 |
| Blink....pen and ink |
 |
| tattoos |
Serious artists have a portion of their resumes dedicated to permanent collections. It goes without saying that there is prestige associated with which institutions, businesses and individual collectors appear under this category. But what about tattoos? Pretty permanent. Pretty serious. I mentioned a while ago that I was doing line-work for a couple of tattoos....one for a friend Zach and one for my son Nate. Zach chose a meaningful quote for his. The calligraphy was rendered using a copperplate nib on fairly rough paper. The quote was then blown up in size in order to increase the imperfect and aged quality of the writing. That blow-up was then reduced in size as a template for the tattoo artist. Nate chose an owl named "Blink" that resides at Quail Hollow in Hartville, Ohio. I worked from a photograph and worked many editions in order to get the line-work just right....it was difficult as just a few changes seemed to alter the overall appearance in surprisingly striking ways. The owners of the tattoos seemed to be much more relaxed than me. At any rate....the art lives on.
 |
| Blink....pen and ink |
Making art of any kind requires lots and lots of aesthetic choices. The more we work in the same manner, in the same medium(s), the easier the choices become. We know instinctively which decisions will result in the effects we desire, probably because we have made incorrect choices in the past. Recently, I was asked to design a tattoo. Line art, using pens and ink, isn't something I spend much time doing. I worked and reworked the design, searching for the best possible line work. Is it too realistic? Is it too stylized? Do the straight lines have a communion with the organic ones? Are the darks balanced? Whoa..............a whole new series of problems, albeit good ones, to solve. "Blink" is the result.
