John Dyer Baizley
This beautiful drawing comes from John Dyer Baizley.
I spent a few hours with a tight stretch (my left thumb started to cramp) and a 7 round liner. Which, by the way, happens to be like driving a 4x4. Well, as opposed to using a 5. For some of the smaller areas, I found myself slowly building up the lines, but realized there was still so much to do. So I went out on a limb and pushed to tattoo longer lines. It was a matter of trust and smooth motion with my wrist as the axis. Does that make sense? Once I figured out how far I could reach and keep the line steady, a bigger range opened up and I was able to get this done clean and faster.
Amazingly, after lining this, I've inadvertently sped up my entire outlining process for every subsequent tattoo. Nice!
The finished tattoo will be completed with muted colors. Think earth tones. But we'll fill the circle frame with bright, overbearing colors. Andy is a perfectionist, so he actually took home a copy of the outline and is using it as a page to color... you know, to show me ideas.
You can read more about stencil mishaps on this piece and application in the original post.
Special Ops - FOB2
For whatever reason, tattooing flat objects is harder for me to wrap my head around. I have to constantly think about the flat final product in my head. Whereas usually I have a dimensional product that stays constantly in my mind. Then I just slowly render to try and achieve it. (which I have yet to effectively do, but that's a whole different post).
I don't usually create a detailed rendition, but I knew I was needing some help. Read the original post, which explains a condensed version of the creation process here.
A locket
This lady was recently engaged. So she got a locket with a keyhole on her side. And her fiancé got a key on his wrist at the same time. The chain was relatively minute, but we'll see how it heals. Also, the drop shadow is a grey wash blended out, then I quickly went over it with some flesh tones to mute it out into the skin.
Guy and an alligator
From the October 2007 Playboy Illustration contest. The client loved this entry, and wanted it on him. I would have loved to work this bigger, but this was the selected size.
Cling to the Cross
A standard flash piece hanging on the Bluebird wall, I was happy to oblige. Playing with the wood texture was fun.
Bride of Frankenstein
I thought it might be interesting to post the original outline I used. I'm finding more and more that cross hatching, for me, is the way to go.
While tattooing the client, I was getting to know her a little and felt a change was needed. It may sound weird, but it made sense to me. The outline felt a bit dark. Solid and harsh. Both of which didn't match her personality or character. So I deciding to go for a smoother, prettier feel.
I didn't tell her that, instead I just kind of went for it.
View the original post here.
Lady with Cross
Bugpins. I like bugpins. I'm pretty sure I used an 11 (00) magnum on this. It fits in most of my 9 mag tubes and it feels like I'm using an airbrush. Well, not really. But the difference is noticeable.
I made a concerted effort to think about how the shades of grey will look when it heals. So I'll try and get a healed photo as soon as I can.
Here's the original post.
Skull - Session 01
Let it Rain
This is on my old college roommate, Jason. He's a comic artist and wanted his exact outline, but with some black and grey shading.
Pistols and Wings
One session to go! We'll be making the handles dark cherry, but the rest will be greyscale. For some reason, I really like this piece. It looks cool on her back.
Adam Hathorn outline
One of the guys in the shop, Nic, was rearing to being work on this Adam Hathorn piece. The style is fun and a bit traditional, so I was excited to have at it.
I knew the outline would take awhile, but dang. It took hours and hours. And ended up helping me feel much more confident. If it weren't for this piece, I wouldn't have been able to go at the later John Dyer Baizley arm.
I love how stuff works like that.
When we get time, we'll probably be coloring this over two more sessions.
A little Woodstock
This is small; about 2" squared
For some odd reason, I take pleasure in casting my version of what I call "standard tattoos". You know, like cartoon characters, dolphins, fairies, and anything else you may see on a bumper sticker or mud flap. (Odd, right?)
But I do. The client comes in expecting something simple. And simple isn't always easy.So the pleasure is found in reaching that goal and doing so with your touch added to it.
An underwater scene
Here's the initial sketch I sent to Bradley. I drew it out over a leg template on paper. Then, after scanning it, quickly threw in some color in Photoshop with my Wacom.
And here's the outline I used for the first day. The second day consisted of two smaller stencils of the fish shapes and the upper shark shapes. The rest was coloring.
Related links:
Free Tattoo Contest - Day 01
Free Tattoo Contest - Day 02
Tiny dove
This is small as well. While doing this dove, a really light mark/freckle/mole/whoknows started to swell and get darker. You can see it in the photo, right below the dove's eye. I knew how it looked originally, so I had to trust it would go back to the same lighter shade. That and not go over it.
I'm still learning how to respond to different skin types, blemishes, and density. It's a lot to take in.
Virgin of Guadalupe
Color Chicago skyline
This guy brought in a color photo and wanted the skyline all the way across his forearm. Obviously it was rich with orange and purple.
Star arm
This is one of a pair.
Graffiti - Johnathan
I love graffiti. In fact, I have some on my right, upper arm. Yep, on some prime real estate. So when this cover-up was presented to me, I was excited. It had been awhile since I messed around with letters, so I hit up a ton of resources and eventually came up with this.
I have to be honest. Graffiti lettering doesn't come easy for me. I sketch out a rough draft, then draw it again. I step back and find what I dislike. At that point it's usually most of it. Then I repeat the process about 10 to 15 times. Seriously. It's strenuous. And I don't have a finished product in mind with this stuff. I just keep whacking away at it.
But once I have what I like, applying it to skin wasn't as hard as I thought it might be. Because I spent so much time creating it, I knew every shape and detail before tattooing.
Then the splattered paint was a texture I pulled and created in Photoshop. That was a matter of capturing the outline then applying a bunch of little dots to simulate the effect from a distance. I've always seen dot work and love it, but had no clue the consistency required. While making the dots, I ended up resetting my needle depth in order to avoid blow outs.
An Amy Brown fairy
This is my first Amy Brown fairy. I don't personally like fairies, but absolutely love tattooing them.
Sun/Moon and Kanji
