Peter Mohrbacher

Moon Tarot - Failed Attempts

Added 2022-12-21 13:49:49 +0000 UTC

I keep promising myself to share stuff as I'm working on it, but it's hard for me. Whenever I've shared a work in progress, I feel beholden to stick to that piece and make it the official version. However, I sometimes run into a dead end and need to back out.

This month has been an excellent example of why I get so nervous about this. I've already restarted The Moon card twice.

First attempt - The Malkuth Version

I created a digital sketch early in the month and jumped straight into trying to finish it. With the holidays, I felt pressure to get my art moving along and I felt like the symbolism in the moon card lead me to a really clear creative direction. However, once I got to the color rough stage, I began to rethink my choices.

The mood and general weirdness of this piece feels at odds with the softer and more floral tone of a lot of the other cards. Besides, a hulking headless giant just doesn't scream MOON TAROT, to me.

Second attempt - The MidJourney Version

I wanted an excuse to check out MJ version 4 and made some experiments to see if it would be useful to help inspire some ideas for a different approach to this card. The results were extremely impressive compared to other AI based results I've seen and I thought briefly that I might go back on my choice to eschew AI sketches for my mainline work. However, after a few productive hours of play, I seriously considered finishing this piece and using it as The Moon card.

There's a lot I like about this piece and if it weren't part of a very important collection of work, I think I would probably have finished it up and used it. However, I feel a need deep down in my stomach to return to the roots of my working process and create an original sketch on paper. Regardless of how good digital tools get, there is a magic to the process of paper drawings that I have been missing with my digital sketches and AI assisted work.

The Moon - Work in Progress 1

Okay, now we're back on track. It's pieces like this that are the reason you guys follow my art and pay me to create. I'm fully committed to returning to my old work processes and delivering innovative results using my painstakingly manual methods. This is the root of my value as an artist and it creates my favorite kind of results. Going into 2023, it is my goal to do this more often and make it a larger part of my life again.