arlotar Posted June 5, 2021 Posted June 5, 2021 i've been meaning to start working on a personal tarot deck for a while and today i finally snagged a style i'm happy with. i hope i'll be able to document the process of making the cards of this deck. i was inspired by my research into the Rorschach inkblot test. if anyone stumbles onto this thread i'd love to know what you see in the image, feedback, whatever strikes your fancy.
joy Posted June 5, 2021 Posted June 5, 2021 The ‘creature’ feels scared, lost, sad and worried to me.
arlotar Posted June 6, 2021 Author Posted June 6, 2021 Thank you for all your replies!! (I really wasn't expecting anyone to see this post.) I always love hearing the different perspectives of different people. The early Mickey Mouse took me by surprise the most, but I was also quite surprised that my drawing managed to express feeling... I see it now but when I was drawing I did not see it at all. I don't know if I should give MY personal interpretation, since I feel this kind of puts limits on other peoples' interpretations. Thank you again for your input! I appreciate it very much!
Raggydoll Posted June 6, 2021 Posted June 6, 2021 What I see is actually a character from a Finnish children’s book by Tove Jansson. Here we call this character Knyttet, but google told me that the book was translated to “Who will comfort Toffle?’. Its in the Moomin series, which you may have heard about. It’s very big over here. Here is a somewhat blurry picture I found on the internet I can see Micki Mouse in there but I think this Finnish story adds much more depth for me!
katrinka Posted June 6, 2021 Posted June 6, 2021 I can see that. 🙂 The first thing I thought of was that the upper third looks like a sad goldfish. You can even see the fins sticking out on the sides. The middle part is greg's kitten, but it has two tails and instead of a face, the mouth is wide open and it's swallowing the goldfish. The bottom part looks like one of those old spinning top toys: All of which should make no sense whatsoever. But if it's the Fool, it does seem to be talking about falling into the repeating cycles of life and suffering and survival, lol.
Raggydoll Posted June 6, 2021 Posted June 6, 2021 The story of Toffle makes sense for the fool. The story begins with Toffle sitting at home in their large house, feeling lonely and isolated, having no friends. Then Toffle decides to head off and go on a journey to break their isolation and see the world. They are still fearful but then finds a flask post with a message from someone who is asking to be saved. So Toffle makes it their mission to be brave and save that person. In the end, they meet and 'save' the person who wrote the letter, and they gain a friend. So it has the element of adventure and a journey.
arlotar Posted June 6, 2021 Author Posted June 6, 2021 3 hours ago, Raggydoll said: The story of Toffle makes sense for the fool. The story begins with Toffle sitting at home in their large house, feeling lonely and isolated, having no friends. Then Toffle decides to head off and go on a journey to break their isolation and see the world. They are still fearful but then finds a flask post with a message from someone who is asking to be saved. So Toffle makes it their mission to be brave and save that person. In the end, they meet and 'save' the person who wrote the letter, and they gain a friend. So it has the element of adventure and a journey. wow!! though I had no idea about the the character or the story, it fits the initial concept i had in mind while drawing this very well. i had several prototypes for this card which i scrapped due to them being too concrete and too detailed for what i was trying to convey. might have been some influence from the music i was listening to when creating the prototypes as well... it influenced my drawing so much that i ended up not listening to anything while drawing the fool you see now. funnily enough i remember a lot of the songs conveying the same energy as Toffle's story.
arlotar Posted June 6, 2021 Author Posted June 6, 2021 4 hours ago, katrinka said: I can see that. 🙂 The first thing I thought of was that the upper third looks like a sad goldfish. You can even see the fins sticking out on the sides. The middle part is greg's kitten, but it has two tails and instead of a face, the mouth is wide open and it's swallowing the goldfish. The bottom part looks like one of those old spinning top toys: All of which should make no sense whatsoever. But if it's the Fool, it does seem to be talking about falling into the repeating cycles of life and suffering and survival, lol. your reply immediately kicked my inner psychologist into overdrive. the way one perceives the inkblot (as one element vs as several pieces making a bigger picture) is very important to Rorschach scoring, so i was curious if i managed to convey something that would be perceivable in both fashions. i'm happy i managed something!
gregory Posted June 6, 2021 Posted June 6, 2021 5 hours ago, Raggydoll said: What I see is actually a character from a Finnish children’s book by Tove Jansson. Here we call this character Knyttet, but google told me that the book was translated to “Who will comfort Toffle?’. Its in the Moomin series, which you may have heard about. It’s very big over here. Here is a somewhat blurry picture I found on the internet I can see Micki Mouse in there but I think this Finnish story adds much more depth for me! Oh god yes - Toffle. I adore Moomins and yes that is SUCH a Toffle look. I shall get the book out RIGHT now and read it. (and no I don;t have children in the house; I am just a Tove groupie.) Well spotted, Raggy !
Raggydoll Posted June 6, 2021 Posted June 6, 2021 35 minutes ago, gregory said: Oh god yes - Toffle. I adore Moomins and yes that is SUCH a Toffle look. I shall get the book out RIGHT now and read it. (and no I don;t have children in the house; I am just a Tove groupie.) Well spotted, Raggy ! I love her work too. Do dig out the book. I enjoy the way it differs in style from the others, it is very poetic!
Raggydoll Posted June 6, 2021 Posted June 6, 2021 54 minutes ago, arlotar said: wow!! though I had no idea about the the character or the story, it fits the initial concept i had in mind while drawing this very well. i had several prototypes for this card which i scrapped due to them being too concrete and too detailed for what i was trying to convey. might have been some influence from the music i was listening to when creating the prototypes as well... it influenced my drawing so much that i ended up not listening to anything while drawing the fool you see now. funnily enough i remember a lot of the songs conveying the same energy as Toffle's story. Synchronicity is a magical thing!
Little Fang Posted June 6, 2021 Posted June 6, 2021 I see a confused soul, spinning in circles like a tornado, unable to figure out where to go or what to do. There is a whirlwind of activity. (Me, often! I get tornado dreams when under stress.) I really love this art 🙂
arlotar Posted June 6, 2021 Author Posted June 6, 2021 28 minutes ago, Little Fang said: I see a confused soul, spinning in circles like a tornado, unable to figure out where to go or what to do. There is a whirlwind of activity. (Me, often! I get tornado dreams when under stress.) I really love this art 🙂 thank you very much! i'm happy that my art managed to speak to you! and at such a deep level too!
arlotar Posted June 6, 2021 Author Posted June 6, 2021 the mage is here! i honestly don't know what to feel about this one so feedback is still very appreciated. for me, it feels right and wrong at the same time... i don't feel like i have a lot to say about this one. now that i have the general style down, the shapes and lines feel like they have a life of their own, pouring on the canvas in their own rhythm, with their own message to send. it's a bit weird for someone as reserved as i usually am, i'm not gonna lie thank you for your kind words and your input! it really helps me a lot!
AJ-ish/Sharyn Posted June 6, 2021 Posted June 6, 2021 a panda bear in the fool, a bee in the mage. Welcome to the forum!
Raggydoll Posted June 6, 2021 Posted June 6, 2021 1 hour ago, arlotar said: the mage is here! i honestly don't know what to feel about this one so feedback is still very appreciated. for me, it feels right and wrong at the same time... i don't feel like i have a lot to say about this one. now that i have the general style down, the shapes and lines feel like they have a life of their own, pouring on the canvas in their own rhythm, with their own message to send. it's a bit weird for someone as reserved as i usually am, i'm not gonna lie thank you for your kind words and your input! it really helps me a lot! I think it is the Red queen, saying "off with his head!"
arlotar Posted June 6, 2021 Author Posted June 6, 2021 18 minutes ago, AJ-ish/Sharyn said: a panda bear in the fool, a bee in the mage. Welcome to the forum! thank you very much! 2 minutes ago, Raggydoll said: I think it is the Red queen, saying "off with his head!" ohh, i see it!!
arlotar Posted June 6, 2021 Author Posted June 6, 2021 update on the mage after stepping away from the screen for a bit. i think i'll relegate this version to a prototype. something just doesn't feel right... maybe it's my infatuation with perfect symmetry being excessive, maybe it's something beyond. if anyone feels comfortable to let me know if they get any weird vibes off of this card or just what vibes they do get off it in general, i would appreciate it very much. i'm hoping it would help me figure out just what is off about this specific illustration.
katrinka Posted June 6, 2021 Posted June 6, 2021 I haven't commented on it, but not because it feels weird or any of that. When I first looked at it, I was looking closely. And I saw not three things, as before, but a lot of little things - various bugs and insects, parts of faces, even swimwear. It was piecey, and I just thought my trifling ideas didn't justify typing all that or expecting people to read it. So I backed away from it and tried to take it in as a unified whole. I could kind of see something like a Kabuki clown with hairy insect arms, but it seemed vague and nonsensical compared to the objects I saw in the first card, so I left it alone. In other words, I just didn't feel like I had anything worth saying. But I agree that the first image works better.
arlotar Posted June 6, 2021 Author Posted June 6, 2021 2 minutes ago, katrinka said: I haven't commented on it, but not because it feels weird or any of that. When I first looked at it, I was looking closely. And I saw not three things, as before, but a lot of little things - various bugs and insects, parts of faces, even swimwear. It was piecey, and I just thought my trifling ideas didn't justify typing all that or expecting people to read it. So I backed away from it and tried to take it in as a unified whole. I could kind of see something like a Kabuki clown with hairy insect arms, but it seemed vague and nonsensical compared to the objects I saw in the first card, so I left it alone. In other words, I just didn't feel like I had anything worth saying. But I agree that the first image works better. hmmm... not seeing only one element in something like this is not necessarily a bad thing, but having something be so diffuse that it fails to create a complete picture is problematic for what i'd like these cards to be. thank you very much for your insight!
joy Posted June 6, 2021 Posted June 6, 2021 I can not un-see the biker @gregorymentioned. So can not help further, it just is there, angry/concentrated on the bike.
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