Sunday, July 24, 2011

Pre-Otakon WIP


Will try to finish this for Otakon. Even got special paper for the prints, so fancy~~
This is an idea that's been floating around in my mind for a little while and I decided now was the right time to finally execute it. I'm a bit disappointed with my progress since last year's Otakon, but that's not really the point, just a small additional factor that is forcing me to work right now.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

CMT Adventures So Far

Need to keep getting ready for Otakon instead of blabbing on here, but I feel like I owe an update--

I haven’t really uploaded any new art in a while; part of the reason is that pretty much right before leaving for AM2, I decided to start participating on CreateMyTattoo.com. Sasha had told me about the website a couple of months prior, but I didn’t start participating right away. Since joining, I’ve won a few contests and lost a few. The way I approach the entire venture is: even if I don’t win, the time I invest will pay off in the form of a more complete portfolio. For a while, I’ve really been considering getting into tattooing. It started with people at conventions either inquiring about tattoo design commissions or commenting that my style would work well for tattoos; these comments increased in frequency until the question “Why not?” implanted itself in my mind. Instead of just drawing up designs, however, I would ideally like to find a really good apprenticeship. While I am still not sure what my plans concerning the JET program for next year are, I figure for now I’ll get as much practice in as I can and keep working on the very constant and very general goal of further developing my style.

These are a bit different from designs I would normally take on, but it is a necessary compromise, so to say. And I’m glad to be using my collection of FW inks a lot more now, haha~~



The rest can be seen on my actual CMT account page: http://www.createmytattoo.com/tzolotareva

The principles I have been trying to follow so far: (1) paying very careful attention to what the client/commissioner/contest holder wants, and (2) knowing the extent and limits of my own style and abilities, so as to better gauge which challenges to take on. Sometimes I judge accurately, sometimes not so much~

There is an interesting sense of responsibility that comes along with designing a tattoo. The realization that I am drafting something that will permanently go on someone’s body—the first time I experienced it was when I was working on [this design]. People change; their relationships with ideas and past experiences change as well. One of the things I can hope for is that my designs will not eventually become cause for regret.

Friday, July 15, 2011