Here are the first two finished images… the Ten of Swords and The Wheel of Fortune.

The Ten of Swords is the first one I sketched for this deck. It remains a favorite. I wanted to depict the ending of a karmic cycle, since the Ten of Swords often is described as such, so I imagined a person granting forgiveness to someone who hurt her. I know that an apology and/or even remorse are not required for forgiveness to happen, but they do make it easier to depict.

In the Wheel, I wanted to show a person (in this case a young boy) facing change and a new adventure in life. He is amazed by the forces he’s encountered, and while he is somewhat blindsided (and blinded) by how big and impressive these forces are, he’s drawn to the next chapter of his story as inevitably as a reader turns a page.

Both of these were within the first 5 pieces I’ve done in Arteza brush pens, so I am definitely still learning. However I’m really pleased so far and am enjoying the process.

Here are a couple of the old versions of the Wheel of Fortune and the Ace of Cups. I did them in Artist’s Loft brand tube watercolors (ew) because that was all I had. Both are on Canson XL Watercolor paper…I think? Might have been Artist’s Loft.

I think the newer ones are much more luminous and vivid and have more “pop” to them, but I wanted to post these as well.

~Julian

Hey everyone,

I have been SUUUUPER out of touch with posting here – no reason, just got a day job and my gosh, day job + art = i have no time left anymore!!

But I thought I’d post some anyway, just to pop in and let you all know that I’m still working on it. I have about 45 cards inked, and that means about 34 cards to go…I had hoped to have the inking done by my birthday, but that’s like 2 weeks away and even at my best, I can’t do 34 sketches AND 34 inkings in 2 weeks. But oh well, I’m still going to try to get it done by the end of June. That’s about when I’ll have my watercolors.

Speaking of: Yeah, I’m gonna be doing this in watercolor. I liked the Arteza brush pens but frankly, I’d rather go with an established brand of watercolor that I know is archival. I may be selling these eventually and I want them to be in good condition. (Ah, who am I kidding, I can’t sell this stuff, it’s too special to me…) Anyway, I have requested the watercolors for my birthday and we will see if they come through. If they don’t, I’ll buy them myself…somehow…with money that will…fall from the sky??

I need to do some more actual posts about this on my website. And here. And elsewhere. I haven’t been posting anywhere about anything because I’m so darn busy. Such is life, I guess, but…gah! My social media game has been WEAK, guys.

Anyway. Attached are some new illustrations. Enjoy.

~Julian