Yesterday, I saw a photo from someone's social media feed for a "bridal henna" design that the artist did. My first reaction was, "I hope the bride didn't pay for this" The design was a simple design on the feet, that one of my students' can do after attending a full day workshop with me. This was one of the reasons why I was appalled at this person's post.
Secondly, the design that was done on the feet was a poorly done rendition of designs I have done in the past for brides. Perhaps the bride showed this artist a photo of a design she liked and the artist decided to try out this design. My feeling here is that the artist may have shown the bride a set of designs (not her own photos or work), and said that she could do those types of designs. This is a common practice among newbie artists who are trying to get a quick client base and quick money by showing clients photos of henna designs. The flaw in doing this is that you cannot replicate an artist's work! Doing henna is like having a fingerprint--although there might be some similarities in designs, each artist has his/her own technique of doing henna which is like their signature. You can forge a signature, but an original will always be an original, and a copy will always be false!
While I was surprised at the quality of this artist's work, I was also a little disappointed! I was under the impression that this artist LOVES henna--but the quality of the work proved it otherwise! If you love doing henna, there is no reason why you should not try to improve your skills each and every day. Okay, sometimes it is hard to commit to practicing every day, but at least a few times a month would be sufficient! However, the lack of motif distinction, inconsistency in line work, faulty pressure techniques and an overall lack of creativity proves that the artist had not been practicing in several months.
This is why it's so important to keep up with your henna practice. Doing henna repeatedly helps create muscle memory and keeps your hand flowing nicely. If you have not already done so, you should spend a $2.00 and download our Drills eBook.
Volume 1 contains a collection of over 80 drills and an additional 18 shapes and motifs to practice. You can print the pages off to practice your drills, or lay a clear sheet of plastic or glass over the drills to practice. This is a must have ebook for the any level artist! Start with the basics of dots, lines, scallops, and go into doing swirls, leaves, buds, paisleys and flowers. The muscle memory building exercises will help keep your designs clean and keep up your practice.
Who knows, you may even start off doing some Drills, and end up doodling beautiful designs!
Happy Henna-ing!
Secondly, the design that was done on the feet was a poorly done rendition of designs I have done in the past for brides. Perhaps the bride showed this artist a photo of a design she liked and the artist decided to try out this design. My feeling here is that the artist may have shown the bride a set of designs (not her own photos or work), and said that she could do those types of designs. This is a common practice among newbie artists who are trying to get a quick client base and quick money by showing clients photos of henna designs. The flaw in doing this is that you cannot replicate an artist's work! Doing henna is like having a fingerprint--although there might be some similarities in designs, each artist has his/her own technique of doing henna which is like their signature. You can forge a signature, but an original will always be an original, and a copy will always be false!
While I was surprised at the quality of this artist's work, I was also a little disappointed! I was under the impression that this artist LOVES henna--but the quality of the work proved it otherwise! If you love doing henna, there is no reason why you should not try to improve your skills each and every day. Okay, sometimes it is hard to commit to practicing every day, but at least a few times a month would be sufficient! However, the lack of motif distinction, inconsistency in line work, faulty pressure techniques and an overall lack of creativity proves that the artist had not been practicing in several months.
This is why it's so important to keep up with your henna practice. Doing henna repeatedly helps create muscle memory and keeps your hand flowing nicely. If you have not already done so, you should spend a $2.00 and download our Drills eBook.
Volume 1 contains a collection of over 80 drills and an additional 18 shapes and motifs to practice. You can print the pages off to practice your drills, or lay a clear sheet of plastic or glass over the drills to practice. This is a must have ebook for the any level artist! Start with the basics of dots, lines, scallops, and go into doing swirls, leaves, buds, paisleys and flowers. The muscle memory building exercises will help keep your designs clean and keep up your practice.
Happy Henna-ing!
