from: Ken W.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Sun, Oct 24, 2010 at 10:53 PM
subject: tattoo translation

Hi Tian,

I love your blog, and I was wondering if you could translate what I got tattooed on my arm some years back. Thanks a lot.



莾 is antiquated version of 莽, which means dense growth of bush or rash.

from: Lucy
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Mon, Dec 20, 2010 at 6:11 PM
subject hanzismatter - medical insurance notice

Hi,

Attached is a notice sent by the medical insurance carrier called Aetna. I'm almost sure the Chinese section is illegible unless Aetna is using some kind of crazy font.

Can you please shed some light on what's going on?

Thank you.

Regards,
Lucy


(full size view)

The Chinese text section does appear to be jumbled either from poor printing process or incorrect font.

Polynesian lizard shoulder tattoo

Hi,

Here's the third polynesian design I've been working on in the last few days.
It has a nice symmetry and contains a lizard in the center and a mask at the top.

Here's a sketch in an early stage:

First I create the main contours of the tattoo by drawing two circles for the shoulder part and adding a rectangular shape at the bottom.
Then I draw other main lines like the diagonal ones and horizontal guide lines.

I really like the repetitive patterns and typical "polynesian" shapes and the eyes at the top of the design.

It took me quite some time to get the image right, most of the time I draw, erase, redraw etc.
So before I get to the final stage of tracing the image, I have nearly spent half my time tweaking and adjusting the image :)




Polynesian shoulder tattoo 3

Here's the final shoulder design, the top is symmetrical and the lower part of the tattoo has wave patterns, triangles, arrowheads and turtle symbols

The original size of this tattoo is 23,5 x 21 cm (9 x 8 inches), but it can be scaled to adjust it to your arm/shoulder.

Price for this design is 35,70 euro (47 US dollar)

If you wish to order it, simply press the "Buy now" button and you will be redirected to the Paypal site for the payment.

Once I receive your payment, I'll send you the high resolution design and a linedrawing for your tattoo artist.

Any questions? Just let me know.

If you want to "retweet" this post to your followers, simply click the green button at the top.

Mark Storm
info@storm3d.com
www.storm3d.com

from: Anna H.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Wed, Dec 8, 2010 at 8:51 AM

Hello, long time reader and fan of your blog. I just came across this, and I smell bullsh*t.

http://www.makeyourownjeans.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=21_27_129

Anyway, go nuts :)



Alan and I briefly browsed through the website mentioned above and "Kemuri" section. We can't believe some place is seriously using the Gibberish Chinese Font as is! We will be on the lookout for gullible customers with embroidered butts.

What a bunch of idiots.

Polynesian shoulder tattoo designs

Hi!

I've been working on a few new shoulder tattoos for my web collection.
The designs are inspired by the Polynesian tribal style, like the Dwayne Johnson tattoo and have some nice detailed patterns.

I started with a circle which covers the shoulderball and a wider rectangle just below.
Then I drew som spearheads and other tribal shapes, like turtle patterns.


I already have a few pieces like these ones in my gallery (shoulder 143, 144 and 145) and they are quite popular, so I decided to add similar designs, but only a bit wider, so it wraps around the upper arm.

The tattoos will cover the shoulder and half the upper arm.





Polynesian shoulder tattoo 1

The original size of both designs is 23,5 x 21 cm (9 x 8 inches), but it can be scaled to adjust it to your arm/shoulder.

Price for this design is 35,70 euro (47 US dollar)

If you wish to order it, simply press the "Buy now" button and you will be redirected to the Paypal site for the payment.


Once I receive your payment, I'll send you the high resolution design and a linedrawing for your tattoo artist.




Polynesian shoulder tattoo 2


This second design has a nice Polynesian mask in the shoulder area and triangles and arrowheads.

I'm working on another design in this style, so I will show you an update soon.

Any questions? Just let me know.

Regards, Mark Storm
info@storm3d.com
www.storm3d.com

Maori inspired tattoo sketch for side of the lower leg

Hi!

It's been a while since my last post, I did some work on my website and added a twitter button to it, so you can follow my projects in realtime.
I also added a retweet button to each post on this blog (the small green "tweet" button on the upper right corner) so you can easily forward my posts.

Today two new and famous followers! Yoji Harada and Chris Nunez from the popular series "Miami Ink", welcome guys!

A customer asked me to create a Maori inspired tattoo design for his leg. It had to cover the side of his shin, wrapping around to his calf a little.

I started with a sketch in pencil and drew the basic shapes and fills. The design was approved by my customer, so I could trace it and finish it in Photoshop.






Kind regards, Mark Storm
info@storm3d.com
www.storm3d.com

from: Karl B.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Sat, Dec 4, 2010 at 3:34 AM
subject: Restaurant sign

Hi,
There's a sushi restaurant in Stockholm with this sign which is obviously not japanese, but even in chinese it doesn't *appear* to say anything coherent. Care to shed any light on it, despite it not being a tattoo?

- Karl

定価 = listing price
中 = within
低 = lower
冬季 = winter
大人 = adult
千円 = thousand yen
村 = village
高 = higher
内線 = inner line
年賀 = new year's greeting

from: Samantha M.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Fri, Dec 3, 2010 at 2:00 AM
subject: My tattoo

Could you tell me what this means? I was young and dumb and was told it meant "Power" Thank you

Sami

權 should have two 口, instead of solid squares.

Lower leg tattoo mix Maori / Samoan style

Hi there,

At the moment, things are quite busy and I get a lot of requests for custom designs, sometimes up to 5 or 6 a day...! :)
Really nice ofcourse, but unfortunately my time is limited and I really want to focus on each design, so I have to pick and choose the designs that I really enjoy and fit my style.
My apology for all people I have to dissapoint...

A few days ago I received an e-mail from a customer living in the UK. He was looking for a tattoo for his lower leg, mainly the calf, but partially wrapping around his leg.
It had to be something similar to this mixed Maori / Samoan inspired tattoo design I did a few weeks ago.

These pieces are my favourites, especially in a symmetrical design, because it just looks really great and clean.

First I started with a template from the measurements of the leg and roughly sketch out the lines of the tatoo:
















The two big koru curles will wrap around the sides of the calf and the vertical row of spearheads will be centered on the back of the leg. The Samoan pattern will wrap around to the front of the leg, just below the knee.

After a few hours of adding the detailed patterns, scanning and retouching, I added the shading and gradients in Photoshop.

The final design looks like this:


















Kind regards, Mark Storm
info@storm3d.com
tribalflashtattoos.blogspot.com

Armband tribal tattoo with star

Hi,

I have been working on an armband tattoo for a Dutch customer. He wanted a mixed tribal style with some nice sharp edges.
The design had to be seamless and incorporate an existing star on the inside of his wrist.
I'm not really keen on working around existing tattoos, but for this time it was not very much of a problem.

The size had to be 7 cm wide and a full wrap around the wrist with a seamless fit.

Here you van see how I started on the design:











The outer sides that are in blue show how the design will make a seamless fit:








I had to adjust some koru shapes, because it looked a little bit too much like a love symbol.
This is the final sketch and the high resolution design:











I'll be back soon with another project, probably a lower leg project.

Kind regards, Mark Storm

from: Chris S.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Thu, Nov 11, 2010 at 9:49 PM
subject: Tattoo Translation

Hello

My uncle just got this Tattoo and I was curious to know what it says. I'm hoping he didn't get tricked and got something ridiculous.

from Chris S.



Similar tattoo with same mistake was posted here in July.

棺材佬 means "coffin man".

However, the middle character of 木見才 or 木貝才 does not exist in Chinese character list.

Final Chatham Island tattoo design

Hi!

Today I finished my design of the Catham Islands in a tribal style.
My client wanted some adjustments to make it look less sharp, so I rounded some tribal elements at the bottom of the tattoo.
Here's the final sketch and the high resolution design.



















Ps. I also created a profile and a small gallery on Deviantart.com and placed my latest designs on this site.

Kind regards, Mark Storm
info@storm3d.com

from: Gary B.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Thu, Nov 4, 2010 at 1:59 PM
subject: Tattoo translation help

Hey

Lovin' your blog.

I got my tattoo aged 17 and it means a lot to me as it's meant to be the initials of people who are important to me, but I fear that I may well have been tattooed by someone who didn't actually know what they were talking about. It's meant to read:

JSG
PB
R

I know now that the Chinese alphabet doesn't have these letters, so I'm not hopeful, but intrigued to know what it means.

Many thanks for your help, it's really appreciated.

Gary



Another sucker of the gibberish font.

from: Lisa R.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Fri, Nov 5, 2010 at 12:33 PM
subject: Tattoo Translation

My sister got this tattoo on her arm about ten years ago. It is supposed to mean "warrior" but we both highly doubt that that's what it means. Could you shed some light? We'd love to know what it REALLY says!

Thanks.

Lisa



滝 [たき] 1: waterfall; 2: rapids

New maori inspired forearm tattoo

Hi!

I'm still working on some other custom tattoo projects, but there is some time left to add some new flash designs to my collection.
These images are for sale on my website and you can also order it right on this page.
I made a sketch for a forearm tatoo which can be used for both the inside of the lower arm as the outside.

Here 's the first pencil sketch I made:
















The design is filled with a repetitive line pattern, simple but it gives a clean look to the overall image.
I traced it and then went to work in Photoshop, to touch up the tattoo and add a nice depth/3d effect.
Here's the final tatoo, the original size is 31 x 14 cm (12 x 5,5 inches)

Price for the stencil and high resolution image is 29,75 euro (42 USD)

As soon as I receive your payment, you'll be sent two .jpg files by e-mail.

Any questions? Just let me know.

Kind regards, Mark Storm
info@storm3d.com
tribalflashtattoos.blogspot.com

Tattoo Chatham Island in Maori style

Hi,

At the moment I'm working on a special tattoo. A girl from the Chatham Islands (a small island on the eastside of New Zealand) wanted a tattoo in the shape of her island, but then in an abstract maori inspired style.
This is google map of the place:













First I made a few quick images to see if she liked the idea of a tattoo pattern masked by the shape of the island:












Unfortunately this was not exactly what she was looking for.
The tattoo had to be loosely based on the shape of the island, with a maori pattern to it.
The size had to be something like 10 x 12 cm, so quite small.
I made a new pencil sketch and sent it to my client:




I just sent it today, so hopefully I can get back to you tomorrow with a final design.

Best wishes, Mark Storm
info@storm3d.com
www.storm3d.com

Maori Samoan tattoo design for the shoulder

Hi,

As mentioned yesterday, I worked on a new flash design that you can order on this blog. I just finished it today and it's a combination of a Maori inspired tribal with some Samoan elements/shapes added to it.
On a rainy afternoon (one of the many in Holland ;)) I just started sketching when watching television, so not really paying attention to what I was drawing, just doodling around.
To my surprise it really just came out of my hands.

Here's the sketch I'm talking about:

This was a good quick tattoo sketch to start a final design from. So I set up my work table, took my pencil box and redrew the design on a sheet of A3 paper.

I started with the swirl of spearheads, because that is the main theme in this tatoo.
Then I added the koru shape below the shoulder which is overlapped a little to create a depth/dimension.
I really enjoy to create flowing lines, with a flawless curve.
Finally I added the right side of the tattoo and made some Samoan inspired patterns with triangles, fish shapes and overlapping strokes.

Once the sketch was finished I traced it with a black marker and scanned it.
Finally I added the shading of the different areas and retouched some small blemishes and spots in Photoshop.

Here's the final shoulder tattoo.

The original size is 29 x 21,5 cm (11 x 8,5 inches), but it can be scaled to adjust it to your arm/shoulder.

Price for this design is 41,65 euro (58 US dollar)

If you wish to order it, simply press the "Buy now" button and you will be redirected to the Paypal site for the payment.

Any questions? Just let me know.

Kind regards, Mark Storm
info@storm3d.com

Silver fern storm3d style tattoo

Hi there,

Another nice project today, a client asked me to draw a New Zealand/Maori silver fern in my own "storm3d" style.

The tattoo would be placed just below his arm to just above the hip, around 30 cm in height, quite a large tatoo.

First I made a sketch:



















You can see a row of spearheads and some abstract leaves in a repetitive rythm.
I added a curve to the fern so it would flow nicely on the clients body.
The first sketch was approved, so I could trace the design with a marker, scan it and add some nice shadings to the leaves and arrowheads.
The high quality picture looks like this:





I'm working on a new design that will be for sale on this blog, a Maori inspired design with a touch of Samoan elements.
Tomorrow I will add some pictures and maybe I have finished it by that time.

Just check back soon!

Kind regards, Mark Storm
info@storm3d.com
www.storm3d.com

Maori design on my powerkite

Hi,

As a hobby next to designing tattoos, I really like to fly powerkites. These kites have 4 lines, two for steering and two for braking.
I bought my first powerkite a year ago, a 4m2 Peter Lynn Twister, which has a really good lift.
This kite can lift me of the ground, sometimes even 2 meters in strong winds.

Some people create their own kites, so I would like to try that. First I started with a 1.7 square meters, small kite.
This really was a great experience, from printing the template panels (around 160 A4 sheets), sticking it together, cutting the panels (around 100 pieces in total) to sewing them together with my "new" Pfaff 1221 sewing machine:











This was the model I created in the program "Surfplan", which is ideal for creating your own foils and power kites.











Here are a few pictures of the process and the completed kite:


























Finally I shot a movie of the process and it also shows the final kite in the air for its maiden flight:

Any questions? Just send me a message!

Kind regards, Mark Storm

maori design on a spinning wheel

Hi there,

A few months ago I made several tattoo designs for a spinning wheel. The designs where lasered in the wood. Today I received the photos of the wheel with the design on it.
It looks really nice, especially the round wheel with the spiral koru design.













Kind regards, Mark Storm
info@storm3d.com
www.storm3d.com