Smith’s Tarot — Page of Lovelace
A practical endeavor leads to success
The Page of Lovelace promises your untapped potential is now within reach.
Whatever it is that intimidates you — now is the time to approach it, and have fun with it. Try. You never know. That’s what this card is about. All the Pages in Tarot are young, vibrant, curious, and full of energy.
Analog Sketch Design in Sequence
I should explain to everyone my process. I have no training, no schooling — just intuition. I inspect the canvas with sweeping pencil strokes, and faces appear. I communicate with the page and highlight what it seems to want to tell me.
Sounds spiritual, I know — but it works better than stick figures. That’s about all I can draw when I try to force it.
I sweep my hand over the page, and it creates shapes out of chaos, with time.
The greater my faith, the faster it works.
I’ve had a year of typewriting every single day, and since the start of 2022, I’ve been writing with my left hand and trying to diversify and strengthen the synaptic activity between my brain hemispheres. It comes from connecting disciplines and it’s the only way to learn if you ask me.
I say it confidently because I know it’s working. I have proof over time of improvement.
I know this is something I can teach others how to do
I want to teach others how to write books and illustrate fast in such a way that it will astound them. The more you surrender to creation and enjoy the process, the better the result.
I have to keep telling myself the fact that I can draw now isn’t a dream
This is a result of thoughts, feelings, and convictions that nothing is impossible and I can draw. I am drawing now.
Which is to say, everything you desire can be attained. There are no barriers other than what is set there by our own accord through thought.
I’m not an illustrator. My regular readers know this. When I first started drawing the Tarot it was an imitation of Pixie’s Tarot, and it was bad. I shouldn’t say that. Let’s just say it was clearly the first try.
All the same, every day I drew again. Things got better, just as soon as I got my ego out of the way.
At first, that was the only thing I focused on doing until there was fluidity with the drawing.
The same goes for writing. The same goes for music composition. The same goes with the film. The same goes for dance. The same goes with any high-performance sport or activity that requires complete and total concentration.
Here’s how to make beginner’s art look pro
- Go get a pencil and a piece of paper. Preferably non-lined paper.
- Sharpen the pencil
- Lay the graphite edge of the pencil flat on the page, and draw a few sweeping lines
See how I did those broad strokes? That creates a 3D effect so that when you turn the canvas it leaves a whole new picture to explore.
Here’s the same sketch, with a right profile
It looks like there’s a path leading to the card on the left. Nice. I used that to a certain effect. You can decide at this point how you want to work.
See how the lines are in the character? Those were random. I just let my hand go to it, back and forth, circles, figure eights, whatever I want, until markings occur to where I start to work out form.
That’s it. That’s how a newbie like me teaches myself how to draw. God (intuition) does all the work.
Above you’ll see the same sketch again, except it is inverse/upside down.
Now you have all you need on the canvas to have a field day. Each and every area where there are little etched lines are faces waiting to be uncovered. You’ll see. It will astound you.
This is When I Go Looking for Eyes and Faces
I highlight anything that stands out to me. Just impressing dots on the areas where I imagine eyes, and then I work outward from there.
These faces come and go through the layers. Only a few remain. I say hello, and on I go. Sometimes I notice nothing. I have to look at the layer photos now to see there was another really interesting face.
This is just part of the process. To show you that the work is always perfect, no matter what you do to try and screw it up, so long as you enjoy the process, and do it with humility and love.
It’s a lot like life.
You’re having a conversation with God
This time it’s on the canvas. You’re sending emojis back and forth to one another. In the end, if you were enjoying yourself, you enjoy the art. Others will, too. And it gets done so fast.
This whole process with the article took about four hours. And now I have something that I can leave with my children that is indelible. Inspired by them.
Art is a wonderful way to communicate with your children.
The Following are Images Taken From this Same Illustration
Hopefully, you’ll give this intuitive technique a try. Use woven paper to have a grid in place before you start. I use Southworth Ivory Linen paper and Blackwing Pearl pencils.
Please let me know your experiences and post links to your work in the comments! If you have any questions, let me know!
All my best,
W.V.Carleton
