Playing with Henna- constructive criticism/showing off (:

Hey guys!

I've been playing around with henna for a few months, practicing. Now I can't always practice on myself, but I'm a college student, and know some coffee shops full of 20-somethings extremely excited for the opportunity of henna-for-free/tips, so I do have an outlet when I need it (: Hoping to add this to my services.

My biggest problem, with this AND face painting, is that I'm rarely inspired to try new things, and have them look good! Most of what I do that looks decent is because I've taken very direct inspiration from another picture. I think I can come up with some basic henna designs off the bat now, but they're all the same flower and vine and leaf things- I'm stuck when it comes to incorporating paisley, peacocks, eyes... and jewelry type designs. Ugh. I'll just have to keep working on it.

But that's just a rant- I'm here to half show off, half ask for advice on how to make my designs better/improve my technique. I can tell I've come a long way from my first shakey attempts which is super exciting, and a jacquard bottle makes it SO much easier to control my lines... it does hurt once it hits, like, 75% fullness, but I don't think I'll ever be doing it in high enough volume for that to be a big worry.

Any tips are super appreciated (:

And yes, I totally did use filters on all of these.

i think you're good to go, nice work

keep in mind most artists get inspiration from designs they find around them or from others. there's no shame in learning from people who have gone before.

how about looking at art prints, fabric patterns, close up nature photography, photos of mechanical parts, architecture, etc for ideas?

and, as you mentioned, real jewelry..

Very nice.
I pretty much do other designs I have seen on Instagram or the web. No shame there.
But I honeatly found working with a cone to be easier on my hand, than a jaq bottle.
Lookin good!