Guy Aitchison and Michele Wortman: Apple Ink
In some cases, he uses Mac-based 3D modeling applications such as DAZ Bryce to reinterpret designs from one medium to another. “I may build a clay model in collaboration with a visiting tattooist, then Photoshop it together with elements created in Bryce,” he says. “The resulting image may end up being tattooed on someone, or done as a collaborative painting, or both.”
Showing Skin
Wortman’s tattoos tend to be more open and airy, combining geometric shapes with flowers, birds, and other organic forms. Many of her large-scale designs are symmetrical — matching sleeves, for example, or a tattoo that flows across both shoulders. “My style is very much geared towards a woman's aesthetic,” she says. “Some women really like skin in their designs. And I love the irony of having these pastel, girly tattoos.”
Many of Wortman’s tattoo designs are generated from her own nature photographs. “A lot of times there’s synchronicity between the things people ask for and photographs I’ve already taken,” she notes. “Two days ago I did a tattoo of dogwood blossoms, and I was able to use a photo I shot last spring as a reference.”
To translate a flower photo into a tattoo design, Wortman imports the digital image into Photoshop on her iMac. She evaluates and adjusts the colors, then re-outlines the petals using her graphics tablet, converting the blossoms into a more graphic shape. After printing the modified photo, she re-traces the image, creates a stencil, and applies it to the skin.
“I might render the inside of the petals in a more painterly way,” she says, “but I enjoy knowing that the math underlying the basic shape is accurate. That’s something the computer has made possible.”
Making a Mark with Mac
Wortman also uses her iMac to make adjustments of a more drastic nature. “Like when a client arrives who’s twice as large as you thought they’d be!” she laughs.
“Michele has had some enormous clients this last year — including a woman who was almost seven feet tall,” Aitchison explains.
“My drawing was too small for her, so I had to redraw it,” says Wortman. “I sized the file up in Photoshop, and printed and traced from that. I basically used the Mac as a custom tailoring tool to make the design fit.”
Whatever the artistic task at hand, the Mac is a key creative partner at Hyperspace Studios. “Guy and I are extremely interconnected with our Macs,” says Wortman. “We like to incorporate technology into our everyday lives as much as possible.”
“Our Macs are indispensable,” Aitchison agrees. “We do plenty of analog projects, from painting to sculpting, but at some point it all gets funneled through the digital world. The ability to function smoothly between multiple creative applications makes it very easy to move between different media, and between the digital and analog worlds.”