Today was a day full of art for me in the afternoon. I spent a good hour trying different block-ins for a tattoo later this week. It’s partly cover-up, partly expansion, but I wanted to start with a value study so I could find something that looks good as a pattern.

The block in still needs refined, of course, but I like the flow of the design right now. I’ll have to keep the figure-8 pattern in mind while I finish the design. I like this new workflow a lot.

I also spent an hour and a half working on draw-overs and critiques with my coworkers at Affinity, which I’m definitely counting as art time.

And I did a couple of consults for tattoo appointments, one of which I sketched for briefly.

What was awesome?

Doing a value study for an upcoming appointment. I can make sure the design reads well before I start working on the details. Big, blocky shapes.

What needs work?

I’m still getting a bit too focused on edges in the block-in phase. I need to worry more about the patterns, not the distinct shapes and forms.

Also, I need to be limiting my palette and using a brush that doesn’t have pressure-sensitive opacity. Just a hard, rectangular brush that lays down fully saturated marks.

What did I learn?

Keep it super-simple. Don’t worry about detail until the designing principle is strongly established.