Contemporary Tattoo Design

Aswell as exploring the origins, history and traditional meanings tattooing I also want to explore the modern day and contemporary tattoos. I came across a website listing an array of different modern tattoos which I became very drawn to.

http://www.awwwards.com/contemporary-tattoos-and-their-inspiration.html

I really enjoyed this tattoo design above, by artist Brezinski Ilya from Saint Petersburg. It's very clever in the sense it is one big piece but on two separate elements. Something which I find very interesting and wish to explore further within my own work, as I think it adds interest and is something not that common within the art world. It develops and pushes what you can dow with just one piece of art. 

Here is Ilya's Behance which holds a huge range of art he has created for the purpose of tattooing.

https://www.behance.net/Brezinski_Ilya

Another artist I found from this page is Vaigirdas Kofy, whos art I really enjoy. Kofys art is all very semetrical, combining a lot of different elements and designs together for one piece. Semetrical art is something I have already looked at with previous works I have created and plan to continue that element in my work.

I also like the use of mandalas used in Kofys work, something I have not looked at previously but may experiment with them in my own work and see how they turn out.

Here is a link to Kofys instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/vaigirdas_kofy/

After doing some research into contemporary tattoo design, I created some of my own ideas and designs in the sketchbook. Using techniques such as dotting to create shadow, similarly used in the tattoo industry. 

I also developed one design digitally, into illustrator to see how it would transfer digitally. 

The design did translate well, although it isn't a strong enough concept on its on. To be a more effective design, there would need to be more added to it. 

Trying it out...

I came up with a really simple obvious design based on the research I had done surrounding Sailor Jerrys tattoo designs. I created it in illustrator based of the symbols for death, using the quote 'death or dishonour'. A bold, simple yet striking quote used within the sailors as the ventured through the challenging seas.

I kept the style very simple, using clean black outlines and keeping to a simple grey toned palette. I plan on pushing this design further in the future and combining it with other designs, eventually creating a bigger design with lots of smaller elements and meanings to it. 

I also hope to look into what kind of colour palettes where traditionally used although I think I'd like to keep these designs simple in regards to colour. 

I would also like to incorporate some of my own style and techniques I have used in the based to help add more interest to the designs.

Sailor Jerry Documentry

Documentary about the history of Sailor Jerry and the reasons and meanings behind his work.

Sailor Jerry

http://sailorjerry.com/en/tattoos/

As sailors began travelling the world to different countries like Japan, China and the Pacific Islands which all have great tattoo cultures. These western sailors became accustomed to these tattoos, then began tattooing themselves as a memory of their journeys.

The invasion at Pearl Harbor became a leave destination for millions of servicemen, which was also the home to the tattoo shop owned by former Navy man called Norman Collins, aka Sailor Jerry.

• 'Jerry combined vivid color, bold iconography and sheer artistic ambition to create a new kind of tattooing. He was also the first Westerner to correspond with and learn directly from the great Japanese tattoo masters. He mastered their techniques and vowed to “beat them at their own game” — which he did by combining their techniques with his own gusty American sensibility to come up with a new style of tattooing. Refined, bold and iconic. Sometimes beautiful.'

• 'By the 50’s and 60’s, Americans getting tattoos included the most aggressive elements of counterculture, outlaw biker gangs, convicts and others without the desire or expectation to “move up” in society.'

• 'By the late 70’s and early 80’s, getting aggressively tattooed and pierced became a mark of punk culture’s disdain for conformity and social mobility.'

• 'Jerry's flash designs remain wildly popular at tattoo shops everywhere. And the union of boldness and complexity Jerry achieved with his work continues to be a hallmark of the form.'

Flash symbol meanings within the sailor tattoo culture;

 Secure, keeps you grounded.

 Death - warriors, mercenaries and adventurers. 'Death or Dishonor' 'Rats get fat while brave men die'.

 Inspired by the Japanese tattoo masters, exotic ghosts.

Eagles - symbolic of America, honour, prowess and intelligence

 Panther - ferocious and masculine.

Hawaii - peace/paradise on earth.
Sailor Jerry also known for is Hulu girl.

 Hearts - love/featured names of a loved one or 'mum'.

 Lucky 13 - flips a bad luck symbol on its head, displays Jerrys sense of humour also.

 Military - symbols togetherness within the platoon etc.

 Nautical Star - represents the north star which sailors typically use as navigation. The star was believed to help keep the sailor on course.

 Pig and Rooster - when a ship wrecked the wooden cages the roosters and pigs where kept where used as a floatation device. Traditionally sailors got a rooster on top of the right foot and a pig on top of the left.

Pin up Girls - these designs would be the only feminine object a sailor would see for months.

Sharks - courage and will.

 Shellback - a sailor was awarded with this tattoo when they had crossed the equator.

 Ships - adventure and meaning, determination to be 'homeward bound'.
















Snakes - potency and power, warding off evil, misfortune and possible brawls. King cobra was Jerrys most tattooed snake.

Swallows - indicating a sailor has sailed over 5000 miles, also associated with the idea of return.

Chris Rainier

Chris is a well renowned documentary photographer, focusing on endangered ingenious cultures. Some of the pictures he took highlight the tattooing these tribes take part in, which is something i feel would be relevant to my research and helpful towards creating my own designs. Below are some of my favourite images Chris took, all taken from his website;

 http://www.chrisrainier.com/#s=0&mi=1&pt=0&pi=1&p=-1&a=0&at=0

Modern Day Tattooing

I found a very informative article discussing how tattooing has become so popular in the recent years and what the most popular designs and ideas are to the customers.

http://www.dw.com/en/getting-under-the-skin-of-tattoo-cultures/a-16583850

• 'In Western society, tattoos have never been more popular. In fact, social researchers say that Generation Y – that includes people that have been born from the mid 1980s until the 2000s - are the first generation in which tattoos have become mainstream.'

The fact tattooing has become so popular and is a current trend means following these designs and ideas, using as inspiration will help keep my work/designs relevant to the current market. Which is what I have been wanting todo since the start but now I will have some more concentrated direction in my art.

• 'The word tattoo actually comes from the Samoan word 'tatau', which means 'to mark''

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mik-thobocarlsen/how-tattoos-went-from-sub_b_6053588.html

• 'Twenty five years ago, tattoos were actually quite common... on sailors, prison inmates, and members of tough motorcycle gangs'

As well as tribal history regarding tattooing I also want to look into other historical forms of tattooing such as with the sailors, prison inmates and motorcycle gangs. As I think these designs may be more appealing to the current trends and customers. 

• 'The moment tattoos stepped into society's limelight can be pinpointed to a very specific event: the launching of the first popular tattoo TV show, "Miami Ink". A legendary shop on South Beach, "Miami Ink" housed a unique mix of talented and charismatic tattoo artists'

New Direction

After continuing research into the current trends available in the current fashion industry, in regards to graphic design illustration particularly on tshirts. I noticed a lot of the designs looked similar to tattoo designs, this brought me into the history of tattooing and the vast symbolism within the tattoo culture.


I read an article about The Kayabi, tribes who live in the amazon rainforest in Brazil and the history of the reason they have been tattooing for hundreds of years.

http://larskrutak.com/the-kayabi-tattooers-of-the-brazilian-amazon/

I took some quotes from the article that are of interest and relevent to the reasons behind the tattooing;

• 'Some groups tattooed for medicinal purposes or to ward away evil spirits; others etched designs into their bodies to show success in battle or to venerate or imitate the mythic cultural heroes of the past. Still more attempted to transform themselves into predatory animals or gain spiritual guardians with their ritual markings, while others believed that their ancestral marks transformed “girls” into “women” and “boys” into “men.”'

• 'Still more tattoos could provide their wearers with specific powers attributed to the spirits that were embodied in them. For example, a frog placed on the shoulder or arm was related to a group of spirit masters in the lineage of the frog that are protective in nature. Moreover, great Kayabi warriors wore jaguar tattoos on their foreheads or had two jaguars tattooed upside down beneath their eyes called towaja’wat so that they could hang from trees or jump on their “human” prey without injury. To be tattooed in such a way not only gave you great status amongst your peers, but it was also believed that your behavior would change after receiving the tattoo because you became more “jaguar-like.”'

I also had a look into the Mayan culture, as they have a vast array of symbolic symbols and spiritual connections to certain animals which they use in their art.

https://rattatattoo.com/mayan-tattoos-combine-tribal-spirituality-with-body-art/

• 'Mayan designs often included animals such as eagles, jaguars and snakes. Each of these animals is a totem animal, meaning that it has spiritual meaning to human beings. Eagles are a symbol of power, foresight, flight and ferocity. Jaguars are a symbol of strength, stealth, agility and great hunting skills. Snakes and serpents were associated with the sky and spirituality and were often depicted with wings in Mayan art. The distinctly Mayan art style looks great in tattoo designs either as a simple, outlined glyph or a color tattoo with shading.'

http://www.ancient-symbols.com/mayan_symbols.html

• Jaguar - god of the underworld, symbolic of darkness and the night sun, representation of leadership, control and confidence. Strength, ferocity, power and valor.
• Eagle - focus, mental acuity, awareness, keen judgement, powefull communication and inspiration. Ruler of the sky, freedom, mental liberation, protection, authority, control, unity of cooperation.
•  

http://www.crystalinks.com/mayanhistory.html

• 'The Mayans are regarded as the inventors of many aspects of Meso-American cultures including the first calendar and hieroglyphic writing in the Western hemisphere'

Although I don't enjoy the Maya art as much as the Kayabi tribes, they do have a huge amount of symbolism and spiritual beliefs which could still be filtered into my own designs.

I want to continue to explore traditional tattooing and symbolism within the designs and then go on to create my own designs with reference to the traditional work. Then eventually implement them onto apparel.

Freelance work continued..

I created some work for the gym organisation wanting some new t shirt designs. I stated the brief in the previous post as they want a design relating to comic book/stereotypical 'nerd' culture/video games but still obviously relating to the gym and working out. So the following ideas is what I have come up with initially although I still plan to push these ideas further, after waiting for feedback from the client.

This brief is quite restricting, creativity wise, which has been an issue for me and something I have had to work hard with to try and come up with some ideas that the client may be looking for.

Continuing the new style

I continued experimenting with this new style and idea I have been doing, exploring what different shapes I can create from different animals and horns. I also want to make these designs possibly relatable to the modern culture, hence why I added a fedora. I want to continue playing around with these ideas and see what I can come up with.

Trying out new things..

Inspired by Mike Spiers, I decided to bring a range of images together, as reference to help create my own design.

I created this in Illustrator, using the pen, paint and line tool primarily to create the shapes and outlines. I wanted to keep it simple, so stuck with an off black colour as I believe black/white images come across as the most striking and effectively translate the shapes and lines.

I then added some colour to the drawing, I wanted to keep it to a low range palette with muted grey tones as the base.

I'm really pleased with how this piece came out and hope to continue to work on this style of work and develop my skills and hopefully produce more intricate designs.

I also want to look deeper into different cultures, in order for my designs to have more direction and meaning.