Divination:

The focus of this card is on Enlightenment, Greatness, Vitality, and Assurance.

Author Commentary:

I had to play with this card a bit before I was happy with the imagery. Oh, the setting was easy enough, as were the people in the foreground. (They're meant to represent on-line friend of mine Firinel and her partner Marnanel.)

The problem was the nudity. Oh, I have no problem showing naked LEGO people. My guess is that if you're looking at a Tarot deck, you're probably not the sort to complain about a little figurative nudity. No, the problem is that LEGO females are very...flat chested. And Firinel is not.

There is a workaround for this lack of cleavage - a technique of using the bases from gearshifts and a rubber band. The problem is that, while this method looks great as a swimsuit, it lacks a bit in the "nekkid" realm.

Well, it's easier to show you than tell: Here's the first version of the card at right. When it was shown to test audiences I got a couple of comments about "ewww! What's wrong with her breasts?!?" My joking reply that she just has "inverted nipples" didn't really fix the problem.

Also, the "Sun" part of the card was barely making a cameo in the upper left corner.

So, I decided to try the photographs again, do a bit of digital painting in the background to create "sky", and, by accident, make a more "PG" version of the beach scene.

First, though, to the left there's a view of the full beach layout, with the figures posed as they are in the first version of this card. On the right is the altered layout that was used in the current version.

If you look closely, you'll see that there's no lettering on the sign - I added that in later, blurring to match the photograph as needed. I thought about printing out stickers...but that would have been a mistake. To make the sign "recognizable" in the final card, the lettering needed to be way over on the right side. A sticker would have shown the letters "DE CH" - and while some people would have made the connection, I think some of the humor would have been lost.

(For those of you wondering, no, I didn't have anyone in mind for the naked man in the background - I just wanted to put another person into the scene. )

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