The Modern Bestiary — Old
The Modern Bestiary — Old monsters, new curses
I found Anton Seder's Das Thier in der decorativen Kunst (Vienna, 1896) on the Internet Archive, in a public-domain scan by the Getty Research Institute: dragons and sea serpents engraved like a naturalist's specimens and framed in gold ornament. I cut five of Seder's dragons into a Recraft V4 Style that draws the creature and the engraving, then built two more Styles from the same archives (Doré's storm hatching, Harry Clarke's white line on black, Seder's own damask and gold) to repaint each plate in two or three inks over black. Chained together, they make The Modern Bestiary: six folklore creatures whose legendary power has become a modern curse.
The basilisk now petrifies you through your phone, the sphinx makes you prove you are human, and Baba Yaga's hut only turns round for the exact password.
Every creature became a full-art trading card. The deck comes with a back, a booster pack, cardboard mockups and a pack-opening film, all made in Recraft Studio; the card frame and text are typeset on top.
🗂 Recraft project: https://www.recraft.ai/project/bbf6a9a5-fbd2-4dd7-a384-1365fe3f0d53
🎨 Styles (anyone with the link can use them):
I · Seder 1896 — https://www.recraft.ai/styles/2ff8402f-d4ad-4fda-a445-12f3f4c6fffa
II · Night inks — https://www.recraft.ai/styles/ed34b145-e226-4098-8b21-1fff449b4b10
III · Lacquer inks — https://www.recraft.ai/styles/e1b93a4a-5277-4d1f-b82b-d19d60bbb8b4
📜 Archive: https://archive.org/details/gri_33125013920190 (full list of 10 references in the first reply)
📣 Social post: https://x.com/builtbykern/status/2116669432323842378
