Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ornamental Archive
Ornamental Archive
Russ Abbott
Copyright © 2013 by Rabbott Industries Inc.
Ironclad Productions, 2013
All rights Reserved. This book is intended as reference for professional tattooers,
designers, and craftspeople. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner
without the express written consent of the publishers, except in the case of brief
exerpts in critical reviews or articles.
Printed in China
ISBN: 978-0-615-81094-2
dedicated to
Beth, Jonah, Cody, and Madelyn.
ornamental archive
Russ Abbott
The illustrations in this book were inspired by my use of ornamental design in my tattoo work.
Ornament includes a whole range of styles and eras of art history. In my designs, you’ll see leafy designs
that were originally based on the Greek acanthus plant. The ancient Greeks also used olive branches,
grapes, and wheat in their ornament. Other designs included are based on shells, flowers, and vines.
Throughout history, artists and craftspeople have taken the ornamental designs of the Greeks, Egyptians,
Romans, and many other cultures and have adapted them to add interest to their art and architecture.
Testament to the role of exquisite ornamental designs and flourishes in modern times can be seen when
we look at everything from money, textiles, picture frames, architecture, and even tattoos. The images in
this book were designed to be useful to artists, craftspeople, and tattooists who are interested in adding
ornamental designs to their work. Feel free to use as-is, mix and match, and adapt them to suit your needs.
I’ve kept the style of the illustrations simple enough to give a sense of the form without over-doing the
rendering and the details. Instead of spending more time to develop color schemes and adding details,
I wanted to leave some room for the individual artist to create and adapt these designs for their own purposes.
I’ve included several tattoos from my own portfolio that provide examples on how I might use these
designs. I encourage the use of the ornaments, but please do not duplicate the tattoos themselves;
they belong to the clients who are wearing them and are included here only for inspiration.
ornamental archive
Russ Abbott
• ornamental archive • Index
introduction 4
index 6
process 7
frames 14
flourishes 48
medallions 74
elements 86
tattoos 100
1 2 3 4
Refine the rough sketch,
and consider value,
and depth.
I start by roughing in a
branching spiral shape.
Try to keep the curves smooth
and create a nice flow.
Start Here.
I have done countless tattoos with ornamental frames and design elements.
I draw ornamental frames for portraits of people, animals, and objects of all
kinds. I use the ornamental designs to add flow and excitement to otherwise
stiff compositions. I’ve even started doing large-scale works that are made up
entirely of ornaments alone.
102
Russ Abbott • ornamental archive • Tattoos
103
Russ Abbott