The Creation Process: A Journey.

Have you ever wondered exactly how an artist creates their work? 

“What inspires them?” “What do their first drafts look like?” “Is there a story behind every piece they do?”

I’ve been asked these kinds of questions countless times. While every artist has their unique process, I will give you guys a peek behind the scenes and walk you through one of my latest works of art, from start to finish!

Keep in mind, that this walkthrough captures the creation of only one of my pieces. Different mediums mean different stages, so if you guys enjoy these types of blogs let me know and I’ll post more behind-the-scenes in the future.

As you scroll through, if different questions pop into your mind, or if you’re curious about a particular thing, drop them in the comments below! I’m not here just to showcase; I’m here to hopefully share, discuss, and connect with all of you. 

Now, let’s get this show on the road! 

We will be unraveling my latest piece: The Flight of the Dragonfly.

Stage 1: The Spark of Inspiration

When I received the commission for this piece, the request was to use the following heartfelt story as inspiration to create a tattoo stencil of a dragonfly for the client's upper arm. She stated that she received it as a gift after her mom died of cancer and would also love to see a pop of color added to the design.

Stage 2: Planning the Vision

The dragonfly took center stage, but I envisioned more–water lilies floating around it, symbolizing the cross-over between life and death as described in the story. I did all of the following digital designs using an app called Procreate.

The wings presented the first challenge. I knew I didn't want just a plain insect wing pattern. I tried adding soft colors to the wings and body to emphasize the beauty of the transition, but it widened the design a lot. Since this is a tattoo for a female’s arm I needed it to stay long instead of wide to compliment her body shape. I decided to save color for the last step. To stay on theme, I landed on a water pattern inside of the wings, since water was the “veil” or “border” of the transition. 

Stage 3: Adding Depth and Detail

Now that I had the base done, I started adding more symbols from the story. To represent the circle of life, I introduced my favorite opposites; the sun and moon. I added leaves (more to the bottom portion to represent Earth) and stars to keep the nature theme going. The sun and north star also represent “heading towards the light.”

Stage 4: Final Flourishes

Though the tattoo could be complete, I wasn’t satisfied with the simple “color in the lines” method I tried earlier. I also tried to add soft watercolors to match the wing pattern and I just wasn’t vibing with it, so I changed tactics. I wrapped a lavender cancer ribbon around the dragonfly as a personal tribute to her mom. The final touch included filling the empty space in the middle of the design with more leaves around the water lilies.

In 2 days, working about 2-3 hours each day, this creation took form. The result? A design that deeply resonated with the client, bringing her vision to life!

Creating this piece was super meaningful to me, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to share it with you guys. I look forward to hearing from you all on what you thought of this piece or what you'd like to see more of next in the comments below!

Until next time, stay inspired!

Mads : )