InkBlot Tarot (wip)

[gregory]

Sorry - nor can I

[legendaryelement]

Hi, arlotar! Your second card (titled Mage) is definitely a good image; just maybe a different one. What I see is a Mother Being creating or birthing larval forms. Stirring the currents in the primordial; calling the new forms to learn the Dance of Life.

[fire cat pickles]

I missed this one! I like it

 

First thing I thought was... A samurai! No joke 🙂 Hey, first impressions and all that...

[arlotar]

the thought occurred that perhaps the illustration is not the problem, but the title. i might keep the illustration as a miscellaneous card in case i end up not using the traditional tarot structure...

thank you everyone for your input and sorry for the late reply! i tried to take a step back for inspiration's sake.

[Raggydoll]

You could always focus on creating powerful  art and then later match each piece to a card that you feel it resonates with. Flexibility can be a good thing. Just a suggestion. Enjoy the process! 🙂

[arlotar]

34 minutes ago, Raggydoll said:

You could always focus on creating powerful  art and then later match each piece to a card that you feel it resonates with. Flexibility can be a good thing. Just a suggestion. Enjoy the process! 🙂

that's a very good idea actually! i think the fact that i wasn't able to think about it on my own says a lot about me...

[arlotar]

some real life stuff has gotten me in quite an art block. all of the art i've done these days was very much marked by it and that's not what i want from these works. sorry for that everyone. hopefully i'll break this emotional shell sooner rather than later. i don't really know if i'm allowed to do this here so i hope mods will let me know if i'm doing anything wrong, but if anyone enjoys my art enough that they wanna see more, i'm @siimetrii on instagram. it's a bit of an archive for all of my artistic experimentation (or most of them anyway).

thanks for reading and sorry again!

[Raggydoll]

Don’t feel like anyone is expecting anything from you.Focus on doing it for you and for the sheer enjoyment of it. Update when you feel like it! I say this from experience. Be kind to yourself. Real life always comes first, everyone here understands that. 

[arlotar]

9 minutes ago, Raggydoll said:

Don’t feel like anyone is expecting anything from you.Focus on doing it for you and for the sheer enjoyment of it. Update when you feel like it! I say this from experience. Be kind to yourself. Real life always comes first, everyone here understands that. 

thank you so much! my performance anxiety is quite bad, which is why i worry a lot. i appreciate your words very much

[gregory]

What she said. Have fun with it. I did a deck once - for my own learning. It took over 7 years. It didn't really matter whether I finished it or not !

[arlotar]

Small update after my uninspired phase (which only now begins to wane). I did manage some quick attempts/unfinished sketches in several styles because nothing seemed to fit the Mage. The vibes were off technically. I finally managed SOMETHINGI was kind of happy with, but the style is completely different from that of the fool I drew... I'd love some feedback though I will admit I'm not even sure what kind of feedback I'm looking for. Vibe feedback? When I manage to dig up my previous concepts I'll post them too, mostly for posterity & documentation.

[Grandma]

Hi @arlotar -

 

I LOVE this card!  I'll come back to explain why - I need to study and meditate and think for awhile, but my initial response is YES, that is the Mage.

 

Will you be coloring your cards or leaving them black and white?  I vote for black and white.  If this becomes a complete deck, and no pressure to do that but just if, I would buy two copies - one to leave as is and one to color!

 

Love, Grandma

[arlotar]

1 hour ago, Grandma said:

Hi @arlotar -

 

I LOVE this card!  I'll come back to explain why - I need to study and meditate and think for awhile, but my initial response is YES, that is the Mage.

 

Will you be coloring your cards or leaving them black and white?  I vote for black and white.  If this becomes a complete deck, and no pressure to do that but just if, I would buy two copies - one to leave as is and one to color!

 

Love, Grandma

thank you very much for the kind words!! They mean a lot to me, especially now. I have been thinking about whether I should add color... and I tried but it did not FEEL right doing it so I stopped.

I feel like this style resonates much more at the moment than the style I used for the previous mage and the fool. I want to try to re-make the fool in this style as well.

 

Thank you again! 🙂

[arlotar]

a fool experiment

not really inkblots anymore, huh?

[Grandma]

I think it's ink-blotty enough to qualify and more to the point I LOVE IT!!

 

I notice that I had promised to come back and comment about the Mage.  Whoops I forgot.  One of the points I was going to make is that the bilateral symmetry lends itself to awareness of dichotomy, alternative, reversal and emphasis.  The same of course is true for the Fool.

 

I think you're onto something here, @arlotar.  I suggest continuing with this style while it continues to work for you, and experimenting with other ideas as they occur.  You've demonstrated your versatility, who knows what might show up next!

[MuninnMissinHuginn]

I was/am very drawn to the original Fool card.  The inky, loose quality of the artwork feels open and mysterious and is nicely contrasted and enhanced by the line work. And, as I understand it was your goal, looks like an ink blot card - a nice psychological reminder.   The Mage ink blot card also has the nice flow between the inky masses and the line work.  The major difference between the Mage and your Fool card is the Fool card is self-contained (does not go off the page, seems anthropomorphic, and travels from areas of high contrast to lower contrast details) and has a very definite point of focus, the “face”.  The Mage is less certain where to begin viewing the image, for me that is the unresolved aspect of the image.  The newer line cards, I agree with Grandma that the line cards without color just shout to be personalized by anyone. Fun. 

As for which style to pursue - for me, the line drawings are fresh, elegant, reminiscent of Spencerian drawing, and clean, and the first two cards are, again, for me, more moody, there is a feeling of depth and space, and because of the dark smudgy aspects - ephemeral and changeable.  What do you want from your cards? Also there are 78 of these guys, what do you enjoy making?!! Both ideas are have great qualities, just different moods.

 

Okay, all that didactic blathering on is my way of saying, very nice. I could create neither style, am envious, and in admiration of the work.

 

Edited August 1, 2021 by MuninnMissinHuginn

[arlotar]

With the way my work is nowadays I'm having a hard time doing anything creative but seeing @MuninnMissinHuginn's message kick-started my drive. I'm also grateful for @Grandma's wonderful feedback, so I would like to thank both of you!

 

So I tackled the Priestess in both styles. Honestly, I really like both styles as I feel they reflect different facets of how I see the cards. For the original style though I just could not remember what brushes I had used for the first drawings, so this one I feel looks a bit out of place when put next to the others.

I started typing my thought process in creating these drawings but, because of what they are, I don't want to have my intention influence perception. So I guess I'll only say that feedback is appreciated as always (actually even more so considering my circumstances since I'll be pretty much dependent on these bursts of inspiration for this month of being away from home).

[arlotar]

These are some old inkblot-inspired artwork I did and the catalyst of the inkblot tarot idea. Though sadly it feels like having a concept in mind while dealing with this sort of art kind of messes stuff up, at least for me.

[MuninnMissinHuginn]

The musician David Lindley said to always go with the subconscious.  It is great you got inspired again,  I must say the colors on the second card are wow, I personally find them very appealing.  With both they have elements that get put together in different ways, and there is more to see the longer one looks.  

 

The first and third of the “old” ink blots have a very interesting elegance, with the lighter to darker brush strokes and the delicate fine line accent marks, The second one is very brooding. With the third there is a story embedded.  There is so much room in what you create. 

 

I look forward to seeing what else appears. 

[arlotar]

my Empress

the lines are still easier for me than the blots

feels a bit... barren and easier for me to get lost in

more like a poem than a novel

i want to start talking about what these mean to me -- both the cards and process of creation

 

 

my Empress is open

she gives and receives indiscriminately

not for any emotional depth

but because this is all She knows

She has an entire universe in her Mind

where no one is allowed

and there Her emotions can exist

safely

in solitude

 

Her open arms are inviting

they will make you feel at home

but also keep you away from Her true core

kind detachment

 

not a life giver

not a life taker

just a life

 

[TheStarOfCups]

I see a spirit that looks a little troubled but aren't we all a little scared when we start a new journey? Your art looks amazing. I cannot wait to see this full deck! I think it'll be a great addition to the tarot world! I loooove decks with pretty art and this idea is SO innovative and the art is so pretty!! Good luck to you on this journey!!

[MuninnMissinHuginn]

This card really gets me thinking!   🙂   Also, the addition of what you are thinking about the card is very interesting/informative for me. 

[sawasta]

I love your concept so much!! it's very creative and unique, I've never seen something like it for a tarot deck before and it fits so perfectly. I do think the composition of your line work pieces is a bit stronger than the ink blots. The ink blot pieces are also strong, beautiful pieces (they're very thought provoking and I love them so much) so I don't think it would hurt to mix both styles in the deck, as long as you have a balance of the two styles present. I also really like your high priestess card, I think it definitely conveys the right energy. I love your empress design, the description you gave in italics is beautiful and really brings the vision of the card to life. If you made a guidebook (even though from the sound of it this is a personal deck, I've found that recording writing like that can be wonderful to have later on for yourself) using that type of writing for the cards it would be amazing. 

 

Motivation as an artist can be so hard to find, I definitely understand your struggle with how having a concept in mind can at times feel like a creative block. I just wanted to say that you are doing so well!! As a fellow artist I'm here for you and support you 🙂

[Lonely]

@arlotar I thought I'd share what I saw and maybe that would help.. For your first Fool with the red I saw a mime because i saw a person shrugging with a white face and blush, and I love that idea for this card because a mime knows so much that we don't know and he himself doesn't, I mean you always see them struggling to pull a rope or find the opening in the box to get out. It feels right for someone starting out and finding their way. For the second Fool without red I saw two people butting heads and two wolves howling away, for me this also works because we are constantly at battle with ourselves at the beginning of any adventure and we are always having new paths coming up that sway us, the wolves remind me of the NA tale of which wolf will you feed within you to prosper. For the first Mage with red I saw a woman delivering a baby and the woman in labor, which while the image itself rubbed you wrong it feels right to me because of the idea that while the Magician is 1 in the deck he has all the tools he needs, well the idea of birth is that we are born complete as is so I like this whole 'everything you need you have had within you all along' message it gives me. For the Mage without red I saw something that feels like a stained glass window or even a royal headress at the center top and two arms coming off the sides or flames. This fits this card but could fit a more religious based one, however, my idea of a magician is flashy and a person who wear sequins and throws down a smoke bomb and boom their outfit is different. It feels very magical and like the wizard from Fantasia but less stern lol. On the first Priestess card without red I saw something that felt like a bear mixed with Egypt iconography. This feels like a card representing many cultures deities which fit the Priestess well to me, the one with red feels less mysterious and powerful and more gentle and I see something femine, nature based, and blood based so this one to me fits the empress maybe a bit better or a Queen. However, I love the empress one you posted without red because I see a butterfly on top with either a shaman at the bottom telling a vibrant story with their hands or some sort of thrown with glowing hearts beside it.

Hope some of my interpretations helped!