Last weekend I saw the highly acclaimed exhibition, 'Savage Beauty' at the V&A by Alexander McQueen  (R.I.P). It was fantastic and I'm really glad to have seen it just before it ended. My partner treated me to a Samsung Galaxy Note Pro a while back and I've been using it for sketching (which is fab, btw), but I was struggling to adjust to painting with it. Here's a study based on a photo from the McQueen book I bought after seeing the exhibition. Hopefully, with more practice I'll be able to paint quickly and freely with this device!

Naomi

P.S. A lot has happened over the past few months.....I'll  write a proper post about it another time. Although if you follow me on social media then you'll  already know of NAOHOA!

After a giant leap of faith and lots and LOTS of elbow grease, I decided to set up my own tattooing business. :O

Why?

When I was looking for a place to get my tattoo, it was difficult to find a place I felt comfortable and welcome in. The stereotypes are still very strong in the industry and I recall walking into one place, being glared at by big burly blokes who looked like they were judging me, then walking straight back out. That sense of intimidation teamed with the high cost of tattoos made me wonder why it isn't treated more like a luxury commodity. If you spent the same sort of money at a hotel or fine dining, you'd be spoilt rotten! I'd been fortunate enough to have experiences at such establishments a handful of times to know the difference between high-end service and your Average Joe....and decided to bring that into the tattoo scene.

To see what treats I offer clients, please visit the About NAOHOA page.

I'm Not The Only One

Let's face it: I'm a classically feminine woman. A girly girl. I didn't fit into the gaming industry and sure as hell don't fit into tattooing. People don't expect me to be either, which I find more amusing than annoying. :P

There are definitely more people like me who'd like ink and I want NAOHOA ('naya-howa') to be the safe, comfortable studio of their choice.

Applying Concept Art Techniques with Tattooing

As the tagline suggests, I only do bespoke tattoos. Each design is unique to every customer and I flat-out refuse to copy existing designs (unless they have the artist's permission) or repeat mine on another client. The only exception is if a pair/group of friends want matching tattoos to unify their bond. At first I thought, "Why people would want something permanent on their body that matches a stranger's is beyond me", then delved into it more....perhaps they simply haven't found EXACTLY what they want, but the photo(s) they found are close enough. "That'll do".

You shouldn't have to compromise 

on something so permanent  and 

at NAOHOA, you won't. 

Working as a concept artist in the gaming meant I had to do loads of variations of the same thing until the strongest one was deemed acceptable and made it into the game. Or not! Lots gets thrown out in that industry. I essentially do the same thing with my business at a smaller scale so that customers have options and can steer the ship towards that tattoo they've wanted for ages.

A Peaceful Environment

Many studios are still dark and grungy or at best, hip and alternative. There's nothing wrong with these as there's clearly a market for them - I just think there's a gap for people like me. Given my attitude to tattoos being a luxury and deserving such treatment, NAOHOA is more akin to a beauty spa or art gallery.

Calm and classy.

Interested in Ink?

If NAOHOA sounds like your kinda place, please *contact me* and we'll get the ball rolling! :D

Thanks for reading,
Naomi xxx

Hey guys,

If you follow me on Instagram/Twitter/Facebook then you'll have seen the stuff I've been working on lately. If not, then I've compiled it all here anyway with some commentary.  Hope you like. :)

Going Solo

Due to unfortunate circumstances, I'm essentially learning to tattoo by myself. It's been working out fine so far and I bought machinery, ink etc. to practice at home.

It had been a while since I last used a machine before this move, so I used a pomelo* to begin with:

Thought I'd start off with some freehand script.

After disliking the wobbliness of the first one, I decided to take it a little more seriously and made a stencil. Stereotypical stuff, just for practice.

Started to get the hang of it. :) None of the stencils would stick so I had to freehand all of the script in the end.

Hello Kitty is deceptively tricky to get right. More often than not, the simpler the shape, the harder it is to reproduce effectively. I figured she would be a good subject to practice such things.

Everyone seems to get Chinese characters done at some point, so here is 'love'. I'm not bilingual, so I had to rely on Google for this translation. :P

* pomelos are like a giant grapefruit that is milder in flavour. They're really tasty; I recommend it!

Back on the Arm

It didn't take too long to feel comfortable with using the tattoo machine, so I went back to the A Pound of Flesh arm to finish up the Buddha and complete some other pieces:

My first tattoo design! Still need to finish the lotus petals.

My second attempt at tattooing something realistic. I simply had to ink a lion after seeing this gem.

Roses are another popular item, so I crammed in five. Also added some more script, which isn't very good. Must improve.

Switched to something more Maori-inspired to see how I faired with line work. All original designs.

I wanna squeeze in a portrait or two if possible....and saving the white highlights for when the whole arm is finished.

Japanese Sleeve: 'Four Seasons'

After focusing on realistic, black&white designs, I wanted to do something that was the complete opposite. Japanese tattoos are hugely popular, despite their dark roots in the Yakuza. To stem away from this, I focused on making it look like a woodblock print. This is reminiscent to my work on Fall of the Samurai, which was pretty fun.

Here are sneaky previews of my progress so far.....I don't want to post the whole design until after it's done. :)

Matsumoto Castle and The Great Wave.

This was lifted from Hasui Kawase's Autumn print. Normally, I wouldn't agree to using other artists' work without their permission, but Hasui's work is well out of copyright law.

A snippet of The Great Wave by Hokusai.

To those of you who are wondering, I'm using a rotary machine by Wayne Taylor and ink by Kuro Sumi.

If you're interested in getting a tattoo from me (I'm based in Wales, UK), contact me at info [at] naomihoang.com

Thanks for visiting!
Naomi xxx

* Link to Amazon *

Top left image was animated for the opening sequence.

Bottom image was animated for the opening sequence.

Top right image by Roland MacDonald.

Top right image by Roland MacDonald.

.....I'd completely forgotten about so many of these! I worked in-house during my contract and blitzed through quite a few illos to meet the deadline. The brief was to create Japanese block-printing-style images with a modern twist and the AD was really pleased with the results (phew~).

I had a blast working there and was pretty sad to leave, but I'd been offered a permanent job at NaturalMotion Games Ltd. a month before my contract ended, so I left (2011). Breaking into the industry was super tough, but I couldn't have asked for a cooler first job. :) Many thanks to Kevin McDowell for giving me that chance, and to all the staff at the time for being so lovely.

Queeny in my brand colours.

I drew this glam, stylised version of the queen recently for a postcard design (it features in the spot where you place the stamp):

The details side of my postcard design.

 ....after seeing the Chinese New Year cards sell well on eBay, I thought it would be nice to get some of these printed and sell too. However, I'm not sure what text style to go for, or what backdrop colours would be worth getting printed.

So! If you wouldn't mind sparing a few seconds, please pick your preferred text style and colour variation(s) and I'll get the most popular ones printed and ready to sell on eBay. :)

Please vote by March 16th 2015!

What Text Style Do You Prefer?

Please vote by March 16th 2015!

What Colour Variations Do You Prefer? 

Thanks! I'm giving this 'til March 16th so they can be printed and on sale from April onwards.

I thought it would be a good idea to start developing my own style of painting portraits in preparation for my future career in tattooing. Given that I'm a massive fan....here's a portrait of Lady Gaga I started last night:


As you can see from the original photo, I punched up the contrast and stylised the hair so it would work better as a tattoo. Can you spot the nod to music in this piece?


* I'm not completely sure if it's okay to sell on Society6, so if it isn't and Gaga/her people would rather I take it down, I will immediately.

From 19th February it will be the Year of the Goat! Each year has an element assigned to it as well as an animal, and 2015's element is wood. As such, I've combined these factors along with this particular zodiac's flowers.

Finished pieces would typically go on my website but I'm having trouble accessing the webspace atm, so I'll be posting it here first:


I'm currently contacting independent stores to see if they'd be interested in stocking them as gift cards/postcards and will post their locations here if they accept. If you run a business and are interested, or know of anyone who might be, please email me at: info [at] naomihoang.com

Animated WIPs.....because they're fun to look at. :)


Cheers,
Naomi