Carré de dames

First of all it’s some kind of a worldplay: "Carre" - a name of the scarf, a name of the poker combination and at the same time the combination of four queens -  four women and that’s how we can describe the characters.

The plot:

Four ladies sitting at the table playing poker. The fourth card (“the Turn”) is being laid on the table and one of the players finds out she’s got a really great combination - Carre de dames (Four of a kind, queens)

Another (historical) thing about this illustration is that all the things on the table: the clothes, the jewelry and accessories are something Hermes had produced through the years. Some of them are vintage, some are new, so it’s something that Hermes lover could collect.

I’m in love with the cards theme since childhood. It started with “Alice in Wonderland”, school tricks and solitaires and continued with collecting the decks. Also I’ve been a keen poker player in my twenties, so it’s a dedication to all those poker nights with my friends full of tilt and jokes.

The technique:

The overall composition sketch is drawn by hand and finished and painted in Photoshop. The details are drawn by hand with rapidograph pen and one of them is painted with gouache.