Tattoo Thoughts for Rianne

Hi Rianne

Thanks for your time today, and for your knowledge and advice. I’ve had a rummage around the web/Pinterest and have had the following thoughts. First though, here’s the sketch of where I’d like this tattoo to go. It starts outer right ankle and grows up the outside of my right calf, expanding around the front and back of my right thigh, up my side and dividing around the front and back at base of ribcage, up under my armpit and across my shoulder-blades and upper chest, and growing down my upper arms.

I’d like the upper parts to be concealable under a shirt with the top button undone and sleeves rolled up so I can be apparently tat-less for work. EDIT(!) I’d like the upper arm bits to extend to my elbows but not below them.

I’d like everything to be full-colour realistic and am keen on use of white highlights, and shadows (particularly drop shadows.) Here are some images from the web that I like for these reasons. You can click them to see them full size (but not very big cos I nicked em from the web!) It’s the light and shade I’m attracted to; not so much the edge=-to-edge design because having a background takes away from the actually-growing-up-my-body effect that I am after… I’m pretty sure the right-hand image is photoshopped, but meh. If not I tip my hat to the artist!

I want it all growing up me, so here are some images that indicate that, although the lifelike-ness is not as good as the above ones…

The ivy above does a not-great job at drop-shading, but is included regardless. The other two sit nicely on the skin, but do not have the shading I am after. The final image with the blue rose on is closest to the realism I was after. Better still with shading!

Regarding drop-shadows, there are ones I like:

And ones that are shiiiiit! Like the ivy earlier (too dark, too sharp) and this:

It just doesn’t behave like a shadow of the moth.

Nearly finished…..!

I’ll put labelled photographs of example flowers at the bottom, and a mixture of them would be brilliant. The only specific things I’d like are a red rose on my right shoulder (face-on so it can be seen from the right if you know what I mean) and some variegated holly similarly on the left shoulder. Holly and Rosie are my kids’ names. I’d also like bumble bees dotted around the whole thing.