InnaLex

[InnaLex]

@Munken wrote:

That’s a piece of pig skin… ;)

Prettiest pig skin I ve ever seen…

[InnaLex]

@Ramenuzumaki wrote:

Whether you’ve been here a day or a decade you have the same rights as everyone else. If welcoming new comers keeps you active, then by all means, haha.

Welcome :3

:D

[InnaLex]

@Infamous wrote:

Welcome!

And as far as I’m aware there are no rules that say you can’t greet newcomers unless you’ve been here a while lol.

Its never too late to start your journey, look at guys like Bob Tyrrell, he didn’t start tattooing until he was in his 30’s as well

Unwritten rules maybe? Lol… just felt cheeky, I have only been here a week…

I had a crazy notion I was too old for stuff since I was 15, its about time I gave myself a slap and got on with it, too much time wasted over thinking and worrying…

[InnaLex]

@ouatever wrote:

Hi guys ! I’m an 40 years old and new in the place. I practice tattoo for few months and working very hard cause I’m not young to start a new pro life !
Sorry for my bad english….

Its probably not my place to say welcome as I am myself very new here, but as I am also just starting out and am in my 30’s I feel compelled to say hi! :D

Are you currently in an apprenticeship?

[InnaLex]

@Jbeaufosho wrote:

Oh shit man that’s crazy! It never occurred to me there was an age difference. No disrespect intended. It’s a term I use on people of any age anyway though. As far as the ship idea that’s another great one. So you obviously understand the gist of what the subject matter is supposed to be like. Which believe it or not is a huge part of it. Keep it simple on the ship. Don’t try to cram too much shit in there. Do nice clean sails that obviously comprises 80% of the image. Pay special attention to how you shade the sails. There’s a right way to do them. Study some nice ones you like. Check mine out. Anyway good shit man.i Wanna see pics when it’s done. I love to see someone interested in traditional.

Also as far a the swallow rose situation I would put the roses around the banner at the bottom and the swallows up top. Just two facing each other above the ship. Maybe some clouds. But that’s just me. The way you said could definitely work if done right. Be carefull when you shade the roses. Not too much not too little. And odd numbers when it comes to the leaves on the roses (Trust) And don’t use goofy looking swallows. You want them nice and clean. Not too cartoony.
Oh and you asked what I use for color? I use prismacolor colored pencils for all of those. I love them. You can do so much with them. I use the big round ones. Not those verithin bullshits. The lead is softer on the bigger ones and you can get darker more vibrant colors with
Them.

Ha ha! Its not a problem at all and none taken! With all your help you can call me whatever you want! I just did not want you thinking you were talking to someone very young (I wish I was!) when I am not :D ’tis all

Thanks on the tip about the roses, I did not know that! And I was practicing some swallows yesterday and they were going a bit swirly on me… I was gonna upload the picture, but it wont let me… nevermind!

I will try and do a first try (well, second… but we wont talk about the first…) tonight and upload…

Prismacolor? I need to look into this, your colours are amazing, it wouldnt look better if done digitally!

[InnaLex]

@Jbeaufosho wrote:

Two more for good measure lol:
My life my way: http://i40.tinypic.com/29go8sy.jpg
Squares beware:
http://i44.tinypic.com/206ihz8.jpg

Sorry for the low picture quality. And some sre sideways for some reason. But hopefully that will help in some way

Great stuff! They look very traditional to me, but being a n00b suppose that don’t mean much! The second gypsy is awesome! Although the first one isnt bad either, purely from art appreciation point of view. Questions: what do you use to colour?

And the tall ship is exactly what I am going to be doing next! Well, positioning wise and the theme, it wont look exactly the same… that would be plagiarism!

[InnaLex]

@Jbeaufosho wrote:

Great job man! Considering your experience level with traditional that’s really solid work man. It was cool to see it progress. As far as both I mean I don’t think you need to but it couldnt hurt. And yeah man as far as just trying to emulate something without too much guidence you did a great job. In the traditional world it’s not exactly perfect (too hard to explain why) but its solid fucking work, it shows you got range, and that you know how to stfu and take instructions which is a HUGE part of learning to tattoo. and I think you should be proud to have it in your folio. I would love to see more of your work. As far as my stuff I couldn’t find any Indian heads I did but I have some other stuff I can show you just to give you a feel. And you were dead on with the heavy blacks. That’s fucking key to good traditional. The old timers always tell me that a good traditional Piece should lookdone with just the black shading, and then the color is like added bonus. Keep studying the masters. That was a really impressive progression from start to finish. You’re a smart kid and based on what ive seen I think you’d be well suited for an apprenticeship. Youve got a great attitude and its really refreshing to see! Good job man.

Oh and lastly I saw you mention line weight. Usually whenever possible when doing traditional you want all the lines to be the same weight. But it’s not always possible. But definitely whenever you can.

Thank you! Extremely encouraging yet again, but I would not have been able to do this without your input! So a huge thank you! I would love to see your stuff (I took too long to respond and can see now that you have posted it, going to check it out now :D ) and if you could give your opinion on future pieces, that would be amazing!

My next piece will be a navy one (another classic I believe?), I am thinking a tall ship, a ‘Homeward Bound’ banner on the bottom held by swallows and a couple of roses on the top…? Now, with these kinds of tattoos I understand that the placement is important? So are the swallows ok on the bottom and roses on top? Does the number of roses matter? I drew my first ship yesterday, but it was quite terrible, so I am not uploading it. Will have another go tonight.

Oh… and I am a late starter, hence my ability to take instruction etc as I know that time is not on my side! :D (its only cause you called it me a ‘kid’ and I am pretty certain I am few years older than you! Ha ha! I don’t mind, just don’t want to be misrepresenting! )

[InnaLex]

Thanks man! This is very encouraging! Not sure what happened with the link yesterday, but this is the finished work: http://innalex.deviantart.com/art/Headdress-429602453

I put a bold line around the outside (0.5) and thin on the inside, do you think it should be thick throughout? I might re-do this in a bit with thicker lines, placid braid and less frills, but let me know whether you think this is good enough for the portfolio as is? (can always have two in it?)

Noted about the sketches! I had a feeling this is the case, hence me posting here for opinion, I just do not want to be running to the person I will be presenting to with every sketch as I think she might just get annoyed and change her mind…

I would love to see your stuff! It would be helpful to see what you mean, if its easier, you can PM me?

Thanks again!!

So, I re did it again with your suggested amendments, thicker lines and also I have been looking at some classic traditional and they use a lot of black, so I tried incorporating that too, this is final result: http://innalex.deviantart.com/art/Headdress-2-429801611

Do you think it’s ok to include both in the portfolio, or just one? And which one? I m sorry for all these questions, but you are best help I got so far, so I am latching on! If its annoying let me know and I’ll back off! Thanks for everything so far though!

[InnaLex]

@Jbeaufosho wrote:

The Native American girl head is a good call. Very traditional, definitely a classic. As far as all the other shit, I’d scrap it. There’s a saying the old timers like to say about 10 pounds of shit in a five pound bag. Personally I would focus my attention on the head and let the piece speak for itself. I’d love to see a sketch though.

Yup, you are right, this is the sketch and its atrocious! http://innalex.deviantart.com/art/Image-429567731 She looks like a Viking! Ha… I m re-doing it from scratch and getting rid of the skull, the horns, the dream catcher and just concentrating on getting what’s left right… (No pun intended…) even to me this looks so far from traditional its painful…

Ok, so this is a new sketch: http://innalex.deviantart.com/art/Image-429576293 (dont know what happened before, was directing to the first one!) Better? Not sure about the hair, does it matter whether there is movement, or would placid braid just hanging straight down be better? I will re-do this again today, it needs clearing up, thicker line work, better details and more colour, this is just a quick guideline…

Final work here: http://innalex.deviantart.com/art/Headdress-429602453… It does not look very traditional to me… Where I am going wrong? I kept shading to a minimum and only used base colours… Does the line work have to be thicker? This is hard!

[InnaLex]

Please do ramble on! This is extremely helpful and I appreciate time taken to answer my post! I can now see that there is simply no easy way of learning about traditional tattooing and I am intrigued! In essence where my question stemmed from was the fact that I have a small opportunity of an apprenticeship towards the end of the year (I am currently travelling…) and I have until then to build a kick ass portfolio. I have planned out the works to include in it and I would like to do 3 art works done in traditional tattoo style and the tattoo artist I will be presenting to said that she would be judging on both artistic ability and understanding of the style… and although I have a shred of the first… the second is non-existent, so any help would be greatly appreciated! I thought I could just get some guidance on the internet or a book and create something fairly easily, but I can see now that it was a bit naiive of me! As you say the style demands respect and now I am terrified I will fuck it up… So my first piece of work will be a a native american girl with a animal skull and a headdress, facing forward over here shoulder, with a flower on the side and a dreamcatcher… too much? I have not really seen any traditional tattoo dreamcatchers, maybe I missed them, maybe it is not an element done traditionally, should I not include it? I will upload a rough sketch a bit later (its Australia Day today and I am being shouted at to get ready and leave the house to watch the boats!) Thank you in advance!!!

[InnaLex]

Thank you all, you make good points! I think I will leave out the machine knowledge, beyond basics until I am actually in the shop, and just continue learning what I can.

As I have now started building my portfolio, the thing I am most conscious about is traditional tattoo rules, I.e. colouring, shading, placement, combination of elements. Wherever I am looking it keeps coming up with just basic one paragraph info and reference back to Sailor Jerry and the likes… Are there any websites or books that go into a little bit more detail, or do I just draw my first draft and post here asking your good people’s opinion on whether the sketch is true to traditional old school or not?

Thanks!!

[InnaLex]

@Darkwingduck99 wrote:

Hey there Inna how’s it going. I check out the drawings and they are good work. Quick question is hard to blend in colors? And what material do you use while doing drawings in color? I’m trying to get into color drawing myself, I only use graphite pencils in mine.

I myself am new to this forum and hopefully the doors open wider in our journey threw this amazing world of art ,Tattz , and what it brings our way :D
Ight have a good one

Thanks mate! I have only just started drawing with colours as someone gave me a pack of colour pencils (Faber Castell brand) and I find the blending is pretty easy with these pencils, but I do not have much to compare with… Until now I was also drawing with graphite pencils, feltips and ball point… Although I have given up on ball point, they give up on me mid way.

Oh and welcome to you :)

[InnaLex]

@Infamous wrote:

It doesn’t matter how good you are there is always room for improvement :)

That is definitely true! If you stop improving you either no longer doing stuff or is dead…

[InnaLex]

@Infamous wrote:

These aren’t as bad as you might think.

Welcome to the forum

Thank you for the welcome and kind words! :D Lets just say there is a room for improvement… maybe a foyer!

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