The Tattoo Artist

I am practicing portraiture because I will soon be teaching a class in watercolor portraits this fall. This is a portrait of my son, a tattoo artist. I snapped the photo I used as my reference for this last summer. I was intrigued by the challenge of capturing the look on his face as well as trying to render the tattoos on his arms. The look because it seemed to say so much about a tattoo artist’s life. They wait for the customers to come in, sometimes for hours. Then? Everyone comes at once, usually in the evenings and late at night, so the artist waits. I had an instructor a few years back that spoke of the occupation because there were two young men in our drawing class who were planning to become tattoo artists. He described the occupation as grueling and commended anyone who stuck with it. The artist rarely has an opportunity to create freely and often has to duplicate images that are selected due to the popularity at that time.  I thought this image portrayed the “waiting” part of the artists’ job rather well. It also reminds me that there are many facets to the art field that we never think of as we sit and enjoy  creating paintings we choose. I have a great deal of respect for the artist who makes a living by using his/her art skills.

 

Liebster Blog Award

I’d, first, like to thank Carol King for the gift of this award.  In her words, “The award originated in Germany in 2009-2010 and it was for blogs with less than 3000 followers.”  The person awarded this blog award must tell 5 things about himself /herself that their readers may not know.

The above is me writing five things about myself to share with you.

1. I have had many jobs this lifetime. They include lifeguard, dishwasher, nurses’ aide, EMT, school teacher, donut fryer, breadbaker, horse trainer/riding instructor, and I still don’t know what I want to be.

2. I have three constant companions named Payton, Lucy and Tucker. Tucker is the one with the stains around his eyes, which are no longer there. His friend, me, bugged the vet about it for three visits until he, the vet, figured out he had nasty wisdom teeth that needed removing. But this photo stands because it took me 15 takes to get this picture for a distant friend who wanted to see a photo of my dogs.  Since this is the 15th take, that is why their expressions are a little less than “happy”.  🙂

3. I am an avid reader. Lately, I can’t get enough of history. Currently I am reading about the building of the Panama Canal. I even tackled a HUGE biography of Oppenheimer this year.

4. I am terrified of heights; like standing next to a window in a tall building or next to a railing 2 or more stories up. I am not afraid of flying, however, and will even sit next to a window. Go figure.

5. I gave my left kidney to my son. They left the right one with me because they said they found a stone in it. To this day, I don’t know if they were serious or teasing me.  🙂

The next thing I am to do is gift this award to five other blogs.

Souldipper  Amy inspires me and my soul makes me go there. I have laughed and cried and been inspired by what she shares through her writing.

…northpenninegallery’sblog   I visited Keith’s blog several years ago and was immediately hooked by his drawings and watercolors.

Pointillist Ponderings   This may be a new blog for many of you because it is not J Ruth’s main blog. I am fascinated with line drawings but JRuth has developed a blog all about the dot, not only in art but in nature and other places as well. Take some time to wander around on it. Very insightful!

The World is a Rainbow  Padmaja’s blog is full of colorful and creative paintings and are always accompanied by the artist’s reason or thoughts behind what she has created.

Gretchen Del Rio’s Art Blog  I admire any watercolorist who can render paintings as fresh and clear looking as these. Truly beautiful.

WWII GIS  This is another blog many of you may not have visited. I have been visiting K for a long time. I have really enjoyed following her drawings of soldiers.

I know. That’s six just like Carol did. “Monkey see. Monkey do.”   What can I say?