Old School pen and paper VS. New Skool photoshop type programs.

Just like to stir the shit with a nice stick once in awhile to see the old timers opinions on the lazy new kids coming up. Now what are some opinions on the usage of photoshop for say , the curving of letters or phrases versus hand drawings of script or block type letters? Or for that much layering photographs and other art pieces together to get your desired look and placement?

Now with lettering I prefer photo shop, U can build my rcurves and I can expand letters by hand but it's a major pain in the ass when I consider the time it would take me to do the exact same thing in about five to ten minutes and get a PERFECT curve or bulge. But for more involved pieces of art I just simply refuse to use any program minus the one in the dome. Although i've seen the advantages programs like this can have for artists I think it's important for the artist involved to learn and relearn the lines of the design , which kinda falls under that trace your stencil by hand or use the machine category as well I suppose. But I would think shop owners would prefer large or even small lettering to be done with a pc if the artists were up to beat with the program it'd knock some substantial time off the process and open up the hotseat sooner.

I've never used photoshop, so I can't really say about it. My instincts have a personal vandetta against it, mostly because I feel like it's cheap, lol. But once again, I have nothing to back that up. Either way, your lettering idea sounds pretty logical and pretty smart. I personally don't have a problem with photoshop, it's just another art form to me. As long as people don't forget about traditional ways of doing art, I think it's all good. Jeremy

Right on , I've used it for things like aligning letters on banners , or bulging letters here or slanting and enlarging them there. It feels like cheating when you're done though in some cases I guess.

Photoshops for pussys, I'm a 'new kid' and I reckon if you cant do it by hand on paper what fucking chance you got doing it on skin? I have no respect for people who do photoshop flash. its not flash anymore its graphic design. Go buy a set of french curves, and a god damn drawing board you lazy shits

LOL uh durka durka , Graphics go on cars and bikes and shit like that not people. And I had thought that in a shop it'd be more of a time issue , than an inability to hand draw anything.Once licensed and in a professional parlor you'd hope you've proven your art skills well enough by then, yeah shit. So much animosity.

So much hate from guys going by the name "Bob." Answer = Heavy drugs and group hugs.

I just watched Steve Morris hack up a bunch of photoshop files to arrange a tattoo design of a rose growing out of some crystals. Sure, he could have drawn it by hand, but the ability to take the photos and arrange them with the client, swap out different crystals, tweak things, arrange them right there with the client is priceless. He drew some elements of the design right in, but the bulk was photoshopped out. Actually, we recently hacked a few photos into one for my ribs... and years ago we photoshopped up my backpiece... Its a little wierd seeing a printout of my back when there is still so long to go! As far as using photoshop to draw flash, not so into it.... to rough out and plan designs, its an irreplaceable tool.

Well at least my thoughts are'nt complete foolishness at any rate. Seems that the incident in question saved the artist alot of time (his time being money) and the client alot of money as well ( his money being spent for the artist's time). Am I completely wrong or isn't that what this whole thing is about? Putting the work the client wants on their body in a safe and timely manner. Ultimately ending up with a product that impresses both involved?

Well, the process did a lot more than save time/money. It was a way for the artist and client to collaborate on an idea in realtime. Instead of drawing up a rose growing from crystal one way, then having to do it again, they simply hacked up and moved the reference photos around. With photoshop you can turn, hack, move, edit, do anything to the reference and do A/B tests (do you like this? or this? why? ok, lets fix). Many artists can quick sketch and quick sketch to clients requests, but if your using photo reference anyways its much easier for the client to visualize whats going on (as well as sizing the tattoo to fit the body part)... So, yeah, I guess we saved some time yesterday (but not money, its not like there are folks crashing our gates yet) but more the artist and client we're able to collaborate on the design in realtime.

What do you people think about using vector illustration programs like illustrator for creating flash? I know I might catch a lot of shit for this, but I'm an illustrator on top of being a traditional artist, and I think flash done in such a program usually looks way better than most colored pencil or water color flash (depending on the design). Obviously realism will almost always look better being hand drawn, but it took me years to master Illustrator after already being a decent artist, and I can do things that a lot of other vector illustrators wouldn't be able to do, and it comes out looking way better than if I drew it by hand, at least as far as having awesome, vivid color. On top of this, when finished, you can fill everything with white and you have a perfect outline. And the mathmatics of the program lets you make everything perfect and symetrical, as well as scaleable to any size, etc. What do you guys think?

I think if you get the desired result then it doesn't matter to me how you get it I guess. And I would imagine it takes some talent and alot of knowhow to get a realistic look out of a computer but this is a digital age I suppose. I've never much liked the look it's always been so artifical or had that manufactured touch to it in the past but here lately alot of really amazing art has come out of the pc generation lol. I don't know about the programs you use or any programs that do much of anything really . But I'd like to see some of the realist work being done with pc's lately if you have any links , to your own work or anyone's. I like art fuck it I don't care if you eat the shells off m&m's so you can shit your own paint , if you get some cool art out of the deal I wanna see.

Here is a link to a piece I did for a model back in July. I started with a grayscale image and made a color illustration. Let me know if you want to see any more of my vector or traditional work. Jacque http://myspace-520.vo.llnwd.net/01215/02/53/1215963520_l.jpg

Hey man that shit's pretty neat. When did they start making flesh tone M&M's? Just kidding it looks really damn cool , I couldn't and wouldn't even attempt to do that. It does look very realistic but I think the words i'm looking for is too much saturation? more so noticeable the closer the image is , but all in all I like it alot. And yeah I'd like to see more sure , don't know if it's related to tattoos really but I like it . My main question is could you or does anyone do this type of work from scratch? blank pallet or whatnot? That would be really amazing

yes they can do it from scratch... check out my stuff thats been listed, and nikibi, deework, 123klan, superduex, and interspectacular. i like your work jacque.

hahahah this is my topic, now we are talking :D I've been using photoshop since version 2, yes 2, right now we are up to version 9 AKA Photoshop CS2. I read some comments saying that photoshop is for pussies, and i can't tell you that you are wrong. You can produce a flash in PS, I use my wacom tablet as pen and canvas. I can pretty much do anything I do with real crayons or watercolors. Artist can take advantage of this software to expedite the process. Bottom line, when we tattoo we want the piece to be as accurate as possible, so if this program allows you to achieve and compile better stencils or produce flashes, why not. Is like saying "I only tattoo like back in the days with bamboo canes, puncture by puncture" The tattoo machine is a tool that evolved to help artist achieve the work in a faster and more accurate way. To be a good photoshop artist takes as long as what it takes to be good fine art painter. Don't hate the player hate the game! Cravink

That one isn't what I was talking about as far as flash. I think realism should be done traditionally and not on a PC. Princess wanted to see some of my realist vector work. It is overstaurated on purpose. It was actually supposed to be more cartoony, but I got carried away adding detail and shading, so if anything I'd say it's too real for what I had in mind when I did it. Thanks for the compliments. I dig your work vishuskinit. I'll try to get some different stuff uploaded tomorrow that is more tattoo oriented. In the mean time, here is a link to a charcoal piece I just finished. Constructive criticism is always appreciated. - Jacque http://www.inkednation.com/images/user_albums/57/88/JacqueFineArt/2006269154138.jpg