Zine Spread: Bridge

There’s a beautiful freedom in knowing that nobody expects zines to be immaculate. It’s a fitting medium for imperfect art. I did do grungy digital art for a time during the early 2000s, back when it felt so expressive and rebellious because I needed to make art against a world that sucked. Now it’s an excuse to use my purchases from Frankentoon… in a world that still sucks, but a disposable income helps it suck less.

The messy, grungy aesthetic isn’t something I’ve seen used with tarot cards. It’s usually crystals, succulents, perfectly manicured hands, or other feminine effects. I’d like to do something different, something messy and chaotic. So if you start seeing grungy tarot trending online someday, you’ll know where those copycats got it from.

As for zines, I have a few in progress with definite themes. Then there are pieces I’ve created for zines but haven’t found a home for yet. This piece is one of them. I woke up yesterday morning with a need to create something, and within half a day, I went from a messy blue-pencil sketch to this:

A teal and turquoise-tinted chasm with a broken bridge spanning the gap. On the left side, vines cover the whole area, dropping over the edges. On the right side, there is some text: I want to build something with you. Hanging from the right side are three tarot cards: Six of Swords, The Star, and Temperance. After the bridge, standing on the cliffside, are three more tarot cards: Three of Pentacles, The World, and Two of Cups.

In hindsight, I should have used a guide to indicate the center. Because if I decide to get this printed in a book, that message on the bridge is going to look a little weird unless I use a layflat design.

Otherwise, I’m genuinely impressed with my efforts here—and I usually don’t feel that way about my own work. I especially love how the Concept Master brushes created the vines on the bridge and cliffside vegetation. With a few more hours of obsessive editing, I could have made that bridge pop out from the cliffs that share its colors. But in the end, I think the message on the bridge is the most important part of this image.