The Chrono Tarot
@chronotarot.bsky.social
A tarot deck in progress, meaning pieced together bit by bit, the occasional deep thought—with your host, Chronographia.
The figures in The Devil can be squarely blamed on my trip to Italy and all that Renaissance being stuffed in my head.
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sa...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sa...
commons.wikimedia.org
January 31, 2025 at 12:25 AM
The figures in The Devil can be squarely blamed on my trip to Italy and all that Renaissance being stuffed in my head.
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sa...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sa...
Dear Future Self: Sorry I keep offering you images of fluid dynamics to etch. I know they're a massive pain, but that's how the world is.
January 31, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Dear Future Self: Sorry I keep offering you images of fluid dynamics to etch. I know they're a massive pain, but that's how the world is.
As the Hanged Man seeks to cheat death, he wears mystic sigils on his person. Did he get them from the High Priestess? Sources point to yes.
January 31, 2025 at 12:20 AM
As the Hanged Man seeks to cheat death, he wears mystic sigils on his person. Did he get them from the High Priestess? Sources point to yes.
Each of the minor arcana relates to a major arcana parent card. And I think I figured out who is the Queen of Swords' parent (it's Justice).
January 31, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Each of the minor arcana relates to a major arcana parent card. And I think I figured out who is the Queen of Swords' parent (it's Justice).
Note to future self: make the cups the Two of Cups bell-shaped absinthe goblets. Potent & intoxicating in ways that mere wine cannot match.
January 31, 2025 at 12:18 AM
Note to future self: make the cups the Two of Cups bell-shaped absinthe goblets. Potent & intoxicating in ways that mere wine cannot match.
I wish there was a way to show you how the first nine Major Arcana are lining up to form a visual progression. Square pictures don't cut it.
January 31, 2025 at 12:17 AM
I wish there was a way to show you how the first nine Major Arcana are lining up to form a visual progression. Square pictures don't cut it.
Time to revisit the minor arcana! Here follows some deep thoughts, useful in practical & mental exercises. Remember—conservation of energy…
January 31, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Time to revisit the minor arcana! Here follows some deep thoughts, useful in practical & mental exercises. Remember—conservation of energy…
So then… how do you draw mirrors? And why can't I get away from tiles in dramatic perspective?
(Of course The World is a stage. And of course it is also a mirror. I'm just baffled by the danged black & white tiles again.)
(Of course The World is a stage. And of course it is also a mirror. I'm just baffled by the danged black & white tiles again.)
January 31, 2025 at 12:14 AM
So then… how do you draw mirrors? And why can't I get away from tiles in dramatic perspective?
(Of course The World is a stage. And of course it is also a mirror. I'm just baffled by the danged black & white tiles again.)
(Of course The World is a stage. And of course it is also a mirror. I'm just baffled by the danged black & white tiles again.)
One rewatch of The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus later and I can confirm that there is at least one card in there plus a few other archetypes.
January 31, 2025 at 12:13 AM
One rewatch of The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus later and I can confirm that there is at least one card in there plus a few other archetypes.
See, the thing about "joke" decks is that they're still a system for organizing ideas—the makers underestimate the scope of human thought.
Parody and nonsensical forms of divination will still work in the right hands because humanity has depths & depths of nonsense hardwired in.
Parody and nonsensical forms of divination will still work in the right hands because humanity has depths & depths of nonsense hardwired in.
January 31, 2025 at 12:12 AM
See, the thing about "joke" decks is that they're still a system for organizing ideas—the makers underestimate the scope of human thought.
Parody and nonsensical forms of divination will still work in the right hands because humanity has depths & depths of nonsense hardwired in.
Parody and nonsensical forms of divination will still work in the right hands because humanity has depths & depths of nonsense hardwired in.
Things I would like to avoid drawing in the next card:
• tiny, intricate hands
• geometric tiles
• anything in forced perspective
• tiny, intricate hands
• geometric tiles
• anything in forced perspective
January 31, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Things I would like to avoid drawing in the next card:
• tiny, intricate hands
• geometric tiles
• anything in forced perspective
• tiny, intricate hands
• geometric tiles
• anything in forced perspective
Uncertain which card to develop next, which is probably also why I am depressed about finishing 13: Death.
January 31, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Uncertain which card to develop next, which is probably also why I am depressed about finishing 13: Death.
Divide the Major Arcana in half. 0-9 are an interior journey, 10-21 are how to relate to exterior forces. Therefore the Fool & Hermit bookend internal growth, the Rota Fortunae & the World bracket everything outside of one's self. Mirroring exists between these cards.
January 31, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Divide the Major Arcana in half. 0-9 are an interior journey, 10-21 are how to relate to exterior forces. Therefore the Fool & Hermit bookend internal growth, the Rota Fortunae & the World bracket everything outside of one's self. Mirroring exists between these cards.
Sometimes I get panicky when people look at what I'm doing and think it's a good idea. Like, CONSIDER THE COMMITMENT & TIMESINK ALONE.
There are 78 cards, dudes! They all have opinions and will not let you rest until you finish ALLLL OF THEM. For however long that takes.
There are 78 cards, dudes! They all have opinions and will not let you rest until you finish ALLLL OF THEM. For however long that takes.
January 31, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Sometimes I get panicky when people look at what I'm doing and think it's a good idea. Like, CONSIDER THE COMMITMENT & TIMESINK ALONE.
There are 78 cards, dudes! They all have opinions and will not let you rest until you finish ALLLL OF THEM. For however long that takes.
There are 78 cards, dudes! They all have opinions and will not let you rest until you finish ALLLL OF THEM. For however long that takes.
Revisiting creepy disembodied teeth as an element in 15: The Devil—the day I drew v1.0, I also rescued my baby teeth which had been lost.
January 31, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Revisiting creepy disembodied teeth as an element in 15: The Devil—the day I drew v1.0, I also rescued my baby teeth which had been lost.
Cautiously feeling this idea out, but— Nicola Tesla as The Hermit?
Tesla, Hermit. Hermit, Tesla. Hmmmm…
blackmountainmass.tumblr.com/post/8154629...
Tesla, Hermit. Hermit, Tesla. Hmmmm…
blackmountainmass.tumblr.com/post/8154629...
D.W.
Even solid air is a phosphorescent body.
[First photograph ever taken by phosphorescent light. The face is that of Mr. Tesla, and the source of light is one of his phosphorescent bulbs. Time of...
blackmountainmass.tumblr.com
January 31, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Cautiously feeling this idea out, but— Nicola Tesla as The Hermit?
Tesla, Hermit. Hermit, Tesla. Hmmmm…
blackmountainmass.tumblr.com/post/8154629...
Tesla, Hermit. Hermit, Tesla. Hmmmm…
blackmountainmass.tumblr.com/post/8154629...
The beginnings of an idea for 6: The Lovers - youtube.com/watch?v=Gsk__F…
(No idea how to break that down into 2D art, but something to ponder.)
(No idea how to break that down into 2D art, but something to ponder.)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Gsk__F…
January 31, 2025 at 12:04 AM
The beginnings of an idea for 6: The Lovers - youtube.com/watch?v=Gsk__F…
(No idea how to break that down into 2D art, but something to ponder.)
(No idea how to break that down into 2D art, but something to ponder.)
I was going to do a then & now shot of the only card to survive the very first version of this deck—the one I made just prior to a nervous breakdown in college—but they don't want to be found. To the point where they're in witness protection program, I suspect.
January 31, 2025 at 12:03 AM
I was going to do a then & now shot of the only card to survive the very first version of this deck—the one I made just prior to a nervous breakdown in college—but they don't want to be found. To the point where they're in witness protection program, I suspect.
I was going to do a yearly assessment of the State of the Tarot, all 'look on my works ye mighty and despair!'
But mostly it's just despair.
Etching is a ridiculously humbling process, and no I would not trade it for anything more expedient.
But mostly it's just despair.
Etching is a ridiculously humbling process, and no I would not trade it for anything more expedient.
January 31, 2025 at 12:02 AM
I was going to do a yearly assessment of the State of the Tarot, all 'look on my works ye mighty and despair!'
But mostly it's just despair.
Etching is a ridiculously humbling process, and no I would not trade it for anything more expedient.
But mostly it's just despair.
Etching is a ridiculously humbling process, and no I would not trade it for anything more expedient.
It's difficult to engage with other tarot decks while knee-deep in creating your own (chance of corrupting the database during the build) but the glimpses I've seen of Penny Dreadful's deck are intriguing.
Then again, I'm a sucker for vertebrae.
Then again, I'm a sucker for vertebrae.
January 31, 2025 at 12:01 AM
It's difficult to engage with other tarot decks while knee-deep in creating your own (chance of corrupting the database during the build) but the glimpses I've seen of Penny Dreadful's deck are intriguing.
Then again, I'm a sucker for vertebrae.
Then again, I'm a sucker for vertebrae.
Finding precious little on the Page of Cups. Like so many of the cards, it's all right-brained verbal attributions and symbolic trinkets.
Is the Page of Cups not an embodiment of something larger, the eureka effect? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_...
Is the Page of Cups not an embodiment of something larger, the eureka effect? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_...
Eureka effect - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
January 30, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Finding precious little on the Page of Cups. Like so many of the cards, it's all right-brained verbal attributions and symbolic trinkets.
Is the Page of Cups not an embodiment of something larger, the eureka effect? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_...
Is the Page of Cups not an embodiment of something larger, the eureka effect? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_...
Queen of Wands as Grace Jones à la Conan: how long has that one been staring me in the face?
January 30, 2025 at 11:58 PM
Queen of Wands as Grace Jones à la Conan: how long has that one been staring me in the face?
Argued with the Death plate, following pristine technical printing procedures; it fought me every step. Reverted to messy & organic—progress.
January 30, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Argued with the Death plate, following pristine technical printing procedures; it fought me every step. Reverted to messy & organic—progress.
Making the executive decision to change the chainmail under the Knight of Cups' plate mail to a hoodie. For irreverence's sake and also because drawing chainmail is a pain in the arse.
January 30, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Making the executive decision to change the chainmail under the Knight of Cups' plate mail to a hoodie. For irreverence's sake and also because drawing chainmail is a pain in the arse.
My only problem with the crowned teeth as a miniature shorthand is that they provide the problem of The Devil but not a solution.
January 30, 2025 at 11:55 PM
My only problem with the crowned teeth as a miniature shorthand is that they provide the problem of The Devil but not a solution.