My first backpiece, a full-colour Art Nouveau-inspired tattoo

Hello everyone!

This back is one of the projects that really changed something in my tattooing style. It was my first full-color back tattoo, and at the time I had never worked on such a large surface in this way.

The project already existed in the form of a drawing, inspired by Art Nouveau. I posted it on my Instagram story a bit like throwing a bottle into the sea, saying very frankly that no one would necessarily want to embark on a full-color design project.

Then Camille wrote to me.

A week later, we started

I already knew Camille because I had a tattoo of her before. She told me that she loved the project and, as we talked, I realized that she didn’t have anything on her back. I simply said to her: "But wait, you don’t have anything on your back, do you?"

The next week, we attacked.

The moment I realized what I had gotten myself into

On paper, I was very confident in my idea. Then there’s the moment when you really have a whole page to fill, with color all over the place, when you’ve never worked that big before.

I remember very well asking myself: "But what are you getting yourself into?" And at the same time, I knew that was exactly what I needed to progress.

The color already attracted me enormously, but on a surface like this it requires thinking differently: the contrasts, the lighter areas, the places where skin can breathe, the way the tones respond from session to session.

Art Nouveau took hold quite naturally

I like Art Nouveau precisely because everything flows together. The curves, the hair, the flowers, the ornaments: nothing is completely isolated. On a canvas, this way of composition works particularly well because you can really follow the morphology instead of simply placing an image in the middle.

This project taught me a lot about color, but also about how to build a large format session after session without losing the overall balance.

Why this back is still so important to me

It’s not just because it was my first full back flip; it’s mostly because it showed me that I could go much further than I had ever done before.

This project was then spotted by La Provence and it also contributed to the entire evolution of my work around Art Nouveau and color. When I look at the major projects I’m currently working on, I can clearly see the connection with that piece.

If you like this part of my work, I have also detailed How I build my Art Nouveau compositions and Why Mucha works so well for tattooing.