bare-tarot

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BARE-TAROT Major Arcana II: The High Priestess

My favorite card of the deck depicts the High Priestess and her raven emerging from a snowy field.  She gently holds a basket in her hands, and welcomes the viewer into the scene.  She wears a blue cloak, fastened in the front by a golden chain.  Her dress is layered and warm, and sports a simple cloth apron attached by a rope belt.  She wears a black jacket underneath, embroidered with a golden design.  A red scarf is tucked around her shoulders, and a red fir cap adorned with raven feathers rests on her head.

The view encounters her unexpectedly, as she travels along a path through thick grass.  A deer skull effigy can be seen behind her, and there are likely more hidden around the field.  The High Priestess is pleased to see you, but remains mostly silent during your encounter.  She moves in a cat-like manner, nearly undetectable, apart from the sound of her raven cawing.  What secrets may she know, and what is she willing to reveal to you?

This is the second card in the deck, and is again a bit of a departure from other depictions.  Many of the religious symbols associated with the card have been removed in favor of occultism and mysticism.  She is the antithesis to a later card, the Hierophant, and is quite secretive, but well meaning.

I incorporated another new brush into this scene, allowing for grass to be painted more easily.  In both Temperance and the Fool I hand drew grass to lackluster effect.  Her design was inspired by traditional Finnish folkwear, which is appropriate for the snowy landscape she inhabits.

The full deck of cards will be posted here on BARE-TAROT, and they will be available for purchase later this year!

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BARE-TAROT Major Arcana 0: The Fool

The journey begins, with the Fool leaving home entirely unaware of the dangers he will face and the people he will meet.  He is scantily dressed for such an adventure, with just a tunic on his back and a knitted woolen blanket strep to his rucksack.  Brazenly, he wields his sword at any sign of danger — this time being the menacing branch of an apple tree, which seems to have reached out and grabbed hold of him.  Slipping on the mud and wet grass beneath him, the Fool drops his sword carelessly.  His wooden staff and thin leather shoes sink into the soft ground with each step, splashing the rest of his belongings in mud.    

He has much to learn about the world beyond his home village.  Warlords, practitioners of dark magic, and malevolent rulers will face him on his path.  However, so will kindly shopkeeps, master artisans, and those who hope to help any stranger who walks past their doors.

The Fool is card 0 of the tarot deck, and is the beginning of the viewer's journey through the Major Arcana.  This interpretation of the card is akin to the Rider-Waite deck, rather than him being a scruffy beggar as is commonly depicted in others. 

The full deck of cards will be posted here on BARE-TAROT, and they will be available for purchase later this year!

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BARE-TAROT Major Arcana I: The Magician

The Magician appears to be middle-aged, a disheveled mess, and out of practice.  Yet, he barely has to try when creating the perfect witches brew, extracting the secretions of deadly newts, or floating massive texts across his studio.  The walls are splashed with oils and grime from years of crafting and enchanting.  His ill-fitting clothing hangs loosely on his slim figure, likely dragging behind him through whatever foul residue covers the floor.  Bundles of dried herbs, and effigies made of animal bones, hang from the rafters.  The Magician firmly takes command of his crystal ball and gem-laden staff, which radiate a blinding purple light.  The viewer must feel uneasy, having to navigate through thick smoke, sticky floors, stacks of books, and low-hanging ingredients.  The Magician is entirely in his element, and connected with everything in his life except the mop and sponge.

The Magician is the first card following the Fool, and was the third card that I painted.  His face was a doodle that I repurposed into the card because I thought it fit so well.  Although, it is probably one of the less realistic faces in the series.  This is also the first time that I used Procreate’s smoke brush, which has become common in nearly all of the cards since.  I used to think that using anything other than “realistic” brushes would be wrong, but really, who cares?

The full deck of cards will be posted here on BARE-TAROT, and they will be available for purchase later this year!

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BARE-TAROT Major Arcana VIII: Strength

The imagery of the second card painted for the BARE-TAROT deck is perhaps a bit of a deviation from normal depictions of the card, while still retaining many familiar qualities. He is depicted as a strong and wise looking man, who has traveled the world and learned from every experience and hardship that he has ever faced. He is dressed in a black garb with a red sash across his waist. A black headband embroidered with the infinity sign, a symbol often associated with Strength, is firmly sat on his head.

Instead of a lion, he has formed a close relationship with a massive tiger, whom he adopted during his travels to the far east. Symbolizing their friendship and trust for one another, both are adorned with a matching set of golden earrings.  The viewer encounters them in a narrow passage, carved out of the sandstone of a vast desert. Strength and his tiger appear unphased by the sudden encounter, but not unhappy to meet you.

This second card, and eighth card of the deck, was incredibly fun to draw. I utilized a number of new techniques that I think contributed to a cleaner image when compared with Temperance.

The full deck of cards will be posted here on BARE-TAROT, and they will be available for purchase later this year!

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BARE-TAROT Major Arcana XIV: Temperance

Over the past year, I’ve been working towards completing both the major and minor arcana tarot cards. It all started with an idea for the fourteenth card, Temperance, as well as a drive to continue practicing digital art. While I have been drawing and painting for as long as I can remember, digital art was still new to me at the start of this project.

The order in which I painted each card purely followed my imagination, as I came up with new ways to adapt various imagery presented in the many other decks that have been created since the Middle Ages. However, I did complete the entirety of the major arcana before moving onto the minor cards, which themselves are not necessarily in order of suit and number. The numbering system is reflective of that used in modern decks, such as the Rider-Waite.

Each card is framed in black and embossed with hand-drawn golden boarders.  The title and roman numerals are visible both right-side-up and reverse, for ease of use during normal card games or divination.  The back of the cards, a sneak preview of which can be seen on the banner on each post, are also equally visible regardless of orientation. 

Here, Temperance depicts a woman pouring wine into a flowing river, as a burning building and a bright moon illuminates the night sky behind her. She looks tiredly at the viewer as to suggest that the events leading up to those depicted in the card were both long and arduous. Temperance usually depicts the dilution of alcohol, but in my interpretation she intends to completely rid the scene of it.

I struggled to create exactly what I was picturing when I created this card, and even though the second card that I drew and those that came afterwards were marked improvements, I still love this one.

The full deck of cards will be posted here on BARE-TAROT, and they will be available for purchase later this year!

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