Filigree Tarot by Teo Hoble - Work in Progress

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! :joke: 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? :p

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. :shhh:

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?" :joke:

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 :joke:
 

HudsonGray

WOW that's a lot of detail! Very pretty!

If you use GameCrafter in the US here then people can order from there and have it shipped locally so the international thing is out of your hair. Here's part of their tarot page -- https://www.thegamecrafter.com/publish/product/TarotDeck

Cartoony is good. And if your meanings are a little shifted, the 'little white booklet' you do up for the deck would explain that.

This is a huge project, which I'm sure you realize now! LOL Just stick with it. Good luck. You can ask for suggestions on printing, print runs, paper, etc. once you get further along, a lot of people on the tarot creation forum here have done their own decks already and can share stories.
 

reall

OMG! THIS LOOKS FANTASTIC!:))) WELL DONE!:))) LOKINGFORWARD TO SEE IT COMPLETED!:)
imo you'll probably find publisher once whole deck is completed and colored!:))
and maybe untill that you can try seling majors only via PS?
http://www.printerstudio.com/unique-ideas/blank-playing-cards.html
I like their simple interface and option to have your shop!^^ see my profile for link
it looks so beautiful I wish to color it so you can try seling uncolored version as well?:)
and if you have Deviantart/paypal you can offer lineart or book for coloring?:)) etc just some of ideas!^^:))

@HudsonGray is there a difference between PS and GC in shipping price for US?:))
 

Aunty Anthea

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.

Congratulations Fire :thumbsup:

You are doing a fantastic job

May I make a suggestion:

The detail is so fine, I especially LOVE your Ace of Cups :love:

I personally feel it would be a shame to add colour in case you lost some of your wonderful detail. Yet where you have already added colour the cards look absolutely amazing :D

My suggestion to you is that you publish 2 decks, 1 purely black and white filigree to keep all that amazing detail and 1 coloured deck alongside it :)

I do not know if anyone has ever published a double deck. You could be unique and that very uniqueness would increase interest in your fabulous decks

PLEASE put my name down for a signed copy of your (hopefully) double deck :)

PS: you might like to consider making large posters/pictures of your spectacular Ace cards because I would love to have a set of them hanging on my walls :thumbsup:
 

Aunty Anthea

I think that your cards are so beautiful and so unique that you would do well to approach Hay House publishing rather than self-publishing :lightbulb

http://www.hayhouse.com/

Hay House publish a large number of Tarot/Oracle cards including those by Doreen Virtue :)

GOOD LUCK :heart:
 

Cocobird55

Very pretty! I hope you finish them.
 

HudsonGray

Both companies are in the US, I believe they use the same shipping methods - it's all based on weight of the boxed item.

Though if anyone here knows what the shipping costs per deck are, they can jump in and let us all know.
 

reall

ok!:)) happy to know that!^^:))
 

Fire

Wow, thank you everyone for the amazing responses! I'm relieved that you like these... :angel: I've been grinning like an idiot reading all the positive reactions! I'm sorry it took so long to respond - I've been away from home this weekend, and while I've been able to read the replies on my phone, I can't post very articulate responses from my Nokia C3-00 :bugeyed:

As far as printing/publishing is concerned, it might be a bit too early to count my chickens, but I have plenty of time (52 cards' worth!) to reach a conclusion on how I'll best distribute these. A big warm "thank you!" to everyone who has suggested printing websites or tarot publishers to me... in all honesty I wasn't even aware there were so many services at one's disposal, regarding Tarot :)

Haha, yes, the AT community has first dibs on whatever may come out of this project! :D

And the coloring book thing... I'd thought of that, too! I have the "just outlines" versions of my files safely in their own folder, so if any of that comes to fruition they'll be there, waiting for me. Maybe if I end up using Kickstarter or another similar platform I'll be able to offer a coloring book for one of the pledges... It always seems odd to me when all you get for a larger contribution is a single poster or something small like that...

Haha, I'm definitely getting ahead of myself here.
 

yannie

Once you are ready, pitch your thing to a publishing house that can take care of international marketing and distribution.