3D Tattooing

3D tattooing, you say? You might take it to mean tattoos that are so well designed, drawn and shaded that they look as though they might just jump off their owner’s skin, or you might take it to mean tattoos literally etched onto skin in red and black lines, requiring some optical effort in order to reveal a fully rounded heart, swallow or skull – in both cases, it’s most definitely been done.

Guy Aitchison is a big name as far as dimensional effects and tattooing go; his bio-mech flavoured work often shows to almost disturbing effect an impression of artwork spilling out of its’ wearers’ body, or arms that look to be tangled in wires and metal. The “breaking out of the body” effect or “ripped skin” effect is an obvious tribute to 3-D, and there’s a niche crowd of tattooists who can do it to perfection.

However, to get into the much more literal definition – there is indeed currently in existence a handful of people who sport tattoos you can only really see ‘properly’ with a pair of tinted spectacles. It’s also pretty likely that most of them could have one French tattooist who goes by the name of Jean-Francois Palumbo to thank. He’s got a cult following for his vast portfolio of ‘surrealist ink work,’ regularly turning up on ‘ultimate’ lists of fantastic, strange, high art, entirely unique tattooing.

Based in Brussels, Belgium – in his parlour, which goes by the rather wonderful name of ‘Boucherie Moderne – Jean-Francois accounts for his inspiration to try his hand at three dimensional tattooing via a reference to a distinctive childhood memory of collecting moving picture cards from packs of yoghurt pots. Yes, you’ve read it right – Jean’s highest ambition would have been to create a tattoo that literally changed its’ image as its’ wearer moved, but thanks to that being nigh on impossible, 3D black and red ink was the next best thing.

It’s no easy feat – the ink with which to tattoo has to exactly match the colours of acetate sheeting that provide the full 3D ‘effect’ – this means very expensive, fine pigment inks and extensive mixing and testing. Prototype images suitable to be tattooed were determined with hours of sketching in playing about in Photoshop. There is a clear feeling of perfectionism about Palumbo’s work, which pays off – his final designs, a diamond, a heart that can be made to ‘beat’ by flashing acetate sheeting across the design and a scissors that cuts up and down – are truly deserving of the often over-used tag ‘original.’

Word has it that he’s working on fish that look like they’re actively swimming through flowing water for his next 3D thing.

…On an ending note, it is of interest to ask - will more tattoo artists jump on this as a tattoo concept? In a creative industry, one always has to remember that true high-art and subversive creativity will be consistently checked: it’s a world of art, tattooing, but it’s a world of business too, and the supply-demand equation is very much in operation. It’s a brilliant concept, but it’s probable most ink enthusiasts won’t want tattoos that require specific equipment to properly see - UV tattoos are similar in this way, although, being normally invisible, they did have a ‘secret ink’ flavour to them that would be an extra draw. Then there’s that question of the extra expensive ink. Perhaps 3-D tattoos will never become widely seen or requested, but they’re a valuable rarity and a highlight, evidence of the surreal, lateral-minded creative forces present on the ink scene nowadays. And that is never, ever a bad thing.

With thanks to Bizarre Magazine for source information

CREDITS: Article – Rachel Kennedy Photo – Jean Francois Palumbo (whose site can be found here!)

3D Diamond 3D Heart 3D Scissors