There is nothing better than a stimulating project where you have total creative freedom. It’s no coincidence that even a design master like Marcello Gandini, the man behind some of the most beautiful cars in history, including the legendary Lamborghini Miura, once said: “The most beautiful designs I’ve created were those where I had total freedom”. This cyberpunk skull is exactly one of those projects where I was able to fully express myself.
Carte Blanche
This guy from Livorno asked me for just one thing: a cyberpunk jolly roger. During the video call he seemed a little distant as I explained my ideas, but when we finally met in person I realized it was not indifference, but complete trust in my creative process. He told me: “I’ve seen your work and I understood that the best thing was to let you do your thing. You’re the artist”.
These are the best kind of clients, because total freedom allows you to give your best and surprise both yourself and the client. I had been thinking about a subject like this for some time, inspired by a comic book I used to read in the 90s. His request was perfect for including all those tubes that, as one of my clients jokingly said: “Did you include every possible and imaginable tube?”. No, my imagination could come up with many more 😎
Expectations
Drawing it was challenging but very fun. The result on paper was already so perfect and iconic that I had decided it would become the cover of my book. I wanted to finish it in time and this guy’s determination gave me hope. He always did two consecutive sessions, both to save on travel costs and to complete the work quickly. Unfortunately, a health issue temporarily brought the work to a halt, and it looked like I would have to give up on my plan, since he would only be able to resume in September. Luckily, once the issue was resolved, I managed to convince him to do a couple more sessions before the book was finalized.
After all, a book celebrating thirty years of career is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and I didn’t want to give up the idea of having this work on the cover.
Icon on skin
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to take pictures of the fully healed tattoo in time. Despite his genuine effort to send me suitable photos, none of them were quite up to par, also due to the limitations of a phone compared to a reflex camera. So I decided to use the drawing instead, and I won’t deny that right to the very end I was unsure whether to include it in the book or not. This is also the reason I don’t have a video of this tattoo and it’s a real shame. I hope to be able to capture it if he comes back for a new project.
Beyond all this, I am proud of many works I have done, but some become truly iconic, and this is definitely one of them.
It sums up all my passion for biomechs, illustration, comics, science fiction and tattooing, condensed into a single piece.
Below you can find images of the working process and the timelapse of the drawing.
