Sonja from Punktum Tattoo in Germany has taken stippling to new levels with her geometric designs. But she isn’t just limited to playing with math. Using designs that evoke the image of a mandala, combined with symbols such as the Om, her works go beyond the technical and into the spiritual.
This is an open letter to Sonja from Punktum Tattoo.
Dearest Sonja, I don’t know what kind of deal you have made with the spirits of this world, but somehow they have graced you with the ability to see beyond the random. You can make order out of chaos, defying every law of the natural world. Your mad genius continually spawns works so breathtaking that whoever is lucky enough to have you grace their body with a tattoo must have to pay you with a piece of their soul. You peer beyond the borders of this world, bringing us visions of beauty, and for that we thank you.
When it comes to geometric dot-work, the first name that comes to mind is Sonja from Punktum Tattoo. She has the ability to turn simple dots into a masterpiece of negative space and intricate patterns.
This almost shell like design was sent into the tribal and blackwork gallery.
Vincent Hocquet from Beautiful Freak Tattoo in St. Idesbald in Belgium always manages to create stunning images. This week is no different with this dotwork sleeve he sent in.
You can check out more of Vincent’s work in his BME portfolio gallery.
Taking a quick look below, you can see the arms. Vincent Hocquet is the man. The man has a BME portfolio gallery that is filled with incredible geometric tattoos.
The fact that it’s all dotwork was enough to fry my brain. I can barely draw a straight line. Imagine creating these intricate figures using dots!
Even though the real Thanksgiving was last month, it is the big day in the States, with the football, the parades, and the food. Oh yes. The food. Now whether you’re eating turkey, turducken, turturkeykey, tofurkey, or some other variation, if you’re sitting down with loved ones for a feast you can pretty much expect a food coma later on today. Of course the holiday isn’t just about food. It’s an interesting holiday as it means so many different things to many different people. To some it is viewed in the traditional sense, with the celebration of the harvest, and the coming of winter. To others it is a day much like Remembrance day where thanks is given to the women and men who dedicate their lives to protecting others. And for some, it’s a day to enjoy with family and loved ones. No matter what your reasons for celebrating today are, enjoy yourselves, and if you are out partying late into the evening, remember to be responsible.
Now I tried to find some kind of Thanksgiving related tattoo, but unfortunately turkey tattoos aren’t as popular as one would believe. In all seriousness, BME is thankful for all of its wonderful members who continue to submit their photographs, stories, and videos to share with the community.
For example, we’re thankful that Sonja from Punktum Tattoo in Germany continues to send in such beautiful geometric designs.
So what are you thankful for today?
IAM: Sleazy sent in this image of his newest addition. It’s a dot-work flower of life, framed by a spider’s web. Physically it fits his head really well, and the design is well executed. It seems that the flower of life seems to be a common design choice when paired with dot-work, and it’s easy to see why. The chaos of the dots coalescing into a universal design creates a sense of order where there is none. The framing of the web, at least to me, appears to be what is holding the flower inside. Internally there is both chaos and order, held together only by the smallest of threads.
Fil from Broad Street Studio in Bath is the artist.
You know a day is going to be a good one when you open up the recent additions to the galleries and discover that the gang at Kipod Tattoo in Tel Aviv have sent in a new batch of photos.
There aren’t enough good things to say about the bevy of talented artists they have out there, so I’ll just let the work speak for itself. All the photos below are by George Samborsky.
But wait! There’s more! Keep on reading to see what other intricate geometric designs George has come up with.
And this is just the beginning of it. Seriously, stop reading right now and go to the Kipod Studio Gallery. You can thank me later.
Now forgive me if I screw anything up here, as I never really studied art. As far as I can tell this shoulder piece done by Chriz (Buxe_Voll? Tattooz, Germany), is a nice example of abstract art. Me being uneducated as I am when it comes to modern art, I can’t tell you what any of it means, although I do see elements of avant-garde in it, but what I do know is that it looks really good.
This brings up the thought, does a lack of the intellectual knowledge of art mean that one is unable to appreciate it on the same level as a scholar? Or does just appreciating the aesthetics on a personal level mean more? Basically, is art considered “art” because of the thought put into it, or because people admire it? If you want to take a closer look at the details, you can get a better look in the new skool tattoo gallery.
If you can’t see the image in the gallery, make sure that you’re logged into your BME account. If you don’t have one, you can get your free subscription right here.
The art of a sand manadala is tied deeply to Buddhist spiritual beliefs. As you can see in the video above, the time and dedication required to create a mandala takes years of study. Each grain of sand is delicately placed to form a detailed image created in a geometrical design. After taking a look at the following image sent in by Punktum, I immediately thought of the sand mandala. (Click the picture to see the full sized image)
With the design being so geometrical and comprised of mainly dotwork, you can easily see where the comparison comes from. The art of tattooing is no so dissimilar from the process involved in creating a sand mandala. Yes one is a strictly religious and spiritual practice, but they both employ the usage of a fine material to create something larger. While the monks use grains of sand, the tattoo artist uses small needles. In both cases the smallest details matter, as each line and color must be placed in a specific location to create the overall design. It was really difficult to select just one image of Punktum’s so here’s a second one, just to give you an idea of how detailed these designs are.
If you have some time, please check out the tribal and blackwork tattoo gallery today, you won’t be disappointed with what you find.