Geometric collage head tattoo

Beth asked me to design this tattoo for her in the style I've been developing in the vein of 'fine line realism'. I took a short online course by an artist and learned some basics about this style - which is usually recognisable by its use of ancient Greek statuary imagery, and slightly mystical-feeling diagrams with elements like astronomy, astrology or mathematics and geometry.

Here's a peek at some of the many, many layers in the document I used to design this. My process is deeply inefficient, I'm sure. There are reference images, stock photography and diagrams I found, inspiration, discarded design ideas, and shapes I wanted to incorporate.

I wanted to take inspiration from this style, and started to find my own path by playing with design elements. I found that I wanted to make things with a bit more thematic complexity, but to maintain the same sense of deep meaning, with the feel of engineering and biology illustrations and schematics. Beth gave me a couple of themes, and asked to incorporate a particular flower with a special meaning for her.

Although the idea of photocollage and 'photoshopping' designs might unfairly be considered to be less creative or artistic than some other art forms, this style is by far the most time intensive type of work that I design. It also feels authentic and meaningful to me, it feels like 'art'. I really value the challenge of designing these. I take inspiration from some of the graphic design I looked at when I was at uni - like Vaughan Oliver's album cover and insert work for Doolittle by Pixies. I think about semiotics and the interplay of visual signifiers, and turn endless Clip Studio layers on and off and on again.

For this piece I started primarily with the idea of the golden ratio, playing with the visuals of science, ancient intellectualism and the romanticism of ancient Greece and Rome. Vintage botanical and biology illustrations are referenced in there, and the golden spiral in nature. I was probably thinking about iconic images like the Vesuvian Man, and tried to extrapolate that sort of visual language into a fusion of mysticism and nature.

I'm pleased with the design, and excited to do more. The tattoo itself had somehow become enormous in my head, but when it came to making the stencil and applying it, of course I realised that the human head really isn't that big at all. It just felt very important to get it right, as there are few more prominent places on the human body. The head isn't too bad to tattoo, either - the skin comes pre-stretched.