Tarot Deck Creation Study Group

Pedeka

I used to have to stay up until midnight to watch Dark Shadows on Public television. I don't usually favor "themed" decks, but Dark Shadows sounds like it would be great! Think of all the hair spray the Queens will be wearing...LOL.
 

Nightwalker

Re: Re: Count me in.

truthsayer said:


...don't worry about the minor arcana. just put the majors together. don't overwhelm yourself w/ too many details. if the minors are to be you'll pull them in eventually. don't forget rome wasn't built in a day.

I do have a tendency to worry about the big picture when things would be so much easier if I took it one small step at a time. Thanks for reminding me of this.

And Angelique was Barnabus' nemesis. She loved him but he loved Josette.

Nightwalker
 

Nightwalker

Pedeka said:
I used to have to stay up until midnight to watch Dark Shadows on Public television. I don't usually favor "themed" decks, but Dark Shadows sounds like it would be great! Think of all the hair spray the Queens will be wearing...LOL.

I like the idea of A "Dark Shadows" deck because I've always been a fan, and I can relate to a lot of the characters. Even Angelique. Not sure where she would be but she would definitely have a prominent place in the deck, even with all the hairspray...LOL

Nightwalker
 

blumoon

i would like to sign up too :)

i started working on my deck a short while ago but i had the same probs as liliana my Paint Shop Pro prog kept crashing because it kept getting corrupted...but ive since then reinstalled Windoze so i might be able to get back on track...i have done 3 cards so far...its daunting to say the least, the court cards are what i am worried about approaching especially as i am no artist :)
 

blumoon

Re: Playing cards & blank cards

Kaz said:
I want to make a deck of playing cards to read with, so I will join as well here.
Anybody knows how to get a blank deck of cards?
you can get a deck of blank tarot cards from US Games, if you mean normal playing cards you might be able to get them from US Games as well..?

:)
 

Morgeinne

I would be interested in joining as well. I'm going to use index cards for mine, though...simply because that's just easier for me. Not sure where I'm planning to go with this, but a study group certainly sounds like the perfect place to start! *Sigh* I'm gone til sunday or monday, so I'll miss out on any postings til then tho.

Blessed be!
-Morgeinne

PS-please pray for the safety of me and my stepdad, we're driving the 900-some-odd miles from tallahassee to chicago and back with some stops along the way, for his work (he's a truck driver) and so I can see some more of the US...I've never been out of the southeast. we should be leaving at 9 this morning (the 29th) and coming back on sunday. Thanks!
 

catboxer

My deck took four years to make, although there were long idle periods during that time when the creative impulse just wasn't there. This project could be done in much less time by someone who is artistically proficient at the start, which I wasn't.

In the beginning I could hardly draw at all. I did the 22 trumps as abstract patterns. As I began moving through the suit cards my skills as an artist began to develop a little bit. Finally I felt confident enough to try representations of human figures. In the end I did a second version of the trumps, and was able to finish all of them in the summer of 2001.

I used Cottman 5" x 7" watercolor stock which is quite heavy, drew the pictures with a number two pencil, and colored them with Prismacolor colored pencils. If you use colored pencils, Prismacolor is the only way to go, although they're expensive.

The trumps tend to be traditionally derived, but from numerous sources. My Female Pope copies the Visconti-Sforza's, but I changed her gowns to blue. I didn't care for the Visconti-Sforza Pope, so I based that picture on the Spanish painter Velazquez's portrait of Pope Innocent VIII. The Hermit is a portrait of CG Jung, taken from a photograph of him walking in his garden just before he died.

For the suit cards I used French suit signs -- hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades -- rather than the Italian suit signs usually associated with tarot. I strongly feel that the suited cards are a playing card deck, and while a tarot deck always uses them as a component, they also have an independent identity. This concept is further underscored by the use of only 12 court cards (king, queen, jack) making a deck of 74, rather than 78 tarot cards.

Some of the court cards are portraits also, of historical figures or, in a couple cases, people I know.

When I was done drawing the cards I scanned them and printed them on heavy card stock, using a red mandala I had drawn in 1968 as a card back. I have to say I'm satisfied with the result, even though I see lots of decks by professional artists that are much, much better drawn. This one expresses me, and it's perfect for my purposes.

Producing a deck was a trying but very rewarding experience, and I'd recommend it for everyone who is serious about tarot. You might want to take a drawing class before you start. I wish I had.

Regards,
Dave B
 

Hush

decks!

anyone got anywhere on their own decks? i started out just messing about in PSP with a buffy tarot (i know someone else on the board already done one.... so yeah, its kinda un original but its something im obsessed-y about and so know about, and its pretty easy to use images and arcetypes and stuff)

i started with the major arcana from the rider waite but started adding in cards that i thought would be ueful and/or suit things from buffy well, and started to mess around with numbers. ialso done three lovers cards a la cosmic tribe.

ive decided for now, not to think about suits etc and just work on this major arcana styled deck. i have quite a few made..I'll see if i can get some pictures up.

ok, the one im putting up first is the hierophant. i used giles because the more i meditated over which card he suite the more he became the hierophant, he's a teacher and a guide for them all, a strong figure for them all. see what you think...i can barely remember what this card looks like, heh.
 

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kayne

Hey! Great job hush! I really like the white light above the cross. The composition is excellent :) Keep up the good work and show us how you are get along :D
 

Nightwalker

Re: decks!

Hush said:
anyone got anywhere on their own decks?

I will confess. I've only gotten as far as collecting pics. Mine are centered on Dark Shadows. Haven't put anything together yet, or thought about who and what. Just trying to put together a collection of pics from which to choose.

Nightwalker