The Jack of Diamonds
Here’s an old art piece I did for kicks. It all started with a quote.
“Patience. And shuffle the cards.”
It’s a quote from Don Quixote – that old, grand story of a man tilting at windmills, chasing a crazed dream with no direction and barely a pocketful of tired sanity. Or at least that’s what I glean the story is about.
I’ve never read it. But somehow I’ve gleaned that plot summary.
Anyways. Amidst a nightly infusion of Poker After Dark, I whipped out this unfinished drawing I did of an old, tattooed carney from the 1900s-ish Barnum & Bailey tours, and decided to finish it. all that was missing were his tats. I Sharpie-doodled some tattoos on a separate page, scanned them in, popped them on top to add a different dimension, and then added in the graphic border, title, and quote from above. And of course, looking at it finished, I realized this man needed a name and story. So I named him “The jack of Diamonds” and proceeded to divine a history for him in a poem. It went like this.
A Jack of the Carnival.
A Jack of diamonds.
Married to the show.
To the glitter of the bazaar.
To the diamond light of the stage.
To the gamble of tomorrow.
Of surviving the next stunt
Whether bear jaws, cannon catapult, or diamond queen of the carnival.
Married to the gamble
Of surviving the next jump,
The next leap, city, and stage.
He soothes his worry, his fear
By steady cigarettes,
Beer.
Sitting at the cask card table…
The clowns and midgets wait
For he the dealer to send their fate…
Rehearsing their comfort
“Patience. And shuffle the cards.”
-Jen
Listening to: Vince Guaraldi
