This was a card that I have known for some time exactly what I intended to do. I only wish that there were existing photographs of the featured act -- which is billed as "The Balloon Horse Jupiter in his Sensational Ascension Act with a gorgeous Pyrotechnic Display" -- alas, as far as I know, there are none, and I had to cobble this image together from the two that adorn his poster issued by Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey back sometime around the turn of the century. I was worried that tarot purists might take exception to this change in the classical imagery; but the message is essentially the same. This card, which is typically the last in the Major Arcana unless you are one of the folks who places The Fool at the end instead of the beginning, should sum all all the themes of the entire deck. It should be the most transcendent image in the deck. It wasn't until quite late in the design process that I finally figured out how to present the four elements that traditionally occupy the card's corners. My first attempt at the background included non-specific constellations. This Did Not Work. Only then did the lightbulb go on over my head as it should have done much sooner! I like it when a design comes together naturally and easily, and this was a pleasure beginning to end.
Next up: THE CHARIOT -- and then I will have only TWO cards remaining in the Major Arcana!
-- Freder.
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