Fire
Hey guys! Whew! As you can see... I'm drawing/painting a tarot deck. Didn't want to post about it here until I've made SOME progress, because in all honesty I'm still kind of intimidated by the massive Tarot knowledge many of the members here have... I began working on this thing in February 2015, and so far have only managed to sketch and then outline the Major Arcana and the four aces.
Here is what I have so far: http://i.imgur.com/necxwl7.jpg
At the time I began work on the deck, the whole thing seemed like a good idea. I'm an artist, I love symbolism and playing around with concepts, and I love tarot. So what could possibly go wrong? Well, honestly, after having sketched and outlined only 26 of the 78 classic tarot cards, I'm coming to realize what a daunting task I picked for myself!... ) I still intend to finish drawing the entire deck, but I have no idea when it'll be completed or what I'll do with it afterwards. I was originally looking at a "one year" expiration date for the project, but now I see it extending way over that time-frame! Ideally, I might try and look for a way to make it available for others to buy. Kickstarter? Etsy? Send it to tarot publishers and see what they think? No. Idea. Whatsoever. The fact that I live in Romania only makes things worse because if I try self-publishing then shipping fees will make the deck undesirable even for those who might have some interest in it. But yeah, these issues will belong to a Teo from waaaaaaay into the future - let's see the whole thing finished, and then worry about silly things like printing, right?
For the time being, I'll treat the whole thing as what it is: a personal project... and a collection of almost 80 (cards, card backs and backgrounds) new images to add to my portfolio .
As for the deck itself... I didn't want an actual "theme" for it. The "mermaid" tarot, the "vampire" tarot, the "cracks in abandoned walls" tarot... I just wanted a deck that spoke TO ME, using archetypes that I personally find the most recognizable. Nobles, peasants and priests are all nice and everything, but... there are things that speak to me more than that. Also true for the style. I've been having a hard time finding decks where I really connected with the art style. I guess I'll be hearing the word "cartoony" a lot, but I'm okay with it - it's just how I usually draw. So... yeah, it's a very cartoony deck. Haha.
The cards themselves draw heavily from the Rider-Waite system (of course!) but in most of the ones outlined so far (and the 16 court cards I have planned but not drawn yet) the imagery is also derived from how I myself understand the meaning of the card, rather than traditional R-W symbolism. I guess a lot of them could be considered simplistic or "in your face" regarding meaning ("Justice" would be a good example of an "in your face" card). But hey, better to have them "in your face" than find yourself staring at a card and not getting anything from it (like I've sometimes experienced with an impulse-buy deck I own containing many weirdly-drawn black cats)! I'll also write some text about each card once they're properly colored and the set is complete. Even if I never get to distribute it outside of my own personal gallery/blogs/portfolio, I'll still want a written account of why I drew what I drew when I drew it... so that in 30 years' time I won't find my old drawings, stare at them and wonder "what the heck did I even mean by this?"
So... yeah. That's about it for now. If you'd like to see sketches and updates on this deck as it progresses (this is the first I've mentioned it here and I've been working on it since early Spring 2015) I have a Facebook Artist Page and a Filigree-Tarot Tumblr:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Teo.Hoble
Tumblr: http://filigree-tarot.tumblr.com/
I... hope you'll enjoy what you see so far here. Or that you at least don't have to facepalm too much
Here is what I have so far: http://i.imgur.com/necxwl7.jpg
At the time I began work on the deck, the whole thing seemed like a good idea. I'm an artist, I love symbolism and playing around with concepts, and I love tarot. So what could possibly go wrong? Well, honestly, after having sketched and outlined only 26 of the 78 classic tarot cards, I'm coming to realize what a daunting task I picked for myself!... ) I still intend to finish drawing the entire deck, but I have no idea when it'll be completed or what I'll do with it afterwards. I was originally looking at a "one year" expiration date for the project, but now I see it extending way over that time-frame! Ideally, I might try and look for a way to make it available for others to buy. Kickstarter? Etsy? Send it to tarot publishers and see what they think? No. Idea. Whatsoever. The fact that I live in Romania only makes things worse because if I try self-publishing then shipping fees will make the deck undesirable even for those who might have some interest in it. But yeah, these issues will belong to a Teo from waaaaaaay into the future - let's see the whole thing finished, and then worry about silly things like printing, right?
For the time being, I'll treat the whole thing as what it is: a personal project... and a collection of almost 80 (cards, card backs and backgrounds) new images to add to my portfolio .
As for the deck itself... I didn't want an actual "theme" for it. The "mermaid" tarot, the "vampire" tarot, the "cracks in abandoned walls" tarot... I just wanted a deck that spoke TO ME, using archetypes that I personally find the most recognizable. Nobles, peasants and priests are all nice and everything, but... there are things that speak to me more than that. Also true for the style. I've been having a hard time finding decks where I really connected with the art style. I guess I'll be hearing the word "cartoony" a lot, but I'm okay with it - it's just how I usually draw. So... yeah, it's a very cartoony deck. Haha.
The cards themselves draw heavily from the Rider-Waite system (of course!) but in most of the ones outlined so far (and the 16 court cards I have planned but not drawn yet) the imagery is also derived from how I myself understand the meaning of the card, rather than traditional R-W symbolism. I guess a lot of them could be considered simplistic or "in your face" regarding meaning ("Justice" would be a good example of an "in your face" card). But hey, better to have them "in your face" than find yourself staring at a card and not getting anything from it (like I've sometimes experienced with an impulse-buy deck I own containing many weirdly-drawn black cats)! I'll also write some text about each card once they're properly colored and the set is complete. Even if I never get to distribute it outside of my own personal gallery/blogs/portfolio, I'll still want a written account of why I drew what I drew when I drew it... so that in 30 years' time I won't find my old drawings, stare at them and wonder "what the heck did I even mean by this?"
So... yeah. That's about it for now. If you'd like to see sketches and updates on this deck as it progresses (this is the first I've mentioned it here and I've been working on it since early Spring 2015) I have a Facebook Artist Page and a Filigree-Tarot Tumblr:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Teo.Hoble
Tumblr: http://filigree-tarot.tumblr.com/
I... hope you'll enjoy what you see so far here. Or that you at least don't have to facepalm too much