coyoteblack
from said:
It is fun to see the deck grow up to adult hood from infancy! really loved the HPs.
A look into the future
It is fun to see the deck grow up to adult hood from infancy! really loved the HPs.
bengibbard
Wow! This is really pretty. I love all of the red and the gold.
cirom
Scion said:
Hi Scion, I like the "Gilded Tarot of Dreams phrase" and I get the point entirely. There is an inherant risk even likelyhood that it will be percieved in that way... i.e.similar to what I've already done, just with a twist.
What can I say, to a certain extent there will be visual similarities if only for the illustrative style, thats what I do. I'm not going to start painting in oils or watercolor simply to be different, what I will do (and not just for the benefit of the deck per say but for all my artwork) is to try and do it better. Hopefully we never stop learning and improving. In technical artistic terms I consider the Tarot of Dreams a far better deck than the Gilded, this next deck will stretch my personal envelope further. Not for potential publication because that years away if at all, and to be frank not even for tarot readers, but for me. I produce decks for myself. If someone likes the result and can work with it then thats very very satisfying, but secondary, because even if it just ends up as an unsold personal family heirloom I would do the deck anyway. This is a very personal project, it encompasses several images modified from other pictures I've produced in the past that will now find a home in this new deck. In this sense its probably more of a oracle ???? but since it does follow the standard major minor structure its still qualifies as a tarot deck.... I think.
So how does all that translate. In this case I do have a storyline, a mini novel that provides a historical context for the origins of tarot, this will of course piss off the tarot academics even more than usual
. But its not meant to undermine tarot traditions, or make bold statements or reinvent the wheel. It simply provides a rational for some of the content of certain elements, the architectual style, the costumes etc. In some cases I may veer off too much from the norm and that will make the deck less "readable". But hey at least it won't be described as a RW clone Ultimately my approach remains the same, I'm not telling the tarot story, you the gifted readers do that either for yourselves or for your querants, I merely provide the set design that I hope stimulates and provides a richer backdrop for the storytelling.Scion
Ciro,
Your points are all well taken, and I know you're always looking to challenge yourself. I'm especially interested in the how FAR you can take the histrical component... to show us something new. Give us undiscovered worlds to conquer.
Also, I'm very happy to hear you say mini novel. A narrative, but nothing too elaborate or convoluted, so that there's more symbolic flex in the cards, if you know what I mean. There's a great advantage I think to Tarots illustrating not just a set sequence of stops on the "Major Arcana" or "Suit" trains, but rather illustrating a world entire; the cards should be windows into that world. Less literal, and more supple for readability. The Fradella Tarot is a perfect example of how to make this work beautifully.
I'm reminded of Mary Greer's fabulous article about the Waite-Smith Minors and the Grail Hallows. While I do accept her reading of the placement of the scenes within those 4 narratives, I also like that there's a certain narrative give to Pixie's scenes, and (due to Waite's total silence on the possible connection) the symbols remain specific without boxing us into a rigid flowchart of activity. There's a happy medium between building a world that invites participation and laying down a codified cha-cha-cha chart like those old dancemats with printed footstep markers. I know you know what I mean.
Riccardo posted recently about the future of narrative in Tarot and I think he makes an incisive, cogent point with a built in caveat. I don't think Tarot-as-strict-literal-linear-narrative is interesting or useful. Mark McElroy made a bold stab in this direction with his Elves, but I feel like a lot of the resistance to the deck (aside from the CGI recoil) is its strict adherence to a single narrative line from which the cards (as in his gored High Priestess) are difficult to divorce... I understand his logic and applaud his boldness, but in a way the Elves deck is an experiment that proved something I've suspected: some element of the reading process demands a firm but loose symbolic framework that invites gradual exploration... a soft trellis! A flexible frame that grips and guides our intuition like a half-open hand.
Build yourself a world, Ciro! All I ask is that you look in the parts of town and types of landscape you might have avoided or rushed past before.
And then let us come visit.
Scion
Your points are all well taken, and I know you're always looking to challenge yourself. I'm especially interested in the how FAR you can take the histrical component... to show us something new. Give us undiscovered worlds to conquer.
Also, I'm very happy to hear you say mini novel. A narrative, but nothing too elaborate or convoluted, so that there's more symbolic flex in the cards, if you know what I mean. There's a great advantage I think to Tarots illustrating not just a set sequence of stops on the "Major Arcana" or "Suit" trains, but rather illustrating a world entire; the cards should be windows into that world. Less literal, and more supple for readability. The Fradella Tarot is a perfect example of how to make this work beautifully.
I'm reminded of Mary Greer's fabulous article about the Waite-Smith Minors and the Grail Hallows. While I do accept her reading of the placement of the scenes within those 4 narratives, I also like that there's a certain narrative give to Pixie's scenes, and (due to Waite's total silence on the possible connection) the symbols remain specific without boxing us into a rigid flowchart of activity. There's a happy medium between building a world that invites participation and laying down a codified cha-cha-cha chart like those old dancemats with printed footstep markers.
I know you know what I mean.Riccardo posted recently about the future of narrative in Tarot and I think he makes an incisive, cogent point with a built in caveat. I don't think Tarot-as-strict-literal-linear-narrative is interesting or useful. Mark McElroy made a bold stab in this direction with his Elves, but I feel like a lot of the resistance to the deck (aside from the CGI recoil) is its strict adherence to a single narrative line from which the cards (as in his gored High Priestess) are difficult to divorce... I understand his logic and applaud his boldness, but in a way the Elves deck is an experiment that proved something I've suspected: some element of the reading process demands a firm but loose symbolic framework that invites gradual exploration... a soft trellis! A flexible frame that grips and guides our intuition like a half-open hand.
Build yourself a world, Ciro! All I ask is that you look in the parts of town and types of landscape you might have avoided or rushed past before.
And then let us come visit.
Scion
cirom
Scion said:Build yourself a world, Ciro! All I ask is that you look in the parts of town and types of landscape you might have avoided or rushed past before.
And then let us come visit.
Scion
I will indeed, and you will be coordially invited
BodhiSeed
Don't know how I missed this thread. Now I have never been tempted by the Gilded or Tarot of Dreams*, but THIS I think I would have to buy! Just love all the details in each of the cards... The only card that doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the group is the Tower for me. Love the new Fool though! Wonderful work Ciro!
Bodhran
*Edited to add: I've enjoyed watching the progress of this lovely deck so much, that I've traded for the Gilded and have bought the Tarot of Dreams!
I'm a Ciro Convert!
Bodhran
*Edited to add: I've enjoyed watching the progress of this lovely deck so much, that I've traded for the Gilded and have bought the Tarot of Dreams!
I'm a Ciro Convert!
HearthCricket
Still drooling over this deck! That owl is gorgeous and so long as it is somewhere in the deck, I am happy!! I am sort of hoping for a hawk, falcon, peacock, dove and raven, too! My bird wishlist! lol
My bird wishlist! lolcirom
Then I think you'll like the Ace of swords as well
Whitestar
Thank you for sharing these cards here!!!!
Love them, love them...
Love them, love them...
BodhiSeed
To quote Oliver Twist, "More please?"
Bodhran
Bodhran
