Tarot Eventide

blue_fusion

I don't think I've shared this project here before. It's an old project I've put off finishing in the past because I found the coloring style rather taxing - I felt I had to take a break from it every now and then and maybe do it in batches. I'm just wrapping up a Lenormand project and then this will be one of the first decks in my to-do list.

I wanted to do a RWS clone since I haven't really strictly tried creating one yet (well, actually I have - Tarot 2-12-1-3-11, but that's a majors-only deck), but I also wanted something with a unique twist and look to it. The (strange) branching/thorny brushwork in the art is a digital coloring technique I developed years ago and was something that I wanted to try out on a deck. Dark-to-light coloring scheme is something that I have never tried before so I also opted to use that for the look of the deck... and it totally owned me! :-/

I worked on the deck systematically, going through each of the majors in numerical order (the Fool being the first), then it was the aces, twos, etc.
Here is my old blog for this particular project - It shows the majors and the minors up to the fours: http://bluedtoy.blogspot.com/

You can see development of the deck's art as the project progressed - The majors were cruder, a bit darker, but, by the time I had gotten to the fours, the style had become much light and lost a lot of the... tenebrism and shadows of my original intent (because dark-to-light coloring messes up the mind!).

And then there's also the substantial gap in between the batches I'd get done - the style of the images also ended up a bit different from each other. The attached image are some samples of other cards which were not featured on the link I provided. They look a bit different from the samples in the blog and even from each other! So... in the process of creating the deck, several styles have emerged. In just the attached image, for example, 5 of pentacles has a monochrome-y feel and subtle "brushwork" going; 5 of wands features (unfinished) silhouettes holding what seems to be glowing shafts of light; 6 of swords has a more rustic texture and vintage colors, and 8 of wands has a not-so-shadowy feel and a crude texture. I may have to do a lot of retouching to get a more unified look in the end...

Anyway, I just wanted to share this project here and maybe get inputs regarding the art (e.g. which direction should it go, etc.)...

-Ly
 

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rwcarter

I'll look at your blog later, but looking at the samples you posted, I like! Brooding is the word that first comes to mind when looking at those images.

Rodney
 

blue_fusion

I'll look at your blog later, but looking at the samples you posted, I like! Brooding is the word that first comes to mind when looking at those images.

Rodney

Thanks! You may be right about the brooding angle. It might be the consequence of the coloring style (and my frustrations at continually being owned by it) :D
 

Onaorkal

Oh I like it a lot!

The coloring is really one of the things I hate the most about the RWS and here this problem is addressed really well!

I can see what you mean about the different directions the art is taking depending on the cards, but overall I think all the ones posted on your bloc fit nicely together anyway. The ones you attached here are more different though, but really beautiful! I can't say which would have my preference though!

I believe some of them might appear too dark on cardstock maybe?
 

blue_fusion

Oh I like it a lot!

The coloring is really one of the things I hate the most about the RWS and here this problem is addressed really well!

I can see what you mean about the different directions the art is taking depending on the cards, but overall I think all the ones posted on your bloc fit nicely together anyway. The ones you attached here are more different though, but really beautiful! I can't say which would have my preference though!

I believe some of them might appear too dark on cardstock maybe?

Thanks. The darkness is one big concern, which was why I vacillated (and maybe am still vacillating) on having more areas of solid darkness (which I think also give the images a nice moody vibe) or not. One way which hopefully will help in overcoming this issue is me making several versions of the deck in varying levels of darkness/contrast and having test prints of these done via the printer I'll be using - a bit tedious and expensive, though. :-/

And, like you, I also can't say which style I prefer yet, at least at this point in time. :D
 

Lee

All of these are very nice! If you're looking for input on style preferences, my own preference would be the latter two (the 6 of Swords and the 8 of Wands). To me, they are dynamic and have a nice balance of darkness and lightness. The 5 of Wands is very interesting to look at but doesn't really call out to me in a divinatory sense. The 5 of Pentacles is too monochromatic for me.
 

reall

hm, I like idea and direction you are going with this!:)) texture and colors reminds me bit of inquisitor tarot art style that's big hit on DA?!:) art direction I've noticed getting popularity recently!:)) and atmospheric light bring some *drama and *tarot darkens as expected from good deck!XD lolz and it reminds me bit of russian lacquer art so you may wish to check that out to give you idea how to distribute that light over darkens effect?:))

btw I've recently printed fanart deck I colored just for purpose improving my color style and seeing how different effects work printed so imo you'll probably want your white 2shades lighter that what you see on your screen(like imagine your art without screen light and that'll give you idea?:) also that Lenormand deck you did in similar style will give you idea if you have it printed?:) personally I would go with similar colors/light contrast just a bit darker to fit Tarot style?XD also you can experiment with lilac dark blue red overlay to soften illusion of black?:))

personally I like last one best!:)) it's not all black but it's dark enough you may think it is!:)) lolz and I think it would look fantastic printed!XD lolz

also I checked your blog and imo; 2cups, world, hermit and wheel is where you wanna go!:) especially wheel have a original gold like feel?:)) also pay attentive to skin color, all cards I listed above have a good light so skin look natural and not gray?!:))
 

gregory

I'll look at your blog later, but looking at the samples you posted, I like! Brooding is the word that first comes to mind when looking at those images.

Rodney
What he said. I LIKE brooding.
 

blue_fusion

Thanks all for the inputs. I've noted them for future consideration once I have a go at all the cards. The image I am attaching is a sample of one of the layouts for the cards I am considering using. It's a bit inspired by the Thoth's border (which a number of people I know don't seem to like. Hah!) but also the covers of Time-Life's Mysteries of the Unknown, which I used to read in our school library as a kid (it was part of the collection of books which you can't take home :-/) and which introduced me to Tarot. (As an aside, if anyone feels generous enough to gift me a copy of all of the 30something books... :D )

All of these are very nice! If you're looking for input on style preferences, my own preference would be the latter two (the 6 of Swords and the 8 of Wands). To me, they are dynamic and have a nice balance of darkness and lightness. The 5 of Wands is very interesting to look at but doesn't really call out to me in a divinatory sense. The 5 of Pentacles is too monochromatic for me.

I do agree that sometimes I make subconscious decisions based on how they look (interesting) as opposed to their divinatory impact. And sometimes, I don't even know what I am thinking while making them - I just go with the subconscious flow of my mind (but still consciously stick to the RWS visual framework). As for the 5 of Pents, attached is an attempt at coloring it in the retro-ish style of the 6 of Swords. I wonder if this style will work for all cards. It's so much looser than color blocking...

hm, I like idea and direction you are going with this!:)) texture and colors reminds me bit of inquisitor tarot art style that's big hit on DA?!:) art direction I've noticed getting popularity recently!:)) and atmospheric light bring some *drama and *tarot darkens as expected from good deck!XD lolz and it reminds me bit of russian lacquer art so you may wish to check that out to give you idea how to distribute that light over darkens effect?:))

btw I've recently printed fanart deck I colored just for purpose improving my color style and seeing how different effects work printed so imo you'll probably want your white 2shades lighter that what you see on your screen(like imagine your art without screen light and that'll give you idea?:) also that Lenormand deck you did in similar style will give you idea if you have it printed?:) personally I would go with similar colors/light contrast just a bit darker to fit Tarot style?XD also you can experiment with lilac dark blue red overlay to soften illusion of black?:))

personally I like last one best!:)) it's not all black but it's dark enough you may think it is!:)) lolz and I think it would look fantastic printed!XD lolz

also I checked your blog and imo; 2cups, world, hermit and wheel is where you wanna go!:) especially wheel have a original gold like feel?:)) also pay attentive to skin color, all cards I listed above have a good light so skin look natural and not gray?!:))

I do see what you are saying with its resemblance to Russian Lacquer art. Another influence was the Drogi ( http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/swietlistej-drogi/ ) , which was quite talked about here when I began making the deck 8ish years ago. Will try to test it on other dark base colors, though to be honest, I kinda want it to stay black, at least at the moment. I also see what you mean about the greyish skin tone. That's one of the difficulties with the technique since you are essentially covering up black with light colors, so there is that tendency to get greyish tones. That said, skin tone isn't too big an issue with me since making the figures look realistic isn't really part of my intention (though of course I won't be creating figures with blue skin, for example!). I just hope I'll be able to artistically execute non-realistic skin tone, like in the Drogi. :D

What he said. I LIKE brooding.

I hope I'll be able to pull off that brooding feel for the entire deck. I noticed I haven't really done anything dark or angsty, or brooding in my past works.

-Ly
 

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