If you've ever thought about getting a tattoo, you may have been put off by some of the so-called "traditional" designs. After all, if you're not the stereotypical tough guy, would walking around with a giant flaming skull on your arm appeal to you?
But luckily, bold, mean-looking designs are no longer your only option. Now, people can express their love for the small, delicate things, as well as the beauty of nature, in dainty inked memories.
And this is where Ukrainian tattoo artist Rita Zolotukhina — who goes by the nickname Rit Kit — comes in.
Zolotukhina uses real pressed plants and flowers to create delicate, botanical-themed tattoos for her clients.
Like other tattoo artists around the world who are changing the cultural idea of what tattoos look like, she's bringing a delicate, nature-themed aesthetic to tattoos, much like the tiny, colorful flower tattoos that have begun taking the scene by storm.
And to make sure her clients are not only getting a one-of-a-kind tattoo, but getting something that really speaks to the beauty of the natural world, Zolotukhina uses actual plants collected from nature to create her stencils.
Just like the humans their images will be tattooed on, no two are alike, so the result is always unique!
Read on to see how she does it, and to see some beautiful examples!
[H/T: BoredPanda]
Tattoo artist Rita Zolotukhina, based in Kiev, Ukraine, creates delicate, botanically themed tattoos, drawing inspiration from small, local plant life.
No matter how small, she turns them into beautiful works of art that celebrate the quiet beauty of the natural world.
She's long been drawn to nature.
"I'm a nature lover, so most of my sketches are related to flora," she explains. "But the more I drew, the more I wanted something fresh and native, to feel the plant without any steps in between."
And what better way to do that than to press them right against the skin?
Like every tattoo artist, she uses tattoo stencil ink to make sure she gets the design just right.
But unlike other artists, she doesn't freehand her stencils. Instead, she dips all-natural leaves right into the ink and presses it to her clients' skin.
This photo shows an actual fern after being pressed onto a client's back. You can see the dark ink around the edges of the leaves.
When the leaf is removed, the print is left on the skin. Zolotukhina uses this as the stencil to create her realistic tattoos.
It also ensures that no two tattoos are ever alike, as each leaf, fern, and flower will be different.
The results have imperfections and asymmetry, but that's what makes them one-of-a-kind.
But because these are only the stencils, they can be altered if needed.
Once the placement is perfect, it's time to start the actual inking process.
Zolotukhina prefers to keep the design as open-ended as possible, with just the color scheme and the mood as her starting point.
"It's my favorite way to make tattoos," she says, "and I think it's the most natural."
Here, you can see the leaf being peeled away in the left image, and on the right, the beginning of the actual tattoo in green.
The real leaf as a stencil makes for a realistic image, complete with the beautiful imperfections that make nature so fascinating.
At the end, the tattoos can look almost as real as the leaves themselves.
And just as beautiful.
Of course, Zolotukhina uses other plants for inspiration besides ferns.
This flowering plant tattoo is actually a composite stencil of the leaves and the flowers, making a completely unique plant!
This tattoo is also a combination of several plants, and as you can see, it has a washier, more watercolor-like style.
Zolotukhina says that she also admires the willingness of her clients to accept the quirks and imperfections of their plants, as well as the way her tattoos preserve the individual plants.
She describes her tattoos as "botanical fingerprints on the bodies of other brave nature lovers."
You can see much more of Zolotukhina's tattoo art, which includes plenty of other themes and designs besides nature, as well as some of her sketches and watercolors on paper, on Instagram.
And be sure to SHARE her artwork with anyone who loves doing things in an offbeat but totally brilliant way!
