Kyler Martz replied!

"Hi Wren,

Thanks so much for the kind words. I started illustrating before tattooing but always found inspiration in old american folk art and tattooing. After illustrating for several years, I was getting more requests for tattoo commissions which eventually evolved into me tattooing. Because the art that I had always been inspired by was rooted in folk art, flash, and etching, I was lucky that my illustration style sort of naturally translated into tattooing. I am still definitely learning all the time and trying to find a balance between the two but overall feel lucky to be able to bounce back and forth between illustration and tattooing. Hopefully this helps! Also, I will definitely let you know if I am coming through Europe soon and need a place to guest spot.

Take care,

Kyler "

I wasn't expecting a reply so quickly, I admire his work a lot so it's nice to hear that he still tries to find balance between both practices, this is something I hope to be able to do, but hopefully with the time spent on this course I will be able to do this, even if this means just having an Etsy or something to make prints for, i'd be happy with that. I googled 'American Folk Art' to see a little of what inspires him, and found illustrator Stacey Rozich whose work is really beautiful, I really like her tone of voice and how she uses blocks of colour, which is something that could be translated into my work.

Etsy Update

I have things in my Etsy now! From the Leeds 4 Syria event I have just uploaded all of my leftover stock.
This is proving to be something I am excited about, I get to make work that other people like and make a bit of cash back from it to save for my apprenticeship. I worked out that one pack of paper (50 sheets) is worth 1 A4 print, and to fill my printer full of ink its 4 A4 prints, so i can quickly see profit from this.

I nerded out and emailed Kyler Martz

I was trying to think who I would like to contact, and who would be able to answer the questions I have as both an Illustrator and aspiring tattoo artist, I found Kyler Martz' work and I think his work is perfect for what I am aiming for, to have a sustainable practice as both illustrator and tattooist, and how those can overlap.

 

Leeds 4 Syria : Cubs & Wren X Sister Said

 Me and my partner in crime have been working hard on making stuff, and it's been tons of fun. Bobbi (cubs) is a recent Graphic Design graduate and my best friend, she's also the person who helps me out with everything work wise and pushes me to make more stuff. We did a stall at the Brudenell for the Leeds 4 Syria event they were running on Valentine's day, where 10% of your profits went to help syria. 

The table was split into two; mine and Bobbi's work and Sister Said work. 

Sister Said
The brain child of Bobbi, helped to run by me, Sister Said is a collective we run that pushes the work of new designers, we take other people's work to craft fairs and markets to promote and sell their work for them, because often they don't have the confidence/platform/time to do so.
We also promote positivity and try showcase our illustration crushes on instagram, we want to build a network of good stuff. So far it's working really well, and it also provides us a place to promote our own work without all of the focus being on us.

Cubs & Wren
Our side of the stall went really well, making around £140 between us in 5 hours. (We donated £40 to charity and I spent most of my takings on gin, but that's beside the point) This stall pushed me to make products to sell, and make friends with my printer. From this I decided to start selling my work on Etsy and rebrand myself.

This post is also on my Studio Practice blog, but I felt it was relevant to post here too as it is what I am working on for June, when I officially start my apprenticeship.

This weekend I learnt the technical details to colour and shading skin, the way it was described helped me think about how I colour paintings and flash that I am currently working on.
I've started taking notes and trying to absorb everything sponge-like as much as possible.

Packing
- Small circular motions
- Similar to colouring pencil
- Good for solid areas of colour but creates more "cuts" and trauma to the skin, so can be harder to heal.

Scrubbing
- Back and forth movement
- Heals better than packing
- Can be less coverage/solid
- More suitable for smaller areas of solid colour

Wip Shading
- Upwards movement
- Creates gradient.
- Into the skin then pull outwards and upwards onto the surface.

Long Lines
If you can't make the full line without replenishing ink, arc in and out.
Softly into the skin, pull upwards to the surface layer, fill the ink, start the next line about a cm from the end of the last and do the same again until you reach the end. This stops the line looking disjointed and causing big areas of ink and each end, this allows more flow and a smoother finish.

If you struggle putting in a line, stretch the skin to the point where you feel vibrations from the machine in the thumb and index finger of your stretching hand.

I was given a grip, the thing that holds the needle tip onto the machine, and put it on a pencil to practice the weight of drawing with it. It's really strange, the weight coupled with the width is something i'm going to have to get used to.

Tattoo practice is similar to my illustrative practice.

I found this article with advice for beginner tattooists, and as I read it I realised that most of this advice can be applied to my illustrative practice, and vice versa, the big difference is that my work will (hopefully) end up on skin, rather than print.

1. Get critiqued!
2. The secret to tattooing is repetition.
3. There are trends in tattooing, and you will follow them.
4. Use reference.
5. Your style will come on its own.
6. Progress seems to be connected to humility.
7. Dont chase money
8. “Keep your head down, do your best, don’t worry what the other guy is doing.”
9. That “AHA!” moment will happen to you.
10. Have fun

Budgeting for June: Tattoo Apprenticeship

Based on the fact that in June, I will be the full time apprentice at Oddfellows Tattoo Collective, I have began to try work out a budget to figure out how I will eat.
My boss has agreed that I will be the studio manager 2 days a week (rather than the 1 day I do now) and the apprentice for the other 5. This equates to £150 a week, so 600 per month.
While living at home I can keep my costs way down, and hopefully be able to be comfortable enough.
I plan to also substitute this with Illustration work, selling prints and products to go into savings (or be spent on gin) which will allow me to purchase machines and equipment when required.
I print my work at home, and worked out that if I sell 1x A4 print at £10, it will buy me 50 more sheets of archival matte paper, the cost of ink is 3x A4 prints at £10, so 4 prints will provide me money to potentially make 50 more, which may not happen but it's a little reassurance.

There are some factors that will change, my car insurance is currently £60 a month, but may go up when it runs out in a couple of months due to paying of a large sum when I first purchased it, driving the monthly cost down. My scooter costs peanuts to keep, the biggest expense being petrol, so it's something I would like to keep but can be sold if impossible to do so, however £7 a week in the summer months against bus fares and parking costs means it would be useful and cost effective to keep.
The car is a luxury but allows me access to the farm where I keep my horse, and the horse is a necessity to keep me sane. I need to speak to my parents fully about this budget, but I think if it goes to plan then I will be completely fine.

Expense	Per Week (£)	Per Month (£)
Car Insurance	15	60
Petrol	10	40
Maya (My Horse)	20	80
Board	12.50	50
Scooter (may be sold)	7	28
Total	64.5	258
Extra	85.5	342

In the next two weeks I will:

After completing some elements on my first two week list, I've added some more for the next two.

- Begin to curate my work for my portfolio and website.
- Fully research the requirements to become a tattooist, things I need to register, how much it will cost and research the style of what I want to tattoo.
- Fill an A5 sketchbook for OUIL603 Tattoo Flash brief.
- Draw for fun! (this should be ongoing and is very important)
- Organise and begin making presentation boards for each brief in OUIL603.
- Prepare prints and new work for the Valentine's day market.