Just finished this Chapter 3 illustration for the book I'm writing, tentatively titled:
"Gods, An Epidemic: An Epic Comedy Drama With Apocalyptic Tendencies"Each chapter starts with, and explores the theme of, a major arcana card of the Tarot deck. My heroine is a Tarot reader, not because she's 'gifted' or believes in it, but because she's a good listener & people pay well for that kind of thing ;) There are a total of 22 major arcana cards out of the 78-card deck. As a whole, they follow the basic hero's journey from "The Fool" to "The World".
I've had a kind of drawer's-block with this series, for over a year in fact-- until the other day, and *finally* came up w/ this chapter 3 illustration.
key words for her:
• Mothering ----- Fertility ----- Sexuality ----- Abundance
• Material prosperity ----- Pleasure ----- Comfort ----- Power
• Nature ----- Delight ----- Desire ----- Physical attraction
• Health ----- Sensuality ----- Beauty ----- Satisfaction
She represents many things, and typically holds a scepter & wears a crown - but i'm trying to strike a balance between these traditional meanings, and a natural sort of everyday person put in the way of being made to be these things.
When interpreting the Tarot, one must also consider the negative aspects of a card. For The Empress, this can be a kind of smothering. I liked the idea of using vines to indicate the fertility and potential of becoming overgrown -- but a friend helped me realize that this is what my 'shadow' lines were already doing... like they were creeping up from the right, and behind, to smother her...
Anywho, I think she's ready for her close-up:
Others in this series:
cheers,
me
