tattoo commission

Inkdrops 029 – Alkonost Tattoo Commission

Click image to see her bigger. Alkonost || Tattoo design* for Claire This was incredibly fun to work on. Little-known fact: I drew another graphite Alkonost a few years ago for an unrealized project – it was never posted anywhere because… Well, it sucked. Having a second chance to explore the theme of one of my favorite Russian mythological creatures was pure redemption and delight – I actually want to draw more of these now, but have to work on …

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Inkdrops 024 – Robot Girl for Isabelle

I took time off painting this week to let the oil dry and to work on tattoo commissions. This one is for a patient, lovely Canadian who first contacted me well over a year ago, but was lost in the email abyss. She initially wanted something heavily biomechanical yet feminine. When I began to draw though, inspiration kept shoving me back to the minimalicious autoreids in Ergo Proxy and the iconic cyborgs in Bjork’s All is Full of Love video. Fortunately, …

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Inkdrops 022 – Heartless Crest Tattoo Commission

A few weeks ago I was asked to create a custom, detailed, feminine take on the Heartless symbol from the Kingdom Hearts video game (click here to see what the original looks like). I took inspiration from medieval etchings of crests for this project, so the research was fun, especially when I came across the occasional griffin or unicorn hidden in swirling filigree. The inspiration was purely visual, though, as actual crests usually include banners, mottos and other specifics. My finished …

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Inkdrops 021 – Tattoo Commission: Spooky Mermaid

Just about done with a piece for a UK client, who asked for a spoooky mermaid. She’s going to reside on the right side of the client’s torso. This was fun to work on; I hadn’t drawn a mermaid –subject of countless childhood sketches– in ages. I wanted to create something a little different from the countless existing interpretations of the subject, so research was a big part of this process. This piece by Waterhouse and this one by Harry …

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Inkdrops 020 – Tattoo Commission: Tentacle Villainess

Just finished this up yesterday and am fairly pleased with it. A peek into my tattoo design process: it’s going on the client’s upper arm, so I requested a photo of the exact area and created a digital mockup before drawing anything – the idea here is that the piece will cover most of the upper arm and the legs and filigree will wrap around a bit. The mockup is too hideous to show you, though. Below are two possible …

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