Vixen_Valor

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The EULA scroll killed me--I mean, I'm dying in tears here ROTFLMAO!

I like the COV/COX symbols standing in for the pomegranites, but I'm not sure why the hood is standing in place of the crown or the bow/moon (of Artemis) having the shield emblem hanging on it. Why the "R" and "S" instead of "J" and "B" (for Jachin and Boaz from the Temple of Solomon)?

I mean, it looks great, I'm just curious about the symbolisim since it is such a wonderfully executed card, I wonder about the symbolism that was chosen.

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From the wiki:
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She is often shown wearing the crown of Isis and Hathor; the waxing, full, and waning moon.

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Look up. See those nine spheres? Yellow, red, and green server loads, anyone?

The hood's for mystery.

From the wiki:
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She is often shown sitting between two columns, one black, one white. This represents all dualities, light and dark, good and evil day night, summer and winter. She knows that dualities are useful abstractions but can blind us to the underlying wholeness of reality and the need to integrate them.

In some decks, the columns are labeled “B” and “J.” These letters were inscribed on two columns of Solomon’s Temple. The original meaning is controversial, though there are some who say that on the tarot card, they represent Baal and Jehovah; two paths to wisdom. If that is true, Baal may bring back in the Moon, as he was the spouse of Astarte, the Queen of Heaven, and a moon goddess. Jehovah was a god of light; Baal a lord of the night, another duality the High Priestess stands athwart.

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Recluse and Statesman, anyone?

I like it!

...and apparently I'm not as lazy as I thought. The High Priestess begins... (Ignore the random lines...I did some last-minute shifting...)

Bonus points if any of the CoXisms on the original elements make sense. ...they'll make more sense in color...

Nope, not at all! I'm just lazy, and was thinking that shaving some off the side to bring it into ratio would cut down the amount of background/horizon that had to be filled in.

So cute! *bounces in anticipation*

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how do I indicate that she's up in one of those blown out skyscrapers?

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Demolished skyline, complete with the glow of a fire or two off on the horizon, perhaps? That would keep the detailing to a minimum, but still convey height/distance, as well as the nature of the area.

(Edit: Not being picky, but maybe saving some background drawing.... Is that a 3.75" x 5.5" ratio? It looks kinda wide for some reason...)

Very hot!

Everyone's stuff looks great....

...and nothing like the traditional Tarot-style I've been working on, which I promise to have a scan of up later tonight.

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Man everyone has some good starts. Im still in the coming up with idea phase. The Tower is a hard one to translate to Co*. But I must succeed!

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Hrm, maybe you should look into Recluse's Victory for ideas. The essence of the tower is destruction...

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Demolished skyscraper in Boomtown, anyone?

That looks great! The claws are just perfect.

Crayon would definitely add variety!

I'm waffling between two styles. Part of me wants to run straight pencils (yes, I said pencils), but the other half wants to style it up like the classic woodcuts - which would mean digital color under the ink would be easier.

I'll probably wind up being lazy, though, and doing a combo...mainly because the thought of coloring the priestess' black column with pencils makes me want to rip my hair out.

The Priestess is half down in ink. I'm having trouble coming up with a Cities-themed replacement for one of the elements, but so far so good....

...if I could just decide how to color it....

*unceremoniously throttles WP with a mousepad*

I dunno....

It's less strain on the hand, compared to colored pencils...but I think it takes more time. The colors wind up nice and smooth (obviously), but they don't get the varied look that layers of pencil provides. *ponders*

Overall, at this moment, I'd have to say that digital paint reminds me of oil pastels (for what it produces), and state that while I always ranked oil pastels higher than oils, watercolors, chalk pastels, and clay....it's still far behind acrylics, colored pencils, and good ol' ink.

So...don't hold your breath on that 'yet'...yet..

*hides from the nightmare of dial-up*

Just think, though....it might take three days, but it's still free, and you'd be done after those three days!

(..and if you send me anything to color, I'll strangle you. *innocent* I don't like it that much, yet! )

I share your pain with the mouse. I put away the piece that I was testing on first and tackled something easier that had a crisper outline to see if I could really completely color one this way. It's not really heroes (although she does exist as an archery defender, I swear), but this is what I came up with.

Yes, I know her hair sucks. My wrist hurt, and I was frustrated with the mouse. *needs a tablet, apparently*

..and WP, it's free, and seems pretty straightforward once you mess around with it a bit. I'm happy with it so far.

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I'll bow to your superior knowledge in this field imagesbyalex , any Suggestions ?

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I have no knowledge in this field, I do like big tarot cards, um

3.75"x 5.5" ?

I just did a search for tarot cards and that seems like a nice size.

Another question would be will there be some sort of border for each card? With so many different styles a common border would tie them all together.

The Vertigo Tarot Cards are 3"x 5.5". They do a a common and very simple border and font for the name.

Those are just some suggestions, but you get to make the final decision!

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Sounds like a good size for cards...not that mine won't be bigger than that (Heck no I'm not illustrating anything that small with that much detail), but I'll set the ratio to adjust down to that once it's scanned in.

..as for borders, I'd second the vote to let Scarf_Girl pick them at the end....or just go for a black border all around.

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Below is the list in card order of who is doing what

The Fool/ Scarfgirl
The Magician / BattleWraith
The High Priestess / Sun_Ruan_Er
The Empress / CoH_NPG
The Emperor / Serengeti_Lord
The Hierophant / DarkeS
The Lovers / Rainbow_Avenger
The Chariot / Greymist
Strength / Servo
The Hermit / mistformsquirrel
Wheel of Fortune / RobtheSwordsman
Justice / Graver
The Hanged Man / CelticBolt
Death / Crimson Jimson
Temperance / CyberLynx
The Devil / Suichiro
Tower / New Eden
Star / Starchasm
Moon / Draco Ex Machina
Sun / Imagesbyalex
Judgement / Citizen Jane
The World / personmorpher


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Well, well, well....looks like I -do- get to use my main character after all. Give that kid a cookie!

The frustrating part was not being able to figure out why some layers wouldn't show up, why I couldn't grab just the outline (apparently, I couldn't grab -anything- with the magic wand...all of that color is brushed in), and attempting (unsuccessfully) to figure out what I screwed up (I think it was something with masks) that prevented me from adding anything else to it.

Oh...and the fact that I couldn't seem to erase anything, or produce an actual white to apply with the brush.

It was a pretty fun way to waste the afternoon, though. *would've been done by now with colored pencils*

Edit: Thanks for the compliment on the 'leather', although it's not supposed to be leather on the actual character, I was just having too much fun with the smudge tool.

Oh, don't worry, the colored pencils aren't going anywhere. I was more looking for a way to color pictures that I don't want to actually alter.

Although, I'd like to find my GIMP file and shoot it in the head right now. Apparently I can't follow a tutorial to save my butt (none of them have explained anything I needed to know), but was doing okay (with this first attempt) just fiddling with things myself....

...until GIMP decided to completely die on me and refuse to do ANYTHING I asked it to do. No color fill, no brush, no layers, nothing. *sulks*

I finally broke down and installed GIMP today (because I'm jealous of all you digital-coloring folks), only....I can't figure out how to do -anything- with it.

Anyone know where I can find a thorough GIMP tutorial for dummies? Seriously...for dummies. I have no experience with anything fancier than Ultimate Paint, which I only use for cropping/resizing screenies and scans.

(..and I searched DA for GIMP tutorials already, but couldn't seem to find one that was basic controls... )

It's a great start! I'd try working some on the definition to make it crisper, but it's a great first attempt.

Your link-fu needs a helping hand, that's a link back to the forums itself.

"Warm up sketch"? *tackles* That's gorgeous!

It's been a while since I had my hands on a real Tarot deck, but I'd be game to try my hand at a card for the pile. No fancy digital coloring or anything, but it'd be a neat project for a change of pace! *always trying to test different things out*

Thanks for the kind words, everyone!

It really does make me feel a lot better. Yesterday was one of those where I felt like I had wasted days on a piece that didn't turn out how I wanted, so it's definitely a pick-me-up to wind up with an accidental piece that makes the grade.

*hugs for everybody*

I swear...in reality it's covered with stray pencil lines and eraser marks! My scanner's just -really- nice and pulls those things out for me. (Sometimes against my will...)



(..and totally ignore the Kirochka in the sig that doesn't match. She's got a cool new look for her I8 retcon and reroll!)

*shuts up now*