The Ladies' Coleman Smith

mabcosmic

OK!:)) get well soon! and plz note us what they had to say about that color your own Kaplan case?:)) lolz

all best!^^:))

Thank you! I am feeling a lot better, but still a little tired so I'm going to keep taking it easy for a while. Yes, I got a response so I will be posting it shortly.
 

mabcosmic

I think that could work well, actually. Your texture fills remind me of an anime series I saw back in the day, called Gankutsuou. They used textures for hair, some clothing, furniture, etc. but left faces/skin as flat color. I think if you did something like that, it would avoid the whole mottled skin issue, and also give the eye a place to rest, allowing your textures to stand out more.

Thanks for the link and pictures! It does look a lot better than trying to find a texture. I will definitely do that in my next Tarot project!
 

mabcosmic

If your not looking to publish this and are just looking at is as a fun art project to just kill time and better understand the cards then you should be just fine on copyright use. If your thinking that you want to publish it you might run into copyright as well as artistic skill issues.

Playing with style and color are alway fun. I would say if you are looking to add textures you might find it useful to erase the texture lines on objects as they things get over worked and messy.

Since I planned on distributing the deck on my blog (even for free), I think that will still pose an issue so I am putting this off for now.

Thanks for your suggestion about erasing texture lines. I'm not sure what those are (I really am an art flunkie!) but I will try to figure it out. lol
 

mabcosmic

The coloring of most RWS reproduction decks definitely aren't many people's cup of tea! Hello mustard-color skies! Here's a tip that I've learned from doing a few digital art projects: create one (or a few) color palettes that represent the general color scheme that you want for your project. You wouldn't have to ONLY use those colors, but as long as every card tied in with the palette somehow the whole deck would have a nice, unified look. The palette(s) could be as big or as small as you like.

You can always just make the palette with whatever painting program you're using, or you could use a neat website (like this one) to browse and create one.

Good luck with your deck!

Thanks so much for the link and well wishes! Yes a unified look is what I was hoping to go for. Like similar backgrounds, ect. I'll definitely give that site a try and see what I come up with!
 

mabcosmic

Hello again everyone,

Bobbie Bensaid recently responded to my inquiry and granted me permission to publish his email to help others understand why the line drawings are not in the public domain. I posted the full email exchange here:

http://mabcosmic.blogspot.com/2016/05/information-regarding-copyright-status.html

The copyright in the images that appear on the faces of the Rider-Waite cards (hereinafter referred to as the “Rider-Waite Deck Images”) is owned by the Estate of AE Waite, or its legatee, and is exclusively licensed to U.S. Games Systems, Inc. (“USGS”) in, among other places, the United States and Canada. Any use of the Rider-Waite Deck Images – whether as they appear on the Deck itself or as line drawings -- must be approved by USGS; use without permission constitutes a copyright infringement under applicable laws.
The existence, or lack of existence, of a copyright in The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (as to which USGS takes no position) does not affect, and is not relevant to, the copyright in the Rider-Waite Deck Images. This is because the Rider-Waite deck was published prior to, and separate from, such book, and is the subject of separate copyright protection. The fact that you own a copy of The Pictorial Key to the Tarot which includes line drawings of the Rider-Waite Deck Images, does not give you the right to reproduce the Rider-Waite Deck Images, any more than, for example, your ownership of a copy of a DVD would allow you to reproduce and market images taken from that DVD. Accordingly, payment and credit will be required in connection with use of the Rider-Waite Deck Images on the boxes that you intend to market.
As noted, USGS does not claim any rights in The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, and does not require any payment for use of any of the text of such work (as opposed to use of the Rider-Waite Deck).

A friendly suggestion for the mods - since Mr. Bensaid granted permission to republish his email on my blog and at the forum, it might be a good idea to make a sticky post of US Games' statement so other deck creators understand why the line drawings cannot be used. Since the line drawings in the Pictorial Key to the Tarot come after the original deck, they fall under the copyright protection of the original deck. This was something I did not think about and it's nice getting this information from the horses' mouth so to speak. Plus everyone will have a perma-link to copy and paste if someone asks.

So where does that leave the Ladies' Coleman Smith? Well between copyright issues and the fact that my texture resources are limited, I don't think I can move forward with this project. I still want to create a Tarot deck but I am probably better off tracing really old scans from a Marseilles deck (like Nicholas Conver and other very old decks) and then using public domain textures. Even though I lack artistic ability, it shouldn't be too hard tracing my own outlines, right?
 

reall

ha! this was expected!:)) oh, well at least we know it now, it save you a lot of work and time! and I'm sure something you came up on your own will be much better than any RWS experiment!XD ;)) just take it easy and be sure to learn some more advanced program with layer or even papercut deck!XD :)) and feel free to ask if you need help with anything!:)) all best!^^:))

p.s and for inspiration is always good to have influence map!XD ;))
check on my fantastic deviant art collection!XD ;))
http://primavistax.deviantart.com/favourites/59486832/card
 

trzes

The most recent discussion about RWS copyright: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=245748

Conclusion: US Games has no copyright in the USA for the original RWS images, regardless of the claims they make. They might still have a copyright for the alterations they made on their 1970 edition (titles, coloring, box) though.
 

blue_fusion

Also, Bobbie is female. :)