A classic theme
Dragons are one of the most common themes for tattoos, being able to propose it in a unique and original way each and every time is actually not as complicated as it seems. Being a fantastical creature it can be reinterpreted in endless ways, with long or curved horns, single or multiple, with snake scales, rock scales, with or without wings, with a long and serpentine body or stocky and canine, in short the only limit is the imagination, at least when one draws for oneself, it can be a little more challenging when one has to meet the requests of a client and translate on paper something that corresponds to his feelings and emotions in relation to the subject.
It was originally supposed to be a flying dragon with spread out wings. Although I had found a suitable perspective and setting, without excessively sacrificing the size of the dragon, we decided to discard that idea and opted for a dragon resting on top of a mountain.
It had to be huge, and the only way to give an idea of its impressive size was to place a human figure beside it, hence the knight on the left side.
Irony of the title
I intentionally made the knight tiny, and the client immediately liked the idea.
Looking at the drawing and noticing the difference in size between the knight and the dragon, I remember thinking about the absurdity and arrogance of such a tiny being, who still thinks he can fight an animal the size of a skyscraper.
It pretty much sums up the madness of mankind and the spirit that enabled it to achieve the unthinkable by challenging nature.
But despite this reflection on the indomitable human spirit, I still wanted to give the work an ironic tone, hence the intention to at least make the dragon look a little surprised by that tiny insect that thinks it can scare him.
The title was therefore born along the process and I consider it integral part of the work even if it’s not part of the tattoo.
A matter of tone
This guy’s skin is slightly amber-toned and although it doesn’t affect the work too much, it made the gap between the skin and the colour of the outline less noticeable, so I suggested adding inner shadows around the hexagons to simulate a sort of 3D effect and make the work stand out more, which worked very well.
The process was smooth and constant, even if it was sometimes slowed down by too much chit-chat 😀
Below you can find pictures of the working process and videos of the drawing and tattoo with my comments.
The last picture and video were taken two months after full healing.
Such a great work in all the ways, from A to the Z, the picture and the story of it.
Marvellous, and I saw it live, it’s amazing!