The 8 of cups card is here!
This is an early study in how to best handle colour in these cards.
The content on this card is inspired by a very early scene in our inspiration novel. Honestly, it’s a bit of a bummer, but it plays nicely into the tone of the card, and gave me an opportunity to play a little more with “environment” in each of these cards.
Read moreThe first card of 2025!
Read moreWith only a few hour left in the year, it’s time to look back on a very busy, productive and exciting year. As most of you know, this past year was the year I wanted to start pushing the studio a little harder and see where we could go. It was all about learning, growing, trial-and-error, and network building. It was a lot of hard work, it meant extra hours after my day job, tough boundaries, and juggling. In the end it all feels like it is paying off really well, starting off 2025 with a pile of momentum, plans and ideas.
This year was my first attempt at markets and I have had so much fun. I started the year with three markets with The Mom Market London booked, and ended up doing a total of six markets at different venues. I can’t thanks Kayla of the The Mom Market London enough for her energy, encouragement and feedback, the people that I have met at her markets have been inspirational and will be great friends and market neighbours moving forward.
I also did a Book Fair Market where my bookmarks were a hit! I was also lucky enough to be chosen to be part of the Wildflower Christmas Market, and I could have done that one for days!
There are so many highlights when it comes to the markets. The people I have met, the experience I have gained, and the feedback. One of my favourite parts of the market is seeing the response to my work “out in the wild”. Unbiased opinions of the pieces that I have worked so hard on was beyond valuable in growing my portfolio. Everyone had great ideas of what gnome I should do next, what pieces they liked, and how they could incorporate the designs into their daily lives. I also received some ideas for where my pieces could be used in the community, kicking off the next steps in my 2025 plans!
If I could do markets all the time I would. These have been so much fun, and after my first one was out of the way, oddly stress free! I am so glad that I took this leap this year, and this will be something that I’ll be doing more of in the new year for sure.
Part way through the year, I finally kicked off a decade long percolating project. My tarot deck! I had this project laid out and planned for over ten years, but I was stuck on style and how to present them. When I was playing around with Firefly earlier in the year, I discovered that I already had my style ready to go. The stained glass/paper art combination would be perfect for these cards! A lesson in being patient, sometimes you just need that one piece to fall into place at its own pace.
I started these on the livestreams throughout the summer and we are making wonderful progress. I am thrilled to be working on a project that means so much to me. We will see where it goes, but the feedback so far has been amazing! Really, I just want to be working on them all of the time.
Through my livestreams I have built a community of people who provide feedback and work together. There are a few individuals who have a work setup, and artistic approach that inspire me, or that I’d like to learn from. I’d participate in their livestreams, and ask questions, I’d research and discuss their approach. In the end, I simply reached out and said “Hey! Let’s collaborate!” Luckily DTM responded positively and we are now working together and collaborating.
Check out this project that we started this year. It will be in the layout of a Joker card, and will be the kick start to our next collaboration in the new year. We will be working together, but also including other artists to see how they would interpret our idea in their own style. A great development later in the year that will be a great start to 2025.
In reviewing the year, one thing that jumped out to me was the volume of work that I had built while pushing the studio along. Looking at my table setup at the last market of the year, I realized that I had drawn a vast majority of the work this year. This was both overwhelming and invigorating at the same time. I did a count a few weeks ago, and in 2024 I more than tripled my Behance content. Meaning I have doubled the work that I did between 2020 and 2023, this year alone.
It was a lot of work but the base is now set and we have an even better kick off point for the year to come. There’s still a lot of work to come, don’t worry, but it will be coming from a place of less pressure and stress… hopefully.
Overall, this has been an amazing year for me in the studio, me with my friends and family, and me and Mojo. It’s insane to look back on all of the hard work, and to see how it is already paying off. I have been taking a mild break over the holidays here, but we will be off to the races next week, looking to avoid any lost momentum.
Thank you so much to everyone who has been here for the whole journey, joined in part way through, made a purchase, provided feedback, provided a like, a share, or an idea. I appreciate all of you and I hope that you will all stay on for the journey in to 2025!
Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year from the Hues & Tones Studio.
Card number three is our first Major Arcana card – The Emperor.
This card was inspired by a very charismatic and troubling character in the book. There’s an incident in the book (I’ll try and avoid spoilers) where the character… shifts to a different state, let’s say. I knew that I had to use this element in the card to try and push the design along. Read more to see how this card came together…
Read moreI have had a project percolating for over a decade. I had the project fully ready and planned out, and then I stalled out when it was time to start executing it. I worried about style, I worried about the final plan, I worried about changing my plan part way through.
It turns out that my style just wasn’t ready yet. Late last year I did a little digging back into the idea to see if it was worth pursuing or if I should just toss it. A few sketches, and Firefly exports later I was off and running again. OF COURSE the style I had been working in recent years would be PERFECT for this project. It was sitting right there!
Anyway, all that to say that this is the start of that project… I give you the Night Circus inspired Tarot Deck!
Our first card is the 10 of Coins.
Read moreAs soon as I started my Halloween list I knew a witch gnome had to be there. I had an image of a ridonkulously large hat and it was a done deal.
This one was beyond fun to build and I am so happy with this little witch and all of her friends. I liked playing around with some of the Fresco brushes and layering effects so that I could get a really cool effect for the “eye of newt” potion coming out of the cauldron.
This witchy beauty will be available on prints, cards and stickers at my Thanksgiving market and online the week after. Keep an eye on the socials to see when and where you can grab one for yourself.
It’s getting to be that cozy time of the year where we are pulling out our sweaters, boots and cozy blankets. There’s also so many great ways to get into the mood this season. I have been sipping pumpkin spice lattes, working away in the studio, and I have a lot of wonderful fall and Hallowe’en products coming your way.
We have all kinds of cards, prints, stickers and new bookmarks in the shop this fall and I can’t wait to share them all with you. You’ve seen these ones already, but there are still a few more coming down the line. Make sure to follow to keep up with all things Hues & Tones this season.
We have a new product coming out for the market this month. Keep an eye on the socials and here on the blog to see what we have and where you can get one (or several) for yourself.
For those of you who have been following my livestreams, you already know that I have started creating my own tarot deck! These are going to start going live this month!
Keep an eye on Instagram and Facebook to see how all of the cards are starting to come together. I can’t wait for you to see how they are coming together!
I love how this bookmark came together. I really wanted a design that felt like fall, gave a little challenge to the colouring, and also looked good “as is”. I am thrilled with the final result.
I used some AI support from Firefly to help with some of the elements to the design. There are a lot of different directions this could have gone.
This bookmark is in print as we speak and will be available for purchase at my October 12 market, and online shortly after. Keep an eye on Instagram and Facebook to see how to get yours.
It’s getting to that time of the year and this guy is ready to go!
Fall is definitely my favourite time of the year and this guy is feeling all the vibes. I love all of the colours and smells and flavours that come out this time of the year.
Building this guy was a lot of fun. I knew that the pile of leaves had to be overwhelming to a point. I also liked playing with the different seasonal brushes that Fresco has to offer to really play up the pile of leaves.
Check out the Behance project to watch the build come together.
This gnome will also be available on my site later in October. So follow along Instagram and Facebook to see when that goes live.
This is the last project in the stained glass series from 2023. This one definitely gave me a run for my money. So many challenges with colour etc.
I did set this project up to be a challenge though, so I am glad that it rose the occasion. I wanted to show a watery, flowing scene, while using an imitation of a very rigid style. Stained glass water creatures were going to challenge me no matter what.
In the end we made it through and here we are… the Sea Creatures.
Read more: Project – Stained Glass Sea Creatures
To read more about the process and challenges, see my Behance page here.
Hues & Tones 