Dream Catcher Tattoo Design

The dream catcher tattoo design was a design made for my mom. She wanted a tattoo to resemble her and the family. She gave me a challenge and I took it. 

During the sketch phase of this tattoo, my mom told me everything she loves. She loves flowers, she has always been a bright and vibrant person and so they represented her really well. I took the dream catcher and wrapped it with the flowers. The wrapping of the flowers represents her warm embrace and protective nature. The Dream catcher represents my father. He is the base and what holds us in place, he is the structure. Each of the feathers represent me and my five little brothers. Together this piece shows our family.

I took the initial sketch and scanned it into Adobe Photoshop and started working. I created an outline based off of the initial sketch. I used thick and thin lines to create the skeleton. My mom wanted a hand drawn style opposed to a cleaner and vector version. 

After the rough outline was finished I asked her if she wanted colors. She gave me the colors she wanted and I used layer masks to keep each color in its spot. Each color was put on its own layer and labeled. 

Once I finished the coloring process I added some loose highlights and shadows throughout the piece. She loved it once I showed her. She wanted to me to make an example on skin of what this design would be. 

I then took a reference photo and added the tattoo to where she wanted to have it. I used this model to manipulate the design to fit in the square of the back and blend in with the skin tones. With this finished, my mom plans to get the tattoo here soon and  I successfully made her wish come true.