I feel like it's worth it to continue this chronicle even if I don't feel like I have anything super profound to say. So here we are.
I took the day sort-of-off. That means that I did a few business things but on no real schedule. I'll probably continue tonight. Or maybe not. Either one will be fine.
The tarot project hasn't left the research phase yet. That is also ok. I have officially finished the pre-research (presearch?) as of today and am ready to begin sketching. That will certainly happen this week. I continue to chip off bits and pieces each day.
A note on the research since I continue to mention it without diving into what it actually entails.
- I've read two books about Norman Rockwell—if possible I'd like to incorporate some of his techniques. He's always been a huge source of inspiration for me.
- I have four tarot sources; two books and two websites.
- I have read through all of the historical information (theories mostly)
- I've also read through all of the general tarot info
- I've read and/or watched a short video description of all 78 cards.
- I've been pulling a daily card (since May 20) and writing an in depth analysis of its meaning in my notebook based on all 4 sources (they often disagree). Each day, I pull a new one and add its combined analysis to the book for reference when I begin drawing later on.
- I've done the same in depth analysis for the first 5 cards in the major arcana (The Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, and The Emperor) because those will be the first 5 cards I create.
- I've created a Pinterest moodboard of inspiration images.
- I've started watching this channel on youtube to see how a reader uses and interprets the cards. I'm a Leo (sun), Virgo (moon), Libra (rising) if you're feeling witchy and want to follow along :)
- I've brainstormed some very high level visual motifs, themes, strategies, and (for lack of a better term) branding for the deck.
This week, I hope to:
- Sketch some big, sweeping ideas for anything that comes to mind.
- Sketch some lower level, directional, unifying ideas for each of the four suits and the major arcana.
- If there is time remaining, start on The Fool.
Since it's the month-change week, I have a fair amount of admin stuff to do, though. So we'll see what happens. I feel positive about it.
Last but not least, I'll have to decide whether I want to participate in a show in Bowie, MD in the fall. It is the day before a wedding I am planning on attending in Philly so the timeline is... aggressive... if this were the before-times, perhaps I'd have had the stamina. My post-covid self just thinks about that kind of a weekend and wants to take a nap. We'll see, we'll see.
