HP Tarot thumbnails - The Star

[nendil]

A lot of fanartists, at least ones whom I've followed, tend to fall out of the habit as they "grow up". Spare time becomes short as careers take over, and/or original ideas dominate as personal skills (and business sense) develop. I think I'm uniquely in the position to turn out just the opposite of that - I have more personal time now that I'm making a living and not deluged with homework; I'm not doing actual art for my job so my creative energy isn't all spent; and I... never have original ideas. ._. Working on this project kind of makes me want to make a tarot deck that's original or at least public domain-themed that I'd be able to publish (AS IF I'D EVER FINISH EVEN ONE DECK AHAHA), but nothing inspires me nearly as much as a well-crafted pre-existing work. So um... I think my only hope is that one of you will write a really great story that I'd want to illustrate for. How's about dem old-time plans, ctrl_a? :P

78 pieces of fanart. I'm never going to finish it. But what if I do?

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"You will find that I will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me. You will also find that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it." - Albus Dumbledore

"Phoenix song is magical; it is reputed to increase the courage of the pure of heart and to strike fear into the hearts of the impure." - Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

The Star is a card that stands for guidance, spiritual enlightenment, and hope. Fawkes the phoenix is the representative of this card, being literally the embodiment of faith, comfort, and the undying spirit (see wat i did thar)

Notable art bits:
1. PERSPECTIVE. My alternate concept was to illustrate this scene from the opposite angle, with the central focus on Fawkes above and looking down on Harry. But I felt that this way was more "hopeful" because it was from Harry's perspective. Here's the old card, by the way. I like it okay because it's slightly less situation-specific, buuut feels a little... boring, maybe just because of Photoshop cloud filter.

2. Funnily enough, the traditional Star card has a little red bird (scarlet ibis) in the background, who is actually given extra focus on this card in some other decks. It might mean heavenly influence or inspiration or wisdom, but I just think it's a cool coincidence :)

3. I kind of slightly don't want to have Riddle there, but he balances out the composition. Thoughts?

4. In case you care (and for my own records), Fawkes's plumage will be based on the Raggiana Bird of Paradise, Brown/Black Sicklebill, and possibly the Ribbon-tailed Astrapia. Birds of Paradise are cool.

Comments

[torkell]

1. Yay perspective! I do think the card as a whole is too dark - if nothing else, I think Fawkes should be a lot brighter. He is a phoenix, after all.

2. That's twice you've managed some cool coincidence.

3. I think you definetely need something in the corner where Riddle is, though I'm also not sure if Riddle is the right character to put there. This is the scene from Chamber of Secrets, right?

4. Cool birds are cool!

[nendil.livejournal.com]

1. I had thought about that (making Fawkes brighter), but the book described him as "emitted a soft golden glow in the darkness" and I didn't want to make it OMG LENS FLARE SHINY. Rather than that, I'm probably going to add some ambient illumination to the chamber walls that I was too lazy to detail in the thumbnail.

2. There will be more! :D

3. I do kind of feel Riddle doesn't really fit with the feel of the card because it's such a positive-focused card, but he is there as the threat Harry needs saving from. Might be one argument for the old layout. I'm going to keep thinking about it and maybe redo the composition.

[summercomfort]

I rather like this layout. But maybe some generic Chamber bg instead of Riddle?