Dark Fantasy Tarot – Now Available

Now Available – Dark Fantasy Tarot

A Shadowy New Tarot Deck J Edward Neill


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Featuring original artwork by artist J Edward Neill, this 78-card tarot deck features fantasy & medieval artwork. The theme? Dark knights, witches, warlocks, dragons, and faeries. The suits align with standard RW tarot, and includes Cups, Wands, Swords, and Pentacles.

 

Questions? Contact J Edward at his Facebook art page here.

For a preview of Dark Fantasy Tarot, click the pic below!


 

All New Cover Art – Tyrants of the Dead Epic Fantasy Trilogy

Three epic dark fantasy novels.

Swords & sorcery. Dark, shadowy magic. War & romance in a sweeping story spanning three books.

And…

All new hand-painted cover art by the author, J Edward Neill.


Down the Dark Path is book one in J Edward Neill’s Tyrants of the Dead trilogy. When a young woman leaves home in search of a better life, she plunges into a world-ending war. The deeper she falls, the more she senses dark powers rising within her, and the more she realizes she is not so different than the enemy.

 

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The chilling Dark Moon Daughter is book two in the Tyrants of the Dead trilogy. Three years have passed since the Furyon war, but the memories of her time in Malog haunt Andelusia every night. When an emissary from a distant land arrives in Graehelm to beg her aid, she sees a chance to uncover the meaning of her inner darkness…and learn the source of her unnatural powers. A free preview is here.

 

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Nether KingdomBook three in the Tyrants of the Dead trilogy. At the world’s edge, Andelusia awakens to the terrible realization that all her dreams have come to nothing. When the shadows in her heart cause the seasons to change and deadly storms to sweep across Thillria, she knows what will come. The Black Moon will descend. Grimwain will return. The Ur will rebuild their haunted civilization atop humanity’s graveyard. Unless she alone wages war against the nether kingdom, the world will burn. A free preview is here.

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And…

Even more fiction and non-fiction books by J Edward are HERE.

Cats, Crows, & Witches – All New Art Prints!

An all new year…

An all new selection of shadowy, surreal art prints & original paintings from Shadow Art Finds.

Featuring haunted cats, moody crows & ravens, and deadly serious witches.

Click the pics below to be spirited away to my shop!


Click below for haunted (yet adorable) cats & kittens.

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Click below for shadowy sorceresses of the night.

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Click below for dark & clever crows & ravens.

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Six Shadowy Oracle & Tarot Decks

Haunted Cat Tarot

A full 78-card tarot deck with a surreal, shadowy feline art theme. All the darkest cats packed into one lustrous deck. Featuring the suits of Chalices, Moons, Tombs, & Staves. If you love cats and tarot, this is the deck for you!

Additional details are HERE.


Wisdom of the Raven Oracle

Shadowy, swift ravens dispensing deep life wisdom. A 52-card deck featuring all original art by J Edward Neill. If you love ravens, crows, & corvids, this deck is perfect for you!

Additional details are HERE.


Spirits & Shadows Oracle

An intuitive 52-card oracle deck in which card readers divine their own personal meanings from each card. Features colorful, sometimes surreal artwork. Creatures, landscapes, and serene and often shadowy realms. Spirits & Shadows is the very first of J Edward’s card decks.

A full primer is HERE.


Dreams & Incarnations Oracle 

A 52-card deck focused on dream meanings and the archetypes/incarnations we wish to become, Dreams & Incarnations is an intuitive, spiritual deck meant to illuminate our truest selves. Featuring J Edward’s most surreal artwork yet, with plenty of moons, shadowy creatures, and colorful landscapes.

A crash course introduction is HERE.


Shadow Journey Tarot

A deep and serious tarot deck, Shadow Journey echoes the journey we must all take in life. Artistically, it follows the adventures of a lone shadow girl as she wanders through strange, dark, and surreal realms in search of herself. She’ll meet plenty of friends (Skelly) and foes (Cloaks) along her way. This is our newest, deepest tarot deck.

More details are HERE. 


Fearless Familiars Oracle

The darkest cats are our greatest guardians, or so goes this deck. Features 52 cards with more dark feline art. The theme here is protection and empowerment, with each cat urging you to be the most powerful version of yourself. Fearless Familiars is meant to be used in tandem with Haunted Cat Tarot, but can also be used alone.

More details are HERE. 


Playing Card Decks 

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Cryptic

52 shadowy, gothic, otherworldly cards in a sturdy box. Includes 2 gargoyle joker cards. Introduce a little darkness to your poker table tonight!

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Raven’s Soul

Featuring 52 ravens, crows, and shadowy magpies painted by J Edward Neill, this is the only poker deck of its kind. Take your game nights to a new artistic level with Raven’s Soul playing cards.

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Now Available – The Shadow Journey Tarot Deck

Now Available!!

Shadow Journey Tarot

An All New Tarot Deck by J Edward & Heather Neill


The Shadow Journey tarot deck contains 78 cards, and features all-new original artwork by J Edward Neill.

Skeletons, Shadowy Ladies, Dark Figures, Surreal Landscapes – The theme of the deck: Journeying from innocence into completeness.

The deck ships in a lux box with full artwork.


Guidebooks:

 For physical guidebooks, they’re available on Etsy or Amazon.

Digital guidebooks are HERE. 


Also…a series of six special edition 5 x 10 prints is available (including full tarot card text) to celebrate the deck release. Check the prints out HERE.

For a full video discussing every detail of the deck, click the pic below!


Wisdom of the Raven Oracle – A Crash Course Intro

 Wisdom of the Raven Oracle

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An all new deck from J Edward & Heather Neill

Now available!

Wisdom of the Raven contains 52 cards, featuring all original artwork by J Edward Neill.

The theme? Ravens, crows, & corvids imparting sacred knowledge…

Guidebooks


 For physical guidebooks, they’re available on Etsy or Amazon.

Digital guidebooks are HERE. 


Also…a series of six special edition prints (including full oracle card text) is available. These prints are HERE.

For a complete video discussing the cards, click the pic below!


Custom Soul Moon Paintings – Now Available!

Soul Moon custom commissioned paintings are now available!!
Surreal crescent moons. Otherworldly, celestial landscapes. Vivid colors on uniquely shaped canvases and wood panels.
What’s it all about?
Please read carefully:

For a long while, I’ve resisted doing custom work. But no longer. I love painting the Soul Moon style SO much, I want to share it with everyone. Visit THIS LISTING to reserve your exclusive spot for a commissioned painting in the Soul Moon style. (There is a separate listing for when your painting is complete here: https://shadowartfinds.etsy.com/listing/1700453353)

Check out these sample paintings. These are previous Soul Moon canvasses, either completed by commission or for private sale.

After reserving your custom painting, you’ll message me with your preference for the following:

* Primary color
* Secondary color
* Your choice of canvas size and material: (Choose between: 16″ x 20″ Wood Panel, 12″ x 24″ Wood Panel, or a huge 12″ x 36″ Cotton Canvas.)

Final pricing for your finished unique painting is:

16″ x 20″ Wood Panel Final Price – $260 (1 moon)
12″ x 24″ Wood Panel Final Price – $260 (2 moons)
12″ x 36″ Cotton Canvas Final Price – $360 (2 moons)

Each painting will be in  Soul Moon style. There are NO exceptions. Meaning, your custom painting will have crescent moons (see the pics) with trees, flowers, mushrooms, and other vivid natural elements bursting from the moons. The 16×20 option will have 1 moon (see photos). The 12×24 and 12×36 options will have two opposing moons (see photos) each with a different color scheme of your choice.

Each painting will have two primary colors, which will be blended in my signature style. I can blend any two colors, although obviously some combinations will look more vivid than others.

ALL paintings will be finished in acrylic and coated with two layers of satin varnish.

The back of each painting will be signed by the artist, me.

Each painting will require approx. 1 week to finish, and a few days after shipping to arrive at your door.

IF the painting is to your liking when complete, you’ll go to this listing to complete payment: https://shadowartfinds.etsy.com/listing/1700453353

IF the painting is NOT to your liking, you have NO further obligation. I’ll keep and sell the painting privately. (The $10 reserve fee is non-refundable.)

To find even MORE of my original artwork, please head here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ShadowArtFinds

Cross Stitch Designs by J Edward Neill

Finally…

I’ve allied with Unconventional X Stitch to bring you a multitude of my art in cross-stitch form.

All my favorite & most popular designs are available.

Cats, crows, witches. Snakes, trees, and surreal ‘scapes. Everything…

For PDF patterns, please head HERE. 

For complete cross-stitch kits, go HERE.

Or…just smash the picture below.

Happy stitching!!


The Raven’s Soul Playing Card Deck

An all-new poker deck from J Edward Neill
Features original art in a classic 54-card playing deck (with jokers.)
Ravens, crows, dark & shadowy birds…all depicted on buttery smooth, durable casino card stock.
Now available! (Not to be confused with Wisdom of the Raven Oracle, which is HERE.)
Click the pic below to get yours tonight!

Shadowed Canvas – 80 Paintings On My Easel

Shadowed Canvas – On My Easel

Every painting I finish, I film a brief 15-20 second video to forever keep.

It’s a habit I’ve followed over the course of many hundreds of finished canvas and wood panel paintings.

Typically I post them one-by-one on my Tiktok and Instagram accounts.

But tonight, I’ve assembled several dozen all in one film.

I hope you’ll watch and find both relaxation and wonderment.

To enjoy, please click HERE or on the picture below…


Otherworldly – A Shadowy, Surreal Art Book

Otherworldly – a book for lovers of surreal, shadowy, magical artwork.

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J Edward Neill’s second art book, Otherworldly reveals an undiscovered universe of unique and spiritual paintings. More than 120 full-color photos are featured, including creatures of the night, surreal landscapes, haunting felines, dark apparitions, and mythical locales.

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Learn the backstory for dozens of J Edward’s works as he displays a full decade’s worth of his sometimes strange, often ethereal acrylic art.

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Otherworldly offers a rare, intimate glimpse into the mind and work of a contemporary (and sometimes dark) artist.

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Now available exclusively at Amazon. 


How I Create Surreal Backgrounds for my Paintings

Hi there, art lovers.

Over the last few years, I’ve fielded a ton of great questions from artists, collectors, and generally curious folk. The conversations have been awesome and engaging, and I’m truly grateful to take part in any conversation about my art…or really anyone’s art, at all.

But…

There is one question I’ve long struggled to answer.

Just one…

“How do you create your backgrounds?”

So…yeah. It’s a solid question, and it’s something I’ve not done a terrific job of answering. Until now, my answers have usually been, “It’s complicated,” or, “I’ll get around to making a process video someday,” or something entirely too brief, such as, “I use wet brushes. Lots and lots of wet brushes.

Yep.

It’s likely, after all these years, people are beginning to suspect I’m hiding some big, dark secret. Or that I don’t want to share some proprietary artistic discovery. Or maybe that I’m just a jerkface who avoids direct questions.

Nope.

None of those. I hope.

About a month ago, I decided to try something to answer this question once and for all. “Okay,” I told myself. “I’m going to make a time-lapse video. It’s time to show the process. A video will tell the whole story.” 

I started the video. And after much cursing, several awkward angles, and the worst lighting setup ever, I fell prey to frustration and gave it up. Between you and me…it was a total fail. My camera setup was weak, my video skills frail, and my process…well…it’s even more of a beast than I already knew it to be.

So…

Here’s what I’ve decided.

I’m going to do my best to describe, step-by-step, how I create the swirly, surreal, and often strange backgrounds featured in most of my artwork.

Swirls, whirls, and surreal madness…

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Okay then.

Let’s jump right in.

Step one, and it’s very important, is to start with a high-quality canvas stretched on sturdy wooden-panels. I typically get mine from Blick Art’s premium canvas collection, but I’ve also scoured Michael’s and a handful of local art supply stores, including JoAnn’s. Now, there are several keys to a canvas being ‘high-quality.’ No nicks or scuffs in the canvas. No flimsy panels. But the number one most important quality for this particular process is that the canvasses are flat. As in, very flat. No warping. No bends in the wood. No dips or loose, flappy canvas stretches.

Flat. Flat. Flat. 

Why? We’ll get to that later.

Step two. Acrylic paint. Lots and lots of acrylic paint. Especially white, black, unbleached titanium, and Payne’s grey. These are your most important weapons. I use Liquitex Basics, never the heavy-bodied stuff. You can use any brand you want, but whatever you do, don’t use different brands of paint while working on the same painting. The varied consistencies will cause awkward color blends, and the varied dry times will wreck your process.

Step three. A big, flat table. The flatter, the better. For your first several (or several hundred, in my experience) attempts, you’ll probably make a mess. So maybe choose a table you like, but don’t love. I use two different tables. A heavy Home Depot workbench and…perhaps surprisingly…the granite countertop in my kitchen.

Step four. Brushes. For these kinds of backgrounds, you’re going to need several sizes of brushes. Big (1″ wide) trim brushes. Fat-bottomed brushes that can hold a bit of water. Slim, knife-like brushes for detail work. Itty bitty pointy brushes for blending in tight spots. For background work, I don’t use anything fancy. Save your best brushes for the post-background subject work. Just buy a ton and keep extras on hand (I mostly use these.)

Step five. A jar (or jars) for holding water. As you likely know, acrylics dry fast. And your biggest enemy in this process will be time. You need to keep your brushes mildly wet (but not soaking) at all times. If the paint dries, the artist cries.

So…

You’ve got a canvas, a flat space to work, brushes, acrylic paints, and water.

Now it’s time to work.

Step six is key. This is the underpainting, the core of your color base, the background to the background. With a un-wetted brush, using un-watered acrylics, apply your various acrylic colors to the canvas in a single not-too-thick layer. Use whites and unbleached titanium in the areas of your painting which will be light, and darker tones in areas of shadow. Between these, you’ll use the actual non-neutral colors you want your painting to contain.

Here’s an example. This is my painting ‘Born of Fire,’ in which I used about ten different color hues to create the background. Ignore the tree and moon on this piece. Focus on the general layout of the background colors beneath.

 

What you want to do is apply the colors in roughly (it doesn’t need to be precise) the areas in which they’ll appear in the finished background. It’s just an underpainting at this stage. Precision isn’t as important as general location.

Step seven. Wait for the underpainting to dry completely. One or two hours should be enough. If you’re in a rush, run a fan nearby to whisk fresh air across the canvas surface. In any case, do not begin the next step until the underpainting is finished drying. Else you’ll get weird pops and textures you might not want. (Although, for advanced painters, you can actually time this to create the textures and pops on purpose.)

Step eight. The background. This is where the magic happens. You’ll need your brushes, your water, and patience all on hand. What you’ll want to do here sounds complex, but it’s really not. I’ll break it down in a bulleted list:

  • Starting with your lightest color, and ending with your darkest, use a larger water-wetted brush (1/2″ – 3/4″ wide) to apply your colors in the precise areas you want them to appear in the background. Remember…light to dark.
  • When applying each color, continue dipping your brushes into the jar of water between each brush stroke. The key: only a little bit of wetness. Too much will make the colors run wild across the canvas.
  • Work quickly. While the water will slow the drying of the acrylics somewhat, it’ll still start drying after about 15-20 minutes.
  • In any area where two or more colors meet, use wetted knife-edge brushes to apply narrow lines of water. The colors will begin to blend. The smaller the brush you use, the more control you’ll have. If you want your colors to be a bit unpredictable (which is just fine, by the way!) use larger brushes with a bit more water. More water will make the colors run wild.
  • If you want to smooth out brush strokes or make them disappear altogether, pat down the area using the flat side of a mildly wet brush. Or…for a cool stippled effect, very lightly pat the area with a dry paper tower.
  • Third reminder: Always work light to dark. If you jump back from a dark area to a light area using the same brush, you’ll lose the explosive lighting effect.
  • The reason using a flat surface and a flat canvas is key? If your workspace and canvas aren’t flat, your colors will tend to run downhill…literally. Colors you didn’t intend to combine will tend to mix, and murky patches could form. Flat, flat, flat!

Step nine. Now your painting, plenty damp and crazy looking, will begin to dry. But your work continues. You’ll need to babysit your painting at this stage, using smaller, mildly wet brushes to carefully blend areas of color you may have missed the first time. Also, sometimes tiny pools of water will form, which can tend to make patches of your background look murky. In these cases, use the corner of a paper towel to gently soak up any excess water. Or…carefully use smaller brushes to manipulate the wet paint for a better color-blend.

Step nine is usually the most challenging part of this process. Depending on the size of the painting, you may need to hover over your painting for ten minutes…or several hours, correcting murky patches, refining color blends, and building up your background to look exactly how you want. Patience is key here. Attentiveness to detail can make all the difference between creating a swirly, colorful landscape…or a murky, too-wet swamp.

Step tenonly if needed. Often, with larger backgrounds, doing step nine just once isn’t enough. Acrylics can be cranky, and sometimes, even with underpainting and a full second layer of paint on top of the underpainting, pale patches can emerge. In this case, what I do is wait for the canvas to completely dry…and complete step nine again. Sounds tedious, right? But in truth, adding another layer can result in a truly deep, vibrantly colorful background. Powerful colors are your friend, and often the best way to achieve it is in layers.

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For fun, here’s three before and after photos. The first photo is after the backgrounds are applied, but before drying. The second is the completed painting with full details.

‘Let Us Be Shadow’

‘Dark Desperation’

‘Bridge of the Broken Moon’

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With your background complete, your paints dried, and your brushes cleaned, you’re all ready for the fun part. Step eleven is all yours. Paint atop your background as you would any other acrylic piece, paying attention to the light and dark areas, and you’re sure to create something spectacular.

And most importantly, have fun!

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For a closer look at all my crazy backgrounds and completed works, head here.

Thanks for stopping by.

J Edward Neill

Raven’s Soul Playing Card Deck – Now Available!

An all-new poker deck from J Edward Neill
Features original art in a classic 54-card playing deck (with jokers.)
Ravens, crows, dark & shadowy birds…all depicted on buttery smooth, durable casino card stock.
Now available! (Not to be confused with Wisdom of the Raven Oracle, which is HERE.)
Click the pic below to get yours tonight!