Since childhood, artist Jackson Robinson has wanted to do some Lord of the Rings-inspired art.Recently, he was finally able to turn this dream into reality with great success Kickstarter project launches a Lord of the Rings-themed deck of playing cards Featuring his own hand-painted art.
In less than a month, more than 6,400 people have supported his The Fellowship of the Ring luxury poker deck. It is now 25 times more successful than its original goal.
“I knew it was going to be successful because of the love for the IP and my followers, but I didn’t know it was going to be as successful as it used to be,” Jackson told TheOneRing.net.
Robinson said he has worked as a professional illustrator for more than 20 years, working for big brands and franchises from Star Wars and Marvel Comics to Disney and Coca-Cola, but he has always loved The Lord of the Rings.His favorite artists to work in the Tolkien environment include John Howe and Alen Lee, but he also likes Donato Giancora and the Tolkien Society’s Woodcut Best Artwork Category Winner Thomas Hicho.
“Like many others, I was drawn to the richness of stories and characters in Professor Tolkien’s work. I also always find it interesting that I never seem to be at the bottom of creativity in any of his works or worlds,” Jackson said.
He said the first significant Tolkien artwork he made was a map of Middle-earth.
“I did this as an undergraduate at the University of North Texas more than 20 years ago. This map still hangs in my office today.”
However, his interest in poker dates back to around 2013. He said he only came across it by accident while working in the video game industry in Los Angeles.
“I did my first playing card Kickstarter to make some extra money. It went viral and I didn’t look back. I was able to start designing playing cards full time,” Jackson said. This is the basis for the company he founded, Kings Wild Project.
He said he had a Lord of the Rings deck on his bucket list since he started the Kings Wild Project, and he immediately started researching the requirements for an official license for the Middle-earth Enterprise. One of the prerequisites is that his business must have been operating in its industry sector for at least five years.
Jackson said the day after the Kings Wild Project reached the five-year mark, he contacted Middle-earth Enterprise to ask to be the licensee to design the “Lord of the Rings”-themed playing cards.
He usually begins his creative process by collecting a large number of references, looking for materials and artistic styles to draw inspiration from.
“Then I start drawing characters or court cards. I usually start with the king of spades. I’ll work on a court card or back design until I feel like I’ve ‘found it,’ then continue the same process for other characters and cards ,” Jackson said. “There are a lot of things that I purposely don’t plan…it’s as if the story is being retold for the first time, as each new character is revealed during the creative process.”
Jackson said he usually doesn’t need to iterate the design as often.
“But I went through a massive reboot [the deck for] Lord of the Rings. When I wanted to try something different, I was almost halfway through the deck. I ended up going in a new direction, but in the process created two decks with the same cast of characters but done in two very different styles. “
The cards in his favorite buddy deck are the Glorfindel card from the deck now on Kickstarter, and the Frodo card from his original “Scrap” deck. He said he plans to return to that replacement deck at a later date.
The plans don’t stop there. He also has a two-tower-themed deck tentatively scheduled to launch on Kickstarter in late fall, and another set to launch on Kickstarter in early 2023. He hopes to make a Hobbit-themed deck in spring 2023. He told TheOneRing.net that he also recently obtained a license to produce double-sided Lord of the Rings puzzles. Find the Fellowship of the Ring puzzle in time for this year’s holiday season.
Readers can access king wild project Learn more about his poker projects, including his Lord of the Rings-themed decks. At launch, the Kickstarter for The Fellowship of the Ring deck had 50 hours to close.you can Check it out here.
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