Deck in Progress: Death

I'm grooving along on the Spirit Vertigo deck. Here's what I have so far for Death, a make-or-break card for me when I'm deck shopping.

I wanted something that balanced the upper world and the underworld, growth and decay, celebration and solemnity, and action and stasis. I wanted something serene that suggested the natural world and its cycles.

I drew on classic funerary symbols and art nouveau compositions for this image. I'm inspired by the oldest cemeteries of the Northeast, and the winged skulls, willow trees, and quaint verses chiseled into their worn, slate headstones. I once had the pleasure of taking a community college workshop on gravestone restoration in a historic small-town cemetery, with headstones dating back to the 1600s. I wanted to capture something of those burial grounds' sleepy beauty. (Speaking of which, while it's tempting to make rubbings of beautiful old carvings, it's terrible for the headstones from a conservation standpoint. Be kind to your local history. Take pictures, or draw sketches, but no tombstone rubbings!)  

I may tweak a couple details on this one before printing. There are a couple lines I want to play with and clean up, digitally. I'm happy with the composition and the symbolism overall, though. 

​Stay tuned next week for Temperance. Cheers!