My Flash Is Lacking

[Dustingormley]

These are a few paintings I've done over the last few months. They just aren't there yet and I'd like to get some advice from the people on this site. Also if you have any advice on how to stay motivated to make art every day, that would be a plus.

Thanks

[knucklehead211]

If you're trying to do traditional style flash, I think you need to start using way thicker lines. Also limiting your color range a bit. Pick something classic, like skulls, devils, roses, snakes, banners etc, and do about four to six variations on it, while keeping in the same artistic style (i.e. all traditional, all japanese). Sticking to a theme makes it easier to get your art across I think. Also, not an artist myself, just throwing out what I've seen on parlor walls.

[misterJ]

I don't mind that snake rose and skull.

10,000 hours to mastery so you got some time.

I just get tattooed so anyone who actually tattoos obviously trumps me. I would think of the artists that motivate you the most and draw their flash over and over and over and over. This will let you understand the flow of the style and help you better cement yours.

Looking at japanese work, I can see the basics are usually set in stone but the way the artists approach them vary. Just food for thought, and as gas as staying motivated to draw I do it to unwind each night for a bit

[abeukeveld]

As it is with any style or form of art, observation and repetition is key to success. Observe the work of others and compare it to your own. Try to pick up on the little tricks they do and attempt to imitate it. Draw and draw until what youre trying to draw looks the way you want it to. If you're struggling with actual drawing ability, with things such as form, shading, foreshortening, flow, etc, life drawing will help you tremendously. (Not photographs, observing actual things in real life)

As for the drawings you've given, Id suggest paying attention to your fine details. Allot of it comes off as a bit sloppy. Pay attention to the space between your individual elements, the form and shape of your elements, pay attention to symmetry/asymmetry, and pay attention to cohesion. Your drawings don't have to be 100% mirrored, but if you draw two of the same types of leaves on the rose, or two wings on a bird, their elements should be fairly similar, with little variables that make them different. For example, the suction cups on your octopus tentacles are all over the place. Some have 10 horizontal rows of cups, and some have 4 rows. They don't have to be realistic, but they should be uniform to one another, if that makes sense.

[Dustingormley]

Thanks for the replies. All good advice

[Rad Kelham]

These are watercolor? What are you using for your linework? Are you using tracing paper to refine and clean up your drawings before transferring them to watercolor paper?

[cltattooing]

Just my observation, but it looks like you are still learning how to draw and paint. Which is fine! But I think in order to properly execute these designs, you should study more and work on your technique. The best way to go about that is to trace and re-paint 100 sheets of flash. Don't take any artistic liberties, copy them exactly as they are so that you can gain insight into the craft and process of those who have a good handle on what they're doing. You will be amazed at what you learn! Start with the basics and the old masters, and work your way forward. Not only will you learn a ton, but you'll have an awesome volume of work to show people.

[goldcoasttattoo]

part of the battle is getting started so good on you. Like cltattooing said find some flash you like and copy it 3 times for each piece an inner dialogue will start and little details will reveal themselves to you, its funny but it still happens to me still to this day. I see things or notice tricks or details that I didnt the day before and i try to incorporate the new information into my next pieces.

Q @ goldcoast tattoo

[Fala]

Agree with @cltattooing. You can also consider taking straight up drawing and painting classes to then apply to your flash painting. I know several tattoo artists who are currently doing this - and it makes a huge impact on their work in general, not just within their flash. The good thing about drawing and painting is that it is a skill that can be learned, so commit to the time and effort it takes and you will be rewarded.

[Rad Kelham]

Just my observation, but it looks like you are still learning how to draw and paint. Which is fine! But I think in order to properly execute these designs, you should study more and work on your technique. The best way to go about that is to trace and re-paint 100 sheets of flash. Don't take any artistic liberties, copy them exactly as they are so that you can gain insight into the craft and process of those who have a good handle on what they're doing. You will be amazed at what you learn! Start with the basics and the old masters, and work your way forward. Not only will you learn a ton, but you'll have an awesome volume of work to show people.

This is great advice. I'm taking this challenge on thanks to your post. Hopefully it will help my beginner ass.

[cltattooing]

This is great advice. I'm taking this challenge on thanks to your post. Hopefully it will help my beginner ass. [ATTACH]12265[/ATTACH]

Glad to hear that! A shining example of someone who has done this and progressed miles is our own @Dumpleton. There is a lot of his work posted up in the How About an Art Show? thread, if you go through the thread you can see how far he's come, it's really impressive. You will have a lot of fun with this I think!

[Dumpleton]

Glad to hear that! A shining example of someone who has done this and progressed miles is our own @Dumpleton. There is a lot of his work posted up in the How About an Art Show? thread, if you go through the thread you can see how far he's come, it's really impressive. You will have a lot of fun with this I think!

Thanks for the support @cltattooing you have given me great advise from the start, your words speak volumes to me and I hope I can repay you someday somehow.

For me the only way to improve is to keep on drawing and to draw because you really want to not because its something to do or you want to be a tattooist, when you really want to learn for the right reasons you will improve quickly. Feels strange giving out advise as i still have so much to learn myself.

Try to make every line cleaner than the last, actually I try to focus on getting every fade as clean as I can, if the end result of one of my paintings doesn't feel right to me I will redraw it and start again, you know yourself inside if your happy with it.

Good reference is the best place to start.

[cltattooing]

@Dumpleton I'm just glad I've been able to help, thanks is payment enough. Plus that set of prints you sent me is outta control, I don't remember if I properly thanked you for that, but it was very sweet of you and an awesome surprise to find in the mail

[CultExciter]

This is great advice. I'm taking this challenge on thanks to your post. Hopefully it will help my beginner ass. [ATTACH]12265[/ATTACH]

Is this old Jay Langer stuff?

- - - Updated - - -

I heard from Mike Rennie, who heard from an old timer, that a tattooer should have a sheet of flash for every month he/she has been tattooing. I've definitely slacked on this regard. All the advice above is sound.

Initial critique, focus on doing things other people do it, at least in a manner of repetition and copying. Style takes time to develop. Right now you just need to know how to draw it correctly. When trying to create an original design, do not be afraid to use reference. The beauty of developing a design is pulling from different areas and crafting something that looks right to you. The mouth of a Mike Wilson panther paired with William Yoneyama snout, eyes the way Tim Lehi does them, and colored how Mike Rubendall approaches color. Or even better, grab elements from things that are completely not "tattoo" related. Old Circus posters, woodcuts, Audubon prints, *gasp* going to a zoo or museum. There are so many places to pull and subtract from, that in no way does it need to be mediocre.

[Rad Kelham]

Is this old Jay Langer stuff?

- - - Updated - - -

I heard from Mike Rennie, who heard from an old timer, that a tattooer should have a sheet of flash for every month he/she has been tattooing. I've definitely slacked on this regard. All the advice above is sound.

Initial critique, focus on doing things other people do it, at least in a manner of repetition and copying. Style takes time to develop. Right now you just need to know how to draw it correctly. When trying to create an original design, do not be afraid to use reference. The beauty of developing a design is pulling from different areas and crafting something that looks right to you. The mouth of a Mike Wilson panther paired with William Yoneyama snout, eyes the way Tim Lehi does them, and colored how Mike Rubendall approaches color. Or even better, grab elements from things that are completely not "tattoo" related. Old Circus posters, woodcuts, Audubon prints, *gasp* going to a zoo or museum. There are so many places to pull and subtract from, that in no way does it need to be mediocre.

Yes it is.

[CultExciter]

Yes it is.

Nice. He's one hell of a painter/tattooer.

[Rad Kelham]

Nice. He's one hell of a painter/tattooer.

No kidding I love the stuff of his we have at the shop. Sadly a couple sheets were ruined when a pipe broke in the suite above us a month the ago, including the one I traced above and am going to repaint.

And curious, do repaints have any place in a portfolio? Assuming you say that it's a repaint of course. I did a few Amund Dietzel repaints and have them framed at my station but feel a little weird about it.

[CultExciter]

I always approach it like this when signing it:

Designs By "Whomever it may be"

Color by "Your Name"

And I think they can. It certainly shows your comprehension of the subject matter.

[sophistre]

This is very slightly off-subject, but related to the last few posts. I've wanted to ask for months, but wasn't sure where to put the question.

I picked up a copy of the Good Book. It's really fun to look through. In one of the sections, I found an image that I actually have as a tattoo -- a Percy Waters thing. It's not credited to Percy Waters, it's credited instead to a contemporary tattooer. It wouldn't be weird to me, but there's a page in the front that talks about how it's reference only, you're prohibited from tracing or duplicating the original work within, etcetera.

Is that weird to anyone else, or is it just 'if you draw an iteration of something, you slap your name on it and call it good'?