raybender Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 (edited) Hi.. i am new here... i was thinking about creating a Tarot Deck with new interpretations of the different Arcanas.... i thought i made a test and started with an idea for the death card. what do you guys think, does this look interesting ? doing a full 78 card deck would take me ages to do in this style so i thought i´ll get some feedback first 🙂 really appreciate any feedback heres how i imagined the Death card: Edited June 30, 2020 by raybender Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoxena Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 Hiya. I love the colors - but what is your "new interpretation" of the Death card? I'm not sure I know what you're trying to convey with this. Can you explain your take on it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raybender Posted June 30, 2020 Author Share Posted June 30, 2020 11 minutes ago, geoxena said: Hiya. I love the colors - but what is your "new interpretation" of the Death card? I'm not sure I know what you're trying to convey with this. Can you explain your take on it? yeah sorry for being not clear... i just wanted to say that i didnt want to do the 10th Skelleton Knight 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katrinka Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 1 hour ago, raybender said: heres how i imagined the Death card: It definitely says "death" to me. 😁 Much moreso than a lot of the decks I see coming out these days. And the white roses echo the flag on the RWS version. There's facets to it and it's readable. Do this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offramp Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 I really like the card, even though I don't like the colour purple (and it seems to be very popular as a colour at the moment). I don't like Death much, either, so I suppose purple is an good colour for it. There is an allegory of sex, love and death, with the woman becoming in control of her own destiny. I don't understand the shape of the golden crescent on the moon, or the 10 bells that surround the moon. Personally, I think the pastel colours are vapid. The light powder-blue that coats the background is, to my mind, boring. I also think the white roses would be much clearer and better as red ones. I think that Death's breasts look silicone-enhanced: they are not hanging naturally. All in all, as I say, I like the card, and I award in 8/10 on the Huskisson Sliding Tarot Card Scale, which equates to ✴✴✴✴ on the old Aeclectic Scale. You have shown great insight in designing this card and I'd love to see some more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregory Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 Death is my favourite card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raybender Posted June 30, 2020 Author Share Posted June 30, 2020 made some more changes to the color... more happy now.. 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoxena Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 (edited) Hi again. I have to say I'm not crazy about it. It has a violent zombie comic book horror story feel to it, which doesn't appeal much to me. It's a bit too creepy for me, but I think what mostly doesn't sit right with me is the style, not the content. I don't mind grim imagery at all, especially for Death, but something about the style of this depiction, with the brilliant colors, and the facial expression doesn't work for me. It seems more like a monster or demon dying than a person, somehow, so I cannot empathize with it. But, that's me. You're obviously talented and have a vision, so why not go for it! I think you would definitely have a fan base. Edited July 2, 2020 by geoxena Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katrinka Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 (edited) While I'm not on board the current "everything has to look like a graphic novel" train, I like this one. It has things to say, I don't see it as some edgelord "look at me being creepy" image. There's reasons for everything in the image, it makes sense. The dying process can be hideous. You get through it, and you break through to - what? I guess we'll find out. But there's triumph in this image, there's hope here. In conversations about movies, you sometimes hear the expressions "gratuitous violence" or "gratuitous sex". What this refers to is something that isn't needed, sex or violence they put in there because it sells, and not to advance the plot or flesh out the characters. That's part of what makes a lousy movie. But if you were making a movie about gangsters, the reverse would apply: violence would be central to the story you're trying to tell. A gangster movie without violence is pointless. And this is a card about death. Ripping flesh and exposed brains on the 3 of Cups would be gratuitous. On the Death card, it's fine. It communicates. A lot of deck artists don't do that well. Maybe the images don't speak clearly on their own and you have to buy their book to make sense of everything. Or they tone everything down lest it offend someone. Art that tries not to offend isn't art. It's kitsch. That doesn't make it bad, a lot of us love our kit-kat clocks and tiki bar mugs. But art - and a good Tarot - should go deeper, I think. I'm not saying everybody has to like it. But it's an impressively good Death card. Edited June 30, 2020 by katrinka Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raybender Posted July 1, 2020 Author Share Posted July 1, 2020 many thanks for your encouraging words katrinka! i´ll start with a new major arcana today... 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reall Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 I like colors! 😄 but iimo composition may need more work in bottom half I would try experimenting with negative space & darker color for better contrast?:) but whatever you end up with I'm sure there will be plenty of people who will enjoy your art! 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offramp Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 I much prefer the more electric blue in the background, and the golden moon. I will stand by my suggestion of red for the roses (and perhaps red/pink for the heart as well). I also think that the kneeling woman's fingers and toes could be squeezed in at right and left. When this is part of a deck I'd like to see the word DEATH removed. One tiny point: the limb of the moon exactly meets the lower point of Death's left breast: I would move the bottom of the bosom 1 millimetre higher. This is a novel and fascinating interpretation of the Death card. It has imagery which provokes deep thought. I would like to see it as part of the set of XII-XIII-XIV, perhaps with its colour altered slightly to harmonize with those cards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katrinka Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 4 minutes ago, offramp said: I will stand by my suggestion of red for the roses Passion and desire? I'm not seeing how that would fit here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offramp Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 25 minutes ago, katrinka said: Passion and desire? I'm not seeing how that would fit here. Raybender ... Quote was thinking about creating a Tarot Deck with new interpretations of the different Arcanas ...so I thought perhaps the old symbolism could be thrown out of the window. For me, red roses mean Lancashire and nothing else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katrinka Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 Flowers have their own meanings and associations. Roses generally tend to be lovey-dovey, but white ones are interpreted as more pure and spiritual, making them better suited to a Death card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregory Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 1 hour ago, offramp said: Raybender ... ...so I thought perhaps the old symbolism could be thrown out of the window. For me, red roses mean Lancashire and nothing else. That won't resonate with anyone outside the UK, I think. (And I wouldn't see it as appropriate even given that I do get the allusion.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antipodean Posted September 5, 2020 Share Posted September 5, 2020 On 7/1/2020 at 7:38 AM, raybender said: made some more changes to the color... more happy now.. 🙂 Wow. That is a really beautiful looking piece of work! How did you work that through? Hand-drawn? Scanned in? Design program? I'm impressed 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts