By now, most of you will be familiar with my enduring love of Clive Barker’s Nightbreed. It was a formative film and story when I was growing up, and as with most of the things I love, (The Muppets, Masters of the Universe, Star Wars, etc.) it involves a host of original and unique characters that center around inclusivity. With the constant crap-fest that 2020 has unloaded upon the Earth I decided to utilize my time in quarantine to complete a sketch-book challenge, and created my own Nightbreed Tarot deck.
The cards were created in my sketchbook as mixed media paintings using watercolor, acrylic, colored pencil and marker. Although I did use pics and screenshots from the film and comics, I did not project any of them, these are all freehand drawings (otherwise it wouldn’t be much of a challenge, would it?)
For the artwork, I did a deep dive into the NIghtbreed mythology. Characters were sourced not only from the novel, Cabal and the film Nightbreed, but also from the original run of EPIC comics. I used my copy of Nightbreed Chronicles to help me fine tune some of the card meanings and align them with the chosen artwork and characters.
THE MAJOR ARCANA
0 – The Fool: Le Roy Gomm
1- The Magician: Saul
2- The High Priestess: Shuna Sassi
3- The Empress: Veale
4- The Emperor: Giblin
5- The Hierophant: Lylesburg
6- The Lovers: I’ll Never Leave You
7- The Chariot: Narcisse
8- Justice: Peloquin
9- The Hermit: Nothin’ but Dead Folks
10- The Wheel of Fortune: Release the Berserkers
11- Strength: The Berserkers
12- The Hanged Man: Ohnaka
13- Death: Decker
14- Temperance: Otis and Clay
15- The Devil: Lude
16- The Tower: The Necropolis
17- The Star: Chocolat
18- The Moon: Kinski
19- The Sun: Day
20- Judgement: Baphomet
21- The World: Midian
The Suit of Wands
Ace: Mater Q summons bats with a wand to sculpt guano into prophesies
Two: Kushnir Day drumming with wands as drumsticks
Three: scene from the Wall of Prophecy depicting zealots with wands wading in blood
Four: Babette plays with a doll and an effigy made of wands
Five: Peloquin and Targul battle using wands before Mexico, Scortch and Kinski
Six: Rachael materializes from smoke with a wand in hand, five wands are behind her
Seven: The reliquary of the Baptizer surrounded by seven wands
Eight: Mexico meditates surrounded by wands
Nine: Cabal is anointed by the Baptizer emprisoned by wands
Ten: Vasty Moses cannot climb rope ladders, even if they are made of wands
Page: Tater
Knight: Ozlet
Queen: Nana Nickneven
King: Paracelsus
The Suit of Cups
Ace: Annastasjia raises her cup and makes a toast
Two: Lude and Le Roy Gomm click cups
Three: The White Sisters of Midian change wine to blood as it flows from three floating cups
Four: The Harper invites you to choose from four cups at the picnic
Five: Looking for Boone? Only spilled cups here...
Six: Rachael and Babette lay cups of flowers in a tomb
Seven: Nana Nickneven gathers spell ingredients from the cups overflowing with magic
Eight: Familia Fabilu carry eight cups on the run from Midian’s destruction
Nine: Beloit Motto drinks up, three cups are empty six are still full
Ten: Cups of paint stand ready as Canus paints the Wall of Prophecy
Page: Aethnicus and Aethnici
Knight: Scortch
Queen: Lizzle B
King: Ashberry
The Suit of Swords
Ace: Move and I’ll slit your throat
Two: There is a face beneath this face
Three: I found something I think you should see
Four: Radinka in tomb with four swords, arm yourselves
Five: Brothers and Sisters, it is time to fight
Six: Spiderbaby jumps through a broken window, six swords point inward
Seven: Frick runs from the hole, seven swords mark his path Eight: Pessoa the Pale stands silent surrounded by eight swords Nine: Mulciber before a battle, nine swords behind him
Ten: Oral adds swords as teeth Page: Piglet
Knight: Lylesburg's Enforcer
Queen: Lori
King: Tezcatlipoca
The Suit of Pentacles
Ace: A berserker reaches up through a pentacle from below
Two: Yilly Kat and Deblobulo buy weed
Three: The Thrall sells a bag of weed for three pentacles
Four: Even the Breed keep their pentacles in a "piggy bank"
Five: Gideon Skillet juggles five pentacles
Six: A Nightbreed nursery with pentacles carved into the cribs
Seven: Grub babies love the mobile made of pentacles
Eight: Kolca Threeflies surrounded by eight pentacles
Nine: Dagon and Fachan smash a table, pentacle coins fly everywhere
Ten: Gallows under a tree with the Hand of Glory, pentacles are carved into the trunk
Page: Aello
Knight: Obama
Queen: Izpopolotl
King: Cabal
I felt like this project both sharpened my drawing skills and helped deepen my understanding of the tarot. I know that renditions of characters are still more cartoon than not, but I felt like my faces and hands especially got better the more I drew them. Some cards, such as the royal cards in all four suits, were stylized to look like playing cards, and these especially came out well. I hope Nightbreed fans and tarot practitioners alike will enjoy them.