Tobi Watwood

Inkspriations, the title of my senior project, combines two major things that I love; tattoo culture and the people that have inspired me throughout my life. For this body of work I researched the many different styles of tattoo art. Little did I know that I would find out that tattoo art and traditional fine art go hand in hand. I chose to illustrate a series of Neo Traditional tattoo portraits of people who have impacted my life and inspired me along the way. The Neo Traditional style is the closest tattoo style to fine art. Since I am a fine artist inspired by tattoo culture, I feel this is the best style for me. This style not only connects these two worlds, but has also helped me create a series of portraits that pay homage to those who have inspired me throughout my life. 

In this series you will find six portraits of people who have played a key roles in my life along with six tattoo flash sheets connected to each individual represented in the portraits. All of these illustrations are digital, created on the iPad Pro.  I chose two musicians, one fine artist, one tattoo artist, and two people from my family. The musicians are Dolly Pardon and Kurt Cobain. They each inspire me in different ways and each holds a different place and meaning in my heart.

When it came to choosing the artists, it was a no brainer. I chose Vincent Van Gogh, due to his background and how, even though he struggled, he created beautiful vibrant works of art. For the tattoo artist, I chose Matt Bishop. Not only am I lucky enough to walk around with beautiful tattoo pieces he has designed, but I am lucky to call him one of my closest friends. He pushed me as an artist and helped me realize what I want to do with my life. I feel as if tattoo artists always remember who helped get them in the door of the industry.  I will always thank him for allowing me to be a part of something he cherishes and for allowing me the opportunity to be a part of that world.

For family members I choose to illustrate my grandfathers.  Each of my grandfathers are different in my heart and have taught me different things about life.  Both left a major impact on me and the person I am today and showed me so much love.  They taught me how to dream and made me believe that I could be and do anything I wanted as long as I worked hard enough and set my mind to it. I feel like both encouraged me and helped lead me to be the creative dreamer I am today. Which is what all of these people that I have chosen to illustrate have done in my life. Through music, art, and family – I have been very fortunate and I am thankful for these influences and inspiration that have helped shape me into the individual I am and always wanted to be.