Jenn is someone who I admire because of her outlook on life and her sentimentality of play no matter your age. She’s also an incredibly talented seamstress. When she asked me to design a magpie tattoo for her back shoulder, I was delighted to learn more about the bird. I learned they are super smart, mischievous, love shiny objects and simply gorgeous.

Jenn wanted two magpies, representing her partnership with a human she married in 2022. It was to include a witchy wreath and fall leaves in the background. I really enjoyed the process of juxtaposing the earthy browns, oranges and mustard/ochres with teals, turquoises and greens. I used my digital illustration tools for this one and specifically the airbrush pen in Procreate to get the appropriate blended feathery vibe required.

I created an outline and got her approval before moving forward with the color. This was advantageous since it was to be a tattoo on her shoulder - contours needed to be considered as well as providing a baseline design for the tattoo artist she would be working with - so I provided two files: one with color and one without.

I’ll update this post with a picture of the finished tattoo on Jenn’s shoulder. I’m super excited to see how it turned out!