Tarot Artist Wanted

I am looking for a tarot card artist that would like to collaborate with me on a deck while I do a companion book.
I would also like information about such relationships between tarot artists and authors to insure a favorable outcome for both.
Is there a link to similar pages on this forum?
I have worked with 6 artists so far who were commissioned to do work-for-hire large posters of tarot cards, but I am not in the position to pay for such a large volume of work at this time.
I suppose that sites such as indiegogo could be used if a sample were produced. A good contract would have to be created.
I am an author of three books and have partially written the companion book that would accompany this new deck, which I would like done in a classical style of perhaps the medieval ages or later. Some of the art drafts are ready as well as examples of the styles to consider.
I am in the San Jose, California area and would like to be able to meet with the artist, or at least have meaningful internet communications and sharing.
Any suggestions?

This thread was accidently posted in another section and was moved here.

Alta

First up, good luck with your request and search for an artist.

Secondly, I just want to offer some thoughts, having had a demoralising experience of working with an artist partner in an attempt to create a deck.

Asking for someone to create in effect 80 images is a huge ask, and you may find you do not come across anyone who is able to commit to that. If someone does volunteer, check that their style of art is in line with what you visualise and want to create. If you put these two factors together, you may find it takes a long while. But don't give up hope. I do believe the right artist will come along at the right time - but it may take years.

Also, ensure you both understand how it will work. Are you looking to commission the art work and thus ensure total ownership? If so, payment to the artist is required. And for 80 pieces of work, that could be costly. You would need to have a fairly stringent contract in place to protect against them walking half way through the project. That may sound a little heavy, but if you are paying, you need to be protected in some way.

You may consider asking for just drawings which you may be able to colour yourself using various mediums available. This would perhaps keep costs down, and would also allow for completion in a more timely fashion if both of you are working on the image in tandem.

If you go into this as a partnership with you being the creator / book companion compiler, you may find you do not have the up front costs, but any profits (which are not likely to be large) would be split evenly.

My experience??
I had an AT member offer to be the artist for my deck, which would be a 50/50 partnership. I paid for a lot of his materials, as I know he had the initial outlay for boards, paints etc. I wrote the text for the book, and this included the detailed descriptions of each card from which he worked.
To start with, it went great guns. He created very quickly rough sketches to ensure he was getting the image right in line with my vision. This then led to less rough drafts which he would use as the basis for creating the final coloured image.
Honestly - things went well for around 6 months or so. We created a fantastic world where the characters from the MA and the individual suits told a story within a fey community, with many of the characters related to each other. I even saw 26 coloured images, although one or two we agreed needed to be re-worked. At first I offered to do the colouring if he provided really tidy and finished line drawings, but he stated he could not do that, as it was now how he drew.
Then the artist disappeared off the radar for over a year. He then got back in contact, promised his energies were back and he was raring to go, but with a fresh start with a new approach to the artwork. I saw a couple of portrait drawings of the main characters and was excited that the whole project would be rekindled.

Wrong. He again disappeared. Suffice to say, this really did hit me deep and I was left feeling disillusioned and very let down. There was nothing I could do about it (he lived on a different continent!!) so I just let it all go. My deck was created in my mind and on paper in 2004. It may be I can also find an artist who will want to jump on board, but this experience did show to me it is a HUGE commitment from the artist, and there are no guarantees beyond the initial excitement and enthusiasm. If I had some ability (and my ability rivals that of a gnat in the throes of an epileptic fit) I would have done everything myself. It seems it is easier to be an artist searching for someone to write the text, than it is for the text writer/creator to find an artist.

With regards sources, I am afraid I cannot really give any pointers. Just to say, I really do wish you all the best and if you find someone who comes on board, you know you have a willing audience here who will love following your progess

Davina

shadowdancer said:

First up, good luck with your request and search for an artist.

Secondly, I just want to offer some thoughts, having had a demoralising experience of working with an artist partner in an attempt to create a deck.

With regards sources, I am afraid I cannot really give any pointers. Just to say, I really do wish you all the best and if you find someone who comes on board, you know you have a willing audience here who will love following your progess

Davina

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Thanks for your insights, Davina. I will have to be careful. I have ordered several books about graphic arts, contracts, and the entire scope of obligations. I had previous artists that worked under contract and were paid for their work, but for a project of this magnitude I can't afford all of that and want to split the profits, whatever they may be. This deck will show how the MA of the RWS came to look the way they do. - Lance

Cartomancer,

Can you tell us a little more about the book you're writing? Are you looking for coloured images and if so in what medium and what size? And what kind of time frame did you have in mind?

I did a series of cards together with a writer not too long ago. They were small pencil drawings. We didn't do the full deck but finished the Majors, Court Cards and Aces. For various reasons, the project didn't make it to publication stage, but the drawings alone took me about a year to finish.

BrightEye said:

Cartomancer,

Can you tell us a little more about the book you're writing? Are you looking for coloured images and if so in what medium and what size? And what kind of time frame did you have in mind?

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Hi BrightEye,
The book for this project contains stories about the MA and Court cards as well as the interpretation of those stories in light of the morals of those story/myths in the RWS tradition. Other information about the alphabet and the origin of the cards might be included. I have samples done by professional artists in line drawings and watercolor, but don't yet know how to upload them here. The MA pre-art that I'm now doing is 4" x 2.5" and is intended to be put into a border with title text below. The art is based on historical sources. I expect that pencil is an easy way to start this project and will be adequate for a B&W book. If the first version is done in pencil, then I expect that another version will be done in color. The pip cards will be a variation of RWS except that the suit symbols will be modified and the art style will have to match the MA. A year long time frame is acceptable, but sooner is also acceptable as much is already written. The quality of the art will determine how it will be published. If it is just acceptable in pencil, then the deck may not warrant going to a large publisher and a small scale or collectible edition may be made. If the art is in color and is quite good, then a large scale publication with a major publication will be attempted. I am preparing the pre-art in Photoshop and Illustrator so in many cases the artist will be rendering a final version. I would prefer vector art that can be scaled using Illustrator's 800 dpi default. Thanks for asking.

Hate to be negative about this so lets just say "realistic" instead. A joint cooperative venture of this nature is very difficult. Apart from the writing of the actual book for the moment and considering just the creative visual part. One thing is to "imagine" the card in your minds eye, the other is for an artist to capture that in a way that matches your "vision" From an artists perspective its difficult enough to do so in my own mind let alone trying to do so through the eyes of my client, partner, or whatever. For me to spend what can be numerous hours creating drafts only to have the other party ask for, suggest, demand a change here and there would drive me nuts. Even if they were perfectly entitled to do so. Move this to the left, down a bit more red, less dark, change the expression, pose etc etc, would all be legitamate requests but ones which will inevitably frustrate and prolong the process. I may be off base here and it would vary on the illustrative style of course, but in many cases I believe the investment of the artists time would be far more than the author ??? and yet the agreement would be at best 50/50 and quite likely subordinate to the author. Thats really asking a lot for a project that is a serious investment of time and effort. And the ultimate reality is that in all likelihood the deck will not be picked up by a major publisher (the chances of that are minimal) so therefore a self published option would have to be considered, and in turn require a financial investment in addition to the time and effort. I'm not sure what most budding creators imaging the potential sales and income from tarot decks are likely to be, but i'm concerned that on forums such as this there is a risk that people may assume its far more than it would in reality be, and as such enthusiasm may translate into unrealistic optimism. If this is primarily a labor of love, then go for it, but if its with the expectation of any financial reimbursement thats proportional to the work involved, then all parties should think its through... and as commented earlier, get it in writing.....

Cirom is right. Aeclectic especially is full of Tarot artists, but the ones who actually make a full living off them are the "superstars" of the Tarot world, it can be easy to think everybody can be one in a place like this, where relatively famous authors, creators, and artists are "just" friendly pseudonyms. But Aeclectic isn't a microcosm, it's too concentrated.

Sample tarot artwork links

closrapexa said:

Cirom is right. Aeclectic especially is full of Tarot artists, but the ones who actually make a full living off them are the "superstars" of the Tarot world ...

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Thanks cirom for your insights about the author/artist relationship in regard to creating a tarot deck. I suspect that this will be a labor of love or something like it since it is doubtful that a major publisher will want to publish, but I am prepared to release a self-published book and a limited edition of a deck.

Also thanks to closrapexa for additional insights regarding the superstars in this forum.
I have uploaded a sample of the Fool card done in pencil, which is an acceptable format, especially for a book in black and white. Sample here:
http://piecework.deviantart.com/art...?q=in:scraps sort:time gallery:piecework&qo=1


Color sample here:
http://piecework.deviantart.com/art...right-370485306?ga_submit_new=10%3A1368050548

Thanks,
Lance

I really like the pencil drawing.