M. SzalPlease click this link if you would like to order your deck of mystical playing cards.
I have opened orders to sell my new deck of cards, The American Game. I have changed the cards several times and I am on 4 different redesigns for the entire deck. The deck officially will be released on Thanksgiving, which is when all pre-sale orders will ship. Thank you so much for supporting my artwork and designs, I will have the entire deck on my portfolio soon with watermarks.
Dedicated and Presented to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
The above image is a highlight reel of the 13 cards encompassing the entire hearts suit. I have decided to go back to the original design for the suit symbols (the previous version had outlines for each symbol instead of solid-filled). I made my first deck more than five years ago, using a plain bicycle deck and spending a lot of time drawing and painting directly on each card. After the ink and watercolor dried, I laminated the cards so the colors/images would not deteriorate with excess shuffling.
It is refreshing to work on a large design project with such a fascinating concept for the entire deck. Yet, each card is designed one at a time and requires a lot of dancing with compositions and colors. I have been looking at different printing companies, yet since the deck has a spiritual/metaphysical component, it is essential to use the best materials. The use of such old emblems from 5 centuries ago was to give the deck a timeless and mystical quality that seems to contain some ancient, forgotten truth or wisdom. The images felt very familiar when I first looked at the Rider-Waite Tarot Deck. After reading ‘The Pictorial Key to the Tarot‘ by Waite, I started to appreciate how much deeper each card could be dissected and the deck’s use of symbols/visual metaphors. I am considering writing a booklet to include with each deck that explains which card represents which thing beyond the surface level place or zodiac sign.
Even if the decks take a while to sell, they have a long shelf life. The residual income will help support my creative projects and eventually fund my philanthropic aspirations. After the deck is sent to the printers, I plan to start a series of oil portraits of all the Presidents of the United States, from Trump to Washington.
In light of Judge William P. “Bill” Brandt’s military service, I have removed the last press release about him in honor of Armistice Day. One of the officers I was close with and who I designed things for in the Department of the Army (with U. of S. Carolina back in 2017-18) emailed me that Judge Brandt served in the United States Air Force for several decades.
During his distinguished military career, including active and reserve service, he has served in numerous flying, staff and command positions all over the globe–including Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
https://www.judgebillbrandt.com/about
World War One is my favorite conflict to study in history, along with the Napoleonic Wars, the English Civil Wars, plus the civil war between Sulla and Marius in ancient Rome. We get Veterans Day from the original Armistice Day, which is the anniversary of the eleventh month and the eleventh day that the armistice was signed to end the First World War. I would also like to thank my uncle John Szal (Captain in the Marines) and my old roommate Wes Ellett, who went to TCU on the G.I. Bill after serving in Iraq, for their service today.
This is a Flying Dutchess character concept I made based on an English Admiral that uses the Tarrant County District Attorney as a reference – Phil Sorrells.
In other news, I am working on the 4th different version of my “American Game Deck” of cards, which will be available for sale on my website starting Thanksgiving. Each card has a different NFL team, a different zodiac sign, element sign or special major card, which all equal 52 playing cards like a traditional deck for playing poker or spades. The NFL teams only have the city name and team colors since their logos are copyrighted. I have selected +500-year-old emblems mostly from Claude Paradin’s Devises heroïques, first published in 1551. I have redesigned the emblems to coordinate a theme idea and color palette to represent each of the 32 teams. So you could shuffle the deck in strange ways to help you pick your predictions for some sports gambling at West Gate in Las Vegas, then play go-fish with your friends while you watch the games.
I want to elevate American culture to an almost metaphysical place and have this deck hold a space similar to the traditional Rider Waite Tarot Deck. These timeless emblems from centuries ago still have a familiarity yet an elusive quality that makes each one feel eternal. See the “Atlanta Card” for an example. It has the official CMYK red of the team with an emblem featuring a falcon-like bird (Atlanta Falcons). Some teams are doubles, such as New York and Los Angeles. Yet, with color and imagery, I attempted to make each design fairly easy to distinguish. The teams are the number cards and the four elements (32 teams + 4 elements = 36) – Earth, Wind, Fire & Water.
The royal cards are the 12 zodiac signs and four unique cards from special emblems, which I thought would increase the mystique of the deck as a whole composition. Some cards have emblems with related imagery, like Capricorn, which has an actual sea goat on which the sign is based. Other cards are more subtle references, such as Taurus, which features an emblem with a “Dexter Dei” (hand of God) with a sword and a trowel, which makes a shape similar to the horns of a bull.
My business, Magick Mechanic, has finally been created as an actual LLC although we have been DBA since December 2022. My business partner Will and I have big plans to expand in the DFW area along with Los Angeles and New York. The basic idea is to provide people with an affordable option that is more convenient since the mechanic travels to where ever the car is located.
We also purchase cars that no longer run and tune them up for resale. Our first two project cars were a Monte Carlo 2002 and a 1998 Grand Marquis. We have since sold both cars after buying them in a condition where they will not start or run.
I learned a lot while working at Warren Tire and National Tire & Battery for the last few years. I don’t blog much about my mechanic work since I mainly use my website for my creative projects.
Yet, I hope to have a broad skill set like a “Renaissance Man.” If they were alive today, Leonardo or Giotto would have been animating things on the computer, working on cars, and painting or drawing in traditional media.
These are the two cars we brought back to life…
NFL Football season is back once again, so I thought I would share some more information about a project I have worked on for the last couple of years (there are three different deck versions in total).
This video covers much of the physical process behind the making of my “football tarot” cards. I used emblems from the 500-year-old book Devises Heroiques. Each emblem has a conceptual or actual reference to a modern-day NFL team. For example, I used an emblem with a bear for the Chicago Bear’s card.
Below is an example of what the emblems look like in the book version:
When I moved to Schenectady, the first job I could find was at Harbor Freight. Luckily, after a few months, I found a shop to work as a mechanic called Warren Tire. I have worked at Warren Tire since April and have been very happy there.
I haven’t been able to work on my animated series, The Flying Dutchess, as much as I would prefer. Yet, I have completed the new version of the Oliver Cromwell character.
My representative character, Ace Malagurio, has a new companion animal. His name is Hals, and he is a Dutch Rabbit that rides at the back of Ace’s broom while he flies around.
view of the backyard with snow
After moving from South Carolina to New Orleans in 2018, back to DFW in 2020, to California in 2022, and briefly back to DFW last year – I have decided to move to Upstate New York for a while to be closer to my mother here and her family.
It is nice to be back in the Empire State. I lived in Brooklyn in 2010-2011 while attending Pratt, the Art and Design school. Although, Upstate is quite different than The City (quite a bit colder).
The move will afford the opportunity to continue my work on The Flying Dutchess and focus on my animation career. I started a part-time job in retail and have met several new friends.
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