Big House of Cards fan here! I designed this portrait illustration of Frank Underwood somewhere around season 2, I think, when I was really into web & mobile design and my style was very influenced by icons and vectors. 

My challenge here was keeping it simple, using as few lines as possible, while having it look super expressive and bring out all the character's main traits, like ambition, cold pragmatism and ruthlessness. Usually it's easy doing this with an unlimited number of lines and details (approaching the realistic style of drawing), but when you're trying to achieve an icon look (flat, geometric, really simplified), it's an interesting challenge.