Tattoos

Tattoos for
for Two
Two
er
wint
2010

Symmetrical Balance
Symmetry (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.

Tattoo
From 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 Single Point or Western style is a patchwork or
who also practiced tattooing. Tattoos and scarification date back to separate images, commonly seen in U.S. tattoo
parlors or illustrated Flash art.
ancient times and can be found in nearly all cultures. The two most
familiar types of tattoo are:
1) Single Point or Western Style
2) 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

Flash Art
Marquesan Island Tattoo
Materials
Nude couple handout, tracing paper, Black Magic Ink, Pencil, eraser, brushes, black pens.

Project Directions
1. 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
Nude Couple Handout
pencil lines.
visual balance Horizontal Axis dividing
the picture plane

vocabulary
vertical axis
imaginary line that divides the picture plane equally into left and right sides

horizontal axis wint

er
imaginary line that divides the picture plane equally into top and bottom 2010
visual weight
illusion of weight, heaviness or mass in a work of art

visual balance
equilibrium in the distribution of the visual weight of design elements in a
composition.

symmetry/formal balance
the 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 balance
placement 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 balance

asymmetrical balance by value
the eye is drawn to strong contrasts of dark and light more than close values
of gray

asymmetrical balance by color

the eye is attracted to stronger colors before neutrals or black and white

asymmetrical balance by direction

directing the eye so the viewer won’t linger in one area of the composition
Asymmetrical Balance by contrast in value
asymmetrical balance by shape
the eye is attracted to shapes with more contours or pattern

asymmetrical balance by position

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

Asymmetrical Balance by shape

Vertical Axis dividing the picture plane

Asymmetrical Balance by position Asymmetrical Balance by direction