Missing the Sea

I am sure that I am not the only person to have a really good idea for something but then get to busy or caught up in other things that it takes a long while to actually complete the idea.....right?

I had been sitting on this idea for a piece for about one and half years before I finally finished it. This was an idea that came to me when I was working as an airbrush tattoo artist but right after that job, I went back to school where things got crazy. (senior year and all)

Normally I do not name the pieces I create. I guess I find naming things slightly annoying. This piece however was screaming to be named and that's why its called "Missing the Sea", Quite fitting. It is a skull, pirate skull to be exact, that obviously has been dead for a long while. It is crying tears shaped like anchors because a pirates life is the sea.

As for the style of the piece, I wanted it to be reminiscent of a tattoo style drawing/painting. That is why I chose to include the flowers on the side of the skull to give it that feel. I also used a technical pen to create the outlines and a little bit of water color to give it a pop.

I painted this piece on a square tile that apparently is made of banana paper. Or at least that's what the label says. Honestly, I picked up a couple packs of these tiles at my school for free (its amazing what you can get for free at a university...) and figured I would do something with them eventually. I actually quite like this natural paper look and feel......should have picked up more. Oh well.

I'm happy with how it turned out overall. This however I think will turn out to be one of those ideas that I just keep improving and tweaking over time. I mean....after all for quite some time all I did was create sketches and doodles where I played with different versions of this idea. Maybe it will turn into a mini series with those different versions but for now, I am happy with the tattoo style embodiment of this piece.