I didn't want to get too ahead of myself, i bought the magazines to use as sources to give me ideas for my drawings. I went back to researching the industry of drawing tattoo designs and decided that actual tattooing would have to be something to do in the future. In the magazines that i had i saw a few adverts for tattoo books that tattoo shops would buy and have on display in the shop. The term for the drawings inside was "tattoo flash". I thought i was onto something here and was going to find out how to create the quality images i wanted by learning "tattoo flash" but as it turns out my research showed that this is just a fancy name for a drawing.

However i did find one very very inspirational artist named "BOOG". He has one book named "from the streets with love" that i have seen in a few different tattoo shops and i would love to be able to compile a book of tattoos together similar to his. Obviously his is hundreds of pages thick and has several drawings on each page, for this brief i would like to produce just a few finished pieces, either printed and mounted on a wall or if i produced enough pages, bound into a book.

These are some examples of work by BOOG.

I had been searching on the web for hours and days looking for inspiration. I did find bits and pieces and some tattoo artists have really inspired me and made me realize just how detailed and professional tattoos can get. However i decided that i needed some real paper sources eg books , magazines.

I did already own a few tattoo magazines as i have been an enthusiast for a while now, but i needed some fresh ideas and inspiration. I went round every newsagents and supermarket i could think of in the area that i live in and bought all the different tattoo magazines i could find (another thing i learnt is that tattoo magazines are not cheap!).

These are the magazines that i bought. "tattoo collection" focused on close up images of tattoos on skin, it comprised of mainly smaller tattoos. The name of the artists and which shop they worked in was clearly labeled on each tattoo.

"tattoo life" focused on tattoo conventions in london and longbeach, it had interviews wish specific artists and shops and also had a section on asian tattooing in the 19th and 20th century.

"tattoo energy" icluded photos of many different tattoos again clearly labeled by the name of the artist and the shop they worked in, it also had interviews with specific artists. I found the labelling system very helpful as i could come across a piece i liked and find the artists or shop's website and research them in more detail.

"total tattoo" seemed to have the most high quality tattoos included. There is an extensive interview with an artist called Robert Hernandez who has inspired me to get further and further into the tattooing industry. I knew i enjoyed drawing tattoos and coming up with designs but i was unsure whether or not i wanted to persue it further and actually become a tattoo artist. His work and others featured within these magazines have made me want to become a full tattoo artist.

These are some examples of work by Robert Hernandez.

This is what i have so far........
These are all the images i have drawn so far. The old school classic 8 ball and playing cards tattoo design i think could work as a tattoo but needs smartening up. I think some parts are a bit rough but it could be re-worked and prove to be a successful design. The second design is also drawn in a bit of a rough style but i think it works. I drew up a traditional pin-up girl added some roses and a kind of japanese inspired background. I like the layers of this tattoo and i think its a good starting point to get me used to more complex designing without getting too ahead of myself.

The second pin-up design is probably my favorite design so far. I think i have captured a classic tattoo feel with this design and it is something that could realistically be tattooed. The demon i have also drawn was an image that i found when i was researching for artists with similar styles to that of Casey Howard. It was a tattoo on somebody's body so i drew it up and altered parts of it just to give me a bit of practice and get me back into drawing.

Basically what i have decided so far is that i want to get back into illustrating and learn new skills to create a higher quality/standard of illustration. I felt like i had to begin drawing to get going with the brief and maybe find some direction.

I just began trying a simple portrait drawing of myself from a photo to see how rusty i was.




All the way through this illustration i didnt feel like i was into it, i knew that it was not up to the standards of the illustrations i used to create and i felt like i struggled with the actual techniques aswel as concentration and focus on the piece. I wanted to try a different style of illustrating straight away.

I wasnt sure if i wanted a different subject/focus to draw from or whether it was the techniques i was using so i began researching further into different types of illustrations that appealed to me.

I researched old school and new skool art to see what images would appear and maybe find out what style of illustrating i wanted to fit into. I also looked back at Casey Howard's work and tried researching images of demons or devils to see if it was this subject that interested me.



After searching for an hour or so i realized the images/illustrations that appealed to me most were 99% tattoos, or tattoo designs. Last year i said that i wanted to personalize this course for myself and try and find an aim to work towards and narrow down my focus. It seemed to make perfect sense as i used to spend a lot of my spare time looking through tattoo magazines and trying to plan what i wanted tattooing on myself. I also chose to analyze a text named 'Tattoo enthusiasts, subculture of figuration' for my most recent critical studies presentation. It seemed to come together for me from here and i couldn't wait to get drawing and try re-draw some tattoo designs, add my own spin on them and eventually be able to create my own tattoo designs from scratch.

These were some of the images that inspired me.

I also found these images by an illustrator named Mike Giant.

These illustrations really appeal to me. From the look of them, they seem to be entirely produced digital technology. This is not a bad thing whatsoever in my eyes, it is just one particular technique i aim to try out in the brief. I want to use a graphics tablet as I have never had chance to use one before and if I can produce an outcome similar to the standard of these illustrations it will be a box to tick off from the list of illustration techniques i wish to pursue.

I have been trying to find other artists with similar styles to Casey Howard and also been trying to research illustration techniques. During one of my research sessions i stumbled upon a webpage that had an explanation of an interesting illustration technique and an example of a piece created using this technique.

> "i take my photo, scan it into a PC and then connect that PC with a projector.
> then i just project that photo onto a special drawing board (it's an touch LCD screen that digitizes your sketch and renders a digital counterpart)
> carefully drawn the photo with the onion skin from the projector on the drawing board.

> once you're done, you'll have 2 copies, 1 will be a digital image of your sketch on Inkscape or Illustrator (got some complex methods of doing this) and the paper you just drew on.

> then play around with it and since you have a digital copy, try inking it digitally....

it's very simple, you don't need to be an artist for it... just need to know some programming, and how to hold a pencil ^^

this is similar to motion capture."

This is how the technique is explained. It is something i definitely want to try out, i would love to see if i can produce an outcome similar to the standard of these images and at the moment i am open to any suggestions of how to do so.

I know that i do have certain drawing skills already but this project (for myself) is all about developing these skills and combining them with technical skills i have yet to learn. I know a few individuals on the course have used certain computer programmes for a while and certainly know a lot more about them than myself. Obviously these people are a good source of learning and development for myself, i have already approached them and asked them to show me a thing or two on certain programmes which could be very helpful to me. Also i plan to approach the technical team within college and maybe sit in on some illustrator classes and if it is possible try and arrange a few quick one 2 one session were they can start me off with a few things they think could help and then leave me to play around and develop my skills.