Hey everyone,
after announcing the Quiet City Art Club and the changes for my Patreon last week, I'd like to introduce my ideas and conceptual thoughts a bit further today.
For everyone preferring a short video version, I also made a video intro :)
The Story
With the Quiet City, I don't want to just create a Tarot deck. I also want to create a world around it, with the Tarot telling the story of this world card by card.
The Quiet City exists in an Asian inspired retro-futuristic world – in an alternative reality where a city has decided to isolate itself from the outside world many years ago. I imagine the city as a place that stopped producing new tech in the 90s, but instead repaired and reinvented things from the resources that were available at that time. With the artistic direction, I want to go for a mashup of modern Japanese architecture, mixed with 80s- and 90s tech (think of a cassette futurism style).
The deck is structured around the city's four quarters/four suits, and each card of the deck will represent one location inside the city.
Every card ties back to the classic Raider-Waite Tarot meaning, but also will be embedded into the Quiet City lore. I see them as snapshots from everyday life inside this world that connect to what the Tarot card is about.
The Seasons Concept
I want to separate the Tarot cards into different seasons, each including a cohesive storyline inside the Quiet City. Each Season will include 8 main cards, that are not only connected by the story, but also visually: they are going to come together to a big scene.
This was not easy and straightforward to set up technically, as this requires a huge file that is cut into 8 smaller parts. I found a good workflow now by combining Clip Studio and Procreate, I'll introduce my approach in one of my next posts.
The first Card
The Queen of Pentacles is the first card of Season 1. The Pentacles Quarter of the Quiet City will be a merchant's area, I imagine it as a place with narrow alleys and small shops, selling artifacts from the time before the disconnection to the outer world.
As you see, I decided to go for an isometric perspective, this will allow me to connect the single cards to a larger scene much easier. And I've also never seen any isometric Tarot cards before :) I also made a card animation again, because it's fun to see the art like this:
You can learn more about Mina, the trading Queen, in the first Quiet City Art Club Letter. Remember to check out the new Patreon tiers if you're interested in joining!
CheersStefan