Playing with playing cards

I bought a cheap pack of cards for experimental purposes. First I tried the very easy packing tape transfer technique. Here you can find a clear tutorial on that. I used pictures of a man and a woman from an old magazine. I think newer magazines with better printing quality and paper will give better transfer results. But I like everything old and scruffy.

The old magazine paper was so thin and fragile that I couldn't scrub it all off without harming the images. Especially in the woman's face you can see some paper pulp left. But when I glued the finished transfers on the playing cards using glossy acrylic medium, it also made the images more clear.


Since I like everything to be a bit worn out, I sanded the cards to give them matte surface. Then I made them look dirty with inks and acrylic paints.