This is a reworking of one of the very first cards I designed for the minors... in fact, she began life as one of the Major Arcana and migrated to the Court Cards when I decided to do something different with The Empress.
I needed her early on, because she illustrates a specific and important character from my latest novel, See Them Dance -- which if you haven't checked it out yet is a nifty fantasy adventure about the strangest Alien Invasion you've ever seen. But as I've worked through the minors I've grown less and less satisfied with her, and felt that she needed a bit of a makeover.
In this new version, I've adjusted the angle, size and placement of her head, given her a more cheerful-looking elephant, and made the background much lighter, much bluer, and much more watery. Cups are the suit of water, after all, and just having this pair posed in a particularly dark and gloomy tent no longer worked for me. I'm much happier with this iteration of the card, and hope you like it, too. You can still see the original elsewhere on this site, way back in the middle of the Majors, but this is the version that will go into the final deck.
And don't forget that the Major Arcana is available now as a deck all on its own. Check over there in the sidebar. Only 300 copies were made, it will never be reprinted, and it features a different Devil card than the one that will ultimately appear in the full deck.
-- Freder.
www.ducksoup.me
