The Geometry of Letting Go
The Geometry of Letting Go
I have a confession. For years, I hated geometry. Hated it. In school, it felt like a language of cold, hard rules, a system designed to prove you wrong. Angles didn't lie. Theorems were unforgiving. It was the opposite of everything I loved about art, which was messy, emotional, and subjective. So when this client walked into Montana Tattoo Company with a head full of hexagons and a heart full of something else entirely, I had to laugh at the universe's sense of humor. They wanted order. They wanted structure. They wanted a blackwork sleeve built from the most rigid shapes I'd spent a lifetime avoiding.
A Pattern to Hold the Chaos
This isn't just a pattern. It's an exoskeleton. The client came to me during a period of profound personal transition, a time when the ground beneath their feet felt less like earth and more like shifting sand. Their life, in their words, had become "a beautiful, terrifying blur." The request was specific: a geometric blackwork sleeve, dense and intricate, using hexagons as the primary motif. Not as decoration, but as architecture. They didn't want art on their skin; they wanted a framework. They wanted to wear the structure they felt they were missing. The hexagon, they explained, is nature's most efficient shape. It's the honeycomb, the basalt columns, the carbon molecule. It's strength through connection. It was the perfect metaphor for what they were trying to build within themselves: resilience through interconnected support.
Building a Sleeve from the Ground Up
Technically, blackwork of this density is a marathon of precision and patience. It's a commitment to negative space as much as it is to ink. One wobble, one line that drifts a millimeter off its path, and the entire geometric illusion collapses. We started with the largest central hexagons, mapping them directly to the anatomy of the arm. They aren't just floating on the surface; they're anchored to the bicep, the tricep, the curve of the elbow. Each one became a tile in a larger mosaic. Inside those primary shapes, we built the secondary layer: the flowing, organic wave patterns. This was the crucial counterpoint. The hard, unforgiving lines of the hexagon grid house these soft, undulating currents. It's the tension between the two that gives the piece its life. The ink is pure black, but the skin left untouched between the lines does just as much work, creating a subtle, shimmering effect that changes with the muscle beneath it.
The Space Between the Lines
The collaboration here was less about designing an image and more about engineering a feeling. The client brought the blueprint—the need for order. I brought the understanding that for structure to feel alive, it must also make room for flow. Those wave patterns inside the hexagons? Those were the compromise. That was me saying, "Your life isn't just the grid. It's also the water moving through it." As we worked, session after session, the tattoo became less about imposing control and more about creating a container. A vessel strong enough to hold uncertainty. By the end, the client told me they didn't just see geometry on their arm. They saw a map. A map of a psyche that had learned to build stable walls but left windows open for the wind.
I have really been enjoying these deep dives into the mythological and surreal worlds. After years of focusing heavily on realism and reference based work, shifting into storytelling and symbolic imagery feels like a creative rebirth. Thank you for being part of the journey. If you are interested in collaborating on a project, you can explore my work and reach out through UnorthodoxTattoo.com or visit my personal site at MickeySchlick.com or visit the shop at MontanaTattooCompany.com. For more insight into mythology inspired surrealism, visit the Neo Japanese Surrealism page at this link. Book a consultation, explore portfolios, and bring your idea to life. The studio is fully automated with aftercare, directions, booking options, and consistent customer service available 24 hours a day at 406-215-4321. If you would like to talk with me directly, just ask and I will connect with you as soon as possible.
