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I have been quite busy the last few months with a lot of different projects, with little time to write posts on my blog. But to show you some new projects I've been working on; here's a new tattoo for my shoulder galleries. It's a mixed design with Maori elements and Samoan pattern. The images below show the design process in different steps. First I make a basic outline for the shoulder as a template. Then I use my pencil to sketch some flowing koru shapes. Normally I do the whole piece with pencil first and start tracing it when I'm finished. Today I was a bit impatient, and decided to trace parts of the tribal shapes. You see some Polynesian turtle patterns and Samoan spearheads and stylized fish.
Here you see half of the design traced with a black felt tip marker:
And a few pictures of the finished shoulder tattoo design
I also made a youtube movie of this Shoulder tattoo 156:
The tattoo is available for purchase on my website here.
Tomorrow I will be back with another design process!
On April 2 2011, Christopher Torres uploaded a video to YouTube. The video showed a pixelated pop tart cat character that flies through space while a rainbow shoots out of its bum. The simple animation was later set to music by saraj00n,another YouTube user, and posted online on April 5 2011. The video quickly gained popularity and now has more than 70 million views.
Above: The original Nyan Cat video, featuring the "momo momo" version of the Japanese pop song, "Nyanyanyanyanyanyanyanya!" and a pixelated pop tart cat character.
Nyan Cat Fan Art Memes start out as the inspiration for fan art works. When a character, phrase or idea becomes popular, it is shared via the internet, inspiring other people to create fan art of the popular subject. This art is then uploaded to the internet and shared online. The term "meme" refers to a media item or idea that spreads from one person to another in a viral manner. The Nyan Cat is a prime example of a meme. The video has had tens of millions of views, yet it wasn't advertised. The popularity of the video is due to internet users sharing the video, passing it along from one viewer to the next. As the video gained popularity, artists from around the world began creating fan art works. Many of these found their way into YouTube videos of their own.
Above: Nyan Cat from Hell, an illustrated fan art work that stands in contrast to the sweet innocence of the original video. [source]
Above: A yarn art painting of the meme Nyan Cat, making it (wait for it) The Nyarn Cat. [source]
Above: This van has been pimped to be a Nyan Cat fan art work. Perhaps the pop tarts are inside? [source]
Above: A saturated digital art cartoon version of the Nyan Cat [above]
Pop Tart Cat becomes Nyan Cat
Christopher Torres originally named his character the Pop Tart Cat, but once the animation was set to music, it became known as the Nyan Cat. Torres says that he will personally continue to refer to the character as the Pop Tart Cat, but that the internet has reached a decision to call it the Nyan Cat and he's happy with that choice too.
Above: A tattoo of the Nyan Cat, complete with the pop tart and rainbow. [source]
Above: A fluffy Nyan Cat key chain that uses embroidery to add detail to the furry fleece that is used throughout the design. [source]
Above: Nyan Cat nails. This girl has used different colors of nail varnish to paint her own version of Nyan Cat onto her nails. [source]
Above: A digital artist created this photoshop painting of the Nyan Cat in the style of Vincent van Gogh's famous painting, "Starry Night." The artist calls it "Starry Nyan by Vincat Nyan Gogh" [source]
The Nyan Cat video is one of the fastest spreading viral videos on YouTube. The simple animation and cute music are endearing at first but watch out - after several hours it can be mind-numbing.
Nico di Mattia’s speed painting style “Arte Fusion” has gained well-earned popularity through his videos on YouTube.
Speed painting is a relatively new term which is used to define the process of creating a finished work of art in a short amount of time, usually for the appreciation of an audience.
Dan Dunn and Denny Dent are other world-renowned speed painters, producing large paintings by hand in just a few minutes. Unlike digital speed painters, traditional speed painters did not use an image reference or a primary sketch in their work.
Above: Speed painting of actress Jennifer Love Hewitt by Nico di Mattia.
Speed painting is now moving into the digital domain. Artists work in a graphics program such as Adobe Photoshop, and with the aid of screen capture software create a video of the artwork during the production phase. These artists utilize a graphics tablet and stylus that allow the artist more control over their work than of they were to use a computer mouse. The physical motion is similar to that of drawing on paper, with the pen being the stylus and the paper being the tablet that communicates the drawn image to the computer screen.
Argentinean artist Nico di Mattia calls his speed painting style “Arte Fusion”, a combination of digital art and time lapse photography. The photography in this case is a series of screen captures compiled into a video.
LOST – John Locke – Speed Painting by Nico Di Mattia
Nico di Mattia has enjoyed global recognition for his work as a speed painter, following his first speed painting video in 2007 of John Locke from the series “Lost”. At the time of writing this article, the video had been viewed 5,967,799 times on YouTube.
Di Mattia builds each artwork from scratch, first sketching outlines of the subject from the image reference and then gradually filling in more detail. Watching an artwork grow from a blank page in this way is both impressive and inspiring.
SPIDER-MAN Speed Painting by Nico Di Mattia.
Nico di Mattia’s popular Spiderman speed painting, also posted to YouTube in 2007, has received 5,858,314 views to date. Digital speed paintings are often based on a pre-existing image which the artist uses for reference during the creative process. Although di Mattia’s artwork retains elements of photo-realism, the use of brush strokes within the finished image is a distinctive signature of the artist. The result is a stunning replica of the original image, boasting realistic highlights, shadows and detail in the creative style of the artist.
Scarlett Johansson – Speed Painting by Nico Di Mattia
In another speed painting work from 2007, di Mattia paints actress Scarlett Johansson, paying special attention to skin tones, pose and detail. With 2,337,073 views, this popular video has inspired and awed many viewers, who enjoy both the skill of the artist, the feeling of interaction with the artwork and the beauty of the artist’s subject.
In traditional paint on canvas works, an artist must paint over areas that they feel need more work. With digital speed painting, graphics programs offer various editing tools for moving, color grading and layering specific areas of the work.
By working in layers, the artist can adjust the color levels, saturation or contrast, and add detail to the chosen area. Shortly after painting Scarlett’s necklace, di Mattia edits the skin below the necklace. A task made easier through the use of layers; the skin is on a separate layer below the necklace and can be edited without affecting the artwork on the necklace.
The early speed paintings of Nico di Mattia were “fan-works”, digital paintings of models, movie stars and famous characters. Included in his recent works are commissioned works for private buyers. Family portraits and personal photos are brought to life in a speed painting video set to the buyer’s choice of music.
Nico di Mattia’s website offers a gallery of the artist’s speed painting videos, illustrations and comic books. For more YouTube videos of di Mattia’s speed paintings, visit his profile page.
YouTube also offers the work of other speed painting artists, who often attribute their work to di Mattia as a response or adulation piece. Digital speed painting videos are growing in popularity and this art form promises exciting and interesting new videos from artists in the years to come.
It has been really nice job to do some filming and editing for my latest design "tutorial" First I had to set up my new camera (Panasonic HDC-SD9) which records in Full HD quality ;) on a sd-card. I recorded several scenes and edited it in Windowns Movie maker, I'm not a pro on editing, so I used this simple tool to add some titles and credits. Then uploaded it to youtube and Voila! here it is!
In this video to show you how I create and uptimized my designs. This time it's a forearm sketch in tribal style, which I'm tracing in the first video, I posted the sketches yesterday, so you can find it in my previous posting. In the second one you see how I scan the design, uptimize it and make a high resolution linedrawing in Photoshop CS3.
I received the following e-mail from my customer when he got the high resolution design: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hi Mark,
Thanks for completing, I love it :)
Can't wait to get it done and will definitely send you some photos once complete.
As some feedback I would like to say that you have provided a very professional, simple and friendly service. Excellent communication with your client and a great turnaround time from start to finish. I am recommending your designs and great customer service to friends and I will be checking in to your blog for your new designs for a future tattoo.
(Please feel free to use this quote, online or elsewhere) Many thanks,
As I mentioned a few days ago, I'm working on a video, so you can see me drawing and tracing one of my custom tattoo designs. Today I finished my first (test)video and uploaded this tattoo drawing tutorial on youtube.com:
Any comments, questions, or things you wish to see, just let me know.
