Looking Through My Old Tattoo Apprenticeship Sketchbook, yikes!
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- Опубликовано: 9 фев 2025
- Looking through an old sketchbook i was drawing in during my tattoo apprenticeship, there's some things i was already confident at drawing, and some things that you can see an improvement in as the sketchbook goes on. This sketchbook is from 2013/2014, so three-ish years ago. This is by no means me learning to draw - there's tonnes of sketchbooks before and after this. Never stop learning!
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For all asking how i draw roses now, i made a video about it here: ruclips.net/video/BJBW0JGfn_A/видео.html
Holly Astral You are a perfectionist 🤓🌹
Holly Astral The faces are beautiful and the animals are stinkin’ adorable. And good on you for not giving up on the roses - it’ll only make you a more and more impressive and successful tattoo artist.
You’re so critical! These are amazing. I wish I could draw like this. You should sell this as an adult coloring book!!!!
these "terrible" roses still look like a hundred times better than the ones I draw
miechulek keep at it, it gets easier!
Holly Astral Thanks I'll try
miechulek true Story XD
they honestly just look like old school traditional tattoo roses, not horrible at all in my opinion
mean while best i can do is a stick man
what makes the roses bad they're so cute especially towards the end of the book
CottonCandyHeart artist never like there old thing :D
I adore the work of Camilla D'Errico!
CottonCandyHeart - an artists greatest critic is themself.
CottonCandyHeart thank you I got so annoying with her saying that they where bad roses and they where beautiful
Just because they look "cute" doesnt mean theyre good, a tattoo like that would not impress a professional, it would not get you a good rep with clients, theyre cute yes, but not good. Its not like painting on a canvas with your own interpretation and style, this is tattooing, you have to do things properly.
I like those roses...
I wish people would stop commenting that this "made them feel bad" or "wow you call this bad?". Art is not ALWAYS about pleasing other people. A true artist sees flaws in their own creation to better themselves and their craft.. Just because she thinks her old drawings are subpar (which happen to be beautiful to us as viewers) does not mean you should feel bad about your own... I saw a comment saying "way to destroy our self esteem"? Just because she thinks her drawings were bad does not mean yours are lol. If everyone stayed humble about their art then just imagine how rare improvement would be?...
Love this!!!!!
To me it's the opposite effect : watching that kind of videos makes me realize that even if I hate what I'm drawing, it doesn't necessarily look that bad to other people. Moerover, artists who show their old art and explain how much time they spent on it to be able to finally improve is an amazing boost for my confidence and my will to keep going. I'll never be thankful enough for all these great artists sharing their art on RUclips because they inspire me so much and without them I don't think I would've had the strength to keep doing art. I really hope that one day, I will be the one who grows and blooms to inspire younger artists at last.
Yups, didn't plan to pour my heart in the comment section but here I come.
More like: way to destroy MY self esteem, because looking at all these drawings makes me realize I'm a pretty bad "drawer"? "Drawing person"? How do you call a person who does drawings?! O.o
Please keep doing art! It soothes the soul :) Thank you for sharing
As a tattoo apprentice myself I relate so hard to when you mentioned the difficulty in drawing roses! I can draw detailed portraits but is somebody asks me to draw a rose on the spot my brain goes nope
Sarah Green keep going! It gets easier :)
the crystal ladies are a cool idea and the baby lamas!!!! 😍
Tattooed mama sparkles exactly, everyone has their own opinion! Something people don't realise enough.
If you don't draw, then you can't understand why she's criticizing her roses
All my flowers look awful
I draw and paint all the time, her roses are better than almost anything I could do in a sketch lmao
prob. the best comment. I draw and even when I finish something that is amazing, I still see flaws or areas I Could've spent more time on. It's one of those things where and artist is their own worse critique. 😒
I draw, but I can't see actual mistakes in them. I do understand why she is criticizing them tgo
fel thank
WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE ROSES?
WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING AT ME
ANSWER THE QUESTION
sorry for caps, just thought I should stay with the theme
Holly Astral I LOVE THE ROSES
I cant believe you got an apprenticeship with that portfolio lol
You have encouraged me to keep drawing! I feel like I don't have a "style" of my own (my roses and hands are also terrible lol). Thank you for sharing this xx
Chanell Diaz keep going!! I hated every second of drawing until one day I didn't, and now it's my favourite
That was so interesting to watch and has defo inspired me! I have such bad down days when my drawings aren't very good but I know to just keep practising!!xxxx
AshleighFlowers keep going! And it's good to keep your old drawings so you can track your progress x
You say the roses are terrible but you dont explain why. I know they have some mistakes but they are not even close to being terrible (?
Diana Torres they're terrible because roses dont look like that
then again, art is relative
God help us if we all drew roses that looked like roses. How boring would that be?
They're alright overall, just not particularly good for creating a tattoo. There needs to be enough separation between the petals to allow the design room to breathe, or else it gets muddy, and busy. I've seen a lot of poorly-drawn roses turn into heads of cabbage over time. It's really hard to nail a nice rose, the subtlety, elegance, and refinement comes after hundreds of hours of drawing them. It has taken me YEARS to figure it out.
napalmbones exactly!!! Thank you :)
She says the roses look bad because she doesn't want stylized, she probably prefers realism. And real roses don't have swirls in the middle. That's all.
They look a bit like caketoppers though, and I think its cute
thank you! someone who actually listened to what i said!
but stylized =/= terrible... it was discouraging when she'd/you'd say "I keep going at it but I'm not getting better"...
Fluffy popcorn
That's not her style, that's it. There is no need to find inner meaning or to feel offended. Her purpose of drawing the roses was to make them appear realistic, that is her style. Everyone has there own way of drawing and it's fine for her to critique her own work... since it's her own work.
i absolutely love the legend of zelda drawing at 2:23 it's so pretty!!
What do good rose drawings look like then!!!
i’m an apprentice, about 5 months in & this video gave me so much confidence !! seeing your progression & how some things took you longer than others to perfect, helps with the discouragement that comes with the difficulty in learning. thank you, i needed this!
Been struggling to get up the motivation to draw again, and this was inspiring to watch. I love the way you think, how you design whole spaces instead of just a thing and then another thing. Makes me want to practice again.
Thanks for sharing!
9:01
look at the reflection of her window on the marble table she has her sketch pad on, you can see the silhouette of a bird gliding past :3 I thought that was nice.
wowwww. way to destroy our self-esteem 😂😂😂 when you said you 'just couldn't draw' in the beginning, I thought maybe there's a chance for me but now that I saw how fucking amazing you even drew back then, I just wanna burn my sketchbooks and pens and shit
miechulek keep going!! I was doing much worse drawings than this before I started this sketchbook. I went through a whole phase of drawing terrible caricatures of Marilyn Manson over and over 🤣
Holly Astral hahaha Alright I'll try my best to Keep going :P
miechulek lmao exactly
right ?
I agree. When artists judge their own artwork, they judge all of us. Not helpful.
You keep saying the roses are terrible while I can't stop drooling over how beautiful and cute those animals are, and how almost every single page is a complete artwork! The scripts and doodles and everything, it really is flippin' beautiful!
Thank you! You are the first artist I have seen to post and show off some early work while explaining early work isn't going to look like master pieces. You have inspired me.
Am I the only one who, as a professional artist, get's SO ANNOYED by comments like "oh, it still looks good to me!". I mean, I get that thy are trying to be nice and make me feel good... but to me it says that they can't recognise quality (and omg my highschool art had NO quality, I mean, I was still just learning), and then I automatically don't trust their praise anymore? Maybe that's a bit petty... but I feel like I've worked too hard for people to put it all in the same basket, ya know? You cringing over this sketchbook means your standard and skill had raised so much because of your training and dedication. That's so awesome! Let them let you cringe xD
Tena Galovic OMG YAAAS! immediately regret asking for people's opinion for my art. "no, it looks really good, don't worry you're really good!"
and I'm like "Bitch' I'm not insecure, stop wasting my time D:"
Art is subjective. What's good to one person may differ to another person.
@@liiisajarviiis Except when specific styles or traditions dictate specific rules and guidelines. Anything has a limit to how subjective it can be before it's objectively bad.
"...more terrible roses... uh... I mean uh!" hahaha come on, not that bad :)
Mozarteen I wouldn't want them tattooed on me, ha ha!
I actually love all of these design ideas or just sketches. They are all creative in their own way and definitely unique. Don't put yourself down even though it was a sketchbook you did a few years ago. They are all great ideas!
It's great to hear that not only does your art get better as you practice, but it also gets more enjoyable :) thanks for sharing your sketchbook with us
This low key has me wanting a tattoo
I adore that bear with the crown on
This video was all "terrible roses" and "lady faces" and hoestly it was good for a laugh, your art has come a long way congrats.
I loved seeing how your drawings got looser, the lines moved and became more natural the better you got and it is so beautiful
I like the roses in your sketches!
Katie Powell
This is so awesome to see, I have similar folders from my apprenticeship, full of terrible roses haha! Also some terrible lettering and some really weird flash sheets of alien babies!
Rosie Francis-Rogerson it's fun to look back, right!! Alien babe flash sheet sounds rad!!
I wouldn't say the roses are "bad" as such. Just rather cartoony?
Alex Heaphy #americantraditional
I love your sketch style! Makes me feel better about my drawings, and gives me hope that I could still try to pursue an apprenticeship! Look forward to checking out more of your videos!
They're all amazing. I thought I was good, but what you call terrible to me is something I can't achieve at all. You definitely have a gift.
So many cute pieces, great for fun random flash days
I love this so much. Some of my favorite things in the world is sketch book flip throughs. Such cute work. I'm so glad I was recommended this. :)
I love the ones with the ladies turning into crystals!! I want one as a tight tattoo!! Why do I have to live in Canada 😭
Punky Pie there's amazing tattoo artist in canada like @sewp on instagram
kiki Love ya I know, though Iive on Vancouver Island and there isn't quite the same amount as the east coast of the country.
Punky Pie oh suckyyy I'm far east in Toronto used to live in Kelowna though which is near Vancouver
kiki Love that is awesome, I'd love to travel there one day. It does suck being rather far from things if I even want to go to Vancouver for a tattoo its 3 hours driving plus the ferry lol.
This randomly showed up on my recommended and I fell in love with it. Your progression is incredible, and while I am miles and miles behind that level of artistry it is so inspiring to see. Even though this is the first video I have seen of yours, I already love your style and subject matter of art, and your personality. If I can ever decide on something I would like tattoed, I already have a favorite artist in mind!
+Rose Bishop thank you! I have been drawing ever since i was a little kid, and around my late 20's made more of an effort to teach myself to draw. Keep going, it gets easier xxxxx
This was very insightful, your videos always give me so much motivation and make me draw harder and more and more!!!
Thank you!
13thNemesis that's amazing!!! Keep it up
Your sketchpad was so adorable I would literally buy it as a coffee shop book just to look at all the adorable drawings while i drink my morning tea.
this is motivating me so much!! thank you for posting your videos your voice is so soothing and makes me really happyy
+Agata T
Hey! :)
I just saw this video here and I need to comment! At the moment I am an apprentice at a tattoo shop - so it's really interesting to see how expierienced other trainees are/were at their beginning. Of course: you never stop learning! But I think your drawing-basics were already better than mine at that moment you made that sketchbook! Even better than the skills of some artists I know (with own studios!). I really like your 'style' and you seem very kind and nice. So I just wanted to say: I love your work (even if it's the apprenticeship sketchbook. I like the way you are! And I think I am able to learn things from your channel! :)
Touch, feel and smell is what helps me get in touch of what I'm getting ready to draw... like roses... your phases is not bad at all, connecting to what we all do may bring more of our art or thoughts into light, or life? Nice foundation of roses going into your new profound ones...
Hey Holly! it was fun looking through your old sketchbook and inspiring as well. love watching your videos
All I can think of is of how talented tattoo artists are. Drawing on skin with permanent ink. Amazing.
Btw I love your shoulder tattoos😍😍😍😍😍beautiful flowers
I get that you may not like the roses because you can do much better now, but it was part of the process that got you to drawing the way you do now. Don't hate it, embrace it.
I love your style so much! the really cute dinos were so great. I also really love all your lady faces, the first one I thought was super good!
All of these drawing are amazing! This video inspires me to want to draw more and work on my skills. Lately I've been thinking about becoming a tattoo artist as well
I actually like those roses as they progressed in the book. The one you showed of a rose with dot work on it I absolutely loved.
I think your sketchbook showed a good development of you growing as an artist. While you may say it’s bad, it’s good to look back at these things to see how much you improved. And yes, while the roses had some mistakes they weren’t as terrible as you may think, they still get developed differently each time you drew them. Practice makes perfect after all, and this sketchbook was from when you were an apprentice, the point of it was to learn from your mistakes.
Nevermind the roses everyone is commenting about, your drawings are just gorgeous! I love the lady faces with animals on their heads especially, though all your animal drawings look nice to me. :) Gives me a little bit of hope for my own drawing to see your progress as an artist in this book
Was so flustered at how many times you shat on your roses, I thought they were pretty. Then I saw the roses on your neck/shoulders and realized the huge difference in the shape of the center :)
I'm still going to try and strive to draw like this! I wish that you would publish your sketchbook, bc it's things like this that can be used by actual beginners to reference until they get the hang of things. I love seeing her progress, but as a crappy artist myself, I can see where I can begin to start. Love your work though Holly. This whole video is amazing
Whoa what's with all the people commenting how it gets annoying when she says she doesn't like her roses! I know when I'm drawing I always point things about I don't like. Just because you don't think they're bad (I personally love them ❤) doesn't mean the artist doesn't. This is a video expressing how she feels about her art. So really keep those comments to yourself ❤ RANT ASIDE! I loved this video and seeing all your old art love the video! ❤
yeah i don't get the logic.... so the way i criticize my OWN work is annoying, but it's not annoying that they then criticize me for my way of criticizing it?? dumb
I remember seeing this like right after it came out, at the time I found it so inspirational. Cuz I couldn't draw AT ALL. Now on the contrary I can draw like pretty good realism, I´ve even gotten paid for a few portraits. I'm really happy I stuck with it, and I hope all you guys struggling with drawing keep at it!!!
This is amazing!!!! Well done!
Your eyebrows are so sweet.
I love how your "terrible roses" are one million times better than mine! Either way your drawings are so inspiring, you can only get better whooooooooooop
"terrible roses!" Omg :')
Love the art! I like your style.
Tbh you had a really good starting point for your drawings. And even when your skill level was lower, you clearly had really cool and creative ideas.
I love the designs where you have let yourself draw in a cuter, softer style - like the llamas, pandas, bunny ice cream and that gorgeous stag. Would you consider showing more of that kind of design in another video?
I know they're not what you would generally strive for in a tattoo design but every style is valid and appeals to someone! It'd be nice to see you embrace that aspect of you artistry. Xx
I have the same sketchbook from Ikea, and yes it was 2014 because that's when I bought mine and took it with me on my travels through asia and used it as a note/sketchbook
ah thanks for letting me know :)
I loooove your style! I really liked the women! Even though you hated the first ones, they really liked them and made me want to see more!
thanks for the video. LOVED this one. it brought back memories of my own ... doodle books
I get the impression that you spend a lot of time and didn't rush, with the quality of the drawings at such an early stage.
that was so interesting! Honestly, most of the time I couldn't even see the flaws :-) I like your work. By the way I have 3 guinea pigs! They are noisy when they drink too! :-) Yours truly Katrin from Switzerland
Atelier Kunstkreis we have one who is the NOISIEST! You can always tell when it's her drinking lol
I took an apprenticeship and I was hazed terribly and ended up leaving because of it... You're beautiful and I love your art 💙💙
Dude, all of these drawings are way better than anything I could do. Also, I would love to get a tattoo of a dinosaur in a space suit, those were adorable!
You said several of these turned into paintings...I would love to see those specific paintings. I enjoyed seeing your drawings including the ones you didn't think were good enough.
at least you keep drawing roses instead avoiding it......
I'm new to the channel and I'm really curious too see your newest and best roses LMAO you really set the bar high
love the progress! Also I really love all the cute animals designs, those eyes! so cute!
MyLifeAsLisanne thank you!
This is the first video of yours I have watched and I'm subscribed! Your sketchbook is fantastic and very inspiring :)
I love almost alllll of it! The weird little animals are so cute I love them
Your old work is brilliant, I'm sure many people would love to draw like that. Don't be so hard on your self keep up the great work. Your were ment to be an artist :)
"look at that, that is shocking, what's the middle of these? they look like little um pastries or somethin'..what the fuck?"
subscribe
ha ha
That's a really nice sketchbook! I find it really interesting seeing the sketchbook of an tattoo artist but I would've wished you went through the pages a little bit slower, one couldn't see some of them properly which I find kind of sad since its such an amazing sketchbook
Namjoon's Purple Hair I agree! Do you ever get that feeling between your eyes that makes you feel like you have to pinch the bridge of your nose to make it go away? No??? Just me? lol I was feeling that every time she flipped the page because I was trying to pay attention to detail and then she would flip the old page back over again as if in afterthought mid talking and it would cause my eyes to freak out and that feeling would keep on. I had to stop watching the video because of it. Not her fault but yeah I would have liked to not pause the video so I could really see everything. It's cool she did this video. I happened upon it on my main feed.
In this sketchbook you did a great job of filling the pages I have to say. That's something I tend to struggle with
You have a ton of comments on this video, so I don’t know how many times people have said this - but I really enjoyed your sketchbook. You work from your early years is inspiring. I enjoyed seeing your progress. 🤘🏻
I really enjoyed seeing your progression! :) I always like rummaging through my art and seeing how far I've progressed (or regressed if I haven't practiced in awhile)! I wish I could get a tattoo apprenticeship, but I don't feel like I fit in with the tattoo community (if that makes sense).
I'd really like to know what your idea of a good rose is because those look pretty freaking stellar to me.
I can see from a tattoo point a view the art can be considered "amateur", but from an artistic point of view your art has a very distinct style, to the point that I can see a lot of people who would love that style for their tats.
This is really inspiring and makes me want to get back into filling up sketchbooks, thank you! Also subbed :)
I absolutely love the legend of Zelda lady face 😍 suddenly I want a Zelda tattoo hahah
the thing that makes you good at art is practice. If you drew a rose and 4 years later compared them, you would see a huge difference. You are your biggest critic. Don't get discouraged because you think you suck, after putting in effort, you'll be able to draw what you see in your mind's eye.
I'm not to great at drawring but I still love doing it. I do feel down quite a bit because most things don't turn out like I want them too. I hope you keep up your great work because you inspire me
+Pixelated Gamer 0110 keep it up! It gets easier with time :)
idk how but them eyebrows actually look really good, well done my friend... pretty sure its just the color, works well for some reason lol
I love all your drawings and i think the little animals are extremely cute😂😍 theres nothing wrong with your roses btw they are like a 100x better than mine haha
I LOOOVED THE BEAR WITH THE CROWN 💖💖💖💖💖
Mikey Does Art I made that into a anniversary card for my husband 💖🐻
artists are their own worst critics, sweetie, these are all A-MA-ZING!!!
turned up in recommended, have to admit that i clicked mostly to see how you look since you looked pretty in the thumbnail, wasnt disappointed, first time seeing dyed eyebrows though. its interesting to say the least. have a nice day
Ouch. My self esteem. ( also love your tattoos and eyebrows
I love your drawings!! You are really good and the animals are adorable!! You should paint them on big canvases and make a coloring book because I would buy it. I think if you made a coloring book it would be very popular with so much variety. Please make an adult coloring book!! I know a lot of people that would buy it. Cute and Bugged eye is ok. Don't be such a hard critic because you were great from beginning to current. We always are much harder on ourselves. When people say you are good you should believe them.
I am so I love with your rabbit skull drawings it's given me inspiration to get something like that tattooed on me, since I have an obsession with skulls and already have two tattooed on me. Beautiful drawings cute but creepy I love it 😜🤘🏽
Omg. Your old drawings are amazing. I feel so bad looking at them because they seem way better than mine 😂
You improved so much! Practice really does make perfect :)
oh my gosh how have i never seen your Channel before?!? Love your art
I can't even lie I love all the tattoos in this book. especially the cute ones like the dinasour astronaut 😍😍
Man I thought I go better at roses and watch this Video and be like: "If this is shit, what am I drawing ?" HAHA :D
I loved the space cats! So sad we're not from the same country. I would love to be tattooed (is that right?sorry, still learning english) by you.
I love all the fabulous faces in here. You shouldn't ever put your drawings down. For one I think they are wonderful, two I wished I could draw faces at many angles like that, and three It's very good.