Discovering Beauty Tarot - hand-painted deck with focus on self-healing
Not every tarot deck is made for quick answers. This one asks you to pause. Discovering Beauty Tarot by artist Sophia Litwak began as her master's thesis in Illustration at the Savannah College of Art and Design. It started as a graduation project and grew into a full 78-card deck.
The cards are hand-painted, with a striking use of white backgrounds and rough black ink lines. The minimal design forces you to look at what is present, rather than what has been left out. Each card has a matte finish and black borders that sharply frame the imagery.
What you see on the cards
The visual style leans on Notan, a Japanese concept where light and dark form a balance. You see it in the composition: the white backgrounds give the figures and symbols room to breathe. The ink lines are raw, not smoothed over. This gives the deck a human, unfinished quality.
Colors are used, but sparingly. Where they appear, they are bright and deliberate. The classic tarot structure remains recognizable, but the archetypes are translated into contemporary imagery. No medieval scenes, but a modern, personal visual language.
How you work with it
The 50-page guidebook offers more than card meanings. Each card comes with an affirmation and a reflection question. That combination makes the deck suitable for daily morning pulls or as a starting point for journaling.
The card format is comfortable enough to shuffle easily. The matte finish provides grip without feeling sticky. The box is sturdy, with a surprising full-color print on the inside.
Pull one card every morning and read the accompanying affirmation aloud. The rough edges of the cards remind you that beauty also lives in what is not perfect.
About Sophia Litwak
Sophia Litwak is an artist, illustrator, yogi and tarot reader. She grew up in Manhattan and now works from Paris. She learned tarot from her mother, which makes this deck a project that combines personal history with professional visual art.
Her astrological signature is Capricorn sun, Libra rising and Gemini moon. That mix of earthy discipline, visual harmony and curiosity shows in the way she retells the traditional tarot structure.
Specifications
- Number of cards: 78
- Finish: matte laminate with black borders
- Guidebook: 50 pages with meanings, affirmations and reflection questions
- Packaging: sturdy two-piece box with full-color print inside
- Box dimensions: 125 x 83 mm
- Language: English
- Publisher: self-published
- Creator: Sophia Litwak
Questions we often get
Why the white backgrounds?
The white backgrounds isolate the symbolism and give you space to make your own intuitive connection without visual distraction. It is a deliberate choice to create focus.
Does the guidebook include spreads?
The guidebook focuses on card meanings, affirmations and reflection questions. There are no spreads. How you lay out the cards is up to you.
