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Graphic Design and Illustration

Apartment Property Sitemaps
Pattern and Surface Design
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Apartment Property Sitemaps
Pattern and Surface Design
Informational Graphics
Far Summers Alien Designs
Children’s Illustration & Design
Assorted Illustration
Scientific Illustration
About Sean
Contact

Assorted Illustration

The Endless Factory Tarot: The Empress; Graphite and Phtotoshop, 2012

The Endless Factory Tarot: The Moon; Graphite and Photoshop, 2014

Cthulhu vs. Giant Robots!: Graphite, charcoal, and Photoshop. 2011

Galaga Dogfight; Graphite pencil and Photoshop. 2010

The Operation; Graphite pencil and Photoshop. 2010

Baba Yaga, the White Witch; Photoshop and Pen & Ink. 2009

The Tea Party- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; Ink and Photoshop. 2009

Rooster Dandy; Ink, watercolor, oil, and acrylic. 2009

Bakaw! Ink, watercolor, acrylic, guache. 2009

A Portrait of Hillary: Scary Movies; Watercolor. 2009

The Cask of Amatillado; Ink and Watercolor. 2009

Angry Villager Matches

Angry Villager Matches (Mummy); Illustrator. 2010

Angry Villager Matches (Vampire); Illustrator. 2010

Angry Villager Matches (Frankenstein); Illustrator. 2010

Angry Villager Matches (Wolfman); Illustrator. 2010

Rats of NIMH book cover; Photoshop. 2009

Frog, 2002

Car. 1997

Trapdoor Burger. Food-animal design. 2023

Spider Tarot cards

Card 0- The Fool. Representing freedom, beginnings, innocence, and spontaneity, The Fool stands on the precipice, unaware or uncaring of danger, even reckless. Adventure awaits, for good or will. Phidippus regius, the Regal Jumping Spider of the Salticidae family, found throughout the Southeastern US and Caribbean regions, is a typical jumper. His body is compact, with short powerful saltitorial legs allowing him to leap great distances. While bearing 8 eyes, the front pairs grant stereoscopic vision, letting the spider gauge distance and hunt prey. His fuzzy hair, tiny size, and large eyes give him a cute appearance, masking his role as active predator. He sits on a leaf, ready to take the leap.

Card I- The Magician. Representing power, resourcefulness, and opportunities. The Magician is the first card of the Tarot (after the 0 Card, The Fool). It is the card of beginnings, the manifestation of goals, and the skill to attain them. The ubiquitous Yellow Garden Spider, Argiope aurantia, hangs in the center of its web. The spiders create large round webs, with distinctive markings woven into the silk. These markings are called stabilimentum, often zigzags of silk lain on to the structure. The purpose of the stabilimenta is up to debate. Some theories are that the markings attract insects to the web, as they possibly mimic the ultraviolet markings on flowers and leaves. Other ideas are that the markings help break up the pattern of the web or hide the spider itself to avoid detection by both predator and prey. Another theory is that the stabilimentum reinforce the web (thus the stable in the name). The Yellow Garden Spider has one leg pointed to the sky, another to the ground, a conduit of power, channeled through the lightning bolt of its web. Various garden spiders are also known as writing spiders, based on their markings. This group of spiders was the inspiration for Charlotte of 'Charlotte’s Web' by E. B. White.

Card II- The High Priestess. Representing mystery, intuition, insight, and revelations. The High Priestess guards the gateway to the divine, flanked by the pillars of Male and Female nature. She symbolizes duality. The big female Trapdoor Spider, Ctenzia sauvagesi, stands at the opening of her burrow. Dug into the ground, the burrow has a lid of silk and dirt, held closed when the spider waits for prey. Fine silk tripwires extend from the burrow, alerting the spider to approaching prey. When close, the spider launches out to ambush the prey before retreating to safety. Like most of other spiders the female Trapdoor Spider is larger than the male. Males will approach the closed burrows of females hoping to entreat her to come out and mate by plucking the tripwires to get her attention, with the definite danger that she’ll simply jump out and eat them instead. Such is the danger of seeking revelations!

Card III- The Empress. Representing creativity, abundance, nurturing and new endeavors. The Empress is a mother, either depicted as pregnant, or surrounded by fruits and eggs, foretelling new life. She is the female power in balance with the male power of the Emperor. The Nursery Web Spider, Pisauri mirabilis, carries a purse of silk protecting her brood. This species is found across a large swath of the world, from Europe, Russia, China, and North Africa. They are similar to wolf spiders, being stalking hunters that don’t use webs to catch prey. Instead, they have long running legs and powerful jaws. The eggs are deposited into a silk sack that the females carry with their jaws and pedipalps. Once the eggs are close to hatching, the mother will build a ‘nursery’ of silk to hold the brood until they hatch. She will guard her silk tent during this time. The eggs she protects hold the promise of a new generation. Like many species the females will potentially eat the males before, after, and even during mating. Males try to placate them (or distract them) with gifts of food. The gifts may be flies or other prey wrapped in silk. On occasion the gift will be a fake, being a bundle of silk only, used to fool the female long enough for mating to occur. Some males will also play dead to avoid getting eaten.

Card V: The Hierophant. Representing tradition, hierarchy, and spiritual guidance. Derived from the old Pope card, it can also represent religious order and marriage, or reversed, abuse of position and rejection of traditional values. The Hierophant is often depicted between the pillars of law and liberty, with attendants at his feet. The Indian Cooperative Spider, Stegodyphus sarasinorum, is one of the few species of spider that can be called communal. Individual spiders will build webs in trees, using twigs, leaves and such in close proximity to each other, constructing a large web resembling a sheet of silk. When prey is caught in the web, the members will work together to wrap them up and share the food. Here we see a trio of spiders feeding on a cicada. Unlike communal insect species like bees, ants, or termites, there is no defined caste system or dominant ‘queen’. Instead food and labor to maintain the web is shared. Spiders will leave and join the colonies as they see fit, and are accepted to their new homes. Interestingly, the more successful the colony is, the smaller the spiders, as while they catch more prey, they share it over a greater amount of individuals. The tradeoff is consistent feeding. Female spiders with eggs will retreat to nursery webs within the structure. Other members will bring them food until the spiderlings hatch. As their name suggests, the species is found in India and surrounding countries.

Card VI- The Lovers. Representing love, harmony, choices, and balance. The Lovers live together in harmonious congress, in trust and unity. The reverse meaning, though, can represent detachment, conflict, and bad choices. The infamous Southern Black Widow, Latrodectus mactans, hangs in her tangled cobweb. She tends to her web, which apparently is very strong silk, capable of even catching rodents. Her shiny black body gleams, with distinctive red markings. The much smaller male hangs nearby. The male spiders’ short lives are wrought with danger. Black Widows are well known for eating their mates on occasion, though this isn’t unique to just them. The dimorphic size difference between many male and female spiders is very common, and the females don’t often pass up on a good meal. By both hanging upside down, perhaps the image does represent bad choices…

Card VII- The Chariot. Representing ambition, overcoming conflict, and the drive to move through difficulty to positive results. The Chariot moves via hard work and determination. It is a card of confidence and willpower. The Wolf Spider, Hogna carolinensis, is a nomadic predator, actively hunting prey. Unlike many other spiders it has no permanent web. Instead it is constantly on the move. They are pursuit hunters, sometimes ambushing prey by ground burrows. The females will lay their eggs in a purse of silk, carrying them until they hatch. Once the spiderlings are hatched, the tiny spiders ride on their mother’s back for weeks afterward. In this way the mother protects her children. The spiderlings are highly vulnerable to predation from insects, birds, and other spiders. The spider young also get distributed over a wider area. Most spiders have poor eyesight, usually only picking up motion and changes of value at short distances. Wolf Spiders on the other hand have good vision, the two large eyes distinguishing them from related spiders like Nursery Web and Grass Spiders.

Card VIII- Strength. Representing vitality, confidence, and self belief. It foretells a triumphant conclusion to a problem, whether it be a situation in life, sickness, or injury. Also known as Fortitude, it is usually depicted as a girl subduing a lion. In a rare occurrence of symbiosis, the Colombian Lesserblack Tarantula, Xenesthis immanis, will adopt a frog as a ‘pet’ to live in its burrow. The tiny dotted humming frog, Chiasmocleis ventricualata, lives in the underground burrow in a mutualistic exchange. The frog gains protection from predators for itself and its eggs, while the spider’s own eggs are defended from ants and other pests. Insects are also attracted to the burrow to feed on remnants of the spider’s prey, which the frog will happily catch for its own meals. Tarantulas like this can catch centipedes and other spiders. The largest can hunt rodents, lizards, and even sometimes birds and snakes. I liked the idea of a variation of the usual Strength visual. The spider and the frog have ‘subdued’ each other into an instinctive agreement. The spiders tell their pet from other prey by smell, so sometimes they pounce the frog by mistake, but then release them. The frogs seem to take this in stride.

Card IX- The Hermit. Representing introspection, solitude, and inner guidance. The Hermit stands alone, on the path of self-discovery to greater awareness. He is often shown alone on a mountain, his steps illuminated by the light of Solomon. Perfectly camouflaged, the Tree Stump Spider, Poltys columnaris, sits on a tree limb, mimicking a broken twig. This orb weaver’s body is adapted to hide in plain sight during the day, while they build webs and hunt at night. Their abdomen is elongated, projecting upward when at rest. The spider pulls its legs up to further hide the join between it and the tree bark. In addition, their exoskeleton’s coloration and texture further hides them from notice. This was another choice that really replicated the common depiction of The Hermit, with the tall robed old man commonly shown on the card resembling a column.

Card X- The Wheel of Fortune. Representing change, destiny, and opportunity. The wheel turns, bringing new things, new openings, changes of station, and luck to the viewer. The Marbled Orb Weaver, Araneus marmoreus, hangs in their web, waiting for prey. Like other orb weaver spiders, the spider radiates outward, hung between trees and shrubs. Most orb weavers sit in the center of their web, but The Marbled Orb Weaver hides off to the side in a silk nest, with its legs on the central signal thread. When prey flounders into the web, the spider will pounce. The typical depiction of the Wheel of Fortune includes animals in the corners representing the arcana, but I left them out to not detract from the tiny orb weaver.

Card XI- Justice. Representing fairness, balance, cause and effect, and of course justice. Often depicted as a figure with scales and a sword, it shows that balance and evenhandedness will be the rule, even if it must be by means of force. The ubiquitous and widespread Long Bodied Cellar Spider, Pholcus phalangioides, lives throughout the world. Its population has moved with humans, being native to warmer parts of the Old World. It is able to survive cooler climates by living in human homes. The spiders are found anywhere they can find a quiet, dark place, so they love corners, crawlspaces, and attics. The modern floating ceilings of office buildings are havens for these spiders. There is a good chance any given room will have at least one at all times. They are also known as Daddy Long Legs, a name shared with another class of Arachnida, the Harvestmen (Opiliones). They’re also called skull spiders due to the distribution of their eyes. Cellar Spiders are avid predators of insects, other spiders, and small invertebrates. Their messy webs can be found anywhere that insects might retreat or congregate. Populations’ webs often get intertwined, creating a mass of silk. When prey is scarce the spiders will leave their web to actively hunt. Being equal-opportunity hunters, the Cellar Spiders will prey upon other spiders, even going into their webs to feed on them and their eggs. They sometimes use mimicry to lure other spiders from safety, vibrating their legs and bodies to give the false signal of captured prey. They make use of their long legs to keep themselves at a distance while they enwrap prey in web or hold them in place. Here we see the ‘justice’ of the spider, with both a wolf spider and housefly hung in its web.

Card XII- The Hanged Man. Representing sacrifice and surrender, and metamorphosis. The typical depiction is of a prisoner hung upside down by their ankle. As a positive, it shows contemplation and break patterns, while in reverse it show missed opportunities and the inability to overcome one’s ego. The Gold Orb Weaver, Nephila pilipes, is a large spider found throughout Asia. The females are gigantic compared to the males (up to 50mm compared to 5mm), the largest difference in land animals. They are able to capture prey larger then themselves in their broad webs. Their long legs are adapted to weaving their webs, with the lower extents pointing inward. Females have hairy brushes on their legs. N. pilipes has a particular diet, preferring only specific prey species. They avoid anything with bad taste, wasps and ants, removing small prey rather than leaving them in the web, while other prey is envenomed and trussed up for eating later. The bright coloration and black bands serve to both hide the spider and attract potential prey. Their bodies can also reflect UV light that draws potential predators in to their webs, only for the would-be hunters being themselves pounced by the large Orb Weaver. The spider here is the female of the species, so maybe the ‘Hanged Man’ is the poor dragonfly she has caught.

Card XIII- Death. Representing endings, release of attachments, and change. This change can be literal death, but the card most often heralds profound changes in life, relationships, and failure, as well as the increased self-awareness that brings about change. The card is typically depicted with a skeleton bearing a scythe, casting down kings and commoners alike. Despite being dangerous and skilled predators, spiders are also prey for many animals. Various insects, birds, reptiles, and mammals all hunt even the largest spiders. Most do so to eat them, but some pursue spiders for an even more gruesome end. The Tarantula Hawk wasp, Pepsis heros, is a dark hunter of tarantulas, swooping in to attack them. Despite the spiders’ venom and size, they are usually subdued, stung into paralysis. The wasp then carries the victim to a burrow, where they lay an egg on the body. The larva will hatch and eat its way through the spider's body, keeping it alive until the very end. Then it pupates and digs its way out. Thus from death comes life. The Death card is one of transformation. The Tarantula Hawk has an additional distinction, that of bearing the most painful sting among wasps, and the second most painful in animals on the Schmidt Pain Index, after the Bullet Ant (Paraponera clavata). Described as 'instantaneous, electrifying and totally debilitating', the typical advice for handling the sting is to 'lay down and scream'. The wasp has a metallic blue-black body, with bright orange wings, a nice warning sign of how dangerous it is. And in another bit of irony, the adults are pure herbivores, with only the larvae eating spiders.

Card XIV- Temperance. Representing balance, harmony, and moderation. The virtue is typically depicted with an angel pouring water from one goblet to another. It is a card of patience, taking the middle road, and of avoiding extremes. The Ogre-Faced Spider, Deinopis subrufa, also known as the Bolo Spider or Net-casting Spider, has a hunting strategy based on patience. At night it will hang free above the ground, with a web held between the two front pair of legs. When prey wanders under them, the spider will drop, tossing the web to entangle the target. The spider then quickly pulls it and the prey up, trapping them in the web. The ‘Ogre-face’ moniker comes from the large forward facing eyes which gives the spider a distinctive ‘face’ rather than other spiders. The rest of the eyes are located around the back/top of the head, with a single pair under the large pair. Their night vision is very good, allowing them to see prey coming in the darkness. Apparently their night vision comes from a membrane in the eye that is created every night, and is destroyed by daylight. Thus they regrow part of their eyes every night. As well as fitting the theme of Temperance with its hunting, I also liked that the spider’s typical posture resembles the common depiction of the tarot card, with flow from one hand to the other.

Card XV- The Devil. Representing seduction by the material world, fear, and bondage. The Devil traps people in luxury and unhealthy relationships, enslaving them with their own desires. Typically depicted as the goat-headed god Baphomet, the card is a call for discretion in matters of life and love. The ant mimic jumping spider, Myrmaplata plataleoides, is a Batesian mimic of the Asian Red Weaver Ant, Oecophylla smaragdina. It has evolved to copy the body shape, coloration, and movements of the ants. They forgo typical jumping movement in favor of an ant-like walk using 6 legs, with the first pair of legs held out in front of them like antennae. Their bodies are truncated to give them an ant-like waist and separate ‘head’ section of their cephalothorax. Their large central binocular eyes are the same color as their head, while the other eyes are black, to further mimic the appearance of the ants. The female spider shown here has a flattened head, while the male has long fangs that have evolved to look like an ant’s head (or copying a weaver ant behavior, resembling an ant carrying another ant). The spiders do have to be careful though, as while they look like an ant, they don’t have the same chemical cues and scent, so can be sniffed out by their dangerous prey. The mimicry is a predatory strategy, allowing them to get close to isolated individuals and hunt them, but also a protective strategy. The weaver ants are foul-tasting and have a painful bite. Attacking one ant risks drawing the attention of more ants. Thus the spider benefits from the visual trickery to avoid its own predators like mantises and other spiders.

Card XVI- The Tower. Representing change, upheaval, revelation, and chaos. The Tower appears strong, but actually can be undone with a single action. One’s goals can be derived from a foundation of sand, and just as easily destroyed. It can also be the insight needed to propel further action or reveal knowledge. The green bottle fly here has certainly found a revelation. Hiding on a thistle is the Goldenrod Crab Spider, Misumena vatia. This North American hunter waits in ambush, camouflaged on flowers. The spider is capable of changing its color over time to further mask its presence. They can also sometimes take on the color of their prey. Their typical color of white allows them to be effectively invisible to the ultraviolet eyes of most insect prey, appearing as dark shapes on other dark shapes. Crab spiders are so named because they are able to shuffle side to side like crabs, as well as forward and back. Their front 2 pairs of legs are long, held out to grab prey and hold for a bite. Unlike other spiders crab spiders don’t wrap prey in silk, instead eating them after the venom has taken effect. They will go after prey double or triple their size if the opportunity presents itself.

Card XVII- The Star. Representing inspiration, opportunity, hope, and spirituality. The Star brings hope for the future; in its reverse, it can mean despair and disappointment. The typical depiction is a woman kneeling by a pool of water, head crowned by a star, with more surrounding her. For this version, I went with a spider that itself appears as a star. The Spinybacked Orb Weaver, Gasteracantha cancriformis, is known for its spiky abdomen. Females have 6 sharp spines and brightly colored shells, with white body and red spines, with black spots. The spines are a defense mechanism to keep predators at bay. They are sometimes called crab spiders, but aren’t actually members of the crab spider family (Araneidae rather than Thomisidae). Being orb weavers, they build large circular webs, sitting in the center to respond to any prey that gets caught. The females are much larger than the males, who lack body spines. This card was one where I simply liked the visual of the star-shaped spider, rather than a more typical depiction.

Card XVIII- The Moon. Representing illusion, deception, fear, and confusion. It can mean things are not what they seem, or one is unsure of the situation. Instead of finding knowledge, it can lead to deceptive conclusions. Usually depicted as a moon in the sky with the wolves and primal creatures around, instead it is portrayed by a false ‘moon. A primal creature does make an appearance though. The ubiquitous House Spider, Parasteatoda tepidariorum, also known as the American House Spider, is found throughout the world. It is syanthropic, so lives in and around the homes of humans. It has evolved to take advantage of the environment humans have created. They are a cobweb spider, feeding on small insects like mosquitoes, mites, ants, flies, and moths. They even go after larger prey if possible. They can shoot web a short distance to reel prey in. Here is a House Spider, its web spun around a light bulb. As a representation of deception, the light bulb fools the moth, making it circle around and around. The spider waits, ready to pounce, or simply allow the moth to blunder into its trap.

Card XIX- The Sun. Representing good fortune, harmony, and happiness. Often depicted with an infant under the bright sun, it symbolizes a fortuitous path and forward progress to great things. It can also represent vitality and enlightenment. Appropriately, a tiny spiderling of the Ground Crab Spider, Xysticus audax, climbs on a high point under the bright sun. Spiderlings of many species will hatch and perform an action known as ballooning. Ballooning involves climbing up on trees and rocks and releasing a strand of silk, letting wind currents and static electricity pick them up and carry them away. This is done to disperse the spiderlings over a large area. Hopefully the tiny spiders find a safe home separated from others, thus spreading the spiders out. The journey is sometimes only a few meters, sometimes miles, and sometimes a lucky(?) spiderling will get caught in strong winds or even jet streams and get carried hundreds, if not thousands of miles. Here's hoping this little spider's journey is auspicious.

Card XX- Judgment. Representing absolution, rebirth, calling, and of course, judgment. Often depictions have the dead rising from their graves, arms to the sky, ready for Final Judgment. While the card stands for an end, this is to make way for new beginnings. The Red Kneed Tarantula, Brachypelma smithi, stands on a rock, having shed its previous molt of its exoskeleton. Like all arthropods, spiders are held from growing by their own outer skeletons. Instead, they periodically shed them. The spiders then inflate themselves via breathing in air, using pressure of their blood to expand and stretch the soft shell to new larger size. In the short period after shedding, the new outer layer is weak and vulnerable. The exoskeleton will harden, setting the new maximum size of the spider. In this card, the Tarantula resurrects, beginning anew after freeing itself from the prison of its own body. The discarded molt lies in the foreground. Usually spiders will find a place to hide during the molt process, but I liked the visual mirroring the outstretched hands of the risen dead seen in other decks.

All images ©2023 Sean Twiddy

Apartment Property Sitemaps
Pattern and Surface Design
Informational Graphics
Far Summers Alien Designs
Children’s Illustration & Design
Assorted Illustration
Scientific Illustration
About Sean
Contact

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