Creating a Card Deck :)
How and Why I began creating Tarot and Oracle Cards:
So far in my life I have created one tarot deck, began work on two oracle decks and I have plans for one more. I began thinking about creating a card deck in May 2021.
I own 19 Oracle and Tarot decks, but I just didn’t feel like I had the ‘right’ one for reading. I jotted down lists of what kind of cards would give me clearer and more relevant messages. I was falling in love with one of my good friends at the time and so I was all about the romance decks. I made a crude deck for myself to use by throwing my music on shuffle and writing down whatever lyrics popped out to me. It was one of my favourites to use for 6 months or so in relationship readings for myself and others.
“I was falling in love with one of my good friends at the time and so I was all about the romance decks.”
My sister’s birthday was then a couple months away and I always try to get something thoughtful and unique for those I love. I find so much joy in making things for others so I decided I would make a tarot deck for Georgia for her birthday. I researched how to print them and started on the digital artworks for every one of the seventy-eight cards. The designs were created on a free app on my Microsoft Surface Pro 3 called Sketchbook. I was not finished by July - I was a bit ambitious and had completely underestimated how long it would take. I aimed for 1 a day and you know some days I did none some days I finished three cards. I would work on them on the weekends and late at night before going to sleep. I was done by December so she received her deck for Christmas.
“I was a bit ambitious and had completely underestimated how long it would take.”
As soon as I started designing the Moody Moon Original Tarot deck I was flooded with inspiration for more decks. I love maths ( I KNOW BUT I REALLY DO) so naturally I have plans for a numbers deck. This won’t be a numerology deck (the purple numerology deck is one of my all time faves though). I surveyed friends and family one what their favourite and least favourite numbers are and why and how they feel about certain numbers. They surveyed their social circles and I surveyed randoms on Facebook too, to collect data on feelings and people’s associations with numbers. It was very interesting and there will surely be more on this to come in later blog posts.
“I love maths ( I KNOW BUT I REALLY DO)”
I have began designing a Greek Mythology Oracle Deck. I am digitally drawing this one on the Sketchbook app like I did with the Moody Moon Original Tarot deck. I will be honest and tell you that right now momentum and motivation for working on this deck is at an all time low. I am committed to finishing it but I’m struggling to find the time and energy right now. I think it will turn out super cool when it’s finished as I want to add shiny silver edges to it and each card is a Greek deity, hero or mythological creature and will have a designated meaning based on their story and qualities.
In my most recent Tik Tok, I showed my current progress on a charcoal drawing oracle deck I am building. This one is a little different to the others I am working on as I had no intention of starting it. I just sat down one day and felt like drawing so that’s what I did. There is no particular theme for it; however, I am liking how it is turning out to be ordinary things being used in a symbolic way. I think I will add a booklet of assigned/suggested meanings with this deck as I know not everyone reads from imagery.
“I just sat down one day and felt like drawing so that’s what I did.”
How Do You Know What To Draw on Each Card?
The Short answer is: I don’t really.
The Real answer is: I don’t know what I will put on each card initially.
For the Moody Moon Original Tarot Deck, I knew what I wanted each card to communicate from my understanding of what each card represents in a reading. I didn’t have a colour scheme planned or a style to start out with. In fact, it took about 10 cards starting with the aces of each suit for me to find my style and the colour theme. I then went back and re-did the earlier cards in that style and those colours.
“I didn’t have a colour scheme planned or a style to start out with. “
I was working on this deck during the Melbourne Lockdowns of 2021 so I had a lot of downtime to let the creativity flow. I would go for a walk around the local park and images for the cards would just pop into my head. This is the way I have always done any kind of art. Rarely do I ever go in with a plan or try to forcibly ‘come up’ with an idea. I just let it be and let the inspiration come. Little images and colours and scenes pop into my head and then I create them. It may sound like a cop out but this is actually very similar to what happens when I do readings. I see the card and then an image or scene pops into my head with a feeling attached to it too and that’s how I read intuitively and accurately.
“Little images and colours and scenes pop into my head [..] this is actually very similar to what happens when I do readings.”
For more structured decks like the numbers one and the Greek Mythology deck there is obviously a little less wriggle room for me. For the numbers deck, I plan on using geometrical patterns and shapes that model the number of the card and allude to its associative meaning. Where as for the Greek Mythology themed deck, I know it will be monochromatic and that I want to find a balance between preconceived pop-culture ideas of the gods and goddesses and my own intuitive and unique illustrations.
P.S. The friend I was falling in love with well… as of today we have been together for nine wonderful months! <3
