Michael DeMatty

I’m not a big fan of “tribal,” mostly because i have seen so many horrible tattoos made of ugly, limp, noodley, (ok that’s not a word, but it means like a wet noodle,) haphazard black pointy bars. Let’s face it, most tattoo collectors have one they regret. Few are the lucky ones who have a tribal tattoo that is pleasing to the eye and fits the body. My client came to me and had a few pictures of tribal tattoos. He really liked them, but i just couldn’t see placing them on his arm. He also wanted to incorporate the letter ‘A’ into the tattoo. He also wanted it very small, not to wrap around his arm to the more tender side. I talked him into letting me design one to perfectly fit his arm. He said ok. I wrapped tracing paper around his arm and traced the grooves of his muscles and the shape of his upper arm. I had never designed a tribal before, but i felt up to the challenge.  Now he is entering it into a tattoo competition.