Three Ravens Henna

I am working on henna designs for the girls of Nocturnelle Tribal Bellydance. They have a show on April 4th and I have been commissioned to do large hand and arm pieces for both Cybelle and Maya. I am using some hand templates that are available for download from the Henna Page, and I will be posting each of the design sketches. I find that the actual creation of the design on the body requires slight modifications of the concept in order to better fit the canvas. Traditional tattoo artists deal with this as well; the shape of a persons body will often require that the size and shaping of design elements be altered in order to achieve the best final outcome. I am going to be adding a design gallery in the next day or so. I thought it might be interesting to see how things develop from conceptualization through to implementation.

When I first started as a henna artist I always worked directly on the skin with little pre-planning, letting designs reveal themselves. As I have gotten more experienced I have begun to put more stock into the planning of designs. Most of my best work was born out of a sketch or doodle in the margins of a notebook. The inspiration for these sketches comes from a variety of sources, One of my favorite pieces was inspired by engravings on an oil lamp. I have found lots of interesting source materials that have become wonderful henna designs; wallpaper, furniture, draperies, plants in the garden, old statuary (Buddhist and Hindu statues are excellent sources of inspiration), Mandalas, and dreams. I thought it might also be fun to add an inspiration gallery to showcase the bits and bobs that I find to work into designs.

Welcome to Three Ravens Henna! I’m Pyre, the proprietor, artist, and man behind the curtain. This blog will be a place for me to update guests on the goings on in my life as a henna artist. I’ll be sharing tips and tricks that I have picked up over the last decade of my journey as an artist, and sharing my thoughts on the creative process. I hope you enjoy yourselves, and please feel free to contact me if you are interested in learning more about henna or booking me for an event.