Volume I · The gallery

Decks, on display.

A few decks to sit with — the canonical reference, some voices the studio has imagined, and decks shared by others. Move slowly.

Featured · a study in the canon

The Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot.

Pamela Colman Smith and A.E. Waite, 1909. The common vocabulary from which every tarot that followed has borrowed.

Six of twenty-two · public domain · wikimedia commons

Studies

Four starting points the studio keeps in mind. Pick one when you begin — or let it stand aside as counterpoint to your own.

Study

Warm ochres and storybook symbols — the Rider-Waite-Smith lineage.

Palette: ochre, sage, marigold, sky, bone
Keywords: symbolist illustration, flat planes of color, heavy black outlines, medieval storybook, Pamela Colman Smith

Study

Confident black ink on bone — no decoration, only gesture.

Palette: pitch black, bone white, single oxblood accent
Keywords: modern minimalist line drawing, Egon Schiele influence, high contrast, generous negative space, single accent color

Study

Mucha by candlelight — flowing lines, verdigris, gold leaf.

Palette: verdigris, oxblood, gold leaf, pale moon, indigo shadow
Keywords: art nouveau, flowing whiplash curves, stylized plants, stained-glass rot, symbolist, Alphonse Mucha

Study

Wet ink, candlewax, and shadow — Doré's engravings made tarot.

Palette: pitch black, blood crimson, ivory highlights, tarnished copper
Keywords: Gustave Doré engraving, dramatic chiaroscuro, heavy crosshatching, gothic horror illustration, moonless night

Study

Starmaps and deep lapis — the sky as an oracle.

Palette: lapis, indigo, gilded star, pearl
Keywords: antique astronomical plates, constellation engravings, ink on vellum, navigational charts, gold leaf star

Study

Mist and watercolor — a deck dreamed, not drawn.

Palette: dove gray, pale rose, mint, soft lavender, pearl
Keywords: soft watercolor, ethereal dreamscape, pastel palette, minimal linework, Studio Ghibli quiet, washed edges

Shared

"The gallery is still quiet — no deck has stepped forward yet. Be the first."