Underwater themed Tarot Cards done in watercolor. As each tarot card has meaning in the upright position and upside down, I tried to represent the meaning behind each card with underwater animals and settings as closely as I could. The cards should show the positive an the negative side to each card, it does not need to be upside down in order to show the negative side.
I tried to incorporate imagery from the original tarot cards in mine, except it is all done in underwater creatures.
The Original Tarot Cards
The Moon Tarot Card
In the upright position this card stands for Unconscious, Illusions, Intuition. Upside down it stands for confusion, fear, misinterpretation.
In the original card there is a dog and wolf which I changed to a Koi Fish and a Piranha. The Scorpion who can be interpreted as danger or the creature deciding on the right path, is represented by a Bullfrog.
The Emperor Tarot Card
In the upright position it stands for Authority, Structure, Control. The Emperor is represented by the Orca Whale, the skulls of rams on the emperors seat is represented by the walruses. The positive of authority is shown at the top with the Orca Whale ruling over the land, and the negative is shown at the bottom with him killing one of the walruses.
The Hermit Tarot Card
The Mantis Shrimp is used to represent the hermit, a lonely solitary being in search for answers. He could be lost, or in the middle of finding the light. The light the hermit carries is represented by a moon jellyfish, which glow in the deep sea.
The Lovers Tarot Card
The Lovers are represented by the seahorses, showing unity. The opposite of the card which is unbalance is represented by the seahorses not standing on the same level.
The Tower Tarot Card
The Tower is commonly interpreted as meaning danger, crisis, destruction, and liberation. It is associated with sudden unforeseen change.
A light house to represent the Tower, and the Dolphins to represent the humans during this change.
This is the back of all my tarot cards. Made with watercolor pencil placed in a scale like pattern and then came back with water to blend it out. On top it has a design of almost all the underwater creatures used in the cards in a golden outline. The white waves under the gold is an iridescent white watercolor.
The first sketches for these Tarot Cards
Then I re did my sketches with both the positive and negative connotations of the cards, as well as with the help of more research.
The Sketch to the back of all the cards.