How To Draw Traditional Style Tattoos

In this tutorial you will create a swallow in three dissimilar positions. We volition exist using ink liners to create assuming lines, typical of American traditional tattooing, and watercolour inks to achieve a classic finish.

Swallows were traditionally used by sailors to indicate the bully distances they had travelled. They symbolise 'return' equally the bird volition always return to nest at country, then sailors believed it guaranteed their condom return home and, should they die at ocean, the bird would carry their soul to heaven. Now the consume is a common and popular image in tattooing used by everyone.

If you're looking for some tattoo inspiration, y'all can check out the many tattoo vector designs over on GraphicRiver.

Looking for tattoo fonts? Cheque out our recommendations in the following article:

What You'll Need

You lot will need the following equipment to consummate this tutorial:

Tracing paper
Watercolour paper—I used fine grain, cold pressed newspaper, 300g/k
Tracedown graphite paper
B lead pencil—I employ a mechanical pencil, lead size 0.vii
Ruddy coloured atomic number 82 for mechanical pencil
Fine ink liner pen
Medium ink liner pen
Watercolour brush—I used a ProArte, Proleneplus, size 007
Dr PH Martin'southward radiant full-bodied watercolour ink in black, antelope dark-green, grass green, true blue, blood-red and sunset orange
Watercolour paint tray
Masking tape

1. Start With Some Sketches

Step i

Interlock ii ovals, one slightly smaller than the other and at the angle shown.This can exist fatigued roughly equally it is simply a starting indicate. I would use a lighter coloured pencil, in this case red, equally nosotros will be drawing over our initial sketches.

Step 2

Now you demand to add basic guide lines that will show where the middle, beak, wing position and tail will sit. The following pictures will give you three ideas, focusing on the wing position as this is the main area that changes the expect of the swallow. I have flipped the basic epitome for two of the swallows as this will give flow of flight in the finished painting.

Footstep 3

Now we tin start to give the swallow it'southward distinct, quirky shape.

Using a graphite pencil, add the fly feathers, working from the tip of the guideline shape and reducing the size of the feathers until they join the body. Add a line that separates the fly edge and the feathers—I have called a elementary shape that mirrors the shape of the top wing edge. Split the upper body from the lower by continuing the lower tail line throughout the body until it joins the lower wing.

Swallow tails are typically wide and angular, so join the two tips with a continuous, swooping line. Finally, redefine the body shape, removing the obviously different oval shapes and making it one solid shape. These instructions apply to all three swallow designs.

ii. Transform Your Sketches Into a Complete Composition

Step 1

Using a new piece of tracing paper, transfer your consume sketches to make a finished composition, omitting all the reddish pencil guidelines. At this stage you can be creative with your blueprint and play effectually with the limerick until y'all have the perfect flight formation for your design.

Step ii

Cut the tracedown paper to a size that is slightly smaller than your watercolour paper.

Place the tracedown paper, graphite side down, onto the watercolour paper. Put the tracing paper with your design on pinnacle and secure all iii layers together using masking tape. This volition stop your piece of work moving while y'all transfer the design, helping you accomplish a clean stop.

Recollect to place your blueprint sketch layer centrally on the top, so that it is transferred successfully to the watercolour paper.

The tracedown produces a soft image, and so you lot can piece of work on meridian without any risk of the graphite line showing through on your finished blueprint.

Step 3

Take the medium ink liner and draw over the graphite lines.

3. Add together Color to Your Blueprint

Step 1

Now we volition add together colour to the swallows and bring them to life. Put your watercolour inks into the separate compartments of the painting tray. I would recommend adding plain water to the compartment next to the black ink, as you volition utilize this to dilute the black ink to attain a smooth gradient where necessary in the design.

Add a solid line using undiluted black ink to the top of the feathered section of the fly. Now, using water to dilute the shade, use smooth strokes. Commencement past slightly overlapping the original blackness and working your way down towards the edge of the feathers. Add more than water as necessary to reach a smoothen slope from darker to lighter tones.

Repeat this technique on the head and the trunk.

Step ii

Consummate all the black shading.

Stride 3

Using the blue watercolour ink overlay, colour onto the black section. Over again employ the aforementioned painting method as in step 1, working first with the concentrated shade and diluting information technology with h2o as you move your brush towards the lighter edges. This gives the swallow a lovely, glossy expect to its body.

Swallows with blue watercolour ink overlay added

Step iv

At present add the scarlet for the brilliant, vibrant underbelly of the consume. I like to leave an unpainted round section around the center as I feel it gives an extra design feature.

Pace 5

Finally add the yellow to the top edge of the wing and the beak to attain your finished swallows that pay homage to the tattoo classics drawn by American Traditional artists such equally Sailor Jerry.

Additions to Your Finished Swallows

You can leave the swallow as a singular illustration, merely I recall it can exist fun to add elements to the design to give them an extra tattoo-manner feel.

To one bird I have added a banner or scroll, in which you tin can add together a proper name or wording of your choice, and to the other I have added a lilliputian flower and leaves. Within the flower I have used the fine ink liner as information technology makes it more interesting to apply different line widths within the details of the design. Here you can actually expand your creativity and play around with different ideas, or use the reference I have shown.

Drawing and painting using the methods I accept explained results in strong, bold colour images and, as yous tin can run across with the swallows, you can produce very differing images by making just slight alterations. I promise y'all take enjoyed this tutorial and accept fun creating your own swallow designs.