Andulka
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Alisa U Zemlji Chuda
祝日 / Permanent Vacation
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occasionally subtle
hello vonnie
Peter Solarz
$LAYYYTER
Janaina Medeiros
Cosmic Funnies
shark vs the universe
YOU ARE THE REASON
JBB: An Artblog!
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH
Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her
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taylor price
titsay
seen from Singapore
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seen from Lithuania
seen from Türkiye
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seen from Netherlands
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@theashcan
A small collection of tattoos I’ve done - based on Ernst Haeckel’s Artforms in Nature, which taking small seaweeds and making them big transforms the designs in a really exciting way.
So much happening, and so many big changes in the works. More later, whew.
My take on St. Thérèse of Lisieux - the patron saint of flowers. Lots of ridiculous detail in this, like the embroidered pattern on the veil, and tons of secret little floral bits.
It’s amazing what a sketchbook can collect over the course of a few years - this one was started too long ago and never quite finished. I’m ready to move on, although I don’t know what’s more burdensome and intimidating - a sketchbook that you know you’ll never quite finish, or a pristine, empty book. I love to see what they pick up along the way.
RIP Moleskine Book Five, 2013-2016. Helllooooo Book Six.
“We Dare Oppose”
Watercolor, gouache on 16″ round maple panel. Beat on little rabbit heart, even when the snake is breathing down your neck.
Available as a stamped, signed, limited edition giclee in my webstore.
PLEASE tell me you have somewhere to buy/look at your artwork besides here? Also, where are you located? I want to get some tats from you eventually
Hi! And hello to all my new followers! Here’s the rundown:
- Chicago, IL - but I guest spot several times a year around the US. Butterfat Studios is a lovely, appointment only shop in the city - and we propose a series of tattoo projects every couple of months for new clients. Right now, I’m focusing on bigger work and generally don’t take client proposed work at this time. If I have some time to fill, or little pieces available - I generally post on Instagram to let them go!
- BLUESKYCOMPLEX is where all my work resides, tattooing, painting, etc. There is also a webstore for prints, or any other available work. Originals can be inquired about through email.
- FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM for the most recent work, I update there much more often then here! There is also a newsletter for print releases, guest spots, and any other news! Tumblr tends to get the highlights, much after the fact....I know that’s a lot of info, but hope that helps! Enjoy!
Last tattoo of 2015 - John James Audubon’s Fork Tailed Flycatcher.
Considering all that happened this year, I ended on a high note with this tattoo for sure. In January of last year, I spent 10 days in the hospital and a month or more out of work to recover from hemolytic uremic syndrome which nearly killed me (google it, if morbidly curious). Now, a year later, I can think of this as a strange, and rare gift of experience - which tinges everything in your life with a sense of urgency and immense gratitude.
2015 was truly unbelievable, I met and got tattooed by, and worked with incredible artists that I'm consistently in awe of, spent 3 weeks in Kauai among some of the most beautiful otherworldly flora, put ~1800 miles on a motorcycle through Arizona and Joshua Tree, travel to Vancouver, NYC(x3), New Orleans, Montreal tattoo convention and Portland (x2), where I got to use my work for a good cause. I am overwhelmed thinking of everything I've accomplished in spite of it all, and overwhelmed in thinking of everyone who helped me get me here - crazy love and support from my friends, and huge response and trust in my work from my clients and followers.
It wouldn't be with out y'all that I could complete such exciting work, and I'm looking forward to doing more of everything. I'm lucky as shit, with my charmed little tragic life - thanks y'all for being here.
Gouache, ink, and pencil on basswood panels - crows feet and tillandsia, muntjac skulls, ungulate eyes. These were fun to exercise my dusty painting muscles - I will always be grossly fascinated by these kinds of eyes. Horses are so familiar and terrestrial, but their pupils are completely otherworldly. (Octopi also have rectangular pupils, but they are most likely aliens anyway.)
Doing some decluttering for the new year, and these original paintings are available for sale in my webshop. Free shipping within the US, to sweeten the deal!
A little process shot: These delicate tattoos don’t all happen at once, they’re built up with black and grey to establish the tones and depth of the piece - then the color is laid on top in a separate session. This was done in two sessions, about 10 hours total - I love seeing the healed black and grey juxtaposed with the fresh color, knowing they will all settle into each other beautifully when the healing is all said and done.
Finished thigh of Towhee Buntings in a blackberry bramble - based on the original illustration from Audubon’s Birds of America, just with a little more depth and saturation. Done at Butterfat Studios in Chicago, IL. More on my instagram, y’all.
Pile o’ birds, cave swallow, nuthatch, warbler. (Insert “put a bird on it” joke here.)
Last week I had the pleasure of joining @alicecarrier and the rest of @wonderlandtattoospdx in Portland for their fundraiser for the Audubon Society of Portland. We had a flash day of bird-related tattoos, and did as many as we could - and raised nearly $6500, which goes towards their Wildlife Rehabilitation center, sanctuaries, and ongoing conservation efforts in Oregon. Super proud to be a part of this - and thank you everyone who came out to get tattooed, and support such a good cause! Here’s a blurb in the Portland Tribune, and photos of some of the other tattoos here.
Our Lady of Abundant Flowers: Some pieces you just chip away at - this one has so much dense detail, but it’s nice to feel the weight of all those flowers come together. 3 or 4 sessions in, I think...looking forward to getting into that serene face!
One gorgeous cabbage-y rose from a photo I took in the Portland Rose Test Garden, which had the most unreal, diverse and brilliantly scented roses I’ve ever seen. Last post before I leave for a few weeks to go motorcycle camping out in California, which I’ve been looking forward to forever at this point. Hopefully this will tide you over, in the meantime.
Kerri from BabeSquad came by my home studio to check out my recent work, and an interview. I talk about how I got into tattooing, and art school, but we also get into the gritty stuff, struggling with success, integrity in your artwork, burning out, chronic illness and putting your life on hold to take care of yourself (sometimes not by choice). Photos by Kerri - and these two showing off my own motorcycle helmet I painted (’cause I have braaaaappp on the brain right now.)
I was happy to talk about some of this stuff - it’s certainly on my brain often - as I’m sure lots of creative, self motivated people do. So if you’re new to the blog, or me or my work - read the interview. It’s definitely a sharp insight into my life and this insane year so far, and what got me here. Check it out!
Some recent black and grey work - some from a flash day, the jaguar and deer (taken from a Turkish textile) are healed about 4 months.
Just some sketchbook-y things: top photo is from my guest spot at Wonderland Tattoo in Portland with alicecarrier, which having a flash sketchbook is my choice way of travel tattooing. (props to this client has A+ nail color) Bottom: a shot from my increasingly chaotic drafting table, since it seems like I have lots of irons in the fire - my sketchbook with my motorcycle helmet painting in process, and my scummy blue veins.
Finished sleeve of John James Audubon’s Goldfinches and Thistles - thank you Jen for letting me do my thing with this beautiful piece! Done at Butterfat Studios in Chicago, IL. More of my (Stephanie Brown, duh) work here and here.
Based on P.J. Redoute’s Tagetes (Marigold) illustrations - another classic French botanical illustration - just tweaked to fit the body but keeping true to the original sensibility of the print. More on my instagram.
“Backpiece” makes me think of huge eagles, pharoah’s horses, dragons - something solidly dense and textured - but can’t help but think of the negative space as important as the positive space. Thinking of printed fabric pattern, or a kimono helped shape the idea into something that flows and moves on the body, with enough room to breathe. This piece started as a single arrangement of flowers and developed organically (pun intended?) over the course of 2 years.
More work on my instagram, as usual - and please repost with credit.