Before the Ink: Mapping an Abstract Arm Tattoo
Before ink becomes part of the skin, the composition needs to find its place on the body. This arm study shows the mapping stage, with guide lines tracing the shoulder and upper arm.
The purple marks are a working framework, not the finished blackwork. They make it possible to consider how the design travels around the arm, where it changes direction and where the skin remains open.
The Selected Canvas Project explores large-scale, individually designed work. This study focuses on the arm and the relationship between abstract lines and anatomy, part of my custom tattoo practice in Melbourne.
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Mapping gives brushstroke flow a direction before tattooing begins, so the marks can follow the shoulder and arm.
