Sharing your process

[Insomnia Turtle]

Is anyone interested in sharing their techniques in personal tarot card creation? I'm not just talking about how one makes the cards, but how one prepares to make the cards. What kind of research do you do? How do you, personally, go about sketching ideas? What are the most important things to think about for you? Is there any images of your way of doing things (the process you used) that you would like to share?

I have just started attempting to come up with ideas, so I will contibute ideas and images as I come up with them, but, in the meantime, please feel free to add your imput :).

[HudsonGray]

Well, I was considering doing a collage deck, then decided that a theme deck was a better idea, especially as I wanted to have it as something that could be sold, not just a deck made for me. I picked the theme right away--being a former ferret owner & knowing that there's so LITTLE ferret merchandise out there. I tried the idea out on a couple of the yahoo tarot boards & yahoo ferret boards & got nothing but positive feedback on it.

I do line drawings, have about 24 different animal paper dolls with historical themes & have sold those since 1990 (I add one or two a year to the pile) and have gotten feedback on content & style, so I know the ones that got the best comments, sales & just plain people picking them up to turn & show their friends turned out to be the more cartoony type of art. So settling on ferrets & a semi-realistic cartoon style, that was easy.

Coming up with the images wasn't. I didn't want to just duplicate the RW deck (though two of the cards so far do come pretty close). I sat down with my decks, my two tarot books & a bunch of books from the library plus some stuff I got from online & broke down each card into basic meanings--trying to find a solid base for each card. Then I tried thinking of what to draw to show that meaning. I didn't want to have 5 cups drawn on the 5 of cups card (though I do have 5 swords on the 5 of Swords, but that's an exception). I wanted an image that, even for someone not familiar with tarot (as ferret owners are likely to be new to this) could make some sense out of.

The Temperance card was a hard one. How to incorporate ferrets into it? I settled on a white ferret angel from on high holding a scroll with the word 'moderation' on it, yet knowing ferrets, they do NOT do anything in moderation, so the two ferrets watching from below are laughing their eyes out. The meaning WILL be moderation, but a ferret owner can see the from a ferret's point of view too.

The King of Pentacles shows a big male clutching his beloved posessions to him with a look of utter joy (ferrets love socks!). The Sun is a ferret in the throes of a Weasel Dance with the words Happy Happy Joy Joy all around him (happy ferrets dance like mindless maniacs).

I try to put something from the ferret's point of view into the cards if I can. Sometimes an image just doesn't come though--the Judgement card for instance, someone suggested a ferret show, but that isn't sparking any visual ideas for me.

Everything started out on scratch paper with a ball point pen, images sketched in really rough, eyes & mouths scribbled & changed & rechanged. I didn't want to do dressed up ferrets, so they're all just fur type, not wearing clothes. I don't want the cost of doing a little white book & decided to use just the standard RW interpretations for reading, so for those who are going to get the deck who may not have any contact with tarot before, I'm putting the basic meanings in text up and down the inside card borders (that was a hard decision, but I thought it'd be a good idea in the long run). I had a hard time settling on the font style too--I liked the woodcut look of one font, but the 'fun' feel of a ferret deck theme seemed to ask for something more light, so I used a Scruff or Joker font.

Oh, figure out what SIZE you need the cards first. The number of cards able to be printed per page is important to the size & interior dimensions, which will affect your drawing width & height. I'm glad I got that figured out first.

[rota]

" I'm not just talking about how one makes the cards, but how one prepares to make the cards. What kind of research do you do? How do you, personally, go about sketching ideas? What are the most important things to think about for you?"

+++++++++++++++++++

For me, Tarot is Tarot. By that I mean that the basic ideas of Tarot, all the fundamental imagery and organization of it are already in place, and therefore my job as a Tarot artist is to figure out how I can best re-present what I know about it.
Tarot is, in a way, a book whose pages can be rearranged in an infinite number of ways, and still tell an intelligible, insightful story. It's a unique, amazing, remarkable document. It doesn't need to be rewritten; it only needs to be 'translated' for its next audience.
My job isn't to rename Tarot cards or reorganize them; they've worked well for 500 years (and presumably much longer), and they don't need me messing around with the structure. My job is to match up a new Tarot audience with the old proven and venerable Tarot ideas by providing a new art context. I want to find a new way to state old information: what art styles will speak to the current mind?
I look around at the current art styles, and ask myself - how do they communicate information? The world is crammed full of artistic speech these days. Quick contemporary examples would include things like graffiti, New Yorker cartoons, informercials, talkshows, modern art, billboards, corporate logos, cellphone shorthand, email conventions, and band posters on telephone poles. These are all ways that we 21st-century people locate and use information, and to me it stands to reason that the timeless/eternal information in Tarot can just as easily be conveyed in these new ways.
I looked at another contemporary example: road signs. The bowling-ball-headed pedestrian silhouette on the yellow sign says 'You can cross the road here if you want.' very clearly, without any words. It's useful in any language. It's also true with the Tarot, and I thought hm... they really do have a lot in common. That's when I decided it would be a good idea to try to unite the Tarot with those 'international icons', resulting in a new deck. It's not a new and different Tarot, just a new presentation of the universal concepts.
Then it becomes a question of how to combine aesthetic concerns with clarity of communication. It's time to put pencil to paper.
There ya go.

[Page]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by rota
My job is to match up a new Tarot audience with the old proven and venerable Tarot ideas by providing a new art context. I want to find a new way to state old information: what art styles will speak to the current mind?
I look around at the current art styles

---------
It's that same for me, I busted my brains to think of new ways etc. When that didn't work I just went back to basics.

I'm working on a clone but using my own style using Photoshop and Illustrator. My style is very flat, colourful and feminine shapes. Which is a bit of a joke because I'm not at all feminine.

Photoshop & Illustrator really helped me because I hadn't drawn for ages. I done graphic design at collage and lots of dawing when I was younger but I didn't feel that my drawing was up to stratch. So just found ways to make life easier for myself.

I would say that it's very important to find your own style. I started making concept boards of images which moved me and used that to create my own style. It took me some time to get the ball rolling because I just wanted a finished deck with out knowing what my style was. I still make concept boards and I will continue to do so until I complete the entire deck.

I also changed my mind after a I was head stong on what I was going to do. That's OK to change your mind it just shows that your making progress. You can still use the cards which you have already done for something else.

I would say to start doodling and brainstorming. :) then you will find your own way.

I hope that helps

maud

[temperlyne]

I've been looking for a tarot deck that never stops speaking to me and finally decided I would have to draw my own. I Don't know anything about computer animation so it had to be hand made. I would have to admit that I sketch better than I paint (somewhat like daVinci) but I felt that I could put more of myself in the crads if I painted them and they would speak more if the colors were vibrant.
Choosing the style took about a week and the medium bacame acryluc paint just because it is cheap and I used it in High school a lot and descoverd it was ideal for my style of painting.
I was never concerned about selling or publishing my personal deck so I could just put in my views and interpretations.
I wanted it be different, to be entirely mine and not some clone. Having this frame in my mind I started making a journal, one page for each card. In which I put sketches, pictures, color schemes and even names of peoples or myths that represented the feeling of each cards best in my view. I make up the ideas for the cards with this journal in mind and make primal sketches for each card when I'm having a boring class.
During the holidays I started painting on the first few of them, putting all ideas into paint and color finally.
By deciding on making tarot cards instead of ordinary paintings I have limited myself quite a bit. The image has to represent something rather than just be nice to look at. But it is a lovely challenge.
I will be needing at least half a decade to finish this personal project because of the lack of time but I can't wait to hold my very own cards in my hands and try them out for a reading. I guess that is what keeps me motivated, that and the fun it gives me of course!

[Insomnia Turtle]

Thanks to everyone who contributed their thoughts. I certainly have a lot to think about while I'm creating my deck.

After reading the responses, I have decided that maybe a "growing" deck might be an approach I should take before I try to take on a complete personal deck. By growing I mean just that. I have just started to get interested in tarot cards and their uses for divination (I have been interested in the card game for quite some time though. It's quite fun, but very different from divining) so I think making a deck that I would constantly change with my views as I am learning more about the cards might be a good way to track my progress as well as come up with a consistancy I like. Of course, this could be disasterous too, but I won't know till I try :).

Any thoughts on this out there?

[HudsonGray]

Hmm, you might want to start with the minors then, unless you don't mind redoing some of the majors as you learn & add to your knowledge. I know most start with the majors, but skipping around isn't 'illegal'.

[Insomnia Turtle]

Any reason you think it's best to start with minors instead of majors? Do you think it is easier to learn the cards that way? Or is it that Minors are connected to the majors, so to change a minor would change it's corresponding major?

Sorry if this sounds stupid, but as I said before, I am COMPLETLY new when it comes to Tarot in the divination sense.

[HudsonGray]

Well, I'm doing a bit of both, but I think it's easier to change a minor than fiddle with majors later, they're so important. All cards are important, but everyone looks to the majors first, so allowing time for the meanings to gel on those a little longer might help with the creative process.

But it's totally up to you! Do the cards that say 'do me first'. There's no wrong way to start.

[temperlyne]

Personally I'm having more difficulty with designing the minors. (the designs are still inside my head btw) I find it challenging to put the suit symbols AND pictorial symbolism in balance. Somehow the majors just flow from my imagination easier.
But as with everything about the tarot, just do what feels right. If you have a perfect idea for a card just do it and try not to force your creativity to much. It might be helpfull to make a journal and dedicate a page per card to build op your personal symbolism log.

[Insomnia Turtle]

Thanks for replying! I think I'll shuffle through my decks till a card pops out at me.
I started a journal three days ago and the thing is almost full already (350 pages of overanalization)... At this rate I might have to start taking things out rather than put them in :). (Note a hint of laughter as that last sentance is a complete inside joke on an art teacher I once had who said I would never get anywhere in art if I kept overanalyzing things)

[Ravenswing]

hi guys--

i'm finally popping in on this line. i've got a deck in process that you can find at Tarot > Tarot decks > in progress: tarot of the four worlds.

it's a collaborative deck. laurel gives me a run down on the card and i do the image. there's a few innovations-- most notable the hex shape. the cards can tile together in a reading; a three card spread can be positioned in 9 different ways. lots of visual stimulus.

our other biggie is that we're not going to label or number the cards, and we intend them to be boarderless.

so on to process--

laurel will give me a short description/feeling about the card. taking this i'll check into my books (my basic resource is 'the magician's companion') for symbolic/color relations. i'll also check into the golden dawn's title for the card. this may or may not influence the image.

i'll do sketching for a bit til i get an image i like. then i do a good sketch without fine details on a piece of bristol board. the hex is inscribed in a 9 in diameter circle. the finished cards should wind up about four inches in diameter, so i'm doing about 230%. when the card shrinks, i won't lose any fine detail.

then i tape a piece of tracing paper on the sketch, and color with colored pencil. this way, if i don't like the way it's coming out, i trash the tracing paper. i never lose the good sketch.

afterwards, i scan the image into my computer. that's my 'good' copy.

i can usually produce a card in a day or two this way.

i got this method of board and tracing paper from robin wood's book on her deck.

as to order: we're not going in any order that i can make much sense of. laurel calls the shot, i do the image. but so far it's worked exceedingly well. if you check the thread i mentioned above, the cards are in the order i did them.

one thing to consider when doing a deck: be able to explain your images. a book might be in order

and the results? here's the fool

happy creating
ravenswing

[Insomnia Turtle]

Ravenswing - Thanks for adding to this topic!

You are quite detailed in the description of your process! May I take a wild stab that you've had at least a few art classes before? I ask because you have described a very good and traditional "system" of doing art and I recommend that anyone unfamiliar with it to read the post again.

Thanks again for sharing!

By the way, your cards are beautiful :)!

[Ravenswing]

hi guys--

hudson-- last night, while perusing our library, i found a new book by richard bach (the jonathan livingston seagull guy). it's the third in a series called 'the ferret chronicals'. you might want to check it out-- he's usually quite good.

wakeful one--

thanks. i'm glad you like 'em. other than grade and middle school art, i've only had informal art classes (ie-- grab a book by an artist and study. or some good books on method and theory. and learning to look, see and watch...). lots and lots of practice and art running through my family.

i'm anxiously awaiting the results of your 'experiment'. please keep us in touch.

moving along to the devil
ravenswing

[HudsonGray]

I heard about the ferret books, I think he's got two different ones out, about ferrets flying airplanes (?) but haven't run across them at all. They may be brand new, I'll have to check around online for those. There are so FEW ferrety things around.

I got the rest of the xeroxing done, tweeking a few things. The ladies at the shop were looking it all over & I asked their opinion on the fonts & sizes I was considering. They said the woodcut style font was too hard to read, and they liked the larger size cards (I figured such, but wanted feedback). They really were interested in the drawings so I like the reaction I've been getting on these so far. (My best complement on one of the historical animal paper dolls I'd done was two guys at Office Depot who were having restaurant menues done up & they saw my sample on the counter - I was looking over receipt books about 5' behind them - both leaned over & were so engrossed in reading the text that was on the sheet! Two big guys about age 50 looking at a paper doll! For 4 solid minutes it had their complete attention! Damn!). That's better than verbal feedback. I saw the same look on the two ladies as they looked over the cut & paste I'd done on a couple pages of cards.

Picturetrail wants to limit viewing of the free albums to members only, and will delete all pictures in another 2 weeks if I don't update to a $20 account...........so much for their 'free' sites! Guess it's only free for 2 months, after that you get phased out if you don't pay. I'll still try posting the images up there once I get them scanned, but may have to get off my duff & actually get a web page up. I do get a free one with execpc that I haven't taken advantage of yet, though the storage space is limited.

[HudsonGray]

Has anyone (who's making their own deck) noticed that you see cards in relation to how you've designed yours, once you do the art to it? I'm not sure if I'm saying this right...say you do the 3 of pentacles, every time you use a different deck to do a reading, are you also seeing YOUR 3 of pentacles when that card comes up?

It's weird, but I'm starting to see this with what I've drawn so far on my deck. The upside is that I can get more out of the meanings, since I've been researching some of the cards so much. The downside...I'm not sure there is a downside.

Just curious I guess.

[Ravenswing]

Hudson--

Yes, I see my imagery. I think that when one designs a deck, it is a reflection of their psyche and a model of their perception of 'reality'.

If one's deck is a true working of the moment, I don't really see how one **wouldn't** see it. My only question is that if one has designed a deck, why use any other??

off to my own drawing board
Ravenswing

[HudsonGray]

*BIG smile!* Yes! I was thinking THAT too.

But a little voice inside still says 'I like the art in this one & that one & ohh....THAT one!'.

When a friend designed hers back in 1985 she'd been using Rider Waite & the Thoth deck. Once she got hers done, the other decks got pushed into the drawer & never saw the light of day for years. She said she got much better readings with 'hers'.

[blue_fusion]

well, i love to draw. so i like to draw the images in my cards and color them in my computer. however, i did experiment in mixing collage and drawing in my Sailor Tarot deck.

it was easier with the Sailor Tarot since i just had to "clean" the images and relate the symbols of the cards to their corresponding characters in the series. however, in the second deck (the Masque Tarot), i had to experiment with symbolism, and had struggles as to whether to retain rider-waite imagery or create my own. i played in between, mixing my own understanding and imagery with the traditional imagery. one can actually see my progress there, from the first few cards i made with little symbolism and ssemingly quite basic, to the more ornate ones.

Lastly, i want each of the dekcs i create to look unique and different, so i kinda decide on a visual theme before i create the deck. i do hope that its apparent in the sailor tarot, that i wanted it to be a play of colors. with the masque deck, i kinda created a specific style for it (drawing from various inspirations - from stained glass, to art nouveau to van gogh) and achieved a somewhat weird effect.

:)

[HudsonGray]

Ravenswing, make sure you put down thoughts on each card as they're done, so you don't loose any of the ideas that caused you to make them that way. If a book seems too complicated right now, there's nothing that says you can't do a 'diary' online of the deck as it's being made. A small section on each card would be nice, and if it's up online then anyone who gets the deck can go look at what you've written.

There are whole sites just regulated to diary making or journaling--free of charge. I found out about those when reading an article about teens around the world making their 'diaries' accessable to other teens. Adults can use them too. That way you don't have to get a web host & pay fees (but back up all you put on it to floppy, so you have a copy 'just in case').

[Ravenswing]

Hudson--

Exactly what I'm doing. I'm keeping both the notes that Laurel sends me-- her particular slant on the cards-- and my thoughts and reasons for symbols/images. I don't post it; it's a bit much at times. I am working, a bit at a time, on a more coherent manuscript, keeping it minimal. And Laurel has her own set of notes. Laurel and I will eventually compare notes and write a book to accompany the deck.

I'm also keeping a listing of changes for each of the cards. Some are just right as they are, but most have little changes I'd like to do with them. After the deck is 'finished'-- ie, I've created all 78 images-- Laurel and I plan to review the deck for consistancy and metaphysical integrity.

I haven't tried an on-line journal/diary sort of thing. That may prove to be an interesting way to go. Laurel had said that she had some web space that would be availible sometime this year; hopefully we might get cards/explainations up.

thanks for the suggestions
ravenswing