It has been a while since the last time I've done any illustration work. Recently I've created a new awesome piece that I would like to share with you. It is a koi fish illustration inspired by my tattoo. Read this post to find out more about my tattoo and see how I created the koi fish illustration based on my tattoo.
Final Illustration Preview
About My Tattoo Artist - Daemon Rowanchilde
I always wanted to get a tattoo ever since I was a kid. Finally, last year I decided to go ahead and get a tattoo done. After hours of Googling, I found Daemon Rowanchilde of Urban Primitive. Daemon is an amazing artist who has been in the industry for long time. He has done work for movie, fashion, illustration, and tattoo design. I particularly like his Energy Wave style/technique. Visit Urban Primitive and Daemonology to see his work.
Tattoo Research
Then I spent couple days on researching tattoo design. I found the koi fish very meaningful and decided to use it as my main design subject. Koi fish tattoo symbolizes "courage, aspiration and advancement".
According to Japanese legend, if a koi succeeded in climbing the falls at a point called Dragon Gate on the Yellow River, it would be transformed into a dragon. Based on that legend, it became a symbol of worldly aspiration and advancement.
Tattoo Sketch
Below are some of my concept sketches. It is a koi swimming upstream toward the sun.
I asked Daemon to incorporate his art into my design and he did this design which was used as the tattoo stencil. The floral and wave patterns were done free-hand during the tattooing process.
Finished Tattoo
The tattoo took 2 painful sessions to complete (6 hours each). Below are the photos of my finished tattoo.
Illustration Sketch
Based on my tattoo, I did the following sketch. The sketch was done on the returning plane from a Chicago trip (I was too bored). I did the sketch in about 30 minutes.
Tracing
As usual, the sketch is scanned and imported in Adobe Illustrator for tracing.
Here is the complete vector art in outline mode (over 2600 paths in total). The tracing process took about 12 hours.
Coloring
The artwork was then filled with color and gradient. The images below are different color themes that I tried. The coloring process took about 20 hours.
Texturizing
Then I imported the elements in Photoshop in separate layers. The texturing effect can easily be done by setting your layer blending mode to Dissolve. I used the Brush and Pencil tool to make the grungy background. Read my Vector Polishing tutorial to see the details of the techniques. The polishing process took over 10 hours due to the large file size and numerous layers.
Inspiration
The koi fish idea was taken from my tattoo. I made the fish tail a bit abstract so it can connect with the water wave.
The sun is also inspired by my tattoo design. I added a waterlily flower behind to make it look like kind of a flower and the sun.
The symbol on the fish head is the initial of my name and my girlfriend.
The flying mushrooms are a combination of jellyfish and mushroom.
The other design elements are mainly inspired by aquatic plants.
Related Article: Finding Inspiration From Your Environment.
it’s absorbing! I love the colors and Koi.
I’m Japanese so I can look many Koi’s illustrations but it’s different from them and great!
I do find your color choice for the tattoo quite interesting or it may come from the photos but to me it looks like violet, purple, bordeau…nice gamma. I also find your illustration style atractive and charming. Thanks for sharing it with us!
Love it!!
Beee-yew-ti-ful!!! :-)
I’m one of those people who “..use photoshop for everything, but one day I’ll get my head around Illustrator”….. Seeing your process here just makes me want to take the plunge TODAY… well, maybe tomorrow :-) Briliant work!!!
@58 Denis – Why do you have to be so aggressive towards Nick sharing his illustrative process with us?! I’m interested in you answer.
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All in all this illustration did turn out pretty sharp.
You are The Man!!! I love how you merge the idea of sun and flower, or fin and wave… I wish I had half your talent! *falls on face in blind worship*
Phenomenal work man. Absolutely stunning.
I have a confession. It’s sad – both my parents were artists that made their living doing graphic design. So, growing up, they taught me production art and graphic design and now that’s what I do. I can do rockstar print layouts and I’m getting pretty good at web design. I’m a badass production artist, but I never learned to draw. I can do all this cool stuff when you give me the materials to start with, but I can’t seem to make up my own. One of those things I really regret never paying attention to.
I’m jealous. You’ve got some major-league talent man, keep up the great work.
Nice! You’ve got lots of patience… :-)
Wow! That is a lot of work! And a very feminine illustration for a guy to have done. I would never have that much patience. Well, maybe for that kind of thing. Are you a graphic designer?
This is my first time at this blog and I am absolutely amazed. Your Koi illustration is absolutely stunning, it makes me want to learn Illustrator more. I primarily use Illustrator for creating logos as I don’t know enough to do illustrations. Any recommendations on sites to learn Illustrator?
coolllll
very nice tattoo :)
wow ;) amazing work, stunned by all dem details on ur illustration and tho not a big fan of colord tattoos, urs looks gr8, has sth even witout explainin the bg
That’s the best of the best.
Wow! Truly beautiful and inspiring!
Wow! If only I could draw like that! The only good thing I can really draw on Illustrator is a smiley face T.T! Oh the envy….
amazing – many hours ;-)
I spent the next few months getting my demo reel ready. ,
Most people agree that it is legitimate for jewelers to make ornaments out of raw gold, but they often deny that the same applies to the manufacture of coins. ,
Nice no doubt but the koi isnt that visible, shouldnt it be the centre of attraction?