Darick in the Rough
Darick Robertson's loose pencils for the King of Swords. Darick diverged from my original description quite a bit, but for every change he made, he had a reason, and I am now quite fond of Omby Amby as one of two standing Kings in the deck.
Rough Glinda
Darick Robertson's loose pencils for the High Priestess. This is one of the cards that inspired the whole deck, because it's just so perfect, visually and thematically. The book in her lap is the key.
Hermit Pencils
Darick Robertson's first sketch for the Hermit. This pose was closer to what I had initially described, where it would seem that the Love Magnet is fascinating the Shaggy Man. The final version shifts the POV, and changes the tone considerably.
Colo(u)ring
Eight cards from Giles Crawford, right after the coloring stage, just before the final inks. Giles kept us in the loop for most of his process, so we've got lots and lots of background and rough draft stuff of his to share.
Over the Rainbow for Gulacy.
Legendary Paul Gulacy did two versions of the 10 of Cups for us. This one has the more Tarot-traditional blocking.
Raise a Glass to Gulacy
Paul Gulacy's second version of the 10 of Cups has a lot more energy (as well as MGM-set-inspired Munchkin huts), but still something seemed to be missing...
7 of Wands
Art by Rat Snyder. This is one of the first final pieces we revealed. The watermark was from a free service, and too appropriate to pass up. The feller on the card there is Ojo the Unlucky, and you can find him in The Patchwork Girl of Oz.
Lovers' Cups
Early roughs for the Two of Cups by Gaz Gretsky. We did a lot of playing around with the archway in the back. I wanted it in there as a reference to the Waite-Smith card, but it couldn't detract from the figures down front.
Queen of Wands
This is a photo of the pencils for Greg Espinoza's Patchwork Girl as the Queen of Wands. Greg insisted that the final art be credited to both himself and his colorist Moose Baumann.
Polychrome Wishes
Greg Espinoza's pencils for the Star card, featuring Polychrome the Rainbow's Daughter. Polychrome likely would have been in the deck anyway, but she was my first thought here after Dan Brereton said he'd like to draw her. Unfortunately, Dan couldn't be part of the final project.
Giles' Blues
Pencils from Giles Crawford on the Six of Swords. There is a John R. Neill illustration of this scene that is quite similar to Waite-Smith card, but Giles has really made it his own.
5 of Discs Concept Sketch - Emonic
Emo really caught the feeling of the scene right away. You *know* that's Aunt Em; it couldn't be anyone else, anywhere but Kansas.
The Tower - take 2
Emonic's second sketch of the Tower. The destructive energy is really in the foreground now.
Tower concept sketch - Emonic
Emo's first go at the Tower and the Cyclone that took Dorothy away. My response was "Ooh! So good! But not quite." I realized that there was too much house, and not not enough "Tower energy". The structure was standing firm, not about to whisk away or fall.
Card Back Concept - Olympia Maxenchs
The earliest version of the back, and I was supremely happy with it. "Can't ask for better than that," I thought. But I was so wrong.
Card Back Draft 2- Olympia Maxenchs
So then Olympia adds the Tin Woodman, and quadrilateral symmetry. Amazing. Over the moon happy. My only question was, y'know, the Tarot is about everything, all life, and here we have represented the natural world and the man-made world, animal and vegetable, intellect and brutality, light and dark... but it's all masculine? Turns out Olympia had one more element planned.
Final Card Back - Olympia Maxenchs
And with Ozma, everything is made perfect.
The design in the center of the card would change many times, but the essence of the cards, the Everythingness of them, was set by this amazing set of images from Olympia.
9 of Coins draft - Kori Thompson
King Dox of Foxville with his wee crown. Kori was an artist who graciously volunteered to do early art on spec, before we could assure him we'd have the money from the Kickstarter. This is from a time before I had fully settled/discovered the colors and terms I wanted for the Suits.
7 of Coins draft - Kori Thompson
Another pre-payment painting from Kori. Everyone knows Jack Pumpkinhead, but not everyone knows he grows his own head replacements.
Rough Card Mock Up
Just to see what it would look like, I slapped Kori's painting into a border. Once again, I am not a graphic designer.
8 of Cups teaser
Close up of some of Giles Crawford's sketches for the 8 of Cups, featuring Queen Anne Soforth.
Strength teaser
Close up of Gaz Gretsky's digital sketches featuring Dorothy and the Lion. Fun fact: this is the card/notion that sparked the whole idea of the deck.
Temperance teaser
The deck truly started to feel special when art came in from people that I had not known or worked with previously and it was spot on perfect. Drew Edward Johnson, even at the pencils and inks stage, nailed it.
3 of Discs teaser
More digital sketchwork from Gaz Gretsky. This is a crowded scene that I was afraid would wind up cluttered, but Gaz managed to thread the needle.
2 of Wands teaser
Digital rough sketch from Gaz Gretsky. Gaz often surprised me by coming up with angles and points of view that were so much more dynamic than the traditional Tarot. I think it helps "tell the story" of the card, but I admit the Tarot Conservative in me was flustered.
Six of Swords teaser
Sketchwork from Giles Crawford. The artists were encouraged to bring their own contributions and symbolism to the pieces. Apparently if you know Giles, you may also know this Ferryman.
Deck Arrival!
Parcel of DOOM
The Deck betas arrive....