Sunday 5 April 2020

Tips about Coloring & Tarot Art in general

1) finish all lineart first & color later, it’ll save you time & recoloring troubles & give your deck more uniformed look using same I advise strongly limited color pallet for each suit? maybe something like Dragon age Tarot? or just combine your lineart with old map texture to give it that medieval look? maybe something like I did here will work best https://sites.google.com/view/myluckycard/ancient-lenormand or Take a look at these wonderful Spirit Keeper Tarot by Benebell Wen color samples for idea what coloring style would suit your deck best?;)

 
2) Card design & colors determine card meaning & light Clear and Simple is seen more positive/optimistic and darker more negative!;)

3) avoid main basic colors/hue Red, especially light Blue & Green as printed colors will look much darker/aka flat dark green!x,x unless you are born awesome talent to fill wonderful coloring book pages!:) lolz srsly, I’m thinking creating my next tarot as lineart & publish it as *limited mono edition & bnw coloring book & ask people (who know how to do it!!:) to color it so I can pick best & publish colored edition!XD lolz imo some coloring book pages are best color style EVER!XD

4) Older decks usually (successfully!) ignore some basic art rules like; 3x3 grid/aka do not center your art! & thou shalt not mix more than 1primary color in your art!:) as traditional (Marseilles) Tarot color palette is RedGreenBlueYellow+ black lineart!:) but if you look popular modern decks like; RWS (&Thoth) it’s usually 1 dominant color & few accompanying I.e HP, Emperor, Tower etc all showing how PCS & lady FH were great artists of their time with good theory basis!^^ lol so moral of the story When creating your Tarot art; check how it’s done traditionally, check card meaning & how other great artist did it before you & try not to be much worse?!:) lolz

5) don't be afraid to be you be fresh and bold don’t be afraid to break some rules!;D

There are many *rules & guidelines how to/ or not make your Lenormand or any other deck and fad art trends, but all that don’t guarantee you popularity! And there are many who successfully broken those rules and get favored by public opinion! So be bold and ready to make something you’ll like! And who knows? You may end up creating something new and fresh everyone will talk about!

6) Experiment with different layer modes & effects (imo gradient works best!^^) but Whatever you do remember to 

7) Have Lots of fun! You Are Creating Something You Like & Learning Lot in process!^^ if more people recognize it's just extra kick either way you get exp & Art of a lifetime to enjoy!;D

Note; regardless of media you are working eventually you’ll need to provide digital files for print by taking hi resolution scan or photos so here are some
Digital files tips;

+ Back up of your work on extra usb or cloud & take pic of your lineart before coloring!:) 

+Keep your digital art in progress in your original working format with separate layers (In gimp that is xcf & psd in photoshop or some high res like bmg or tiff and save/export as what you plan to print in png etc (make sure layers are flattened/merged! and there is no transparent areas!) Only when you consider it completed & ready to print! As any changes you do to jpeg and save it again will result in quality loss!

+Text and borders should always be in separate layers! that leaves more options for later! as modern trend is borderless that makes art look bigger & better & saves you of uneven border issue in case of printer drift!;) 

+Remember to remove top/guideline template layer before saving & uploading your img for print & check for errors including text, card size and alignment of layers!:)


All best! 
MyLuckyCard
Reall/Irena

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