HP Tarot thumbnails - The High Priestess

[nendil]

I've been doing a lot of invisible work on the Harry Potter Tarot lately, and although I had wanted to do concept drawings for all the essential characters first (and I still will; it will take FOREVER), the layouts for a number of the cards have been banging around inside my head and I thought it was for the better to get them out. Right now I'm working on thumbnail layouts for the Major Arcana in a grid so I can see them all at once in relation to each other; it's working out pretty well with 6/22 sketches ready and 4 more in progress. I plan to do the same for the Minors but that's going to take at least twice as long.

And all that was to say that I'm going to be posting these one by one every day or two or several whenever I get around to it, because if I posted them all at once I would dry up real fast. Cards will not be in order. Thumbnails will be displayed at 2x actual size, which is about 1/4 the size of the final image. Also, these entries are going to be a LOT more words than art because I'm going to be describing here everything I plan to do and why - I welcome any Harry Potter fans or tarot scholars or even art critics to come discuss my decisions or make suggestions! But you guys probably won't

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"There is a room in the Department of Mysteries that is kept locked at all times. It contains a force that is at once wonderful and more terrible than death, than human intelligence, than the forces of nature." - Albus Dumbledore

The High Priestess is a card about intuition, feminine mysteries, and the unconscious. I chose Lily Potter for this card because she is the embodiment and figurehead of Love, one of the most important, and perhaps mysterious, thematic elements in the HP series.

Nerdy Notable art bits:
1. The traditional High Priestess is carrying a scroll in her arms (the Torah), the source of her knowledge. It is partially covered by her robes to show that the information is hidden and mysterious. You can't see it too well in this sketch but Lily's cradling a bundle in her arms - her infant child, the physical representation of her love and yadda yadda you know the story.

2. The High Priestess sits before a veil, which conceals secret knowledge and deeper understanding. It is patterned with pomogranates, showing a connection to the underworld, and thus the unconscious. As you probably recognize, I have here The Veil from the Department of Mysteries, which seems to be a sort of gateway to "the other side". I thought about putting her in front of the unopenable Department of Mysteries door mentioned in the quote above, because then she would be "guarding" the secret of looooove, but I think it would kind of look too boring. Confirm/deny?

3. Speaking of which, the High Priestess is seated between two pillars, one black and one white, symbolizing duality and balance of opposites. I'm gonna try to make the two sides of this archway look black and white-toned, but we'll see how doable it is.

4. Her robes seem to dissolve into water, symbolizing the unconscious. It's also the feminine wellspring that's the source of water in all the other cards... although I don't have as much water in my cards as a normal Rider-Waite deck.

5. I tried to give her clothing a bit more color, but it just didn't look right. So white it is - purity, and also the color of death in Chinese culture.

Despite all this complicated-ness, this card still feels a bit empty compositionally (you'll be able to compare when I put up more thumbnails). Wonder what else, if anything, I could fit in here?

Comments

[summercomfort]

Maybe the veil can be more specialer?

Snape

[nendil.livejournal.com]

I thought about putting a subtle pattern on the veil but it seems kind of contrary to its description in the book, which made it seem like an ancient, primal thing. I do plan to put a few carved symbols in the stone arch, but that's a detail thing and doesn't really add to the composition.

Snape will be in later shut up

[simhuman.livejournal.com]

I'm the last person who should be trying to help with this, but to me it looks like the main difference in composition on the High Priestess card is that it's comparatively centered and "zoomed in," while the thumbnail has a fairly large area of dead space (around the arch, the stairs). Maybe, rather than fitting more content on, it needs to be pulled in?

[nendil.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry, I'm not too clear on what you're suggesting - should I move the "camera" closer or further away? I am aiming for this card to be somewhat of a counterpart to The Magician so I have them both at about the same distance.

FYI, funnily enough I actually had the arch taking up less of the picture originally, but then stretched it to be more symmetrical. But this way is kind of more interesting looking isn't it?

[simhuman.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I wasn't very clear... I'd think that moving the camera closer might look sharper. But I'm a biology major for a reason. :v:

I absolutely agree that the less symmetrical design looks more interesting. The larger black area in the stretched arch looks kind of overly "heavy" or "foreboding" to me, by comparison. I think it's because it's completely framing Lily.

[nendil.livejournal.com]

Definitely agree with the problem with the large black area, it was something that internally bugged me as I did it but I went with it anyway. I had wanted her to be between the two "pillars" but this is good enough really.

Oh and there'll also be a bit more foreshortening on the arch, like you can kind of see on the top but not on the bottom. Perspective hurrr.