For a decade, I kept thinking, "I really want to make a tarot deck, but dear gods, that's only 78 pieces of art..." And for a few years, people would see my art nouveau work and say I should make a tarot deck, if they didn't already think I was. (The original Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck is heavily inspired by art nouveau, even if it's not technically the style.)
In 2018, I finally sat down and started working on it, starting with the Queen of Swords. But between traveling for conventions and trying to produce other work that sells (because only true tarot nerds buy art of tarot cards, right?), it's been a slow process.
Enter 2020. Yeah. We all know how it's been going since then. It's hard to create art in a vacuum and despite my best efforts, all plans to have the deck done by the end of 2020 went out the flipping window as the world fell apart around us all. Add in my mother's terminal cancer diagnosis, and you can imagine how difficult it was to keep producing art.
Thankfully, I've been managing to continue making strides and while it's taking FAR longer than any of us wanted, I've recently hit the halfway mark, and things are moving at a good pace, more or less. There are still struggles, and the world is still a mess (I'm supposed to have my first convention in 18 months in a few weeks and that's back to being a big fat question mark.) But the hope is that the art will be finished in early 2022.
"Will you be making this into a real deck?"
I've been getting this question from Day 1. And yes, that is the plan. I'm weighing both options of either crowdfunding the deck or seeing if I can work with an established publisher. Both have pros and cons. But I still have another 39 cards worth of work in which to figure that out.
In the meantime, if you want to keep close tabs on the progress, you can support me on Patreon, or follow me on Instagram. Or if you just want the occasional update en masse, sign up for my quarterly newsletter!