Chance in cards echoes life’s fortunes. In this series of illustrations, I revisit kings, queens and jacks (‘valets’ in french) with a modern touch.

We distribute and pick new people in our everyday lives one after the other, leaving the unknown in a pile. We discover them and build our hand. Is it just a new person in our surroundings? If we’re lucky, we may have just picked the decisive card. If not, we can always discard it. It’s up to us to decipher their part of mystery or darkness. It’s up to us to decide when and how we want to play the game.

Some show their hand, some are bluffing. What are our expectations? What will be our best strategy? What hand will make a difference?

We lose, we win, and ‘rebelote’.