botanical bergamot - tattoo design

 Let me tell you about a very special client of mine, the oldest in the book, my longest-standing, most loyal (and possibly most demanding) customer to date. My sister, everyone. She’s been around since before I started drawing, before I was even born… heck, before the beginning of time, I'm just kidding.

 This time (I don't know how many times there were at this point), she wanted a design of a Bergamot plant. Yes, that bergamot—the citrusy little guy that gives Earl Grey its fancy scent and that makes perfumes, and us, smell really good and fresh. A very elegant choice, and totally on-brand for my sister, who somehow always manages to challenge me with every tattoo request.

I created two versions (of course) of the design: a clean, simple linework version, in my beloved Linear,  minimalistic style, and the other one in a full-colour version, with no outline at all, which is pretty rare for me. For the coloured design, I wanted to go for a botanical book look, with those old-timey, finely shaded drawings with the Latin names underneath. I remember having to make one of those books in school. And now that I'm older, I made another one, and no one made me do it; it wasn't homework, it was actually for fun. That's what fun is when you're old, people.

I like to think of this one as graphic design meets naturalist study. If Darwin had a tattoo, it would probably look like this... or maybe he would choose a different plant.

P.S. I’m open to commissions, but be warned—I’ve set the bar high with this one. And I charge extra for sibling-level emotional labour.