Whilst thinking about my 30ish things I’ve done before 30 post I hit on one thing that I am so proud of myself for achieving. Normally I hate talking like this as I feel like I’m being big headed, but sometimes I think we have to bask in the glory of our achievements and be a bit big headed in order to feel some pride in our work and continue on down the path of happiness and success.

The other week I posted about a tattoo design I had done for Marty and the pics he had sent to show me it all inked. Photos like this make me feel all fuzzy inside and the smile doesn’t leave my face for a while. It’s such an honour that lovely folk like Marty and others choose to take my work to an artist and get it inked for life.

So I thought I’d do some sharing and show off some of the amazing clients I’ve had over the years and the ink they’ve asked me to design.

 

Designing tattoos for folk means the world to me. I get to translate their feelings, ideas and sometimes memories in to a single design that they can have forever inked on their skin. It’s a big responsibility and I don’t take it lightly. I’ve been responsible for designs that symbolise a loved one lost, the birth of kids, friendship, life loves and so many others and I am so moved by some of the stories that clients tell me when they’re sharing the reasons behind their ink. It’s so rewarding and humbling to be a part of that process and I would like to take the opportunity to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you who have asked me to design for you.

So with all this in mind I like you all to meet Marty, drummer for the Australian band The Eternal, who are awesome by the way {their new single is embedded below}. Marty asked me to design a tattoo that was special to him and his family. This is the second time I’ve designed a tattoo that is now permanently on Marty’s skin. A while ago his brother Dan asked me to design a triskele for them both and I had a lot of fun doing it. I won’t be sharing any of the reasons behind the guy’s tattoos as they’re all very personal to them and I like to keep that a designer/client secret. But I will say I put extra pressure on myself to get that first design perfect and I’m so glad Dan and Marty were happy with it.

This time around Marty asked me to design this one – a symbol that represents a very traditional idea, but wouldn’t be too obvious to figure out. I had loads of fun experimenting with this one as it was totally different to the triskeles I usually get asked to do and let me go nuts with the pencil lines.

The design was inked by Melbourne artist Brittany Kilsby whose work is fantastic and I’m so ridiculously over the moon with the work she did on it. You can see more of Brittany’s work on her Instagram page.

I’ll maybe post in the future about some of my tattoos that have been inked before, but for now you can have a look at some of my previous inked designs on the website. If you’d like a custom tattoo or design for your business, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Also, take the time to have a listen to The Eternal’s new track Beneath These Waves, now available over on their Bandcamp page, it’s pretty awesome!