Untitled deck - 7 cards completed!

Hello!

I posted quite some time ago, asking for advice on people's pet hates in decks before I embarked on this one!

It's being completed for a witchcrafting website, and is very much 'work in progress'. I was hoping for advice and opinions on the cards completed so far -whether it will actually work as a deck, overall look etc.

Personally, I'm not fond of The Heirophant or The Lovers, would people agree/disagree?

I'm a self taught artist and still very much learning, so advice on artistic technique would also be very much appreciated!

The cards are hand drawn, coloured in pencil crayon and then inked.

Thankyou so much in advance for any comments!

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f286/sarahlikespink/thefool3.jpg
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f286/sarahlikespink/TheMagician3.jpg
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f286/sarahlikespink/HighPriestess3.jpg
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f286/sarahlikespink/emperor3.jpg
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f286/sarahlikespink/empress3.jpg
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f286/sarahlikespink/heirophant3.jpg
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f286/sarahlikespink/Lovers3.jpg

wow!

your work is simply stunning!
I don't think you need ANY help in the art technique department...your style and composition is wonderful!

And I really love the bold graphic look...what medium do you use? Looks like pen and ink...but you managed to put in wonderful textures in the wood and stone...so I can't tell!

The fool made me laugh in recognition...
and your High Priestess is gorgeous!

And I really like both the Hierophant and the Lovers!
Both are great unique veiws of those cards...love the compositions!
What is it that YOU don't like about them?

I am very interested in seeing more of your work!
I think these are fantastic so far! I can't wait to see the Moon, Sun and Star!

Your cards are very beautiful. My favorite part of the cards are the eyes.
I do agree that The Heirophant does need some work but I like the other cards. I really love your fool. So far it looks like it could be a great deck.

Wowww Sarah... Stunning work... I love the high priestess holding the cross in her hand..

Waiting to see the rest of the cards.. Lovely artwork..

SarahLikesPink said:

Hello!

I'm a self taught artist and still very much learning, so advice on artistic technique would also be very much appreciated!

Click to expand...

I wouldn't worry about lack of schooling. I think you learn best by trial and error, and ofcourse doing! I always thought I missed out on not having gone to art school but recently a friend of mine did go and she is not learning anything about techniques and the likes. Its all just about being creative and original.

It seems to me you have developed a personal style allready and are comfortable with your medium of choice, don't worry too much about technique would be my advise. Just create and learn from doing.

Beautiful work! The things that most people really get out of an art college are things you already have going Your composition is excellent, your sense of style is unified, and your obviously not lacking in motivation!

Your work has a look of the printmaker about it, you might want to look into woodblock carving/ printing at some future point. The only real suggestion I would have is that you take some time practicing real life figure drawing. There is nothing wrong with your figures, they have an excellent sense of proportion and all that, but some practice with different poses will help you feel more comfortable with the figurative work. That's all about practice, no one ever really taught me figure drawing, they just had me do it over and over again

I love your work, and would even suggest not taking any sort of class at least until this deck is finnished, it might disrupt your style for a bit, and your style is really strong right where it is. Your colors are wonderful also, thats something I never could get the hang of. The hirophant and the lovers are great. I don't rally have any issue with them. I particularly like the sun in the lovers, it's just a fabulous character.

Anyway, post more, post more!!!

Love and Light,

Ankou

Just went to the witchcrafting site... did you do their logo witch also?

Wow, thankyou so much for your responses so far! It's so helfpul to hear from people who know and love tarot. Especially as so many on this board are such wonderful artists themselves! And you are all so kind! It's really renewed my faith in the deck! I will certainly post more cards as they are completed, but it's taking a long time as I am fitting drawing in around university.

Thanks as well everybody for the tips on the art side of things, it's really interesting to hear what people think.

To reply to questions etc:

Ankou - yep, the logo is one of mine I had fun drawing that!
I would definitely like to take life drawing classes, there are moments where I am totally befuddled as to where bits of the body fit together!
It's nice hearing that I have a style, hehe, I always envy other artists because they have such unique styles.

Chronata - I use Karisma pencil crayons, and I owe to them the bright colours and texture - I have a lot of 'happy accidents' when drawing - but I do then work into them with pen to try make shades less flat.

With the heirophant, there's some little smudges that annoy me, and I don't think it's the same standard as the other cards? I'm not too fond of the monks either! And with the lovers, I like bits of it, but think that it looks very busy. Also, the people look a little strange! It was done on day where nothing I drew seemed to go right, and I pushed myself to finish it and think it shows.

This has turned into a bit of an essay, so I'm going to stop for now before it gets any longer!

I've wondered too about the advantages and disadvantages of being self-taught ... as I am, and learning more and more with each card. I have to agree with Temperlyne that you develop your own style that way. You have, so has she (gender assumption here ) and so have I.

I love your stuff ... it is powerful, and the colours just leap out at me. Being a colour freak myself, I am won-over completely. Great start indeed!

mythos

Hey Sara,

I'd like to suggest that you move on to the next few cards and let the ones your not quite happy with sit for a while. Sometimes when I get bogged down in a piece I'm not quite happy with the best thing to do is start someting else. Later I'll either come back to it, or decide it wasn't as bad as I thought it was after all.

For the figure drawing... just start carring a sketch book and draw people you see. At the bar/ coffee shop, in the park, during lunch, whenever you have a moment do quick gesture sketches. The best is loose line drawings of a whole person. They can take anywhere from 1 min to 20 min apiece, but more than that and your starting to make art, and not really practicing

There is a local bar here, where a regular tears the images of coasters and then does loose portraits of other customers and leaves then in the pile. It's just an excersise to keep your hand and eye working together.

Love and Light,

Ankou