My name is Mark Storm. I'm a graphic / tattoo designer, specialized in Kirituhi and other tribal tatoo designs.
Kiri tuhi is the name for Maori-inspired tattoos that feature Maori motifs but don't have real cultural meaning. Kirituhi literally means "skin art" and is used to differentiate between Maori-style tattoos and Moko
The tattoo designs I create have NO meanings, symbolism or any kind of story. It's my personal graphic expression of designs, inspired by different tribal tatoo styles and is not related to the original "ta moko" or "maori" culture.
On this blog I will show my tattoo sketches and try to explain some of my drawing techniques in small tutorials. So lots of tattoo stuff and I hope you enjoy reading it!
I started on a new design last week, a tribal koifish tattoo mixed with Polynesian/Maoristyle koru shapes.
Here are some pictures to show you the design process. The first photo shows the sketch I did with a pen, just a rough design to see how I could make the koifish and koru patterns flow together:
Below you see the original pencil sketch I designed. The koru shapes are nicely flowing with the koi fish and other surrounding tribal patterns.
Once I finished the pencil drawing of the japanese koifish, the design was traced with black markers.
I recorded the full proces of tracing, shading and coloring and made a Youtube video, so you can see how it was done:
Finally I did some digital mockups, so you can see how the tattoo looks on different bodyparts:
You can order the high resolution design on my website: http://bit.ly/koifishtattoo
I've done a few other projects lately and wanted to show you some.
While looking for a case for my Iphone 4s I stumbled on a Dutch company that prints Iphone cases in 3d.
They had used one of my Maori tattoo designs for one of their mobile phone cases, so I asked if we could work together on a few more Apple and maybe even Samsung cases.
A week later I created 4 designs in Maori style, just like the tattoos I normally do.
Here's the first model I came up with:
Once the final design was approved, I sent the high resolution file to Polychemy.com so they could transform the 2d sketch into a 3d model that would fit on an Iphone:
These cases are printed with a 3d printer in 4 different colors, white, black, red and purple.
Here's the final Iphone model in Maori inspired tattoo style and a video on how it was done:
I get a lot of requests on designing a armband tattoos inspired by the Cesc Fabregas tattoo (which I did a while ago), so I decided to create a few nice Polynesian armbands with a mix of Maori style.
In my previous post you can see my first armband/elbow design, which is the first of a series of 3 or 4 tattoos.
Here's the second tatoo sketch:
Polynesian armband design inspired by the Fabregas elbow tattoo
In the centre of the design you see one half of a tribal mask, with some koru Maori curles. I really like to mix different tribal elements and patterns into one aesthetic tattoo.
My designs don't have specific meanings or stories, it's only a graphic representation, inspired by the beautiful Maori, Samoan and Polynesian shapes.
Once I finished my pencil sketch, I trace it with a black felt-tip marker and a Pilot fineliner.
Below you can see a picture of the traced drawing:
Traced the Polynesian armband tattoo with black marker
After it is scanned in high quality (300 dpi), I optimize it in Photoshop and create a linedrawing so your tattoo artist can use it to transfer the tatoos onto your shoulder/arm.
The design is seamless, which means that it totally surrounds your arm and has no beginning or ending.
To make this visible for you, I created a cylindrical model in Google Sketchup:
Because not all arms are perfectly round, your tattoo artist might need to tweak/adjust the design for you, so it makes a perfect fit.
If you wish to order the high resolution design, simply hit the "Buy now" button.
After payment, I'll send you the high resolution design + a linedrawing for your tattoo artist.
At the moment I'm working on a series of new designs for my galleries, to replace some 'old' tattoos.
I'm really inspired by the intricate Samoan patterns which have a lot of repetitive shapes and symbols and bold tattoos.
I started with a new tatoo, a halfsleeve tribal with some Samoan and Maori influences and shapes.
First I drew a basic layout of the tatoo to make it fit to the shoulder and upper arm.
Then I draw a few crossing lines, a bit tapered to give it a sense of depth.
On the left side of the tatou I added a koru fern, a national symbol of New-Zealand, aka "Aotearoa", and created a line of spearheads. I traced it with a black marker and a steady hand ofcourse ;)
To get a sharp and crisp look, I use a lot of triangular shapes with a high contrast between the black and white patterns. The heavy black lines are drawn to divide the tattoo into smaller section, so it's not one "greyish" mass:
When the Samoan tattoo was finished, I made a few nice pictures with my Canon 400D DSLR, which has a nice depth of field, the blurry fades:
To show you the full design process, I made video that is some sort of time-lapes, where you can see it from pencil sketch to high resolution design:
This digital mock-up shows how the tattoo will look on your shoulder. It's not a 100% accurate, but gives you an idea:
The final design can be purchased from my blog, simply hit the 'buy now' button below and you'll be forwarded to the Paypal website. Use your creditcard or Paypal account for the payment and as soon as I receive it, I'll send you two high resolution images of this tattoo.
The first is the full design with all patterns and black shapes.
The second is a linedrawing, so your tattoo artist can transfer the tatoo onto your body.
This time a different project, no tattoos, but a design for a knife. It's not a normal knife for cutting your meat, but more a kind of artistic/decorative design. The final piece will be cut by a friend, who is using CNCOne at work. He needs a special kind of file format, a .dxf file.
This means that I need to use Adobe Illustrator to export the linedrawing of the knife, so he can import it into CNCone, a CAD/CAM software program, used to instruct a carving machine to make objects from all kinds of metal, wood and plastics.
For more information on CNCone, you can visit a blog called CNCzone.com
Well, first I started of with a pencil sketch and scanned it. Placed the file in Adobe Illustrator and used the pen tool to trace the image. Here's a picture of the first knife I designed:
Then I used the 3d filter to add some depth:
The file was exported as a .dxf file so my friend could use it CNCone, but there was a problem with the design, especially the inner parts.
The spindle that carves out the metal is round with a minimim diameter of 4 mm, so it can not carve all the sharp edges of the design. The outer shape was not a problem fortunately.
So I had to adjust the knife design, back to the drawing table....
I made another sketch, and used some other patterns inside the knife/blade. You can see that only half the patterns are drawn, it's simply a matter of mirroring the design and voilá!
Exported the linedrawing and to test the .dxf file I opened it in Rhinoceros 3D.
To show you the full process from sketch to a ready-to-carve file I recorded a video:
When the final design is carved by a CNC machine, I will post some pictures or a small video.
Recently I created two new tattoo designs for my webshop. The first tattoo is a Kirituhi Maori style shoulder design. All my tattoos are hand-drawn on A3 paper with a B2 pencil. First I sketch the basic shape of the shoulder and upper arm and then add some koru (fern) curves that flow nicely through the design. Once I'm satisfied with the overall look, I start filling in the patterns between the korus with triangles, lines, spearheads and other repetitive shapes. Below are a few pictures of the tattoo design in progress
For my Youtube channel I created a special video, so you can see the total design from start to finish:
The final high resolution is available on my website, but can also be purchased here on my blog. Once I receive your payment, you will get 2 high quality .jpg files. The first one is the full design including gradients, the second is the linedrawing or stencil for your tattoo artist, so he can easily transfer the outlines of the design to your skin with thermal paper.
Shoulder tattoo 150
Size: 30 x 30 cm (12 x 12 inches)
Price: 41,65 euro (57 USD)
If you have a question regarding this tattoo or other designs, just let me know or visit www.storm3d.com for all high resolution tattoos.
It has been quite a while since my last post, but I have been really busy with all kind of projects, from logo design to t-shirts and other custom projects.
Here's my latest design in Maori style, a shoulder sleeve for my galleries, where it is available for purchase.
This series of pictures shows the process from the first pencil sketch to the traced design:
The final traced drawing, before the scanning and optimizing process:
Some nice depth of field photos:
Upper part of the Maori tattoo, partially traced with a marker
a nice overview of the total tattoo
The completed design with flowing maori koru curves
If you're interested in ordering the high resolution design and stencil/linedrawing of this tattoo, simply hit the 'buy now' button below and you will be forwarded to the Paypal website, so you can order with creditcard or Paypal account:
Size: 30 x 26 cm (11,5 x 10 inches)
Product code: Shoulder tattoo 155
Price: 41,65 euro (57 USD)
Any questions? Just let me know.
Kind regards, Mark Storm
info@storm3d.com
www.storm3d.com
First I made a basic pencil sketch with a height of 30 cm (12 inches) and added some detailed Samoan inspired patterns. Then a few swirls of Maori koru and traced the lines with a marker:
The final design has a nice upper part, I added some other shapes on top to make it look more complex. You can order the high resolution image of this design, by simply clicking the "buy now" below. You get the high quality files sent by e-mail once I receive your payment.
Samoan inspired shoulder sleeve design
Size: 30 x 24 cm (12 x 9 inches)
Product code: Samoan 101
Price: 41,65 euro (57 USD)
Any questions? Just let me know.
Kind regards, Mark Storm
info@storm3d.com
www.storm3d.com
