Hi Tattman

You certainly have some innate talent for art and I could see you working well in a trad/flash environment.

The comments below are constructive criticism:

Shading – some of the pictures would benefit from different grade pencils to bring out the light and darker elements. Many of your swallows are some good attempts but they need more physical outlining.

There are a few wobbly lines around the facial features of your animals – nothing major but something to practice on.

Blossoms – Need to tighten up on the petals and get them more rounded.

My suggestions are this;

Draw everyday – everything and anything people, animals, cartoons, buildings. This will move you out of comfort zones and into doing stuff (which as a tattoo artist will be expected to draw and ink pretty much anything)

Tracing – Do not be afraid to get into the habit of tracing drawings along with your free-hand. By doing this hundreds of times you will be able to compose complex drawings freehand in your sleep.

In fact as an apprentice you will be expected to draw and trace stuff like flowers and blossoms until you scream at the sight of them. It trains the eye and hand to the shape of commonly requested tattoos.

Hands/paws/claws feet and faces – draw these a lot whether trace or free hand. One of the hardest things in art is doing these especially hands and feet.

I like where your art is heading and wish the best of luck to you in your career – stay with it!

Matthew

hi buddy,

i totally agree with matthew on your shading etc.
looking through the oieces within this post and the ones within your members gallery, i have to say that you will need to spend more time studying all aspects of life and still subjects, the hand is anatomically incorrect and this is something that you wil need to pay special attention to if you want to become an apprentice or an artist..

your bad points are possible to correct if you spend more time studying flash images from on the net and by keep drawing drawing and more drawing, dont be affraid of tracing, i can see from your pieces that they are copies of existing pieces of work that i recognice …. if you dont have one then i sugggest either buying or making a light box, this will aid you big time and you will never look back.

my advice would be to keep a close eye on ..

your line weight
shading
outline continuity
depth
3D

and something to watch is to study your subject closely, i noticed in two of your pieces with dice’s on that they are incorrect….. noting a dice has oposite sides that add upto 7… it sounds silly me picking you up on this admittedly, but a dice is something that you will be expected to draw or tattoo at some point, and once its in the skin its too late to change.

trace your arse off, dont be affraid of it, it aint cheeting…… i advised one person to get a kiddies colouring book and to practice colouring it like flash sheets are presented..

Hi Tattman

With regards to my own art I wish I had some to show you. Both my brother and father were artists and this is where I learned to pick up tips on what makes a composition of a picture.

I cannot draw for shit sadly and I simply did not have the patience needed to perfect my scribbles. This is why I rate artists like yourself who are not afraid to (be thrown to the wolves :D) put your work on the net for ppl to comment on. Takes iron balls.

With regards to your father – well some ppl can not seen beyond their own vision of what is ‘right’. Being an artist or creative person is never easy, as explaining the passion to non-creativecan sometimes be a hard thing.

Not to dis your grandfather but age and experience always has a way of colouring things so they are always ‘better/tougher/cheaper in my day’. Take it with a pinch of salt.

I honestly believe that they see it almost as a way to encourage you by setting a high standard and goading you to beat it.

You have innate skill – use your grandfather’s experience (as a mentor) and your time to perfect your art.

Keep drawing your arse off and you will get there.

Take Care
Matthew

that was good advice there by matthew… 😉

as for the apprenticeship…. they aint easy to come by at all, the best way is to find an artist that you like and get plenty of work done by him, watch what he is doing at all times and dont ask too many questions….
once he gets to know you then ask if its ok to hang around at weekends and help out for free with anything
even if its only making the tea’s and cleaning up., that way he will get to trust you.

once he has got to know you ask him for some critique on some of your artwork, after a little while let him know that you fancy trying to draw some pieces up for their customers and show him your potential…. he will hopefully one day pop the question and offer you a position…

if you have ever a tattoo machine, dont tell him or he might instantly take a dissliking to you. the main thing is to gain his trust and show him plenty of respect, tont be pushy and listen to everything he tells you.
if he says clean the bogs out then just do it without any quibbles..

good luck with it buddy

ps…. as for the shakes and wobbles, it could just be tired muscles in your hands, buy yourself a 1inch metal grip from ebay that we use on our tubes, place it on the pencil and practice practice practice…. it might help 😉

tracing paper is cheaper than a lightbox:)