The Heron in the Bog

"The Heron" Loteria Card

La Garza or "The Heron"
This image really fought me when I tried to format it in the loteria template.  The image is very exacting.  The Heron is pictured coming out of a bog.  Swamp plants and slime are covering the bird's legs and dripping from the bird's body.  Higher up on the figure, the bird is clean and noble.
The meaning behind this card is clear when viewed in this context.  The bird is somehow able to exist in the bog without being corrupted by it.  I worked like crazy to see if I could find a happy medium where the bird would no be blocked by the scroll.  I should have saved my energy.  No matter how I put it, the scroll blocks a significant part of the bird.
Still, it does work out well the way it looks now.  As a last ditch effort, I flipped the image so that the bird was facing to the left.  The only thing that did was make it so the bird's large beak impaled the card number and suit overlay hovering in the top left corner.  Grrrr.
Even so.  I think this came out well and adhered closely with the original design.

The Drunk Loteria

"The Drunkard" Loteria Card

The Drunkard

This loteria card features the image of a drunkard staggering while holding a bottle.  There are many small but significant features to this painting which reveal the designers intent.  Instead of just showing a drunk in shabby clothes, the legs of the figure are bent almost into "S" shapes.  This makes sense because the to missionaries who designed the "Pope's Deck" were showing a man transforming into Pan.
The legs of the figure are turning into the cloven hooves of a Bacchian reveler.  The hair of the figure is mussed until the disordered curls start to resemble horns.  The face is turned away but appears to be almost featureless.  This has led to some speculation that the image is a representation of a golem. 
This is unlikely because the golem has its origin in Jewish folklore and wouldn't be a subject that Catholic missionaries would choose to focus on for their loteria deck.

Hard Eight Loteria Card

"The Hand" Loteria Card

"The Hand" loteria card is one of the most enticing to do because of the subject matter.  The image itself is simple, a hand.  But when considering that the hand is a favorite subject of artists and is used for building technique, than suddenly this card becomes a real joy to do.
There are many different styles of "La Mano" from various decks, but the ones that I was most drawn to feature a simple hand in all its intricate detail.
I've posted this card graphic here and will also include it on the in depth loteria site later.

Although it may not be obvious due to the small size of this image, I've found a solution to a problem I was having with Photoshop.  When the image is flattened to appear as a .jpg, the layer effects of the number in the upper left corner were removed.  This made the number to appear more simple and less clearly defined than I wanted.  I was convinced that it was a problem in the way I was applying layer effects but the fix was more simple than I could have imagined.  I  just needed to view the image full sized before flattening.  This allowed the layers to be rasterized without losing any detail.  I spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to find away around this before finding the solution online.

Bad Moon Rising Loteria

"The Moon" Loteria Card

On first glance it appears that some images which appear in the standard deck of Tarot cards are repeated in loteria.  The Moon, or "La Luna" is one of them.  Since this is a universal image, it really shouldn't come as too much of a surprise to see it here.  However there are enough differences between the forces and readings behind the images to stress that these cards have almost nothing in common.
The Moon in the loteria deck shows a round face radiating malice while human figures are falling below.

For the somewhat grim warnings which can be taken from this card in fortune telling spreads, please check A Talent For Raw's main site.

The Boot Loteria Card

"The Boot" Loteria Card

"The Boot"

This loteria card shows the humble boot as the subject and namesake.  I approached this project with the same spirit I did for the earlier Melon loteria card.  This card has a subject which doesn't appear to lend itself to creative outlooks at first.  But after playing around with possibilities, I decided to highlight the travel aspect of hearty footwear.  By showing a traveling boot stepping across a map, it should be very clear to the subject of the card reading what is in store for them!

If you are having any questions about interpreting the meaning of this card when it comes up in your tarot readings, there are resources online that I encourage you to study.

The Praying Violoncello

"The Cello" Loteria Card

The "El Violoncello" card features a praying mantis playing a cello, indicating great skill and ability at a complex task.  If this card appears in a loteria fortune reading there is a good chance that the subject will be facing a situation which requires all their innate abilities.
For some reason, this painting came together very quickly.  I barely turned my back and it was done.  However, there was a problem that I had with the figure's elbow which required me to do some PhotoShop fixing.  I really am not sure how I feel about leaning on a digital tool to tweak a painting, but there's no denying that the results are satisfactory.

To understand how The Cello card applies to fortune telling, I've included some pages of instruction on the main site.

A Shingle For Raw

The Episcopalian Church in Victorville will be hosting an art gathering to showcase local talent and allow local artists to network and sell their creations in a fun environment.  The show is called "Hot August Nights", and I'm on the panel to put this together.  Not only is this a very worth cause, but it also gives me the opportunity to put together some paintings for display and possible sale.

The first order of business.  Get a shingle.

About two or three weeks ago I ran across the coolest thing at Hobby Lobby.  It is a small plastic sign that lights up.  I think that it was intended for decoration for someones outdoor bar.  It was dark green, and the light up front of the sign said something like "Crab House, the Clam Bucket"  In a smaller plastic window at the bottom of the sign, the legend "welcome" was written.  The whole unit lights up with a string of Christmas tree lights placed around the back.  I bought it and immediately wished I'd cleaned out their stock.  I should have listened to that little voice.  I can't find the signs anywhere any more.  They don't show them online and Hobby Lobby has stopped carrying the item.  From what I can tell, it was specially made for the Spring Shop.  GRRR!  This thing is priceless!  Not because I like seafood or anything like that, but because of the potential this little gem offers.  After some paint, guilders paste, spraypaint and patience, observe the result:

Pretty slick, eh?  The plastic graphic on the front of the unit has been removed and a sheet of clear plastic put in it's place.  I freehanded the lettering which explains some of the wonky fonts, but it was good enough for my purposes.  I covered the clear window with masking tape, used an X-acto knife to cut out the letters and then went wild with spray paint.  When the fumes finally cleared, I had the sign I wanted.

When it is plugged in, it looks like this.

















Some of the effect is lost because of the always fun challenge of getting a backlit item to appear correctly when using a digital camera.  So if you ignore the flash, this is actually what it looks like in full daylight.

 A Talent For Raw is now a going concern!

The Mandolin

"The Mandolin" Loteria Card

"The Mandolin" card is shown as a hermit sitting on a well in the White Leaf desert while he plays on a mandolin.  In the background is a weathered tree.  The card can be used for tarot-like fortune telling.  The image indicates hidden springs in the desert, or deep wells of knowledge which are waiting to be tapped.
The tree is not in bloom, but is alive.  The tree is being fed on hidden springs of strength and wisdom.  Although the hermit figure is common in most tarot decks, this figure has little in common with that image.  This is a solitary figure, representing the necessity of being alone when discovering truths.

El Bandolon has many interpretations, but a common thread of wisdom and strength runs through all of them.

Oak Glen Grammar Bear to the rescue!

One of the first things that greeted me when going to Oak Glen yesterday was a sign directing visitors to the petting zoo.  How many grammar errors can you count?  Those are some pretty possessive animals!

The Pajama Game

I'll just toss this graphic in because I think an earlier post of mine had showed a swag gift that I made for the cast and crew of the SRO production of "The Music Man"  This is a graphic that I put together to turn into a sticker.  It shows the iconic logo of the most exclusive club of 50's Boston.  Hernando's Hideaway!

Just the right size to put on a cigarette lighter.  It's dark in there, you know.

"The Flag" Loteria Card

"The Flag" Loteria Card

This is a departure from style for me because I knew from the start that I'd be using a gouache paint for the skin of the devil.  Now I'm sure that I mentioned it in an earlier blog post, but gouache paint is not for the feint of heart.  It is beautiful and valid as a medium for expression.  It's also unforgiving and scary to use.  I've had mixed success in the past, but couldn't think of anything else that would give me those solid, opaque colors.

The bold colors and thick outline for this image gave it a feel similar to a tattoo.  This was the look that I was aiming for.  The loteria card is for "The Flag", and that could be taken so many ways that it was hard to come up with something that didn't have the standard flag waving from a pole.  The tongue-flag was just the ticket for this card.

No offense to any British visitors to this site.

To find out how to read "The Flag" loteria card for fortune telling, follow the link!

Ordering The "Baraja del Papa" Loteria Deck

This project of recreating the images in the "Baraja del Papa" deck requires a pretty heavy investment in time and money.  Time is something that I'm more than willing to put in.  The images are unique and startling.  I'd gladly invest the money as well, but that's one thing I have considerably less of than time.

So I'm approaching the problem in a 'Kickstarter' fashion.

I'm selling the original painting that I'm creating for this project.  To anyone who buys a painting, you will be receiving a free deck of loteria cards once this project is finished!  How nice is that?!  Two things to keep in mind.

The first catch is that I'm not sure exactly when this project will be completed.  But considering that one suit is complete (clubs) and I have a headstart on the remaining three suits, things are looking good for this to be done in a few months.  When you buy a painting, I'll get an email address for you so I can let you know when the images are all painted and the cards back from the printer.

The second catch is that there is only one copy of each card, so if there is a paticular loteria symbol that you want, move quickly before someone else grabs it from you.