Description

The image is called Tarot Odyssey. It is about the journey through life, towards destiny, as it is described by the symbols of the Tarot cards.
The image depicts the Tarot world, a symbolic plane of existence. It is a world populated by the 22 archetypal characters and situations of the Major Arcana cards of the Tarot deck.
The protagonist of this image is card 0, the Fool. He represents the simplest state of a human being at the beginning of life’s journey. He is a youth without money, power, experience or intellect. He is a naive but adventurous character who is about to embark on a dangerous voyage, facing kings, queens, and the powers of the Tarot cosmos.
The fool will have to travel towards his destiny by riding the unicycle (Chariot card) that the Juggler is presenting him with. This is a symbolic vehicle requiring precarious balancing on the narrow path that goes through the choices, situations and obstacles of life.
There are many things to worry about during the journey: the Tower, the Judgement and even the Devil himself who keeps an eye on the wayfarer from the beginning of the journey, seeking for the opportunity to trick him into failure.
However, the journey is not without helpers (the Hermit), rest points (Temperance), or delights (the Lovers). But it is a journey with a mysterious and unpredictable conclusion, as the path of life ends up on the spiral Wheel of Fortune.
Also, notice that The Death card is placed right at the starting point of the journey, because it symbolizes an end and also a beginning. Perhaps this is a cyclic journey, a never-ending endeavour to reach a constantly unveiling destiny.
As far as technique goes, I wanted to try and see how far Zbrush would take me, so I committed myself to use it exclusively for the creation of this image (except for the compositing of rendered passes, done in photoshop).
Another thing I wanted to experiment with was the concept of hybrid art. I’d like to bridge the gap between 3D and 2D look in my work. I think that the advancements in both software and hardware are such that the borderline between 3D and 2D is fading to nothing, at least as far as the still image goes.
So, although I used exclusively what is broadly considered to be a 3D application (Zbrush), I aimed for 5D art (3D+2D), utilizing as wide a range of techniques as I could.
It seems to me that I ended up with an image that is mostly about personal style rather than category, and I think that this is a satisfactory conclusion to this creative journey.
But I would definitely like to hear from other people what they think about that.

You can also check out the 3D modeling, texturing and lighting that went into this image, in the form of a step by step walkthrough at: http://206.145.80.239/zbc/showthread.php?t=034704