For those of you who don't know about this, we are going to have a bi-weekly challenge to depict a tarot card from the Major Arcana. This will last approximately a year. At the end of the year we will have the full Major Arcana. Two wips and a final are required for entry.
The first card is the Wheel of Fortune. I will give you a brief meaning, but it's probably a good idea to do your own research as there are much richer and indepth meanings to the cards.
The only real stipulation is that The final image must be in the form of a card, not just a painting
Divinatory meaning Upright - Effortless success. Good fortune that is unexpected. Coincidences. Luck. The beginning of a new cycle. Advancement. Positive upheaval. Change. A card of good fortune, the appearance of destiny and Karmic change.
This challenge ends Friday 16th December - we will then vote for the winning card, and then on to the next one!
"The elves of Nysdrell often represent Ailfinnem and Shinirios circling each other around the Wheel of Fortune, also known as the wheel of stars - the divine avatars stand for the duality in life, be it the feminine and masculine, good and evil, day and night or good luck and bad luck. As the stars and other celestial bodies hold importance in the star elven culture, the Wheel also bears the lunar cycles at the tip of its eight spokes, interspersed with elemental sigils and jewels "
The runes point out that we are not with the Greek gods here. Erratic Fortuna is replaced by the Norse Norns, and in particular Urd, the Norn of fate.
It is wise Urd that holds the teachings of the past, and it is her well that the gods meet at each day. She may teach us that the chaotic explosion of ink, like the seemingly random and unexpected events of life, are to be handled with the help of knowledge and council.
Mine whew, I don't think I'll be able to manage a full set, anyway the wheel is taken from the Rider-Waite card. I wanted a puppet/wooden carving feel as I fancied puppet strings could be used as a metaphor for unseen forces. As usual my time management cut down my design choices.
wow i honestly thought you would get more entries into this one than this. and damn everyones cards look so much better on my new monitor
1st. Heimdayel, the colouring on this is fantastic and the combination of a fantasy setting with more traditional motif is well combined making this card my first choice. and omg all those knots I envy you and your skill
2nd a_curious_twitch
3rd Conscious Bob
felt both cards were really good and extremely different interpretations, in the end although I liked the fact that Conscious Bob's card had a more traditional Rider-Waite feel to it, a_curious_twitch artwork seemed less rushed
Heimdayel, I like how the birds and the wheel are sharing the same shapes and show a cycle of motion Also I like the use of colors, very nicely subdued.
Wyldmajik: This is really nice looking, I like how slick it feels, seems very clean and has a nice atmosphere. The color in the background is nice, makes it seem astrological. Seems like the upper area is empty and is waiting for something to show up?
A_Curious_Twitch: I like the splashy painterliness of this one, makes it dynamic and fun. I sorta miss the "wheel of fortune" analogy, but that's just my bias >.>
Conscious_Bob: The graphics around the wheel are really nice looking, they're clean and consistent. I think you need to resize some of the characters around the wheel, they all seem a bit small, and need a touch more detail on some of them.
1. Heimdayel. Loved the stone wheel with the roughness, the light, and the hints of moss. Also the construct of the two birds is quite interesting.
2. Wyldmajik. Good to see one goddess figure in the final entries. Like the airy subtle colours and the composition.
3. Conscious Bob. My favourite bit has to be the shading on the manikin. But I just can't help be drawn towards the texture on the wheel.
solomon01:
I sorta miss the "wheel of fortune" analogy, but that's just my bias >.>
It's okay, I knew there had to be at least one person :) Unfortunately the Norse did't believe in luck like the Greeks did. And I have a habit of looking at things a little skewwhiff sometimes.
I really liked your entry but the wheel analogy got lost somewhere.
Thanks. My first idea was far more removed, but I had hoped people would understand the ink explosion. Tarot in my book is about what the card infers, and the ink explosion was meant to symbolise the randomness and unpredictability that the wheel is based on.
curious twitch - interesting that you chose to depict something totally different from the classical wheel, now I want to read about Urd - the futhark make a nice clean, simple border; are you going to do a whole norse-inspired major arcana?
wyldmajik - smooth and calm - Arianrhod's pale tones seem to make her glow in the starry sky, and I keep going to that opalescent gem int he silver wheel, quite mesmerizing and brings your gaze to a very important element of your card
bob - the use of the puppet man seems particularly well suited to this card, it's good to have at least one of us sticking to more traditional symbols in their cards
curious twitch - interesting that you chose to depict something totally different from the classical wheel, now I want to read about Urd - the futhark make a nice clean, simple border; are you going to do a whole norse-inspired major arcana?
Not entirely Norse, but a great deal of it will. Urd's not traditionally erratic by the way, I just added the chaotic ink as a human perception of events. I would have probably drawn her well from a birds eye view to give a more circular form, but I thought that was a cop out.
As for the border, that may have more association with Urd and the Norns, so I'm not yet sure whether that will be as permanent as the black, but it would be a shame to lose it.
solomon01:
