thanks for checking in! ❤
CRY of the TETHERED HAWK 