Illustrating The Emperor
This is a cross-post from my blog, Tarot of These Times, which follows my illustration project to create a tarot deck with 78 all-new illustrations. Learn more about that project and how you can support it here.
- Molly
The emperor card is a doozie. It generally represents:
Rules
Power
Authority
In my view, this card is about patriarchy, white supremacy, imperialism, and similar repressive systems. So that’s how I illustrated it.
An early lesson in patriarchy
My first lesson in patriarchy was when I was in third grade. That year (1984), I played Geraldine Ferraro in the school’s mock presidential election. She was the first woman nominated for the vice-presidential ticket (though not the first woman to run for presidential office.)
I represented Ms. Ferarro in the school debate. I knew I had to be extra prepared, so I studied and did my best. When we lost the mock election, I was really confused. My teammate and I did a way better job in the debate, and didn’t that count for something?
The kids in my class said they didn’t want to vote for a girl to be vice president. Of course I took this personally. Did I say something wrong at the debate? Could I have been more prepared? Did my confidence intimidate my third grade peers?
Alas, no. It would be decades until I understood that this is the way patriarchy works. It beats us down and then makes us think it’s our own fault.
Examples from other tarot artists
Here are some examples of The Emperor cards by various artists of tarot decks I own and use myself:
The Emperor cards from my collection of tarot decks, clockwise from top left: Rider-Waite Tarot, illustrated by Pamela Coleman Smith; Modern Witch Tarot Deck by Lisa Sterle; The Wild Unknown Tarot by Kim Krans; The Gentle Tarot by Mari in the Sky; Rainbow Heart Tarot by Rachel Rosenkoetter; and The Reclaimed Tarot, ReClaim it! PDX, collage by Samantha Caruthers-Knight.
Three different sketches
When I envisioned the meaning of The Emperor card, the image that came to me was a white man standing at a podium, shouting hateful words. Then I saw the antidote; a rainbow-colored, fire-breathing dragon, hidden beneath the stage, ready to set fire to this patriarchal scene with love, kindness, compassion, and truth.
It took me three separate conceptual sketches to get it right. Here are my earlier attempts:
Sketch 1: Gravity as an unbreakable rule. I quickly moved on from this idea.
Sketch 2: This one had the dragon, a rainbow-colored fire-breathing dragon who represents our collective and loving power. However, my Emperor dude was too Napoleon-meets-improv-comedy-troupe.
Sketch 3: I moved to my iPad for this sketch, and got the dragon and the lettering in the fire illustrated. But my Emperor in this version ended up like an old-timey version of Mussolini. I used reference photos for the inspiration, and it shows.
A moment of transformation
I wanted my Emperor card to represent this moment of painful transformation. This moment when we fight hateful systems, racism, white supremacy, and patriarchy. When we win by building collective power with our loving kindness for one another, put into action. I can’t think of a better time in my life to illustrate the emperor card than right now during Trump’s second term as US president.
The final illustration
Here is my final illustration for The Emperor card. Note that I plan to add my final calligraphy and the Roman numeral (II) when preparing the image for print.
My final illustration of The Emperor. The notes and color swatches will get cropped out when I create the final layout to print my tarot deck.
Want to see more?
As an illustrator with progressive values and a positive vision of what is possible, I wanted to take on a challenging project that could embody my vision and values. That's why I am designing a brand-new tarot deck, complete with 78 hand-drawn, ink-and-watercolor illustrations.
Subscribe for $7.80 a month to see my sketches, how I developed the concepts for each card, and to see the painted illustrations before anyone else. Thanks for your support!
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Footnotes
Materials notes from this post
Blick Hot Press 100% cotton watercolor paper, EcoLine liquid watercolor paint and brush pens, walnut ink, Oak gall ink (placeholder calligraphy at the bottom).
Learn about tarot
Want to learn more about tarot? I highly recommend the book Modern Tarot: Connecting with Your Higher Self through the Wisdom of the Cards by Michelle Tea.
A note about Ai and this project
I do not use Ai (artificial intelligence) to write any of the content for this blog, my other blog Behind the Scenes, or this website.
