A personal tattoo concept design project that was a work in progress when I originally posted it onto Behance. I do not normally share projects that are still in progress, but doing so can help demonstrate some of the nuanced details of a designers workflow, which can be very enlightening and even valuable depending on the audience. 

This project is a spaulder (aka shoulder-armor) that is mostly inspired by the heraldry for the 'Rhodes' family name. Every design element was thoroughly researched and meticulously crafted, with each having some sort of meaning and/or purpose. My design process is very methodical, starting by collecting information, such as measuring the desired canvas area for the design, my left shoulder and upper arm (12" H, 9.5"-12.5" W). Constructing the armor to be realistic was a priority, in terms of the form and function of the armor itself. I wanted it to be designed as if it were going to be fabricated and worn by me, especially as if it were to be effective in my defense in battle, assuming of course I were to also wear a complete set of armor in conjunction with this specific component. Even the mail underneath would, hypothetically, be worn underneath, given that it would also be connected to a complete set of mail, likely over top a gambeson.

The first image in the grid above represents the canvas area, my shoulder and arm. Next, I define the form and function of the spaulder as if it were a real functional piece of armor, breaking it down into individual four (technically five) individual lames and a single cop, including rivets. This armor was layered over top a patch of mail (chain), as demonstrated in the fifth grid image. I constructed the form of the plates, rivets, mail, leather work, buckles, and the crest as a layered wireframe of individual lines and circles, many of which share mathematical relationships such as their angles or dimensions. I used these elements to build the actual shapes for each component of the armor, then used color and gradient shading to define their depth. That illusion of depth is intended to convincingly bend to the contours of my body, its intended canvas. The fastening belts will encompass the diameter of my arm, asserting the illusion of serving a functional purpose. 

The concept for the engravings incorporated custom stencils of several different plants that are meaningful to me and my family, each of which was drawn to scale, demonstrated in image 6 of the grid. I included rose, honeysuckle, cherry blossom, sunflower, broom, laurel, and devil's backbone, each for its own reason. Each stencil was scanned into Adobe Illustrator, prepared, refined, and integrated into the plating of the armor.

Due to circumstantial logistics, getting the tattoo rendered into my flesh will likely take several months, broken up into several sessions. After the tattoo itself is rendered and healed, I will update this project to proudly reveal the end product.