Vector line drawing
Tattoo design: Sea life creatures in line art
I created a tattoo design for this project using a single continuous line. I captured the organic forms of sea creatures. My goal was to create an elegant, clean composition that is adaptable to the body’s contours.
Institute/
Open Polytechnic
Course/
Creative Online Design
Year /
2025
Design process
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I experimented with sketching, focusing on their defining shapes and features. I created three pencil-only mock-ups, and they allowed me to play with different line paths (free or more geometric), proportions, and how the shapes flowed together within the constraints of a single line. I followed Freepik for inspiration on how to draw an orca using one line. I also added my notes to guide me later. I recreated my sketches in vector illustrations in Adobe Illustrator. To refine curves and ensure smooth, intentional strokes, I used Illustrator’s Pen Tool and Direct Selection Tool. I used smal oval brush to make it more realistic.
After finalizing the illustration, I used Adobe Photoshop to create a mock-up by placing
my drawn icon onto a photo of a person downloaded from Unsplash. I utilized Photoshop layers to position the tattoo realistically on the skin and applied blend modes to integrate it with the photo.
I thoroughly enjoyed drawing the tattoo and blending it with the photograph. The freestyle hand-drawing approach made the tattoo design feel authentic and unique. I’m happy with how the design turned out, and I would even consider using it for myself :).
I would also experiment with more animal designs and explore different fine-line drawing techniques to expand on this approach.