I referenced “Fashion: A History from the 18th to the 20th century,” for this drawing. It’s a great book to own for artists. You can look to it for patterns, stitching, how certain materials are affected by light, and folds and they way they interact with gravity and the forms underneath. This piece was done with graphite and micron on smooth marker paper.
I’m not sure when or how to drop in a proper timeline of where my journey in life has been taking me. It’s been interesting, for sure, but too much to type up in a blog post where I want the main focus to be on what I’m currently working on. In short, I turned to the blooming tattoo industry for my source of happiness and income. It just seemed right for me and had been on my mind since 2013. The great thing about this career path is that I get paid to draw and can still focus on side/personal projects in my downtime.
The one thing I still like to do, which I feel like a lot of other non-legendary tattoo artists do not do, is research, study, and draw the tattoo (unless it’s a quick walk-in.) This here is an example of that. The client had a small space in between a few other tattoos, which he wanted to fill up with a Virgin Mary piece. I opened up my, “Fashion: A History From the 18th to 20th Century” book and channeled some knowledge learned in a clothed figure drawing class I had in art school, and came up with a portrait of Our Lady, customized to fit the empty space on his ankle.
This drawing took quite an adventure to get to it’s final stage. Since the veil was done from memory, I had a lot more freedom with it, but that also meant a lot of manipulation. In the end, the client never followed through with his appointment and is now, pretty much, up for grabs. So if you’re in the California Bay Area, get in touch with me and we can make it a permanent work of art on your body. Until then, it exists here as a walkthrough of my process. Thank you to those who read this far.
Until next time.
Another study from the great reference book, “The Hula Kahiko Collection,” by Kim Taylor Reece. This was a close-up portrait of one of Mr. Taylor’s subjects that caught my eye when I first flipped through the book. I knew I had to draw her.
I used my go-to technique of sharp angles and upsidedownedness to get the her likeness.
The image cropped off her hair so I had to draw up a stylized interpretation of it, which was a happy accident (RIP Bob Ross.) Everything else was just an effort to get a nice silhouette. The final touch was adding bits and pieces of micron for the darks. It’s necessary for that nice pop.
There are definitely some things I wish I would’ve approached differently, but that’s the objective with these studies; is to try things you think might have otherwise worked out. For example, before the island/ocean background, I had just made up a wreathe of very made-up leaves and it just looked… off. I couldn’t really figure out what I didn’t like about them, but I went based on instinct. That’s when drawing with a light line in a light color (I prefer Prismacolor Col-Erase pencils for this) really helps out. I was able to change that out easily.
Thank you for looking and maybe reading. Bless all
Long time no write. It’s been years since my last post, but time to brush the dust off this blog and oil up the typing muscles. I’ve been keeping busy trying to figure out where to take my life, and more importantly, where to take my art. I’ve worked plenty of meaningless jobs to fill in the gaps since the last update, hoping to find comfort somewhere in the job force, but no luck. It seems my destiny is to be an artist. Anyway, I’ll be updating here and my other social media outlets with all the artwork I’ve been creating. Hope you enjoy. For now here is a quick sketch I did last night using a reference picture from the book, “The Hula Kahiko Collection,” by Kim Taylor Reece.
The reference was really small. but challenging yourself is always good. I started the process the same I do with any other referenced drawing; very lightly with lines using Prismacolor carmine red ColErase pencil to block out all the shadows and to make sure the angles are right. It helps to turn there image upside down from time to time to get a fresh perspective. I wish I could draw while filming to show the full process, but for now, it’s just a description through words. I’ll for sure be using this book to draw from again. Great photography.
Thank you for looking and maybe reading.
Solace was found…
in the strangest, most unheard of corners and edges of the planet. Where endangered creatures and outcasts prospered, there she would be; sharing stories and imparting philosophies amongst a population eagerly seeking what she had already found.
I really want to get better at writing, so that means I’ll probably have to start reading more. I’ll start by re-reading one of my favorite books, “Hatchet,” by Gary Paulsen. It’s a short read, but one of the only fiction books I own 
In the end, I would love to write a huge story, involving all of my demons, aliens, and creatures. I really have no clue how to compose a story though, so buckle up for the journey.
Mr. Angel Perez 