Star Wars Tarot- Master of Swords

The Master of Swords- both the suite and the SW universe- would obviously be: The Master Swordsman; Mace Windu.

I really saw a very strong, dominant figure for the card- a pillar, if you will. But lots of fire- as in my deck, the Swords are the suite for Fire. That in itself is the reason for the bright, sun heavy and warm palette for the card. I also used the iridescent colors for the border and this time the Lightsaber as well!
Funny little fact, when I was coloring the sky, had forgotten to leave space for the Lighsbater blade- so I had to continue and figure out how I would implement it. Enter one of my favorite mediums: Gouache! So the Lighsaber blade is actually gouache.

Star Wars Tarot- Padawan of Energy

The suites in the Star Wars Tarot are different then the regular Tarot decks. I’ve seen decks that equate the Swords, Wands, Pentacles, and Cups to their elemental concepts, or change then to fit the metaphorical concepts to better suite the content of the deck- and mine is no different.
Instead of “Cups”, I worked off the concept of water- the flowing, calm aspect of it, and reached a verdict that it best suits energy. So this is the “Page” of Cups... now renamed “Padawan of Energy”.

Young Obi-wan fits the category well. I also have a special connection to this card as it was my card in my younger years- so I was tickled pink that Obi-wan matched the content of it as well.
Even though I was removing the “Earthly concepts” form the deck (Zodiac, religious, or concepts non-relating to Star Wars) I opted to leave in the elemental significance as the elements are present in that universe, and are universal. They also serve as a good visual identification to some of the metaphorical concepts.

Obi’s belt buckle is done with the iridescent ink, as is the borders- I only wish the iridescence could be conveyed through a scan- let alone the quality of the images that I feel would be better if I had a better scanner.

Star Wars Tarot- The Lovers

It was a no-brainier to figure out that I would use Anakin and Padme for the Lovers card.
This was one of those pieces that I started originally on a different color- and after a little while realized it was NOT the right color I had in mind. But I never blow steam or go crazy for having to re-start a piece. From previous experience, having to restart usually means any errors get ironed out, and the second time around always come out ten times more glamorous than the first try- so I was delighted to start over.

I kept this card dominantly warm. The only “cool” colors are the green grass and blue waters of Naboo… and this was important in order to include all 4 elements in the card- Fire is the sun behind the Lovers, Air is what they are being formed form (the smoky/cloud) water and earth are represented by the background. I also wanted to include the balcony with the silhouettes to give the image a more vast and epic feel to it.
I also really liked the idea of having Anakin’s both arms embrace Padme- all the while keeping the “flat” style of the art intact. This also proved a good design tool to create that circle effect to really convey that wholeness of both figures together. Another fun tid-bit was trying to simplify Padme’s wedding dress.

A lot of people keep assuming this is Pastel- actually it is not. It's colored pencil on Canson board. Maybe the blending is too smooth for what some people consider pencil art- but these are truly done in colored pencil. In fact, they are being done with the set of 400+ color pencils my Grandmother bought me as a birthday gift- the last one she ever did before passing away.

Star Wars Tarot- The Empress

Like “The Hermit” card, some of the titles themselves are obvious give-aways to the content.

However, it is to note something interesting: I cannot “read” Tarot cards. I have my own deck of cards I “read” from but they are not Tarot. This series is a result of a sort of “epiphany” I had one night… and I decided to run with the idea. After all, Star Wars is full of Archetypes that are found within the Tarot Cards as well, so I decided I would just illustrate what I “felt” fit the image/meaning of the card, and look for the “official” meaning/content after I was done. This way, I wouldn’t be swayed by the pre-conceived notion, but run with my instincts. As an artist (and generally as a person) I run by instinct over knowledge most of the time. My gut is my best intuition so I never ignore it.
What’s funny is after I design the image and then check its meaning- the meaning and my “gut” usually coincide.
Awesome.

Star Wars Tarot

In order to console myself for not being able to attend Celebration V this year, I decided to take upon myself a project that would include me in the shenanigans of the fandom. In fact, I would even extend the fun to include a GIANT project that would take me a LONG time to complete, there fore making my indulgence grossly enormous.
I decided to design a deck of Tarot Cards based off the Star Wars universe.

The first card in this series features not only my favorite character of the Saga (For those who can’t tell, Obi-wan Kenobi), but seems very appropriate for my current situation; after all, I’m all the way here, and the party is all the way in Orange County.

While these cards are based of the most popular deck (the Rider-Waite Deck) I adjusted some concepts to better fit the Star Wars universe, and of course my own artistic vision in the matter. The style I am using is a merge between Medieval Tapestry, and some sort of
flowing geometry that I felt appropriate for the card series.

Two things to note about this Hermit Card: I purposefully left out the stars in the image to keep in tune with the empty void/loneliness of the card. I also added the Homestead in the distance; this to better get that distant feeling through environment and location (in relation to Ben), but also to give the sense of the Guardian and Protector (Wise man) bidding time, quiet reflection, and introspection; common motifs with this Tarot card.

BoY- Werewolf

My Second Submission to the Beasts of Yore Portfolio!
After doing the Wasgo piece, I had selected to do a more “common known” beast, but with a personal twist. I went for Werewolf, and playing of the old Hungarian/Romanian (Bohemia) lore and time period, I grew up with.
I adjusted the contemporary “look” of the Werewolf- from the popular “simply a wolf standing on two” design- to something more relevant to the time period of the 15th century and cultural ethnicity, along with a merge of Wolf-and-human anatomy. You will notice the long curly locks of hair that was relevant fashion for the men in that time period, along with the floral design of the frame- predominantly Hungarian. The horse- tack-like apparel/garb he is wearing is also modeled of the actual horse tack of that era in Bohemia.

Watch his blind eye though- approaching him on his right side, might end up being the last dangerous thing you will ever do.

Hye, Hye, Hyena

Some time ago we had some aboriginals from Africa come to the NCC.
Around that time I had doodles a Hyena, holding pencils in both hands and big monicals (5th down from the left hand side). The story behind that one was pbulished on my blog a few months ago:

A friend of mine and myself were bringing up bad animal stereotypes believed to be true way back in the day.
I WANTED to say that "Hyena's were thought to be Hermaphrodites"... but somewhere along the trail of thought, "Hermaphrodite" became "Androgynous" became "Ambidextrous".
And so I said: "People used to think Hyenas were ambidextrous!"
Pretty smart for fellas who don't even have any thumbs.

Well, when I related the story to the group of Nigerians (who were delighted and laughing at the thought of a Hyena with glasses and writing), they asked that I draw more Hyenas. Well, more like one had asked that I draw a Hyena in his likeness (this fellah laughed so much and at everything that his colleagues had called him "Hyena" as a nick name). At the time I was looking for a small design project to challenge myself, so I agreed.

Seen here were Hyenas based of the group of singers/dancers that came to visit, 3 plain caricatures for fun, and the ambidextrous Hyena.