A selection of healed tattoos with client's feedback included.
Floral cover-up tattoo
C. were looking to not quite a cover up but re-imagine two medium-sized abstract geometric tattoos on their bicep area. Step by step we're creating a floral sleeve. You'll find more of C. before and after photos in the Short guide for cover-up tattoos. The tattoo healed beautifully!
"Hi Natasha! It’s healing really well. Here are some pics of how’s it’s looking. I already have ideas for more botanicals on this arm."
C.
Fineline portrait of Eros and Psyche with a month healed result
S. approached me with an idea of a close-up portrait of Eros and Psyche. Drawn in a manner that mimics "single-line art". Such a great experience!
"It really did come out perfectly!"
S.
Healed Poppy flower tattoo and a floral cover-up in progress
A. wanted a couple of old tattoos partially covered up, kind of more to look as though they've been overgrown with foliage/flora. They were thinking of something that wraps around from the tattoo on their inner forearm to the one on their outer wrist. Take a look at a one-month healed photo of a poppy flower tattoo and the cover-up in progress, one more session to go! Explore the process of covering old tattoos here.
"It's been about a month, sending a couple pics of the healed tattoos! They healed super easily, very little peeling or itching. Some of the lines on the rocket faded a bit as it healed but it doesn't really bother me. I love them!!"
Beautyberry tattoo is a noteworthy botanical tattoo project I’ve done recently. T. alreday has floral piece by me, and a few months ago she came back for the next plant tattoo, a bigger one. I’m so thankful to my loyal clients! They always bring me fresh ideas. And you know me, I can’t say “No” to a custom botanical tattoo project.
Provided references
From a list of plants provided, for the main theme of the design a Beautyberry was chosen. Callicarpa americana is an ornamental plant, which has brightly colored, tightly clustered berries. An excellent choice for the tattoo, because you can play with a composition and a flow of a design.
Design drafts
T. also really wanted to incorporate a garden snail into the design. We’ve decided to make a shell match the color of berries, to bring the whole story together. I like how a purple color touch also adds depth to the picture.
A Beautyberry may have a variety of meanings, such as wisdom, preparation, dignity, seriousness, and mourning. A snail tattoo can be a symbol of rebirth, death, and even self-sufficiency. As for T., the whole tattoo idea is an ode to their childhood growing up in Miami.
Explore more botanical tattoos and available designs by me. Feel free to share your tattoo ideas, I'd be glad to make a special custom floral design for you.
I present to your attention a newcollection of tattoo designs—Vogue Tattoo Flash. Charismatic and at the same time incredibly elegant characters came off of vintage magazine art-deco covers. A series of graphic illustrations referring to the magnificent artworks of Vogue magazine. The tattoo designs are a perfect fit for both: fashion fans and lovers of floral and fine-line tattoos.
“Fashion starts from a drawing; Vogue started as an illustrated magazine,”
Once in a bookstore, I came across a great specimen from the 80s. A selection of illustrated vintage Vogue covers. When I got my hands on the book, I knew I had to create this tattoo project.
It's telling that I was attracted to those pages. Flower arrangments, beautiful graphic folds of fabrics, fine lines of ink—ideal for being embodied in someone's tattoo. I love my job! The world around us is full of inspiration, you just need to reach out.
I wanted to find common features and combine illustrations from different years and different artists into a single homage—Vogue Tattoo Flash. It was so great to go through all the pages to choose the covers that speak to me the most. Finding those little details, beautiful curves, or textures that I love so much. And was so fun to decide how to translate them to the limited color palette that I prefer. And rendering them in fine lines which you all know me for:)
As a fan of botanical illustrations and a tattoo artist based in the Bay Area, it's essential for me to share a selection of Poppy Flower tattoos. One of the most trending symbols of California state. The growing popularity of such tattoos is challenging me to work harder on the uniqueness of each design. I set a goal for myself to achieve originality for every client. As you can see, not a single tattoo is repeated.
Enjoy the selection of Poppy flower tattoos I did including CA Poppies. Each one is unique. I'd be glad to add yours to this collection.
The selection of Poppy flower tattoos I did including CA Poppies.
History
Long before the Europeans came to the “New World”, indigenous people used various preparations of the California Poppy plant for toothaches, to relieve headaches and stomach aches, as well as a sleep aid.
When the early Spanish frontiersmen of California saw slopes overgrown with Poppy flowers, they called the plant “cup of gold” (“Copa de Oro”). It is also known as the Golden Poppy and Cups of Flame. Because of the magnificent spectacle, the coast was called the “land of fire.” And a Poppy Flower became a symbol of ”True Gold is in the Heart”.
As I've mentioned earlier, the Golden Poppy has been California’s symbol for over a hundred years. However, the way Poppy got its recognition is thorny and long. It took a whole decade for Sara Allen Lemmon to achieve official acknowledgment of the poppy as a symbol of the state.
Lemmon, previously Plummer, is attributed to discovering 110 species, roughly three percent, of all known species of California’s vascular plants and has two plants named directly after her, baccharis plummerae and plummera floribunda. Lemmon and her husband had two of the genera they discovered named after them, Lemmonia and Plummera, one of the highest botanical honors to be bestowed. She also provided scientific illustrations for her husband’s books—illustrations that were so revered that she was the first woman allowed to speak to the California Academy of Science.
I encourage you to read the history of the poppy becoming the flower of the state in tribute to Sarah.
The Golden Poppy’s place as California’s state flower rests on the talent and incredible determination of Sara Plummer Lemmon. Her botanical passion and steadfastness in the face of legislative roadblocks and dismissal shows that like the Golden Poppy, she too has a rich, layered, and forgotten history. All around California, the Golden Poppy grows wild, beaming up at the sky with its satin-like petals and stored-up sunshine, radiating through its deep, golden-orange hue. Its glow serves as a reminder that it is thanks to Lemmon that the Golden Poppy has secured a permanent place in Californian history.
The flower has various meanings: eternal sleep, imagination, oblivion, avoidance of problems, remembrance, and more. Poppy expresses the power of ambition, attitude, clear thinking, higher understanding, luck, and spiritual concepts.
What a California Poppy Flower tattoo can say about an owner? Poppies are popular among the public as symbolic tattoos, which are widely used to represent dreams, rest, and calmness. According to Floriography, the California Poppy flower can also be regarded as a declaration of love. As well as a memento about California.
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.
These botanical tattoo designs are of plants that grow in an imaginary Secret Garden. Maybe this garden belongs to a witch, who knows. Because you can find all sorts of dangerous & poisonous plants there, as well as healing herbs.
I created these botanical tattoo sketches for Inktober, an art marathon when each day of October you get a word to draw. I decided to unite them with the theme of Secret Garden. It was definitely a challenge to try to come up with an illustration for a word like "Roasted" or "Guarded". And so that it would be a plant drawing. Once I even dived into the Victorian language of flowers, Floriography.
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Every one of these plants has a story or an interesting fact behind them. For example, did you know that Carl Linnaeus created a Flower Clock? He hypothesized a garden plan that would take advantage of several plants that open or close their flowers at particular times of the day to accurately indicate the time. He proposed the concept in his 1751 publication Philosophia Botanica, calling it the Horologium Florae (lit. "flower clock"). The idea was attempted by several botanical gardens in the early 19th century, with mixed success. Many plants exhibit a strong circadian rhythm, and a few have been observed to open at quite a regular time, but the accuracy of such a clock is diminished because flowering time is affected by weather and seasonal effects.
I used Procreate app for this project. It was so much fun to recreate a pencil drawing look. Some of these botanical tattoo illustrations were later drawn again, but that time on real paper with colored pencils. Subscribe to my mail list not to miss a process video of creating them I'm gonna post later.
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.⬇
