#cardkitty

It’s been a hell of a week!

Welcome to Friday! It’s a been a great week here at East Coast Commander and we have one more talented person (people) to shine the spotlight on. Cardkitty is our featured artist(s) today, and in case you can’t tell, Carkitty is actually a team of two! I’ll let them explain.

From Dereck & Eva: Cardkitty is a team of two people, consisting of Eva Toker and Dereck Toker. They have been operating Cardkitty and altering cards for over five years now in Vancouver, Canada. Dereck operates the business end of things (communication, card inventory, shipping), and Eva does the art. Eva is also works in the gaming industry as a concept artist and freelance illustrator.

So now that we know who Cardkitty is, bring on the questions!

East Coast Commander: Thanks for participating the East Coast Commander’s Altering the Magic series. Let’s get some background information to kick things off. How long have you been playing Magic?

Dereck: I have been playing Magic since 1994 when Revised edition was the base set. I was only about 11 years old at the time, and after I was introduced to the game I can remember saving up all my money (mostly rolls of dimes and quarters) just so that I could buy my first starter deck. I think one of the reasons I took my first part-time job shortly afterwards was to pay for more magic cards! I’ve always been very entrepreneurial, and magic definitely fuelled that passion in me both a collector and a gamer.

Eva: I first started playing when Kamigawa came out. I don’t really play a lot though, so I never got very good at the game…and I’m a sore loser ><

ECC: What kickstarted you into altering cards? Did you work with other mediums first, or have formal education in art? Did your first works stem from your own desire to alter your own collection or were you commissioned by friends from the beginning?

Dereck: The way we started altering cards was completely by chance. Eva and I were in Alberta for the summer, and we decided to take a weekend trip to Edmonton so that we could spend some time together, and I also wanted to attending the Eventide pre-release. Eva had brought some of her drawing supplies with the intention of doing some sketching. On the day of the pre-release, after Eva and I were knocked out of a 2HG flight, I wanted to keep playing so I joined an individual sealed flight. Eva just happened to have a few sharpies with her, but instead of drawing in her sketchbook she started drawing on magic cards. Some players noticed her working and right away you could see their eyes light up with excitement. It wasn’t long before we had a lineup of players asking us to alter their cards.

Eva: I don’t even remember why exactly I started drawing on the cards… I had a bunch of oil paint sharpies, so I think I started by just making the whole border white. And then I added colour to it. The process we use now is a lot different, but that’s how it all started out. In terms of education, I have bachelors degree in Animation which is not super useful for painting. [Art education]

ECC: What was your first alter project? How did you feel after it’s completion? Did you know then that that project would start you off in this hobby or career?

Eva: I remember the first card we put up on eBay. It was a beast token that sold for 99 cents! Fun times! I definitely never thought we could actually make substantial money with card altering at the time. Needless to say, when I was able to quit my job at the video rental store I was quite happy. Who knew those were on their way out as well? Haha.

Dereck: It’s pretty funny, because after the initial burst of positive feedback towards our work, we used to joke that we could be making dozens of dollars doing this, and we were sceptical as to whether it was possible to make the leap from hobby to career. Nevertheless, we immediately registered a domain (cardkitty) and set up an eBay store. We kept at it, and made a lot of mistakes, but learned a lot about which were the right materials, paints, techniques, etc., and pretty soon we were doing quite well. Eva was in University at the time and working part time, and pretty soon she was able to quit her job to focus on Cardkitty.

ECC: Whenever people create multiple works of art they have to have a favourite. Do you have a piece that you really felt turned out well? Why has it stuck with you as your favourite?

Eva: I have painted so many cards… literally thousands. Sometimes I go through our data base looking for a commission we did or something, and I’ll come across cards and think “hey, those actually turned out pretty good”. But I guess my favourites are the alters for which I can come up with original art. Often clients come to me with someone else’s artwork and I essentially copy it onto the card of their choice (which is good practice for me), but when I get to do my own sketch and paint that, that’s always really fun.

Dereck: I would have to say favourite alters are two that Eva made for me personally. A while back, I was playing 5 color control at the time, and my favourite card was Cruel Ultimatum. I was also pursuing a Philosophy major at university which was very challenging for me, and I was completely absorbed by the material. What I love about alters, is that they are in some sense like tattoos, and they allow for a way to express your identity and interests. With that said, my two favourite cards are the ones that fused my love of the game and my passion for philosophy: Cruel Hume and Cruel Leibnitz.

ECC: What is the most interesting, unique or down right wacky alter that you have ever done? Was it a commission, or something you came up with yourself?

Eva: There’s the one where someone wanted us to paint his friend’s face on a Wrath of God…

ECC: When you are working on your own unique projects, where do you derive your inspiration from? Do you have a favourite past time or cultural staple that you thrive off of and try and incorporate into your art?

Eva: I have lots of artist friends and seeing all their work inspires me a lot. Also, looking at the old masters. I was at the Louvre in Paris recently, and what could be more inspiring than looking at an amazing painting the size of my house haha.

Dereck: I would say one of the most important sources of inspiration are the player. We love hearing about what the players like, and the more direction we can get from the player, the better.

ECC: Is there a card that you have always wanted to alter but haven’t got around to it yet? Do you have a pet project that you are just looking for the right time or the right idea to get off the ground?

Eva: I would love to actually do some work for Wizards of the Coast. Some day I hope to have my own official magic art. Then I can alter my own card!

Dereck: I would love to start making playmats actually. With Eva’s illustration career taking off, her work has shifted to more digital based paintings and I think that this would be the perfect way to keep connected to the magic community. This is something we are actually in the process of doing, so stay tuned!

Thank you both so much for participating in the Altering the Magic series on East Coast Commander.

Cardkitty on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Cardkitty

Cardkitty Website: www.cardkitty.com

Eva Toker Illustration: evamariatoker.wordpress.com/portfolio