upper back tattoo designs

upper back tattoo designs

The human back makes an ideal canvas for a tattoo artist's needles. If you are considering your first tattoo could do worse than to have it be an upper back tattoo. Why? Upper back tattoos can range from small and simple to large and elaborate, and can stand alone or be the foundations for larger and more elaborate tattoo work if you like the outcome and want to add to it. Upper back tattoos are, more often than not, covered in indoor settings so they won’t be an issue in professional environments.

Refried Artwork

"Bandito" illustration. (Click Image to View Larger)

This artwork was originally created for a sticker set I designed for a power tool manufacturer. And you can read about that creative process here. But like a good digital artist with an entrepreneurial spirit I'm re-purposing my creativity.


"Bandito" t-shirt design.

Let the fabled south of the border Bandito inspire your wardrobe with his hot pepper personality. View and or order a shirt here.


"Bandito" sticker design.

Badges? You don't need no stinking badges! You need this stinking sticker!

Artito Bandito

Thumbnail sketch.

My client requested an illustration of a Mexican Bandito. Of course the first thing to pop into my mind was a favorite childhood cartoon mascot called Frito Bandito.

And as the rabbit trails of my mind work I had that theme song stuck in my head the whole week, humming it as I drew my art. But I digress.


Rough Sketch.

The client actually sent me one of the tools and like they do on American Chopper I had to create a custom die for the sticker based on the tools casing. My creative challenge was to provide the requested theme in a very restrictive format, so I drew out my art with the final shape of the sticker as my guide.


Refined Sketch.

Usually I draw and redraw until I get exactly what I want to build. I don't like leaving a lot of guess work in the build stage of my creative process. It just wastes time. Since this art is symmetrical I only have to draw half of it. Digital FTW.


Building Vectors.

Once I scan in my refined sketch I simply start building my vector shapes. For more about vector build methods and plugins that make it easier just visit my tutorial web site and you'll find all kinds of information on how to control your bezier curves like a pro.

I draw all my art out before I hit the computer. If you can get into a good creative habit of working this way you'll see a huge improvement in your work and it'll prevent you from becoming a Tooler.


Base Art.

With all my shapes built and fused together via the Pathfinder Palette I'm ready to work out how I'll model my art with more details.


Shading.

I'm a digital artist but my creative process goes back and forth between digital and analog. So when it comes to shading I print out my base art and grab a pencil. 2B or not 2B, that is the pencil!


Building the Shading.

Once I've drawn out how I want the shading and highlights to be handled. I scan it back in and use it as my guide to build the vector shapes.


Details of Illustration.

Once I have the shading resolved I visually study the art and determine other areas to drop in darker shades and highlights to create depth and focus attention within my design. I also start to balance my color palette and experiment with tonal values until it feels right.

It's not always a visual thing, sometimes it just has to feel right. Call it a creative intuition but I depend on it a lot. It's the one intangible aspect of my creative process that is hard to define.


Art in Context.

This is the actual tool the sticker will be applied too. It'll wrap the front of the casing. During the process I'm printing the art out and if time permits putting it aside and looking at it with fresh eyes later and making any necessary changes that improve the art.


Final Artwork.

This shows the final art for the Tool a little larger. You can see this art re-purposed for other usages here.

Side Order of Life

Photo from Tillamook Air Museum.

After posting about the Graphic Eye BookI started looking through some of my other photos from the past few months and pulled a handful to share on my blog. Some are creative, some are pedestrian, but they all combine to form a side order of my life.


Tropical plant detail.

Even though I live in the Pacific Northwest, land of Bigfoot, UFO's, and the Green Mermaid, our specific zone allows us to have lush tropical plants as well so my backyard is turning into a tropical eco-system with a pond, koi fish, frogs, dragon flies and an assortment of tropical flora.


Altered states of Bean.

World class illustrator Michael Bast and myself admiring "The Chicago Bean" at the wonderful Millennium Park in downtown Chicago.


Nikon CoolPix P5100

As you can see I shot all these pictures with my Nikon CoolPix P5100. It's easy to use and gives me a whopping 12.1 mega pixels to work with


Vanilla cappuccino artwork.

I love it when baristas get artsy with their coffee.


Ornamental Grass.

I love cool organic shots like this. I'm now using this image in my desktop organizer.


Reflecting on Impressionism.

I took my daughters to a feed some ducks one night and thought the reflections on the pond looked very Claude Monet in appearance.


Ornate gate.

The one thing I admire the most about old school architecture is the attention to artistic detail they put into seemingly mundane things like an elevator gate. You just don't see this type of craftsmanship or art in new buildings being constructed now.

The Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art has a whole exhibit of rescued pieces like this from building that were demolished in order to construct new ones.


American Gothic.

To stand mere inches away from an American classic like this is a bit surreal. I had no idea it was in the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art until I walked around the corner and there it was. I was a little surprised by the condition of the frame, it looks like old barn wood.

I Draw So You Don't Have To

Friends original art.

Sometimes I help friends out who can't really draw. Such was the case here. He had put together the image above which captured the emotion he desired but it lacked that professional quality.


Artwork make-over.

I used his art as the foundational framework for my artistic make-over.


Final usage.

This is the final context of the artwork.

The Graphic Eye

"The Graphic Eye" by Stefan G. Bucher

Stefan G. Bucher is one of those unique creative types that's always thinking, always creating, and that type of mojo produces inspiring work like his latest book "The Graphic Eye: Photographs by Graphic Designers from around the Globe"

This book isn't your everyday coffee table photo gallery of landscapes or boudoir photography, it's uniquely creative images captured by graphic designers and they are anything but mainstream.

I was honored to be asked to participate in this new book and each designer was asked to submit "10" images and Stefan picked which one would appear in the book.

The below photo was the image of mine he chose to appear in the book. And this post contains all "10" I had submitted and the story behind each. I've always enjoyed photography, so I hope you enjoy the read.


"Zimbabwe Elder" photograph

I captured the above image when I traveled to Israel. I met this guy one afternoon in Nazereth. He was from Zimbabwe Africa and was a really nice man. I thought he would make for a good picture too!


"Bug Out" photograph

I caught this caterpillar doing chin-ups near a water fall in the Oregon woods.


"Flammable" photograph

While exploring a local junk yard I discovered this distressed chemical barrel.


"Kaibeto Canyon" photograph

A couple years ago I spent two weeks on the Navajo Nation reservation in Arizona helping with a children's ministry and this image was from a local canyon we hiked into.


"Knock Knock" photograph

Curb appeal is strictly an American fascination. This ancient door located in Old Jerusalem has wonderfully decrepit character.


"Mr. Pinchy" photograph

This Oregon local hangs out at the local tide pool. If you blow in his face he'll get really mad and start foaming at the mouth.


"Narrow Road" photograph

This first century walk way in Old Jerusalem might have been walked on by Jesus? The second law of thermal dynamics really creates some heavenly textures!


"Temple Mount" photograph

An Arab man reads early in the morning. You don't need Starbucks to hang out and read a good book.


"Xerox Poop" photograph

My printer eats glorified crayons. Expensive crayons. So when my printer goes to the bathroom this is what it looks like. It's good to be creatively curious, that's why I still have this wax toner on my desk, it's too cool looking to throw away.


"Box Car Neuvo" photograph

Colorful and abandoned. Mundane and beautiful. Only a color blind hobo would not appreciate this box car.

Be sure to check out Stefans new book here.

Tattoo Removal

Tattoo Removal

Tattoo Removal

Tattoo Removal

If you have regrets about your tattoo, you have several options to have your tattoo removed. The different techniques vary in costs, side effects, success rate and chance of scarring. Make sure you researched all the techniques before you make a decision which type of tattoo removal is right for you. In this article you will find information of every single tattoo removal method.

Scottish Tattoo Designs

Scottish Tattoo Designs

Scottish Tattoo Designs

Scottish Tattoo Designs

The origins of the first cross image are still unknown today. What is known is that the cross has been used by many ancient cultures. In fact, crosses were used way before Christianity became a formal religion.

Gothic Tattoo Designs

Gothic Tattoos Are Popular and Unique

Have you recently desired a Gothic Tattoo? The term "Gothic" originally referred to the Germanic tribe known as the Goths. They were considered barbarians who caused terror throughout Europe in the middle ages. Associating Gothic with darkness, gloom and terror became common sometime after 1765 when author Horace Walpole penned his book "The Castle of Otranto, a Gothic Story", which contained many scenes of dark terror during the medieval period. From then on gothic stories were considered ones that emphasized the grotesque, bleak and darkly mysterious side of life. Gothic stories were big in the Victorian period.

Gothic was also a style of architecture in the 12th to 15th centuries. This style included pointy arches, ribbed vaulting and the impression of tall, skinny and ominous.

Modern Goths, or people who consider themselves such, are probably not what you think they are. Most are very intelligent and creative. Most are also Christian. Goths like to be alone in their thinking, so they retain some individuality. Modifying their clothing is a big thing and of course black is the color of choice. You will see them dying their hair black, painting nails black and generally having a lot of black all over, sometime with a hint of red. Some may even die their hair bright red. A Gothic person is really not a person who usually thinks about sacrificing animals, worshiping Satan and killing themselves. Any individual can think those things and they do not seem to be more prevalent among Goths. That has always been a myth.

The type of music Goths listen too usually varies. Many Goths listen to pure classical music such as Mozart. Others listen to punk rock or hard metal like Korn. Still others are into progressive symphonic rock such as Kamelot or Epica. There is no one style of music that can apply although they usually prefer dark, brooding, thinking-mans songs with intense lyrics. Pop music would not be in with this crowd.

Gothic designs usually include religious themes ranging from fancy crucifixes to pentagrams, as well as tribal themes, or vampires. The style is very important. Gothic tattoos will always be jet black or black with some red in them. Gothic tattoos can include vampire themes or female vamps with lace and velvet. Gothic is ominous, brooding and dark.

Being a Goth does not come just because you wear the styles or you get a gothic tattoo. You have to have the attitude naturally, and not in a contrived manor. You are a gothic type person even when you aren't wearing any cloths or are dressed in blue jeans because being gothic starts with how you feel in your mind and how you think. The style of gothic tattoo you get or black clothing you wear comes secondary to that.

Cool designs for gothic tattoos include dark haired fairy type females dressed in S&M clothing, or perhaps with bat wings. Combining a few things seems to be poplar. Take a cross and make the arms look like a battle ax or dagger for instance or have a snake and vines woven around the arms. A gothic tattoo might include an image of "death" itself. Many gothic styles will have a skull present or a super skinny female with Victorian clothing or Victoria's Secret style lingerie. Of course these tattoos never have more than black and red in them. Don't forget the whole range of tribal tattoos that are also considered somewhat gothic especially if you have them designed to resemble an open dagger or other skinny design that has pointed arms.

Whatever style of gothic tattoos you get, make sure you are a true Goth and it is not a temporary phase. A tattoo is permanent. Getting a tattoo to display your gothic attitude toward life is increasingly popular and something you may want to consider.