Tattoos for TwoTattoos for Two

MaterialsNude couple handout, tracing paper, Black Magic Ink, Pencil, eraser, brushes, black pens.

Project Directions1. Working with the nude couple handout, lightly draw in pencil a line to divide each figure into equal parts, head to crotch.2. Using the second style of tattooing listed above (a single unified design) lightly draw in pencil a different body tattoo for only half of each figure (head to toe, just the right or left)3. Utilize an open form of composition to enhance the appearence of the tattoos being on actual three dimensional bodies.4. Ink in your male and female “half-a-body” tattoos with ink, brushes and pen.5. Once the ink has dried, using tracing paper and a soft pencil, copy the “half-a-body” tattoo from each figure (taping you paper to a window during daylight can serve as a good make shift light table.6. Flip the tracing paper over and retrace the lines to complete the mirror image of your tattoo designs on the blank half of each figure (if you cant visualize this step, think of butterfly wings, or a Rorschach ink blot test). In tracing, the initial soft pencil lines should offset onto the handout page (to prevent the tracing paper from slipping, tape it into place, but use care not to tear the handout when removing). Ink in the remaining tattoos and erase all pencil lines.

Symmetrical BalanceSymmetry (formal balance) is the simplest method for achieving visual balance. It involves the placement of identical or similar elements on either side of an imaginary vertical or horizontal axis. The pictorial equilibrium in most artwork is concerned with horizontal balance (the picture plane being divided into left and right sides.) Symmetry or formal balance is often seen in architecture, giving buildings a sense of both psychological and structural stability.

TattooFrom the Tahitian term “tatau”, a tattoo is a permanent mark of design on the skin made by pricking and staining with indelible dyes. Tattooing is one of the oldest forms of human self-expression with examples of Egyptian tattooing dating back to at least 2000 B.C. The word”picture” comes from Pict peoples, early inhabitants of Scotland and Ireland who also practiced tattooing. Tattoos and scarification date back to ancient times and can be found in nearly all cultures. The two most familiar types of tattoo are:1) Single Point or Western Style2) Irezumi (Japanese Tattooing), a single unified design..

Japanese Style Body Suit Tattoo. Sometimes giving the impression of a full body suit. This type of tattoo is seen in New Zealand Maori and Yakusa of japan, based on classic wood-cuts by artist like Kuniyoshi

Single Point or Western style is a patchwork or separate images, commonly seen in U.S. tattoo parlors or illustrated Flash art.

Flash Art

Nude Couple Handout

Marquesan Island Tattoo

winter

2010

visual balance vocabularyvertical axisimaginary line that divides the picture plane equally into left and right sides

horizontal axisimaginary line that divides the picture plane equally into top and bottom

visual weightillusion of weight, heaviness or mass in a work of art

visual balanceequilibrium in the distribution of the visual weight of design elements in a composition.

symmetry/formal balancethe simplist method of achieving visual balance. Placement of identical or simi-lar elements in a composition on either side of a vertical or horizontal axis.

asymmetry/informal balanceplacement on either side of the vertical or horizontal axis of a composition. Dissimilar elements that have equal visual weight or eye attraction.

5 methods for creating asymmetry/informal balanceasymmetrical balance by valuethe eye is drawn to strong contrasts of dark and light more than close values of gray

asymmetrical balance by colorthe eye is attracted to stronger colors before neutrals or black and white

asymmetrical balance by directiondirecting the eye so the viewer won’t linger in one area of the composition

asymmetrical balance by shapethe eye is attracted to shapes with more contours or pattern

asymmetrical balance by positionlike a see-saw, a larger weight closer to the center point can be balanced by a lighter weight further away from the center.

Horizontal Axis dividing the picture plane

Asymmetrical Balance by contrast in value

Vertical Axis dividing the picture plane

Asymmetrical Balance by position

Asymmetrical Balance by shape

Asymmetrical Balance by direction

winter

2010