4 years later yet again

Well, well, this thing's still on then, isn't it?

 

I've had SO freaking much happening over the past four years, I wouldn't even know where to begin. 

Actually... that's not entirely true - my work is probably best, yeah?

 

So I'm still a tattoo artist and although I do have a lot to learn still I think I'm pretty good now - a whole of a lot better than I was when I last posted here. I've found that I enjoy minucious work and intricate tiny details in my tattoos... I require of myself incessant growth and unrealistic perfeccionism, I am my worst critic and it's a pain to be me day after day - figuratively and literally because my back and neck always ache. But I have a good many clients nowadays and steady(ish) workflow that pays the bills, challenges and fulfills me greatly.

 

I've got a new dog with my boyfriend, it's a rescue from our street. She's huge - half mutt half fila brasileiro (I'm definitely sure) and I'm completely in love with her... Seriously, I've loved all my dogs in the past, Mili especially, but I've got a bond with Buba like she's my child.

 

I'm still friends with my bff Junior and he took some gorgeous photos of Buba this week, I'll attach at the bottom.

Junior has been going out more lately and we've gotten to spend more time together in person over the last couple of years. That had never been possible before and I'm very glad about that ♥

 

Ian, who was my second guinea pig in tattooing and who became a great friend over the span of 6 months when I began tattoing, committed suicide in 2019. It was a tremendous shock to everyone and I hadn't cried like that in a funeral since my mom's own. It wounded me profoundly. I'm good now, it gets better with time. My boyfriend Victor also knew him and he helped me find some comfort then.

I know that for his parents it hasn't gotten easier though. His brother Klaus is very dear to me and he said his parents have it rough to this day cause they never really accepted that he's gone and they haven't talked about his loss. They just distract themselves and drown their sorrows. That thought makes me sad because there's not much no one can really do for them. Anyway, ... I really loved this friend and I hope we'll meet again one day.

 

I've lived with my boyfriend for about 3 years now, we've been together nearly 4. We laugh a lot together and we work well cooking together too - I know that is an area that can cause conflict sometimes so I chose to say that.

We have our bad moments too cause I'm stubborn AF and he's difficult. I guess if you're into this stuff you can have an idea - I'm an aquarius and he's a virgo. But I know nothing of signs so I'll say this instead: I'm an ISFP/INFP and he's and INTJ. MBTI is more like it (look it up and take the test if you feel like it, it offers real insight into the innerworkings of one's mind). We bicker sometimes like an old married couple (tho we ain't married, no sir), but we have fun when our spirits are up.

We have 2 dogs and a cat. All of them are girls. Jiji is the cat and we adopted her in the beginning of the pandemic, so she's around 2. Joana (Jojo) is his dog from before when we were just friends, she's about 10 yo. And there's Buba who's just turned 1 and is cluelessly coming up on her castration soon, poor baby. Haha xD

 

The pandemic was harder on some people than it was on us. We were lucky enough not to lose anyone in our families or in our close circle of friends, though someone who was once a close friend did pass in the first months of the virus spreading in Brasil.

He was my ex's cousin and we had had many barbecues, camping trips, rock concerts, football matches and laughs together. It hit me hard when he died. His father also passed and he was a very nice man too. I was sorry for their family. It's been reduced from 4 to 2 people by the virus in a matter of months.

I messaged my ex when I heard of his cousin's passing to say that I was sorry, he appreciated it.

He's got a totally different thing going on right now, by the way, since he's had a kid with his girlfriend and has become a father. I know nothing about them really but I caught a glance of their new family while driving by a bar a few days ago and I saw them sitting together. It took me a while to realise it was him staring right into my eyes and I think I did a half eye-roll on reflex. I feel kinda bad, I don't know if he noticed that, but he definitely took note on how I didn't nod in recongnition of him there. He knows the reason I froze for sure so I won't fret about that. This all took place in like 4 seconds then we drove out of view. I hope he's a better man and companion now. And I truly hope he'll be a good father and appreciate it...

 

My dad's great. My brothers too. It was my younger brother's birthday yesterday actually, he turned 32. Jesus. I'm old. 

My niece is 12 now!

Two of my brothers are living in beach cities and I envy that a little bit in a good way. My city is getting some lakes built now so I'll have water close by but it's still not as nice as the beach, hehe.

 

Lula won. Our football team are out of the world cup. I care about one of those things at least.

 

I've started working out again. Sometimes at home, sometimes I walk on the park with the dogs. I do have to pick up the pace though because I've gained 18 kg since in a relationship and the pandemic. It's dire. But I still have hopes.

 

Oh! I almost forgot - I've bought an apartment! Shiiiit, that's something big to leave out, ain't it?

I've taken up installments on it that will go on for about a century xD but at least I know where my money is going. It's not some rental money down the drain or ifood takeouts. It's a brand new two bedroom apt and I've got the keys already. I'll probably rent it out.

I do live in a house with Vic though and it's also owned by his family (as soon as we finish payment on the installments to the bank but that won't be a whole century - more like half of it? just kidding).

It's technically his dad's but since I'm paying for stuff as well it'll be partly mine someday somehow.

I decided to get my own apartment so I wouldn't be out on the streets in case we broke up. Call it insurance in a way.

 

Well. I guess this is it for now. Some of the most important things that happened... I hope it doesn't take me another four years to update this again.

Now for some photos!

 

First about work ♥

These are some of my favourite pieces, but not by far all of them.

I've gotten a lot better but I still have a long way to go. ^^

You can follow my work on Instagram!

 

 Now for my pets and two friends ♥ 

Buba

Jojo

Jiji

Junior and me

Me and Ian

E-letter

Tá ok, estou mandando uma mensagem pras minhas primeiras cobaias pra nos organizarmos. Se você é um passante ignore xD Eu só gosto mesmo de escrever na tela do blog e que se exploda o mundo!



Oooi, tudo bem?
Você é uma das 10 cobaias que escolhi pra fazer minhas primeiras tattoos pré-profissionais! Irra!

Vou fazer alguns designs aleatórios e passar pra vocês escolherem um cada (em menos de uma semana). Pode pedir alguma alteraçãozinha que é susse!
Também aceito sugestões caso você tenha interesse por algum tema. Por exemplo, pra May vou fazer um caranguejo por causa do signo dela que é de câncer, pra Yo um pássaro pq ela é vet e tá inspirada neles, pra Rilo um veado pq é o "signo" xamânico dela. Quero fazer florais, figuras femininas, alguns escritos, ... No que você pira?

Como estou começando ainda e pretendo me profissionalizar, não estou trabalhando em outro lugar D: (socorro, sério? sério), então estou pedindo o valor dos materiais pra eu poder continuar comprando equipamentos e investindo no meu "estúdio". Esse valor é de 30 taokeis! Tá ok?

E lembre-se de que ainda não posso garantir um resultado 100%, mas posso fazer retoques quando melhorar um pouco caso alguma coisa fique meio "fora"! Por este mesmo motivo recomendo que escolha um lugar um pouco mais discreto, nada como antebraço ou ombros ainda :*)

Que mais...?

Ah, duas pessoas me disseram q eu tenho a mão leve, então não vou tuchar a agulha na sua pele - você vai sobreviver!

Eu gostaria de fazer todas estas 10 tatuagens antes do meio de dezembro porque estou muito ansiosa pra ficar foda logo, hehe, então me conta - que dias e horários você tem disponíveis pra passar umas 3 horas comigo?

Se você concordar com tudo isso e quiser prosseguir vem conversar comigo ^^
Se desistir por qualquer motivo me avisa pra eu poder encaixar outra cobaia!

Muito obrigada pelo interesse e confiança em mim desde já! <3 p="">

~Fer Camacho

Third Tattoo

Hi! Here I am posting again sooner than I'd expected just because I'm super excited about my third tattoo ever that I made today and the very first one I'v actually made on someone ELSE -- sooooo, a super responsibility there and I (almost) nailed it!

I still made some mistakes with the bold lining... Also I made the stencil a bit crooked and I forgot the two upper arms of the poor beetle so I had to freehand it with a sharpie - hey, HOW 'BOUT THAT?

I only achieved the whole of it in a Buddhist calmness (say what?) because I had a professional tattooer supervising my moves and giving me some advises on what to do next, how to do this or that... So it turned out a lot better than my first two! I also had the opportunity to use his supplies - SO GOOD! He has an amazing machine, a great power source, awesome inks and calming products for the skin... He was very kind to have helped me through this process! I really needed this experience of tattooing with someone watching over me even if it scared me into cold sweats hahaha

So... This was my experience today and I feel like I grew a fuck load. I really like the result and the client loved it too!

This is it for today! In two days I'll be in an expo, I'll talk about it then! xxx

~Fer Camacho

Nearly 4 years later, where am I?

Dudes and dudettes,

What has happened to me? -- I'm not nourishing any hopes of this blog still getting any hits at all, let it be clear that I'm completely aware of that and... This is mostly just me talking to myself and I love it. It's fine! The age of blogs has given way to the age of youtube, tiktok and instagram videos and what have ya.

It's fine. It is ^^ But if there is someone else here I'm very happy for it and welcomeeee!

I had the urge to post something here again just like I had every other time something major happened in my life... - I figure it's a pattern, right, looking back in nostalgia every time you take a big leap forward? Well, for me it is at least.

I've been gone for almost 4 years from this blog now... And every time I come back here to read or find some specific image or date for something I feel a flood of love... The love I put into here, you know? It's almost like a diary or a love letter to my future self, really... And even if I read the same letter a load of times I'm always gonna feel that love. It's something beautiful and I really recommend you do something like this to practise your writing or your English/other language skills!

Anyway... I've worked at a hotel for two years at the end of which I was nearly turned to dust, so I quit. On the same week I was called to work at an advertisement agency and I stayed there for a whole year! I was fired from that one but I got lucky because I was a couple of days from quitting as well - it had been a good job in the beginning, but seeing as they had hired me as an artist to create beautiful things and after a couple of months they had me doing simple (tasteless) Facebook art for our clients I was getting super fed up with it all. I was in repeat mode and it bored me to no end.

A sketch from Bobby Chiu my friend Ju got me a while back!

Now I have taken on tattooing. ABOUT F*CKING TIME, ISN'T IT?

Yeah, bout f*cking time. So I went to see a friend in Curitiba... She gave me an old tattooing machine of hers that she didn't need anymore and a power source as well... And she showed me how everything worked actually tattooing me for my first time ever! It was so nice, she's such a sweet person and incredibly talented at what she does as well! And... So I had my first tattoo and the basic (and more expensive) supplies too.

I bought the other things I needed after I came back to my city and after a few of days of practising on fake skins and gathering my strength I tattooed my own lower leg and it was... Horrid. Hahahah... 

This is the first day, before the ink spread out underneath the skin :(

Yeah... Turns out I wasn't as good at it right from the start as I thought I'd be and it bummed me out a lot! I know that everyone's first tattoo is bound to be an ugly a*s thing and I shouldn't have expected mine to be any different but... We're vain and arrogant sometimes, aren't we?

I blew the lines (not sure how one would call that in proper terms in English but I don't feel much in the mood to look it up right now) because I was SO f*cking nervous to be tattooing my own freaking leg for-ever, I was sweating bullets and I just... RIPPED my skin so deep right in the first line and it's all messed up now. I'm still waiting for it to heal so I can adapt the drawing and thicken the lines as for it to seem intentional, hahahaha

Now two nights ago I tattooed another bit on my leg... Hahahhaha... Cause even though I have willing guinea pigs to tattoo I couldn't bear to make an atrocious tattoo on someone else... So I decided to sacrifice another part of my leg for the sake of my skills. So... I got to make other mistakes, new ones! And repeated a bit of the old one too but it's definitely an improvement...

I'll make it clear - I will fix this one too as soon as it heals properly because I'm an insufferable perfectionist and an as*hole about what I draw and ... From an unfortunate lack of skill in tuning the tattoo machine I had a jumping needle and thus quivering lines which just won't do. I can do better than this!!!!

I'm illustrating this entry for my future self to enjoy the evolution that will definitely come. IT'S SAD. Please pretend you didn't see this.

So... Please don't judge if you're by any chance someone other than myself. This is my beginning. Still, I hope you enjoyed this focused update on the art aspect of my life! I haven't told you about a couple of the expos I've joined this year and of the one I will take part on this weekend (yay) but I'll do that soon! ^^

I've just realised I only posted traditional art so far so here goes a self portrait in vector art I created with Illustrator and portraits of some ladies on the internet I made in Krita!

Go check my Instagram and follow for more frequent updates ^^

Oh dear god, I'd almost forgotten how much I love writing on here!!!!!

See ya, good night!

~Fer Camacho

Estudos do dia

Self #5

Tinha detestado o autorretrato anterior... =P Esse tá mais legal!
Que tal o preto e branco...? Não achei tão bacana quanto ao coloridão =P

That look

Terminei =] Acho que vou conseguir voltar à fase de estudos \o/

Não entendi o motivo da mudança tão grande de cores da imagem pro GIF, mas tá aí o progresso também!

~*

Fer

A study in colours

Based on one of my favorite of Loish's sketches =]]

Night!

~*
Fer

Who?

Estudo de um screenshot de filmes q eu sempre tiro... Ainda não terminei! :))

Self #4

'Bout time...

Comecei a ver Doctor Who ontem... é beeem piradão, sci fi até não querer mais, heehe... tô gostando! Personagens caristmáticos... Um cara acabou de falar uma coisa q eu gostei:

For how can man die better than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his Gods?
Thomas Babington Macaulay

 Vamos pintar de novo...

~*
Fer

Rabisco

Double Chopp Pin Up

Humm... I'll eventually tell you guys what's been happening to me lately that's been keeping me from posting. Long story short - I have no computer at the moment so I've been using my dad's, my cousin's or my friend's computers when I can!! I have installed photoshop now on my dad's machine so I was able to paint!! Oh, how I missed it *-* (I have been sketching on paper ocasionally though).

So... Painting done on Photoshop CC... I'm trying out this version of PS and I quite like it!!


I've been working for some friends of mine making some flyers and general marketing for their restaurant/bar. It's a really beautiful place and I decided I should make them a pin up for this week's Double Chopp + Double Caipirinha day... There's also a cool band playing!

You can check the flyer here.

The floral pattern is by AboveVintage! Thank you for the resource!! I love it!

Master study #4

Lady of Shalott - Waterhouse
aprox. 200 min (puf puf!)

Hummm, outro do Waterhouse... dayumn dawg, esse foi muito demorado... Complicado pra carai... E as cores tão meio "off" (...erradas)

~*
Fer

Master study #3

Caravaggio - The Card Sharps

difissssss! a princípio a opacidade e flow tavam sem variação, é complicadíssimo achar as cores certas na paleta sem o eyedrop tool... no fim eu liguei a variante pra terminar...

~*
Fer

Master study #2

John William Waterhouse - Windflowers

Ya queda muy poco!!

Os voy a echar mucho de menos, niñitos!!
Luego voy a casa, pero quiero manterneros cerca de mi siempre!!!!

Things to keep in mind as an artist...

... or in any other profession I think.

Important things I told people today on their sketchbooks that might be useful for other people as well :D

(told you I wanted to make up for lost time! hehe)

about taking breaks and increasing productivity

anyway... I noticed you spend a few hours on your studies and that's brilliant and normal! but I wondered... do you take breaks? coffee breaks, stretching breaks, whatever? It's really important to give the brain some distraction every - let's say - 40 minutes of hard work and focus on one thing. When you come back your brain is fresh and you can actually see your mistakes better! Besides quality work, it also improves productivity because you don't push yourself to exhaustion!!

so... if you've never heard of it before, look for a technique called Pomodoro. You can actually add an extension to your chrome browser called "strict workflow". When you activate it it blocks websites (you can configure that) like facebook and youtube so you won't get distracted and procrastinate, and after 40 minutes it rings and tells you to stop working... you can do whatever you want in that break and then you tap the little tomato again and it starts you on your next round of work.

I found that my focus and my productivity increased greatly with this method and it prevented me from forgetting about the world for too many hours in a row while painting. I once forgot to eat or take a bathroom break for 10 hours!!!!!!! When I got up I almost tripped and fell cause my legs were cramping up badly... hahahahaha

So... Pomodoro, baby!!!

about receiving comments and critiques

take it into consideration and apply what you think will work for you!... one thing that I find greatly important in participating of forums:... you don't have to listen to every critique you get. you can ponder on what people tell you and decide for yourself if that's something you want for your art or not =)... it doesn't mean people are wrong, it just means you have a different outlook on where you want to go from where you are...

Once I got this really negative guy commenting in my sketchbook on conceptart.org and he just... politely said everything I did was shit. it just made me so freaking sad and angry... I actually let it affect me more than I should have and I stopped drawing as much.

So... don't listen to everyone. I don't know why I'm telling you this... maybe it just crossed my mind because I'm telling you so many things to do and to not do that I started feeling guilty :P hehehe

well... you know... do your thing, keep studying!! you're doing great!! we're artists, yay :D

Newfound heaven!

OH MY GOD... this feels so good. hahahahahaha

Let me explain... A few months ago my netbook basically went to waste when it said the disk was empty or something like that and I had to reinstall windows and all the drivers for it to work again and all... BUT the one driver that never worked... can you guess what it is??... yes. like the air we breathe - the internet adapter (FUUUUUUUUUUCK),... so I stopped using my shitty but in another time faithful 6-year-old tiny computer after the hundreth time I tried installing that new driver... I tried several ways to do it, several different files, and it just... it's dead. puff...

Later that month I moved to a new house here in Madrid to live with a new family and they let me use the wine cellar computer as I wish, this thing is practically mine now MUAHAHAHAHA!!! -- but there's a tintsy little detail: it has no keyboard. It's touch screen, so I have to either use my fingers on the screen (which would make my arms fall off after a couple of weeks) or pinch on every single letter with the mouse, which is what I've been doing... there are still two other options which I did use  more than once - writting from my phone onto my blog and copying it everwhere or dictating in english to a friend of mine over skype. hahahahahahaha.... Damn. It's been a struggle.

So TODAY... I just borrowed the little boy's keyboard without asking while he's in school (he got a computer for his birthday a couple of weeks ago), and I'm gonna type myself to death today as you can see cause this just feels so good and so liberating!!!!!! It's like I'd been unable to speak for all these months... I didn't go nutts because I still had my phone and I could call people on skype and talk like human beings used to do. hahahaha

What this means, guys, is that I didn't mean to come across as arrogant or selfish by not commenting on your sketchbooks and leaving whatever critiques I was able to provide. I'm make up for it! And if you've read so far I thank you!! :D

------------------

So... for art...

The dude... I just "inked" him... don't really know what to do though, if you have any corrections or ideas I'd be grateful to hear!! :)

Niyath

...sei lá? se alguém entender a pira ceis já sabem mais q eu...
eu fiz um sketch aleatório e acabei pintando... :P