Japanese Rune Cards: The Elements
For quite some time I've wanted to create various sets of rune cards, and I finally completed the first set: “The Elements”. There are 9 cards in this set: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Wood, Stone, Metal, Light and Darkness. All of these are painted on Artist Trading Cards, 3˝" x 2˝", with watercolor, gouache, ink, and on the “Metal” card, liquid leaf.
Earth
Air
Fire
Water
Wood
Stone
Metal
Light
Darkness
You might be wondering why I chose these particular elements. First of all, we have the 4 traditional Greek elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. The Chinese omit Air and include Wood and Metal. I combined these two sets, and figured that if we're going to have Earth, Wood, and Metal, we should have Stone, too. And, coming from a gaming background, I threw Light and Darkness in there for good measure. Anyone who has ever had to do battle against a Shade will understand completely.
