Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Mucha Woman






It is no exaggeration for me to say that this was one of the most demanding outlines I've ever done.
Mucha is one of my favorite artists of all time, and I always love the opportunity to do one of his pieces.
One thing I forget every time however, is just how difficult it can be to turn them into tattoos.
Most Mucha tattoos that I've seen are always simplified or streamlined in some way.  They can still be beautiful and have a great flow, but they are not truly representative of his drawing style.
I feel that to really do justice to this great artist and designer, you need to really get into his head and do the thing as it was drawn.
Even getting a good line drawing from the original print was a challenge (as a lot of the lines are actually thinner than a normal pencil can even draw), so I find myself with a copy of the original taped to my lamp the whole session, constantly looking back and forth between it and the tattoo.
It's mostly single needle throughout, with certain boldness here and there to give it that line depth that I love about his work.
P.S.  This is only one of three women scheduled for this arm...

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