The Drawing Designing Tattoo Art Creating Masterful Tattoo Art from Start to Finish by Fip Buchanan, Marc Balanky

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A Cohesive Background Ties Unrelated Elements Together Theclientwantedatrucktattooedonhisinnerarm.This particular truck was the ...

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Reference Photos Aid Design Onhisouterarm,theclientwantedanAmericaneagle holdingaPurpleHeartandanAirborneinsignia,both ofwhichhi ...

From Rough Sketch to Finished Concept Thiswasanotherfamily-orientedpiecewiththeclient’s personal icons used for the tattoo. He b ...

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Sketching and Placement Tattooingisdifferentthandoingotherartworkbecause youdon’thaveadefinedborderlikewithotherartwork. Thereis ...

that you’re happy with your composition before you commitittocanvas,orabody.Noamountofdetailing, color or othertricks can hidea ...

First Attempt This is thefirst attempt at a tiger composition for a client’s back.Apicture wastakenand printedout on regularpape ...

Second Attempt Theseconddrawingshowscoveringthelettering,andto theupperleftthethreecirclesindicatewherethe“hear no,speakno,seeno ...

Third Attempt Thisdrawingwastheonethatwasdecidedon,withthe tigerinamoredynamicpose,thehead twistingback, andbambooasfillerandcov ...

Tattoo Drawn Directly Onto Skin Thedecisionwasmadetodrawthetattoodirectlyonto theskin priortotattooing insteadofusingafull-scale ...

istransferredtostencilandthenappliedasacoverup hardlyeverworksbecauseit’sjustaboutimpossibleto makeitfitperfectly.Thefinalsketch ...

Outlined Themaintattooisoutlinedandallthebalckisdoneon the tiger. The Final Result Thecompletedtattoo,including thebamboo.Asecon ...

furthermasktheoldSinnertattoo.Itwasdecidedearly on to leave the tattoo in the upper center. ...

Keys to a Good Composition Drawingaminiatureofthedesigncanbeausefultoolin composition.Itsavestimeandyoucanknockoutseveral thumbn ...

Flow: Go with the natural contours of the body. This is especially important with background. Points of Interest: Make sure the ...

Basic Outline for a Composition Thisoutlinedrawingshowsthebasicshapeandflowofa full arm tattoo.It follows thenatural contours of ...

foregroundelementssuchascherryblossoms,birdsor anything associatedwith wind and be assured that it would flow or move correctly ...

Full Sleeve Composition Afullsleevelaidout.Noticehowthedesignfollowsthe basic shape illustrated in theprevious sketch. This is h ...