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 get a lot of requests on the Cesc Fabregas tattoo I created a while ago, so I decided to create a few new pieces that are inspired by his elbow design.
The armband tattoos have different circumferences and can also be used as legbands.
Here's the first sketch of the first armband tattoo that has a lot of Polynesian elements and Maori koru patterns:
pencil sketch Polynesian armband design
First I sketched the koru curles with a basic b2 pencil and added some rows of Polynesian symbols that you see in the foreground.
There's a tribal polynesian mask in the centre of the piece and also at the sides two half faces are drawn. Once it's totally around the arm, these sides will make one full tribal mask.
The lines of the different shapes were traced, this time with a fineliner, so I could make it really detailed and rich. After erasing the pencil and filling the outlines with a black marker the design looks like this:
traced Polynesian band tattoo
After scanning the drawing, I digitally edited the image and optimized the design.
It's a seamless tattoo, this means that there is no end or beginning of the tattoo, it totally surrounds your arm or leg.
To make this clear to my customers I decided to make a video in Google Sketchup:
The original high resolution design is available for purchase right here.
If you wish to order it, simply hit the "buy now" button and you can pay with Paypal or creditcard.
Once I receive your payment, I'll send you the high resolution tattoo and stencil in .jpg files by e-mail.
I'm back again, with another half sleeve tattoo design in Samoan inspired style.
On Facebook I've had a lot of compliments and comments on my previous design, so I decided to create a series of these drawings in the same style.
Well here's a picture of the first basic lines I drew:
Pencil sketch of a Samoan tribal sleeve tattoo
I start with a circular shape at the top that follows the upper part of the shoulder and then drew a few tapering lines to add some motion. The spearheads are a common pattern in the Samoan style, symbolizing strength and power. There are many kinds of spear- or arrowheads, so I usually combine different ones in one design to keep it as intricate as possible.
Mostly I try to draw a few layers on top of eachother, running above- or through other patterns.
This gives a sense of depth and it makes the design flow.
Here's a second sketch, you can see I traced parts of the drawing with a black marker and fineliner:
Traced a few patterns of the Samoan tatoo
Normally I first draw the full design with a pencil and then start tracing it, but sometimes I get a little impatient and cannot wait to see how it turns out :)
This photo shows the upper part almost traced and finished:
Upper part of the Samoan tribal tattoo
After a lot of sketching, erasing, and redoing the lines, I finally finished this flash design and took some photos with my Canon EOS 400D:
Another picture shows a digital mock-up of a shoulder with the sleeve projected on it. It's not a 100% accurate, but gives you an idea on how it will look once it's tattooed:
I made a Youtube video of the total design process, so you can see a kind of time-lapse on how the design evolves. Please subscribe to my channel if you want to see my latest videos:
And last but not least, you can order this high resolution flash design right here!
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.
I have been quite busy the last few months with a lot of different projects, with little time to write posts on my blog.
But to show you some new projects I've been working on; here's a new tattoo for my shoulder galleries.
It's a mixed design with Maori elements and Samoan pattern. The images below show the design process in different steps. First I make a basic outline for the shoulder as a template. Then I use my pencil to sketch some flowing koru shapes. Normally I do the whole piece with pencil first and start tracing it when I'm finished.
Today I was a bit impatient, and decided to trace parts of the tribal shapes. You see some Polynesian turtle patterns and Samoan spearheads and stylized fish.
Here you see half of the design traced with a black felt tip marker:
And a few pictures of the finished shoulder tattoo design
I also made a youtube movie of this Shoulder tattoo 156:
The tattoo is available for purchase on my website here.
Tomorrow I will be back with another design process!
I get a lot of requests for custom tattoo designs, unfortunately it's impossible to do them all, but here's a nice tatoo project I'm working on at the moment.
My customer asked me to do a tattoo sketch for the shoulder and up to the back/neck. He wanted to see some original eagle designs with claws and wings in a tribal style. The big central curve at consists of two tribal claws of the eagle and at the bottom of the tattoo I made some realistic feathers that would flow onto his biceps and upper arm.
Here's the first pencil sketch I did:
The feathers needed some adjustments to run on the biceps correctly. I also made them more abstract to go better with the overall design:
I'm waiting for my customers response, so I can finish the pencil drawing and start on the final high quality piece.
If you're interested in my designs, you can follow me on twitter, facebook or check out my channel at youtube, simply hit the buttons at the upper right of this page.
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.
Recently I designed a few new shoulder tattoos in Samoan style with some Maori koru shapes:
The designs are inspired on the Samoan tatoos like the Sonny Bill Williams shoulder tatoo. The drawings have really detailed patterns and repetitive shapes, mostly in a symmetrical design.
These designs are covering the shoulder part and part of the upper arm, to just above the elbow.
Yesterday I received a photo from a tattoo artist (Nate Gamble, Australia) who had done the right design shown above on one of his clients. He was really pleased with the result and just bought a new design, this time the second tattoo above.
Here's the photo of the tattooed design:
Shoulder tattoo 141 tattooed by Nate Gamble, Australia
I have seen a lot of my tattoos done by different tattoo artists, but this one is a really nice and clean piece I must say.
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
