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ザ・フラッシュ！The Frash!

Flash - 5 pages a week… every week until my debut! That was the initial “contract” I undertook as part of my apprenticeship with Wataru. (Though mercifully reduced to 2 sheets a week after my debut) I know we’ve heard it all before… Flash is dead, blah blah blah. Admittedly, I too had trouble understanding this draconian requirement, especially on top of my other duties at the shop. But over 5 months and 150 sheets later, I have to say - being forced to draw this much flash was probably one of the best experiences for my tattooing. For more reasons than one:

  • It taught me how to bring drawings to completion. I have over 20 sketchbooks, 100 pages each, full of drawings that are 60%~ 80% finished. I’m sure I’m not the only one. Drawing flash forces you do finish front to back, 100% of a picture and to think about tone, color, and balance along the way.
  • Lining. You only get one shot with flash. Screw up the linework in pen and there’s no going back. Sound like any other medium you know? Now the master’s intention becomes apparent. The early sheets might have been shy on quality, but after 5 months of steady production, the tattooing hand is definitely more sure.
  • Stuff to show your customers. (imagine!) In the modern “flash-is-dead” age, not many think seriously of selling sheets of panthers for profit. Many have turned to “artsy” flash - more like an homage to the medium than a pre-millenial walk-in shop menu item. But when your portfolio is small, it’s a good way to show people that yes, in fact, you can draw and color something they might actually want.

    This picture is the latest 50 sheets, all lined and water colored by hand… and as you can see from this experiment, enough to lay end on end from the front of the Horie shop to the back!

    Of all the painting mediums I’ve ever worked with, watercolors were by far the toughest. Obsoiv!

    デビュー前、１週間でフラッシュ５枚をかかと。僕の契約に書いてあった。米国には「フラッシュ時代はもう終わりだ！」とよく言われてる。実は、僕も最初「なんでこんなに描かないといけないやろう？」とおもってた。半年後、１５０枚ぐらい描いてから、やっと分かってきた。理由はいっぱいある。

  • ちゃんと絵を完成するくせになる。スケッチブック２０冊以上あります。１冊ずつは約１００枚の落書きが入ってる。でも、その全てはだいたい６０％〜８０％しか完成してない。あれはあれとして悪くないと思うけどフラッシュは最後まで、１００％を描かないと作品にならない。いい練習になる。
  • 線をひくため。フラッシュの場合は線をいっぱつていねいにひかんと失敗になる。タトゥーみたいなかんじ。デビューまでいっぱい描いて、もっと絵を綺麗に描ける自信アップ。
  • 人にみせるため。確か、こんな「フラッシュはもう終わり！」時代に、セットを販売するのはそんなにもうからへんと思う。最近の米国、ヨロッパのTattooistは人の頼みそうなタトゥーデザインというよりも趣味として美術っぽいフラッシュを描いてる。でもタトゥーギャラリーはまだまだ自分にとって、作品をみせる機会になるとおもう。

    • このフラッス・ロードは最近の５０枚。全部は手で水彩で塗ったやつ。堀江店の受付から裏まで届いてる！
    でも水彩はめっちゃ難しい：

    Dear Dawkins, what is this mess?! I got my first watercolor tools from the very generous and kind Ai of Cat Claw Tattoo in Kyoto. (check out that guy’s flash - AMAZING!) I had no experience with Watercolor but was fairly competant with oils and acrylics. So I decided to do some rough work on this Aquarelle (I didn’t realize at the time that this stuff costs like 1000yen per sheet - sorry Ai!) I also didn’t realize watercolor must be built up slow, filled in from light to dark… in some ways the total opposite of tattooing - and nothing like more opaque mediums.

    うわぁぁ！何これ？！京都のCatClawTattooのAiさんからもらった水彩絵の具で描いた初フラッシュ練習！その時まで、水彩の経験無しで大失敗しました！こんな１枚千円のものすごい高級AQUARELLEの用紙に！AIさん、御免なさい！）塗り方は油絵やアクリルと全然違う！びっくりしたわぁ。

    This stuff is a pretty good compromise - I used to use Canson brand, but the grain is more “natural” on this Cotman paper. 15 sheets is less than 1000yen, so it’s affordable. I also dye the color before I start. Not really to give it an “old feel” but to be closer to a skin pigmentation. I suppose you could use anything - I use tea packets, but BOSS coffee or cola work as well. (Trade secrets - I could be forced to commit seppuku for divulging them)

    Cansonのやつもよ〜使ってたけど最近はCotmanを。用紙の目はめっちゃ綺麗、もっと自然な模様になってる。１５枚は千円以下、とっても安い！（おい、Cotman,スポンサーしてやぁ！）塗る前、茶で色もつける。古くみえて、あじがでるからじゃなくて、真っ白の用紙よりも人間の皮膚色と近いから。（まぁ、民族によるけど言ってる意味わかるやろう？！）秘密な知識やで〜。ばれちゃあかんでぇ

    You can see more of the newer pieces on my flash page. There’s some older colored pencil stuff there too - Check back often!
    最近のサンプル。ここまで読んでくれてありがとう！よかったらフラッシュのギャラリーのほうも見てな、しょ〜ちゅ〜更新してる。

    This entry was posted on Thursday, April 5th, 2007 at 2:14 pm and is filed under The Daily Grind. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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