The scroll has been used on many different occasions and in different ways…

This time I felt like making a scroll in a tattoo inspired way - a designed scroll that has leaves and plants growing around it and with the text “The W” written on the scroll. “The W” in this case referring and meaning Wohill - a scroll from Wohill.

To make the design a bit more interesting I have made the letter “W” growing out of the paper and becoming part of the leaves and plant. This gives the whole picture, or tattoo, a better feeling as well as giving the eye of the viewer an extra treat. I have given the scroll and plants a “spotted shades” style. This is to make the shading a bit smoother.

What more is said on the secret scroll from Wohill is a story for the future - but I can assure you there will be more designs to come.

The other day I got the question about making a link that would suit round one’s ankle, neck or wrist. Not the regular “Bismark” or other well known design, just something for this person to have and wear as a tattoo so as to match it a little bit to an earlier tattoo that is a tattooed ring which was made of several “X” and dots. As you can see on this design I kept the “X” shape a little bit and turned it into diamond-like shapes. I also made dots at the end of each cross connecting the diamond-link.

If it is going to be a tattoo it should probably be filled in black – but if possible it could be used as an outline too.

It will hopefully be a long lasting design.

A twirling dragon in green puffing smoke and surrounded by burning flames - hunting its pray. It has long characteristic claws and a long pointed horn coming from the dragon-head. The twirls give the dragon extra dynamics and a sense of speed. Many dragon images are made into tattoos. This dragon could twirl from over-arm on to chest – making the flames lick the body where the dragon has travelled.

I have designed a couple of dragons before and thought it would be nice to show this one too. This time it is in colour. I sketched it on paper first and then I coloured it in Photoshop. I also gave it a nice faded background. The reddish background was chosen to make the green dragon stand out a bit more. If tattooed on skin – the green would definitely “pop” too - and if on darker skin, I would go for a black and grey version. I think the dragon is a strong symbol that shows strength and will-power - a good symbol to use as a symbol for something protecting you and maybe showing a person’s personality.

An alternative to making this into a tattoo – is making it as a painting, maybe even an oil-painting.

The text was an extra attribute to give the dragon something to look at. By the way – I have made a bigger version as a wallpaper.

I have been to Thailand for a couple of weeks and it has been really nice. It has been great weather – sunny, no clouds and the water in the sea was perfect temperature. I will post some pictures from Thailand further on.

As you might recollect, I have drawn a dragon tattoo some time ago. It is posted here on the blogg (Wohill). I even made a cool wallpaper for the computer. Back to the story again… I was walking about getting some things in the shopping-mall called Tesco Lotus. It is a chain that is all over Thailand and I think even in China. When walking about looking for some food I saw that they sell lots of other things too. TV’s, computers, movies, bikes, toys – you name it, they seem to have it. They also sell clothes and this is where it gets interesting… Walking down an aisle Magnus, who is also travelling with me, pops round the corner and says: Have you seen this cool kid’s shirt? And what is he holding up – a shirt with my design on it – The Dragon Tattoo! So they have printed up two types of shirts with the Wohill dragon. One with an Asian symbol over it as you can see in the picture below and one with the whole dragon. The company, LEOkids, that have made the shirt have stolen my design – as you can guess they haven’t asked, informed or paid me anything for this – it’s just there!

They seemed to have liked the design, the dragon, but not done more than that. Nice that they thought it was trustworthy made by somebody on the other side of the world. I guess a dragon is a dragon all over the world – even if I made it into a dragon inspired by Chinese artists.

So I will try to contact them and see what they have to say – I’ll keep you posted. Or if you know anyone that works or has a connection to LEOkids – please let me know. If Tesco Lotus has anything to do with LEOkids, except buying clothing from them, I don’t know.

It will be interesting to hear what they have to say…

The dragon has many different interpretations. First, it was the western gods that had to conquer the dragon – then later it was the noblemen. Many times the dragon is something a hero has to defeat to save the princess or something like that.

In the eastern part of the world the dragon is a much more positive symbol. He is the main essence or a part of yang – as in yin and yang - that can give humans the potion of ever lasting life.

The dragon is used on buildings, clothing and vases as decorative symbols. In today’s world a lot of people use the dragon for tattoos. I have drawn a dragon standing on his front legs with a twirling bird’s tail. I have given the dragon bird- or lizard-like legs - an elegant creature, swift and smooth. This dragon has a bit more of a feminine touch compared to the one I posted some time ago.

There are several different kinds of Tigers: Bengal, Indochinese, Malayan, Sumatran, Siberian and the South China Tiger. They all have special features and looks. The things they have in common are their stripes. I have used the stripes in this design too - just so one gets the feeling of the Tiger’s characteristics. The flames round about are also based on the Tiger-stripes. They also resemble Asian dragon designs that usually have clouds and flames surrounding the different beasts and animals that they have illustrated. The eyes are small and focused. I made the flames frame the tiger’s head. Showing the teeth too, gives a warlike and more aggressive look. The Tigers’ sharp teeth make them fearsome hunters – so I had to enhance that feeling.

Compared to cats, tigers really enjoy spending time in water. I’m not sure if they even like swimming – but they certainly like cooling down in the shallow end. I even saw this the last time I saw a whole bunch of tigers. Now it would have been very impressive to see these big cats in the wild, but I thought they were pretty impressive in captivity too! They were super active and had very large grounds to hang out in – at least compared to the first time I saw a real tiger in a cage. It was literally a cage. Like one you would see in a story-book. There were only a few square feet that first time and the Tiger didn’t look like he was feeling very good.

If you get the chance to see a tiger – I hope you get to see it where it has lots of space to move around in. Then you can see how quick and strong they are too!

A tiger , or in this case, a tiger’s head is a symbol of strength. Showing the Tiger’s stripes gives an extra feeling of power. I think it is clear that it is a tiger, even though one doesn’t use the colour orange to enhance the feeling of the design really being a tiger. Now one should remember there are actually tigers existing out there that are white and black.

The red pupils or dots I have added in the eyes give the tiger a much stronger look. It is looking at you as a viewer, or maybe even prey - that it will attack at any second. The teeth are also there to give the tiger a more fearsome look. The long whiskers I added to give a little bit of an elegant feeling. It is a big cat - and I would say that tigers and cats in general move pretty elegantly and swiftly.

I have seen big Tigers run about and play and maybe they don’t really feel like your little cat at home, but there are a few resemblances in their motions.


Even if these big cats only exist in nature in very few parts of the world – many people, all over the globe, will recognise them right away in this design.

Our guest blogger, Jan ”Nippe” Karlsson, had a very nice picture of a swan from Skurusundet in Nacka, Sweden. As he mentions there, the swan is a mighty bird - one of the largest flying birds in the world – but at the same time very gracious. It is a beautiful and strong bird and he suggested that I could design a tattoo of one. Maybe this could also be a symbol for the swan in flight.

This illustration of the two swans might also give you an association to a more romantic symbol – since they are a couple flying in the same direction. So as a tattoo it could symbolise you and your better half. There are several different kinds of swans – even black ones. In this case, I chose the white swans. In a tattoo it would be nice together with shading of feathers and shadows against the white in the swan. I have enhanced the outline so the contour of the bird / birds give an extra feeling of strength. The wing-tips are also made a bit larger than usual to show the width and span of the birds’ wings.

Maybe you are searching for the perfect symbol for you and your spouse. This symbol could perhaps be the one for you!

As you might have seen I have made a few eagles and also mentioned that many eagles through time have been double-headed. So this time I felt like designing an eagle like that. I have given the eagle some broad outlines and detailed feathered wings. But still itīs a plain and straight forward style of tattoo or design in general. The outline gives it a more dominant look and more appealing in a visual aspect. (In this case anyway.) If it had been a corporate brand or logotype it might have had a different approach. The two-headed eagle is a strong symbol almost majestic.

Already in 1433 the German-Roman Emperor had a double-headed eagle on his shield and imperium. In 1806 Austria took the eagle as nation-symbol, until 1919. It still is Albanias symbol. Itīs been speculated that the eagle had two heads because there was a German-Roman Emperor and at the same time he was the German king.

Take a chance to read more about symbolism and what symbols have been standing for and still are today. There are alot of books written on the subject. So just like me you can interpret and make new symbolism or use old traditional symbols and turn them into new ones.

I think I have ended up in a dragon-craze this week. Felt like sticking to this subject once again, but with a bit of a different approach. In tattooing there have been different trends and designs going on for ages. Something very graphic is the tribal tattoo or tribal patterns weaving in text or just making nice shapes over skin and body. The previous dragon was more of a detailed design. This one takes almost as much preparation but feels more like a symbol or pictogram. The swaying body of the dragon and its claw-like legs and feet resemble and are inspired by “tribals”. I made the claws almost like fire and clouds to get that into the design without making them separately.

If you are on your way to a local tattoo-artist to get the tattoo you have been thinking about for a long time - get one that symbolises you and the stage and place you are in today. Maybe get one symbolising a good thing in life that you have right now. Like a celebration of the day or person you want to honour. A lot of tattoos symbolise someone you miss or have lost. Today – get one that makes you feel good – a symbol of strength – the dragon!

There are several strong symbols and figures used through time to give us feelings of belonging and creatures to identify with. Many of these symbols have been drawn on walls – caveman painting and carving in stories and pictures from years ago - up until today when graffiti is a well-known art form. These different or similar, if you wish, ways of expressing feelings and symbols of strength have also been used in tattoos. The eagle is a very common bird used as a symbol of strength… So is the dragon, which I have used this time, with its twirling up and stretching out of its tongue and huffing and puffing flames and smoke. I have been inspired by Asian art to make this tattoo. I started out drawing it in black and white to get the shapes and feeling right. I might show you a coloured version later. So back to the dragon - it has many scales and a flame-like tail as many Asian dragons have. I think that this tattoo is meant to give you a resemblance from the past and still feel like an up-to-date modern tattoo theme.

So if you get the possibility or chance to get one made by one of the great tattoo-artists in the world you might want to use this as inspiration - or even ask me to design a tattoo for you. (Maybe even tattoo you.)

Check out the wallpaper to see the hole dragon.

Today I have made a new eagle, or more exactly, an eagle’s head. I just wanted to show the multitude of shapes around the eagle. Here I have taken the opportunity to reuse part of the wave-like symbols and integrate them with the head of an eagle. The view of the bird’s-head, as you can see, is drawn slightly as if you were looking from under the head. This is to make the bird feel as if it is above you. This gives a feeling of power and that it is a mighty animal. It is also looking away - as if with a nonchalant attitude - and this is also to enhance the feeling that it is a very strong symbol. So if one would wear it on one’s arm, or on a t-shirt, it would clearly show that it is worn by an outstanding being. I’d say that reminiscent styles were known to be used before, by sailors and other people who had been through rougher times in their lives. Nowadays anyone can have a story or feeling that they want to make eternal. I think that you even see similar art on T-shirts, bikes, cars and bodies.

As for tattoos - they have been around a long time and today there are even TV-shows about tattoo-artists and their work. For example, there is the popular show ”Miami Ink” - about the very clever tattooist, Ami James, and his friends.

The king of birds is a symbol mainly used in heraldic weapons or emblems through the years. For the symmetric styling they used to be two-headed, a double-eagle. In antique animal literature it is written that the eagle was able to look right into the sun without being blinded by the light or not even blink. The eagle was said, like Phoenix, to have the powers to become young again.

I chose today to design an eagle in a tattoo-like way. It gives a forceful feeling and in this design the eagle holds a banderole that one could write a powerful phrase on, a family-name, motto or slogan. I have also integrated some twirls and wave-like pattern behind the bird. This is to enhance the feeling of freedom with the wings pointing up in the air. The ”V” shape would give a more impressive look too if one would have it as a tattoo on one’s back or chest - or maybe as a t-shirt print or even for a regular shirt.

The design itself is dynamic even though it’s only made in black. Here the shapes and the illustration stand out instead - so colour seemed, in this case, unnecessary.