Bulimia Charity Gives Game Characters Makeovers

Bulimia ‘a resource dedicated to providing information and treatment options to men and women suffering from anorexia, bulimia, and other types of eating disorders‘, have altered the images of infamous female game characters to represent a more realistic body image.

They argue that:

If video game creators are going to pride themselves on accurate digital representations, then it’s time for them to get real about women.

The charity explains how the changed images are based upon the average American female body, but is this enough? Do the changed images reflect average women? The new characters are more relatable to women, certainly, but they are still operating within a realm of fantasy.

What do you think?

Carey Fruth: Redefining ‘American Beauty’

Photographer Carey Fruth based in San Francisco has created a series of images titled ‘American Beauty’ featuring 14 women who are redefining the American idea of what beauty is. The images have been inspired by the 1999 film American Beauty and the rose petal fantasy scene in which Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) renders Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari) powerless with his male gaze.

The women pictured lie naked in a bed of lilacs and are of all shapes, sizes, ages and ethnicities. Unlike the film the women pictured are reclaiming their power and do not fit into the media-created body shape ideal, instead they are embracing their bodies just as they are.

Katie Edmunds Illustrates Things&Ink

Fashion illustrator, Katie Edmunds from London, was inspired by Things&Ink magazine and created the original illustration (below) of blogger Yanin Namasonthi, who she has followed for a while and loves her style. 

We chatted to Katie about her artistic style, where she gets her inspiration and of course tattoos. Katie has also recreated a few of her favourite previous Things&Ink covers… 

Do you have a background in art? Yes I’ve always chosen related art subjects through education and I’ve just recently graduated from London College of Fashion.

 How would you describe your style? I love illustrating people’s expressions through portrait drawings. I have a realistic style, which I tend to juxtapose with playful, and colourful elements through use of watercolours, adding a raw quality to my work.

What medium do you use? Pencils and watercolour. I like the precision and detail of the pencil and the unpredictability and possibilities which stem from watercolour and ink on paper.

Where do you get your inspiration from? I’m hugely inspired by female empowerment. My illustrations tend to play upon women who control and employ power over the male gaze, but with a tongue-in-cheek approach.

Do you have tattoos? So far I only have one, it was in the spur of the moment with my friend during St Patricks day in Dublin- a small celebration of a shamrock on my wrist. I keep illustrating different designs but as an illustrator I keep altering and changing what I want.

Are there any artists you admire? In terms of tattoo artists I really admire Keely Rutherford, like my own work hers is very colourful. I like her use of pastel colours and the way in which she translates that into tattoo art. I also like her fantasy aesthetic; it reminds me of Alice in Wonderland.

What drew you to Things&Ink? I was drawn to Things&Ink magazine as I feel it takes a look at both tattoos and the wider tattoo culture. Being an illustrator I really respect the artwork of tattooists so I love that it profiles the very best tattooists and shines a light on their illustrative skills. My work really focuses on feminist ideals so I was drawn to the strong women that are represented in Things&Ink magazine.

How did you decide which covers to draw? The first cover I chose to illustrate is my favourite of all the issues so far, issue 11 The Fruity Issue to me perfectly represents female empowerment. I love the bright and colourful aesthetic, which is something which I try to achieve in my work and I’m also really drawn to portraiture so I always tend to illustrate detail in faces.

 Can people buy your art? Yes,  I also do commissions and can be contacted by email katieedmundsillustration@gmail.com
Follow Katie on Instagram and Twitter for more art work

Interview with a tattoo artist: Schuyler Abrams

Celebrate all things fruity with the recent release of The Fruity Issue. Here at Things&Ink we love discovering new tattoo artists who also share our love of fruit and fruity tattoos. We chatted to 29-year-old Schuyler Abrams who works at Savannah Ink in Savannah Georgia to find out more about his spooky and fruity bat tattoos that he has become known for…

 

How long have you been tattooing? I’ve been tattooing since July 2013, so I just hit my two year mark! I’ve still got a lot to learn and room to grow in this industry.

How did you get into the industry? I’ve always considered a career in the art world but it wasn’t until late 2012 that I actually started giving tattooing a serious thought. I was working multiple jobs and doing a bit of freelance artwork at the time. One day I came across an internet post from a good buddy of mine who had recently become a tattoo artist himself. His post was a picture of his tattoo machines with the caption: “my job is better than yours.” I figured, “he’s probably got a point”, so I got a portfolio together and asked if his shop had an apprenticeship available. He talked it over with the owner, Duke, and got me an interview. Duke took one look at my artwork and gave me the apprenticeship on the spot and the rest is history.

Do you have a background in art? Aside from a high school art class and hours of Bob Ross videos, just about all aspects of my artwork is self-taught. I’ve done a few cool freelance jobs doing band posters and album artwork, but that’s about the extent of my professional art career.

How would you describe your style? My style is something that I’ve been trying to cultivate for years. It’s a bit of new school with some touches of old traditional. I love taking weird/macabre subject matter and juxtaposing it with bright colors and bold lines. The way I draw is constantly evolving the more I learn.

Where do you get your inspiration? I get most of my inspiration from 60s and 80s horror, Saturday morning cartoons, anime, and dad jokes. Jamie Hewlett’s work on the Gorillaz really changed my life as well.

 


What was your first tattoo? First tattoo I ever got takes up the length of my left forearm. It’s a drawing I did of an octopus jack-o-lantern (Oct-O-Lantern as I like to call it). I got it tattooed by Johnny Theif of Seppuku Tattoo back in 2007. I was hooked instantly!

Who would you like to get tattooed by, are there any artists you admire? There are so many great tattoo artists out there these days! I’d really love to get pieces from Kelly Doty and Timmy B. Their attention to detail and the smoothness of their techniques is outstanding! I really admire a lot of local tattooers as well, including Cory HandCorey Steverson and Josh Hilliard just to name a few. All rad dudes who do rad tattoos.

 

We love your fruit bats how did these come about? The fruit bats actually evolved from an idea that Michael Ferrera had. He came to me asking for a tattoo. When we were discussing ideas, he described  “a strawberry with bat wings! …fruit bat! Get it?!”I loved the idea so I made a mental note as he rambled off other tattoo concepts. I drew it up, but when he came to get tattooed we ended up going with a completely different design. I held onto the fruit bat drawing for a few months until one day my co-worker’s sister came into the shop. She took one look at the drawing and fell in love with it. It was a slow day at the shop and I was really itching to tattoo it so I zapped it on her as a favor.

A few months later one of the Savannah Derby Devils saw the strawberry fruit bat tattoo and commissioned me to do a grape version. Little did I know that that was the beginning of the fruit bat trend. Since then it’s become a team initiation of sorts for the Savannah Derby Devils to get a fruit bat tattoo. I’m currently up to seventeen different fruit bats with more already on the way. This weird trend I started doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Hopefully I don’t run out of fruits to draw!

 

Offline Dating Film

‘Offline Dating’ is a short film created by Bafta-nominated filmmaker Samuel Abrahams, which shows actor Tom Greaves in Hackney, London, attempting to persuade women to go on a date with him. His advances receive a mixed response and the film shows how women respond differently to a unknown man approaching them in public.

 

The film acts a social experiment, showing how social media and online dating have affected how people interact in everyday “real” life. The differences between online personas and how we are in real life are highlighted as the film supports the idea that we edit how we chose to present ourselves in a world of social media.

Watch the film below, what do you think? Has the online world ruined real life interactions?