Wacky animals & kitschy things !

Hello ! I'm Crypti, a graphic designer with a passion for illustration, retro things and strange creatures ♫   Commissions are open !

[cryptixotic]

🌿 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐨𝐧 🌿

[cryptixotic]

♡ 𝕼𝖚𝖊𝖊𝖓 𝖔𝖋 𝕯𝖎𝖆𝖒𝖔𝖓𝖉𝖘 ♡ A love letter to the card printing history of the city of Thiers, which has been largely forgotten - Following the regional Auvergne Pattern of cards printed in France in the XVI and XVII century. ♡ ♡ ♡ - ♣ ♣ ♣ - ♢ ♢ ♢ - ♠ ♠ ♠

[cryptixotic]

Here are some original queens of the portrait. The flower she's holding varies a lot and doesn't read as a real flower - so i gave her a yellow gentian, native to the region :)

If the small city of Thiers produced such great cards, it was thanks to its paper manufactures. Because of its proximity to water, paper mills were very prolific, and the paper produced here was VERY sought after, being known as one of the best of all the kingdom !

It's fantastic to read about, as nowadays Thiers is a very small city that most french people have no idea about (it's so funny seing prestigiously mentionned in old books right next to Paris, Lyon, Toulouse...!) - and with the last paper mill closing in the 1900s, a big part of the people living here today don't even know about the paper's history.

The industry died during the XVIIIth century - A decline caused by numerous wars, especially with Spain (one of the biggest clients for cards and paper), but also economic crisis and new competitors with modern equipments such as Holland. This demise of paper mills in the city is the main reason behind the disappearance of playing cards and the regional pattern they bore. Paper mills were replaced by other very interesting industries, but that's a subject i will tie with the King of Diamonds ;)

[cryptixotic]

♢ 𝕼𝖚𝖊𝖊𝖓 𝖔𝖋 𝕯𝖎𝖆𝖒𝖔𝖓𝖉𝖘 ♢ A love letter to the card printing history of the city of Thiers, which has been largely forgotten - Following the regional Auvergne Pattern of cards printed in France in the XVI and XVII century. ♡ ♡ ♡ - ♣ ♣ ♣ - ♢ ♢ ♢ - ♠ ♠ ♠

[cryptixotic]

𝕲𝖚𝖎𝖑𝖙𝖞 𝕷𝖔𝖛𝖊🗡

Their debut single was only 2 minutes and 15 seconds long? What a rip-off !

Alt colors :)

[cryptixotic]

𝕲𝖚𝖎𝖑𝖙𝖞 𝕷𝖔𝖛𝖊🗡 Their debut single was only 2 minutes and 15 seconds long? What a rip-off !

Alt colors :)

[cryptixotic]

♡ 𝕵𝖆𝖈𝖐 𝖔𝖋 𝕳𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖙𝖘 ♡ A love letter to the card printing history of the city of Thiers, which has been largely forgotten - Following the regional Auvergne Pattern of cards printed in France in the XVI and XVII century. ♡ ♡ ♡ - ♣ ♣ ♣ - ♢ ♢ ♢ - ♠ ♠ ♠

[cryptixotic]

And here are the original jacks of heart of the portrait : left profile, armored, bearing a sword and a halberd.

Did you know that cards with patterned backs are pretty recent ? Before 1800, the back of the cards was simply blank, and people often used them as little memos, or to send messages. Since the card production in Thiers declined somewhere during the XVIIIth century, none of the cards i found have backs !

If you're curious like me, here's a peek at what they could look like...

The last one belongs to the Jack of Hearts you can see in the bottom middle above. Time left beautiful battle scars on this brave little knight !

Here are some i could read. They seem to have been used as pious tokens, long after being printed. Seems they travelled to the capital ! "La Cité de Dieu à Paris, chez André Pralard rue St Jacques 1675" The City of God in Paris, at André Pralard's, St Jacques street 1675" "Sacrement de pénitence, par le p. Ballu à Paris, 1764" Sacrament of Penance, given by Priest Ballu in Paris, 1764 I wonder what sins could have been forgiven through a little playing card...

[cryptixotic]

very excited for jack of spades, if you plan on doing it :3 good work, your face cards turn out really pretty with the medieval style!<3

thank you so much ♥ ! I do plan on drawing them all - i was actually working on the queen of diamonds this instant !

The jacks are the coolest part of this portrait and i'm excited to draw him too, i already have some ideas planned out :^)

[cryptixotic]

♡ 𝕵𝖆𝖈𝖐 𝖔𝖋 𝕳𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖙𝖘 ♡ A love letter to the card printing history of the city of Thiers, which has been largely forgotten - Following the regional Auvergne Pattern of cards printed in France in the XVI and XVII century. ♡ ♡ ♡ - ♣ ♣ ♣ - ♢ ♢ ♢ - ♠ ♠ ♠

[cryptixotic]

Character meme and little style experimentss >_0 Which one's your favorite :) ?

[cryptixotic]

♣ 𝕶𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖔𝖋 𝕮𝖑𝖚𝖇𝖘 ♣ A love letter to the card printing history of the city of Thiers, which has been largely forgotten - Following the regional Auvergne Pattern of cards printed in France in the XVI and XVII century.

♡ ♡ ♡ - ♣ ♣ ♣ - ♢ ♢ ♢ - ♠ ♠ ♠

[cryptixotic]

This card is my personal favorite of the whole portrait ! Indeed, the King of Clubs is never depicted without his bird, a beautiful element that has been lost in modern portraits.

For your viewing pleasure... Birds I collected from Auvergne pattern KOCs - except for the first one which is an intriguing king of hearts seemingly based on the auvergne pattern ?

Best described as "Lovely with varying levels of birdness", some are very colorful, some more dragon like (probably a way to stylize a bird of prey), and others a bit more strange !

I debated on what bird it could be - bird of prey, parrot, something more fantastical ? A handful of them look almost as if they were wearing little crowns, a detail that made me think of the red kite (called the royal kite in french !). A truly perfect fit as they're emblematic in the region of Auvergne, which harbours most of the red kite population in France. And they're just so beautiful and striking, with their lovely colors and forked tail ! I'm curious to know - What bird would YOU have chosen :) ?

[cryptixotic]

♣ 𝕶𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖔𝖋 𝕮𝖑𝖚𝖇𝖘 ♣ A love letter to the card printing history of the city of Thiers, which has been largely forgotten - Following the regional Auvergne Pattern of cards printed in France in the XVI and XVII century.

♡ ♡ ♡ - ♣ ♣ ♣ - ♢ ♢ ♢ - ♠ ♠ ♠

[cryptixotic]

Perceive ?!

[cryptixotic]

♡ 𝕶𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖔𝖋 𝕳𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖙𝖘 ♡

A love letter to the card printing history of the city of Thiers, which has been largely forgotten - Following the regional Auvergne Pattern of cards printed in France in the XVI and XVII century.

♡ ♡ ♡ - ♣ ♣ ♣ - ♢ ♢ ♢ - ♠ ♠ ♠

[cryptixotic]

Here are some of the original cards that inspired my rendition !

The King of Hearts is depicted turned towards the left, and holds a sword and a globus cruciger (the orb and cross that are the christian symbol of authority and royalty). Many renditions also have him wearing the heraldic figure of a black double-headed eagle, on a golden background. (i have no idea if this coat of arms is a reference or a simple artistic choice - The regional coat of arms of Auvergne is a red flag, and that of the city of Thiers bears a silver sailing ship on a red background... nothing remotely close to this eagle !)

A small detail i picked up on is the little beard curls ! You'll notice all the KOH have little swirls in their beards, a detail i almost never found on other kings, for some reason !

[cryptixotic]

♡ 𝕶𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖔𝖋 𝕳𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖙𝖘 ♡

A love letter to the card printing history of the city of Thiers, which has been largely forgotten - Following the regional Auvergne Pattern of cards printed in France in the XVI and XVII century.

♡ ♡ ♡ - ♣ ♣ ♣ - ♢ ♢ ♢ - ♠ ♠ ♠

[cryptixotic]

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 ! I love you Ema Skye you can hose down my belongings in luminol anytime

[cryptixotic]

♠ 𝕼𝖚𝖊𝖊𝖓 𝖔𝖋 𝕾𝖕𝖆𝖉𝖊𝖘 ♠

A love letter to the card printing history of the city of Thiers, which has been largely forgotten - Following the regional Auvergne Pattern of cards printed in France in the XVI and XVII century.

♡ ♡ ♡ - ♣ ♣ ♣ - ♢ ♢ ♢ - ♠ ♠ ♠

[cryptixotic]

And here are some cards with the original portrait - The queen of spades is one of the most unique figures of the Auvergne pattern. (besides the jacks and my favorite king... which i'll write about later ;-) )

Indeed, she's holding a little lapdog (with... varying levels of dogness, i'll agree). Most of portraits depict her with a specific medieval headdress, and an ermine coat, which gives her a unique look compared to the other queens of the portrait.

This lovely little dog got lost to time and doesn't exist in any modern portraits - what a shame ! But such is the fate of regional portraits like the Auvergne one, that got eclipsed by the Paris portrait to give the unified "french portrait" that is in use nowadays.

[cryptixotic]

♠ 𝕼𝖚𝖊𝖊𝖓 𝖔𝖋 𝕾𝖕𝖆𝖉𝖊𝖘 ♠

A love letter to the card printing history of the city of Thiers, which has been largely forgotten - Following the regional Auvergne Pattern of cards printed in France in the XVI and XVII century.

♡ ♡ ♡ - ♣ ♣ ♣ - ♢ ♢ ♢ - ♠ ♠ ♠