This year I’m lucky to participate in the 4th installation of Send Me Across the Sea at Helvella.art gallery in Oakland, CA. Family-friendly small works show featuring artists from the Bay and beyond.
The story of creating the tattoo flash goes from Inktober and is inspired by Floriography, specifically by dangerous & poisonous plants. Each one has an interesting & symbolic meaning. There are few of floral designs available. Feel free to contact me and claim the design. Initially created in Procreate, some of these botanical tattoo illustrations were later drawn again, but that time on real paper with colored pencils. Which ones are now available only atSend Me Across the Sea.
At the event, it is possible to see live and take home artworks by many talented artists and including the kind organizer of the exhibition, @malisasuchanya herself. Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of such a wonderful art show.
This event was delayed since the start of the pandemic. And finally, after two years of waiting it has happened. I also participated in the previously held Send Me Across the Sea art shows. You can get a feeling how it was by watching my vlogs.
The exhibition will last two weeks! Don't miss your chance to purchase my original artwork.
Recently, I was approached by K. and D. with an interesting idea for pairing tattoos. The Star Wars inspired tattoos. Their concept is based on the love story between Princess Leia and Han Solo from Star Wars. A portrait of Leia for K. with words "I love you", and a Han Solo's blaster with "I know" for D. Also, to my great pleasure, there was room for a flower arrangement! I love how designs are different and matching at the same time.
Star Wars Inspired Tattoos – Making the Design
Check out the process of bringing an idea to life.
Final Look of the Star Wars Inspired Tattoos
HealedHan Solo's gun after first session.
The Inspiration
Working on this project I combined my favorite style and art skills. Portraits, Hair, Star Wars-inspired tattoo flash and Flowers.
Portraits.
I honed my illustrative style by drawing tons of them! Would love to do more portrait tattoos.
Hair.
You can't imagine how I love drawing hair 🙂 That's why I created these tattoo designs with just hair-dos.
Star Wars-inspired tattoo flash I have. Yes, hrrrm..
A mix of Russian folklore and Star Wars. Meet Luke-Ivan Tsarevitch and others. You can find a fairy-tale about each one by clicking on the image or read it below. All the illustrations are available as a tattoo designs.
Short descriptions of the fairytales
Leia / Alyonushka
Alyonushka – is an orphan. Her little brother doesn't listen to her, drinks water from a hoof print in mud and turns into a goatling. A king has married this beautiful girl, but a witch, who wants to take away her husband , drowns Alyonushka in a pond and becomes her. Only her little brother (the goatling) knows the truth and can save Alyonushka and himself from the evil witch.
C-3PO / Sirin
Sirin (from a greek "Σειρῆνες " ("siren")) – is an edenic bird with a woman's head. It's also depicted with another edenic bird, Alconost, but unlike that bird it sings sad songs. Sometimes these songs could hurt people (they could lose their mind). That's why in some legends, Sirin has a negative connotation and it's considered to be a dark bird, the underworld messenger.
Darth Maul / Baba Yaga
Baba Yaga – mistress of the forest, animals and birds, almighty prophetic old woman, guardian of the other world's borders. Her name is derived from a Proto-Slavic word "ęgа" representing snakes and reptiles. Baba Yaga casts spells, flies in a pounder, and ensnares good fellows and children in order to eat them. She dwells of the forest border in a hut on chicken legs, surrounded by a fence made of human bones and skulls. In ancient times the dead were buried in such little houses located above the ground on tall stumps that looked like chicken legs. A zombie grandmother lies still and can't see a person who comes from the world of the living (the living and the dead do not see each other). She finds out about a person's arrival by the smell.
Ivan Tsarevich (meaning Ivan, the King's Son) – is one of the main characters of Russian folklore. He is the youngest of three brothers. Koschey (the immortal warlock) stole his bride and in order to save her. Ivan Tsarevich needs to enter the Far Far Away kingdom (i.e. the underworld), pass many trials, and cunningly overcome Koschey.
Memorial pet portraittattoos have a special place in my heart. In addition to the Familiars project, I have accumulated a large number of works with animals.
Memorial Pet Tattoos
A simple fine line tattoo with a little bit of shading becomes a celebration of the exceptional bond between a client and their dog/cat, or even an eland. Besides being a popular tattoo choice, it is also an expression of love.
As a tattoo artist, I'm happy to share a selection of tattoo ideas for pet portraits with you. Behind every tattoo you see below there is a touching story. Each illustration is unique.
Where do I start before getting a tribute tattoo?
There are no criteria about when you can get a tattoo in honor of or inspired by your pet. A tattoo is a permanent reminder of the impact your friend had on you and also the way to celebrate their life. Take your time. Here are some pieces of advice for you.
First of all, look for a few favorite photos of your pet. Pictures can be made from a different perspective but should be of good quality.
Prepare a shortlist of details you want to be embodied in a design. It could be a heart-shaped nose or a funny-looking spot. Anything, that characterizes your pet.
Describe your Idea. Feel free to share your thoughts with me. Your cat can become a magic dragon! I'll be there to answer all your questions.
Ready for more pet portraittattoos? Check out my portfolio.
A small fine line tattoo with an original design could be your first tattoo. Looking for inspiration in Bay Area? I can prepare a custom design of a memorial tattoo specially for you. Here is an inquiry form.
It's always a pleasure to visit Explorer Tattoo Conference. The one in 2018 in Los Angeles wasn't an exception. Three days full of seminars by tattoo & art professionals, discussions, raffles with cool prizes, presents for each attendee, mingling & portfolio review. There was so much stuff in the present bag, that I thought it certainly wouldn't fit into my luggage ? Like full-size products for tattooing as a big jar of tattoo glide, a bottle of a transfer medium, cartridges and needles, etc.
All are superb professionals, have been tattooing around the world and had great stories & experience to share.
For example, Liz, DJ, and Kelly took part in different tattoo TV shows. Tony is the creator of the Walking Dead. Kari has been tattooing since 1979 and owns the oldest tattoo shop in America.
Attendees come from all over the country
and even from overseas. So it's a great opportunity to make friends with a ton of great artists, get some guest spots, and level up as a tattooer. I love meeting the same people I got acquainted with.
This tattoo conference definitely helped to move forward, to adjust, to deal with an artist block for a lot of attending people. You get out of your routine and gaze on your craft from a different angle.
Seminar topics ranged from color theory, history of tattooing, how to plan big tattoo projects to how to deal with social networks.
I try to go to Explorer at least once a year.
This was my second time. The previous one I went to was in Washington. They try to organize them in different cities several times a year, so it's available & affordable for more people.
Every October there's an art marathon. You have a list of words for every day of the month. Last year I chose to draw yokai, Japanese ghosts, and monsters. 31 supernatural tattoo sketches. They can be found on Instagram via #yokai_inktober. More about other yokai is at yokai.com.
I took classic yokai descriptions and reimagined them in a more modern way. All the sketches are closer with descriptions down below.⬇
I was invited by Malisa Suchanya to participate in the cutest group art show. Each artist could submit up to 10 pieces plus prints and accessories. There were more than 50 artists.
I painted 10 watercolors with characters from my new ongoing comic project, Fog Mushroom. Masking fluid, watercolor + salt, and watercolor pencils. Super fun ^___^
The show was a 2-day pop-up event. We (Malisa, Dianna Xu, and I) hanged everything the day before. The girls did a great job arranging all the art. Different works complemented each other in color and style.
So glad I took part in it and can't wait for the next one.
This year I took part in San Francisco Open Studios. Artists host this event each year. You can visit their studios, buy some art and have fun. Also it is the oldest and largest open studio program in the country. It showcases over 800 emerging and established San Francisco artists in their studios.
It was a great experience! Maybe because my friend Melissa Mohammadi invited other artists, whose works and personalities she liked. We shared her studio. I'm glad to meet these awesome abstract artists.
I was lucky enough to spend 3 full days of June at Explorer Tattoo Conference in Washington, DC. It is an event for professional tattoo artists who want to move our industry forward. Organized by super professionals: Teresa Sharpe (owner of Unkindness Art), Timmy B (owner NiteOwl Tattoo), Jes Farris and Jake Farris (owners of Studio 13 Tattoo), and Nathan Evans (owner of Killjoy Tattoo).
What happened there
Every day was filled with lectures and discussions by great presenters. Therefore I learnt a lot of new things on color theory, equipment, composition, visual storytelling and technique. And we even had an opportunity to be reviewed by a presenting artist. I had a nice talk with Cody Eich. Love his art so much and want to get a tattoo by him when he opens his books:)
Each attendee even got a bag full of presents: conference t-shirt, ink, aftercare, tube and needle samples, and signed print by Teresa Sharpe.
