A tattoo

A history...

In 1991 'Otzi the Iceman'  5,300 year old male corpse (The Bronze age) who was found on the mountain border between Austria and Italy. Otzi had over 50 markings across his body, from head to foot. On closer inspection, these markings were not from ink but from what is believed to be charcoal, perhaps where a cut or wound to the skin had occurred, either deliberately or accidentally at first and charcoal then rubbed into the skin, leaving a permanent mark to the skin. 

Also in 1948 Russian archaeologist Sergei Rudenko excavated a number of tombs on the border of Russia and China, here he discovered mummies around 2,400 years old (The Iron age). These mummies from the Siberian Pazyryk tribe displayed animal tattoos on their skin. These markings are thought to have been made with fine needles, a deliberate decoration of the skin. The images found are thought to be two deer, a mountain goat, beasts, fish a monsters with many of these decorations intertwined. 

In 1891,the mummified remains of Amunet, a Priestess of the Goddess Hathor, at Thebes who lived around 2160 BC and 1994 BC. This female mummy displayed  tattoos of lines and dots across her body, these  patterns formed abstract shapes. This art form is believed to have been restricted to women , and usually associated with ritualistic practice.

The Egyptians are thought to have spread the practice of tattooing throughout the world. The pyramid-building third and fourth dynasties of Egypt developed international relations with Crete, Greece, Persia, and Arabia. By 2,000 BC the art of tattooing had stretched out all the way to southeast Asia. The Ainu (western Asian nomads) then brought it with them as they moved to Japan.

The earliest evidence of tattoos in Japan are found on clay figurines that display painting to the faces and marking across the figures. The oldest figurines of this kind were collected from tombs dated around 3,000 BC . These figurines served as representations of the living who symbolically accompanied the dead on their journey to the afterlife, and it is believed that the tattoo marks had religious and magical significance.

Japanese tattoo artists used colour  and imaginative designs. The classic Japanese tattoo is a full body suit.

Polynesian tattoo art is thought to have been the most skilful of the ancient world. The people believed their life force, spirit,  their 'Mana' could be communicated on their skin through body art. Geometrical designs would be added too throughout a lifetime to eventually cover the entire body. 

Tattoo art spread across the world and remains a strong and fashionable form of expression today. Current, successful tattoo artists:  

Modern tattoo artist influencers...

Mira Mariah: Loose and free fine black lines, a pen sketch nature. Her designs are inspired by the female body....

Pony Wave: True to life illustrations using accurate colours, nature inspired colours. Bold and beautiful. 

Sasha Unisex: Graphic design in style. Simple representations. Basic bold colouring. 

Amanda Wachob: Abstract. Bright. Striking. 

The brief: 

'A friend has asked you to design a tattoo for them based on the word mum. He would also like you to make it into a greeting card that he can send his mother'. 

Brainstorm: 

From here, I liked the words 'centre', 'roots' and 'growth'. 

In my personal work, my illustrations are inspired by nature. This is where my own work always starts. Using these words as inspiration I looked for something I could work with. Flourishing beautifully at the moment are these yellow poppies. Working with a large black sheet I sketched out some ideas. 

Sketches inspired by the nature around me: Bluebells, Forget me knots, the yellow poppies and an oak sapling...

Also in my personal work, I enjoy including a narrative. Whilst sketching the yellow poppies I used the words 'the sun came out'. This thought works perfectly with 'mum' being the centre, the sun. 

Thumbnails: 

I started off with two thumbnail sketches for the poppies, however I also included two observation sketches of the poppy from different angles. 

Focusing on my thought of mum: 'the sun came out'', the sun, the centre, roots, growth and flourish I continued with the yellow poppy to complete my finished design. I added a pastel colour for the bright yellow of the flower, and also a blue for its surroundings. The ideas was to make the yellow poppy appear as if it was the sun in the sky. 

Final design:

For a delicate affect, I used pastels over  my sketch. 

REFLECTION: 

It was really interesting to research tattoo artists. I was blown away at the artistry, the beauty in the modern designs - complete works of art in their own right, a skill. All of the examples I studied have been inspired by nature so I felt the best way forward to follow nature whilst designing my own. Nature inspires my personal work, so to work out doors with my own narrative felt natural. 

I feel my design remains true to the words I wanted to focus on and would make a pretty mothers day card too. Perhaps it would be interesting to see how the design worked out using a different media, perhaps acrylic to offer a bolder look. 


Reference: 

National Geographic
https://www.tribalbodyart.co.uk/body-art-history
https://www.cosmopolitan.com/style-beauty/beauty/g21273233/best-tattoo-artists-instagram-accounts/

Artists: Pony Wave, Mira Mariah, Sasha Unisex.