Whether you believe in them or not, Astrology, Horoscopes and star signs are associated with some pretty cool imagery. This series of flash sheets was a fun challenge to create new images associated with each sign. I tried to infuse my own cheesy sense of humor in where I could and overall I’m really happy how all 12 look together.
Thanks for checking them out! Leave a comment down below telling me what your sign is, and which sheet is your favorite!
It’s been almost 10 years since I’ve carved a pumpkin for Halloween. I couldn’t believe that when I decided to pick up a pumpkin at the grocery store this year and thought about that last time I felt the squish of pumpkin guts.
Over the years I have carved several pumpkins with and without the help of my dad and my sister. One year my dad carved a portrait style design of our family basset hound, Norm, while my sister and I did simpler designs. Drawing my own design has always been my favorite part about the pumpkin carving process.
This year a design popped into my head during my morning commute to the shop. A high contrast dark haired woman’s face! I chose Vampira to be my reference material and then on I went.
I found the process to be extremely similar to tattooing. I made and sized a stencil, transfered the design, and then I had to just commit to carving! I was careful, and confident in my choices, and I think I did a great job. I am very proud of how this project came out and I would like to make this a new tradition for the Halloween season.
Check out the photos of my process and of course the obligatory rotten phase picture.
Happy Halloween!
Sarah
Recently I underwent the process of cleaning out my iPad of old drawings and I found the work from when I first started practicing tattoo style flash drawings. One of the first “sets” I made was a beach themed sheet with seashells, a surfboard and a seahorse. I decided to re-do the same designs to directly see how much my style and approach has changed. It’s only been 3 years, but it feels like so much longer when I think about the person I was back in 2016 when I put these ideas down. These drawings reveal the change in my understanding of the tattoo style, and the importance of black vs skin tone. The clamshell design in particular showcases my improved drawing ability very well!
I’d like to go back and revisit more of my older work and see my improvement like this! I wonder where I’ll be in the next 3 years.
If you want to see more drawing before and afters let me know in the comments.
All of these updated designs are available to be tattooed as well.
The first tattoo I ever did was on myself— a cute pink bow right above my right knee. Because I did not apprentice in a traditional street shop, finding my first few clients was more difficult that I anticipated, so I ended up practicing on myself a lot.
Fast forward 3 years, and I have completely covered both of my thighs, as well as a large portion of my lower leg. I have always had an ‘if I can reach it, I will tattoo it’ attitude which has turned a few random tattoos here and there on my leg into solid, complete work. My right leg is almost sleeved, and my left leg is close behind.
A lot of people ask me “How is it tattooing to yourself?!” and my answer for that is it’s a lot easier than you might imagine. In a lot of ways I think it’s easier than working on someone else because I am in total control. If it hurts too much, I can stop and take a break, and I can brace myself better. I know what I need, and I know what I want it to look like, so it’s (almost) a pleasure to work on myself because I always cooperate. The focus it requires to tattoo tends to dull the pain as well, at least for me it does.
As you may know already, I attended The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) for 1 year before I left to pursue tattooing. I get a lot of questions about my experience so I wanted to go more in depth here.
In high school when I was applying for colleges, I felt extremely overwhelmed with the process and weight of my decision, (and I would not recommend doing what I did). I only applied to 3 expensive art schools, and didn’t understand the reality of loans. I had intended to apply to some state schools and “safety” schools, but once I had been accepted into SAIC, my mind was made up and I blew off applying anywhere else because I wanted to be in Chicago. I ended up choosing SAIC in Chicago over The Pratt Institute in New York City. I had spent a week at SAIC the previous summer for a figure drawing class which I thought of as a test run for college. I ultimately chose SAIC because I was so familiar with the area and the school. I had walked around the Pratt campus briefly on a family trip to New York before, but had never set foot inside the buildings or spoken to any of the staff or students.
While I did pick up a few new skills at SAIC, my overall experience felt lacking. I had expected to learn the ins and outs of oil painting, and how to construct a sculpture, but instead the focus of all of my classes was the message behind the art. The emphasis of a story, or ‘deeper meaning’ behind a piece was placed higher than the overall quality and craft. I value art that has a statement behind it, but I had been under the impression that going to art school would be more execution based learning. I often joked with my family and friends that I was at “fake school” because compared to my AP art class in high school, my classes were easy, and I could put little to no effort into a project and as long as I had a good speech to give, my professors were pleased. I remember a girl in my class presented an old high school art project at a final critique and literally made up a meaning and the teachers ate it up. It was obviously frustrating to see some of my classmates pass off old projects they did in high school as new work because they had spent the night drinking instead of working, and get away with it.
SAIC was a very relaxed school— probably too relaxed for me. There were no grades, everything was pass/fail, you could create your own schedule, and you never had to declare a major. Looking back, maybe this just wasn’t the right school for me, and maybe there is such thing as a more structured, technique based art school, but SAIC was not what I was looking for.
I had always wanted to tattoo since I saw LA Ink on TV, but all I knew about the industry was that show, and my brief experience of getting my first tattoo when I was 17 with my mom’s permission. Tattooing was very mysterious to me, and I felt like an outsider with no way in.
My parents have always been very supportive, and when they heard I was unsatisfied at SAIC they urged me to take some time off of school to search for a tattoo apprenticeship. At first I was unsure because I didn’t want to ‘give up’ on college even if it was a fake college. It took some time, but it all worked out in the end, and while I am glad that I was able to experience art school, I’m even happier that I dropped out to do what I really wanted to do.
The Gallery below is some of my projects from my time at SAIC
