For my independent project’s concept I would like to make a series of illustrations that can be used in a deck of tarot cards that focuses on the Major Arcana. The Major Arcana is comprised of 22 core cards that is the foundation of the deck. Each of the core cards has two meanings that depend on the orientation of the card when someone is having their cards read. I would like to take these established cards and their meanings and build upon them with animals. Animals have always had specific meanings attached to them and it would be interesting to repurpose some of my research into a different format.
Tarot card art and design fall in an odd genre of art. They are illustrations that are meant to be enjoyed tangibly. Tarot cards have been around for centuries starting in Italy around 1440. They were considered playing cards that later picked up spiritual meaning. They are considered spiritual art to some and used by occults to read someone’s destiny. They are composed of illustrations that have been tied to telling stories. They are not meant to be seen in a gallery but instead made to be handled. In a modern sense, they are a type of usable art that people often make custom decks for their own purposes
I plan to do a lot of research finding specific animals that fit well within each of the 22 cards that are in the Major Arcana. I have already done a bit of research on the Major Arcana and what each card consists of. Each card has two different meanings so I will probably focus on animals that will best correspond to the Upright position. I want to do some research on the aesthetics of different tarot cards from a variety of locations throughout the history of the decks.
The strategy of researching will begin very broad. I may have a lot of animals options to choose from or only a few to work with. After I have a few options it will be easier to funnel the final lineup to do more academic research where it is needed. Each piece does not have to be super deep where everything has a meaning in the composition, but it needs to be able to stand its ground against all the other pieces in the deck. It needs to be true and not just there.
The technique i would like to use for this Untitled project is to create the cards in Adobe Illustrator. I have not done a lot of work in Adobe Illustrator but it feels like a medium that will allow me to push my skills and allow me to complete the Major Arcana in a coherent style. Illustrator vector art has a very clean feel to them that I want to be able to explore my own style in. It will also allow me to put in a base layer if I do want to come back and paint on top of them in Adobe Photoshop.
My subject matter for my tarot deck will be animals. I am unsure what animals I would like to use for the focus of the cards. I have done research into cats and crows so I would love to bring those into at least a card each. There is large amount of animals that I can pull from. I would prefer to stick to land creatures as I feel aquatic life is not exactly what i want to focus on.
The style I want to approach is a semi-realistic illustrative one. I want the animals to read correctly and not be overly simplified. I want to be able to have clean linework and have the use of gradients and a semi-limited color palette. I do not want to be super strict with my palette like I have in past works, so I want to allow myself some freedom to experiment to make the colors work in the overall series.
The purpose of the piece is to create a tangible experience. A lot of my work tends to be used in usable pieces of art such as card designs or storybook illustrations. It is a type of art that is not supposed to be displayed in a frame or a display case. It is an intimate series of art that comes with an experience when they are being read. I want to be able to educate someone on the history of animal superstitions and meanings using illustrations.
In my own work, I have a fascination with animals. There is something so much more aesthetically pleasing to me as an artist that the human figures cannot necessarily capture. There is a type of innocence that animals possess that human beings only have at a young age. Animals are not like humans. They do not understand the same way a human does. I found the type of art I like to create is very tangible. Pieces of art that are made to be touched and appreciated. Tarot cards are one of those projects that allows me to put multiple interests into one passion projects.
The output of the piece will reflect a standard tarot cart size of 2.75″ x 4.75″. There will be 22 finished illustrations for each card in the Major Arcana as well as a unified design for the use of the back of the cards. I would like to eventually have these professionally printed which may not be doable by the end of the semester. I would like to have all of them printed out and have a backing attached to them to give the feel of how they are supposed to be. In our final exhibition format, it would be best to have the cards out on a pedestal to be used like intended.
Untitled Tarot Card deck is a series consisting of 22 cards that is found in the Major Arcana. The Major Arcana is the core foundation of every tarot card deck. Tarot cards started in 15th century in Italy as playing cards. They have found its way into modern culture in a more spiritual sense. Occults use tarot cards to read someone’s past, present, and future. Animals have been a core subject of human art and have developed many different meanings throughout the world. Taking the animals as a subject for the deck allows to make that superstition known. It creates a connection that a lot of people may not be aware of. It shines a light on the hidden meanings animals may have.
