John's Tarot Project
(For those of you not familiar with the meanings of Tarot cards,
the above picture, it should be explained, is significant. The
Eight of Cups is a card which represents abandonment... upside-down,
Tarot cards mean the opposite of their "base meaning"s, in general.
Thus, by displaying this card inverted, I am
expressing my intent not to abandon my continual hammering away at
this site to get it up to specs.)
As the above should suggest, one of my main graphic-arts-related projects
right now is create, from "scratch", a deck of Tarot cards (at LEAST one
deck, possibly more). My chosen media are watercolors and black ink for the
fronts, ink (potentially paints) for the backs.
The process is fairly labor-intensive (for such
small works of art), but conceptually simple:
Cut suitable card material into the proper shape and size.
Come up with a design for the backs.
Come up with a way to put the design on the backs.
Depending on how your back design works, put it on the backs of the
cards somewhere within the next several steps.
Come up with an idea for each card's picture. Sketch it.
Make a "final sketch" on each card, light enough to be watercolored and inked
over.
Do the watercoloring and inking.
Once the front and back are finished, waterproof the card with some kind of
clear enamel spray (or laminate them, possibly).
That having been said, here are some images of the work I do, in
various stages.
Did I mention the "face cards" all represent real people?
A rough, "schematic" sketch (note the lined notebook paper, and, if you
know Liz (and have a good monitor), the fact
that the facial resemblance is not too great) of my
dear friend Liz Potter as the Queen of Cups -- the suit of Cups is
associated with the "element" of water, and Liz is most definitely
a "water person" (she's even a Cancer... a water sign of the Zodiac).
This sketch I made in order
to see whether certain stylistic changes would "work" for this card --
for those of you familiar with the Rider-Waite Tarot deck (generally the
most commonly seen deck), you'll note that while I keep the basic imagery
and symbolism on each card true to the symbolism of that deck, I do make
some changes to better suit my deck. Here, the major changes are
exchanging the golden, covered,
eucharistic cup for a tankard (though still with a lid), having the
Queen (Liz) look up instead of down, outfitting her with a mermaid-like
dress (which still gives the
appearance of a flowing liquid), and the design of the throne and crown.
Basically, the accessories have changed, but the card still MEANS the same
thing.
A somewhat more refined sketch -- the resemblance here is actually quite
reasonable -- of my good friend Plin W. Shiley III
as the King of Pentacles. Again, there are several changes in the
king's garb, but the general idea remains the same. Pentacles are associated
with the element of earth, and the bull is symbolic of this element... hence
the bull's heads. Curiously enough, Plin's zodiacal sign is Taurus.
Myself as the King of Wands -- a refined ink drawing, colored with pencils
to test color-schemes. The next step after this level of drawing is to
make the final product. Wands are connected with the element
of fire, and typically
represent blondes and red-heads (and anyone who has some fire in their
character). Thus, I wear fiery, ashy colors (though the green represents
the new growth following a fire -- like the leaves on the wand), my
crown and garment are suggestive of flames, and lions and salamanders
are found on my garb and the column behind me -- I even have a "pet"
salamander near my feet. Salamanders are supposed to be able to walk
through fire without getting burned and are therefore thought of as
creatures of fire. In keeping with the fiery theme, the dais on which
my (minimalist) throne sits will be made of an igneous rock... but I'm
not sure which, hence it remains blank in this drawing. You'll note
that I have short hair, here, as this drawing was made when my hair
was, indeed, as short as it is shown here. I intend to change this
in a later version,
and take advantage of my long, blond hair to perhaps evoke more fiery
imagery, like the crown I wear. My mercurial nature, on the other
hand, must be taken on faith.
A close-up of "my" salamander.
("Why?" Well, I think it looks rather charming.)
Two finished cards from the deck-in-progress. Though most of my
non-face-cards are very similar to the Rider-Waite cards -- like the
Ten of Cups (above) -- some, like the Four of Pentacles (also above),
I have noticeably modified.
The design I use for the back of my current project. The griffin is
a copy of one drawn by my friend Sarah Yoder, for whom this deck is being
made. Each card-back is inked by hand.
Shuffle back to John's home page