Tarot - The Star

Twentieth of the Tarot series, the Star.  The background started as a lovely pastoral photograph.  With some digital painting and enhancements I arrived at the final background.  On top of that I added the altered image of my model and other embellishments to achieve the final result.

Tarot - Two Of Wands

Nineteenth of the Tarot series, Two of Wands.

Background

Model

Foreground

Tarot - The Hermit

The eighteenth of the Tarot series, the Hermit.

Tarot - Eight Of Wands

The seventeenth of the Tarot series, the Eight of Wands, was derived from the background below (taken on Easter) and the previously created wands with some scanned and altered philodendron leaves added.

Tarot - Four Of Wands

The sixteenth of the Tarot series, the Four of Wands, was created with a background taken at the Magic Kingdom on Febrary 29 of the Beast's castle in the new Fantasyland.  A steel rod was then photographed and edited to create the four wands that appear in front of the castle.

Tarot - The Hanged Man

The fifteenth of the Tarot series, The Hanged Man, combines a the tree picture taken a month ago at a former phosphate mine which is now a park with an image of myself taken this week.  I spent far too much time on the hanging man himself and still am only moderately happy with the outcome.

Note to self, don't take pictures when you are trying to pack for a trip.

Tarot - Ace Of Wands

The fourteenth of the Tarot series, the Ace of Wands, combines a picture taken this week specifically for this card with a background taken in 2009 in Tulum, Mexico.

Tarot - The Moon

The thirteenth of the Tarot series, The Moon, is a combination of a 2009 picture of Max the Airedale and a background taken recently at a local park.

Tarot - Strength

The twelfth in the Tarot series is Strength.  Three elements make up this card.  The female figure and the tiger come from two different photos form 2001.  The background is some tropical plants photographed in 2011.  The idea here was to show both the aggressive straight forward aspect of strength represented by the tiger as well as the more quiet strength represented by the female figure.

From her 2001 wedding reception comes today's model, Jasmine.

For a friend's 2001 birthday she was given a photoshoot with a tiger.  This photo comes from the afternoon we spent there.

Strength

Tarot - Page of Wands

The eleventh of the Tarot series, the Page of Wands began with a photo of myself from Halloween 1995.  The background is a pastoral photo taken this year.

1995 Brian

The Page of Wands

Tarot - The Fool

Tenth in the Tarot series is The Fool.  This is based on a photo from the early 90's.  I have not posted the original photo as today's model, Heather, is in a swimsuit and might not appreciate the picture floating around the web.

The Fool.

Tarot - The Lovers

Ninth in the Tarot series is The Lovers.  The lovers themselves are from a 1992 photo shoot.  The background is from a photo taken in the last year.  Both have been manipulated and digitally painted to create the final product.

Original 1992 photo.

The Lovers.

Tarot - The Devil

Eighth in the Tarot series is The Devil.  In deciding what to do for this card I translated The Devil as meaning "temptation" and what could be more tempting than this sultry vixen. 

Original 1992 photograph.

The Devil!

Tarot - Temperance

The seventh card in the Tarot series, Temperance is based on a 1992 photograph of Erica.  We had just completed filming of a music video of the KLF's Justified and Ancient at the Polynesian Resort when this picture was snapped.

Original 1992 photo.  I had to edit out some elements of the photo, like the Contemporary Resort in the background.

The final product.

Tarot - The Emperor

The sixth in the series, The Emperor began as a 1991 photo.  This card features Angelia, myself and Susan.

Original 1991 photo.

The Emperor.

Tarot - The Empress

Fifth in the series, the Empress was created from a 1992 photograph of my friend Angelia.

The original photo.

The end result.

Tarot - The High Priestess

Fourth in the Tarot series, the basis for the High Priestess card is from a 1991 photograph of my friend Angelia.

The original photo.

The final product.

Tarot - The Magician

After the first two tarot cards I was no longer taking inspiration from actual cards (except the title of the card).  The photo on which this card is based is of my dear friend Susan and dates back to 1993.

The original photo.

The end result.

Tarot - Queen of Cups

Like the King of Cups post from a couple of days ago, the photograph that serves as the basis for this image was taken on May 18th specifically for this project. 

We really decided to base the image more on the King of Cups card seen in the previous Tarot post instead of on this card.

The original image.

The final product.

Tarot - King of Cups

The first of a series inpired by the Rider-Waite deck of tarot cards.  Each of these cards began with a photograph which I then manipulated and digitally painted to obtain the final result.  The photo for this card was taken specifically for this project on May 18, 2011 by Tracie Welser who I have collaborated with over the years on innumerable creative projects.  On this day we travelled to Hollis Gardens in Lakeland, Florida where we shot tons of pictures for both this and the Queen of Cups card.

The inspiration card.

The original photograph.

The final product.  The seahorse was a last minute addition as I was asked to add an Octopus on the Queen of Cups card and I didn't want to feel left out without a sea creature on the King card.