Amanda Chamfreau was born in Helsinki, Finland, in 1983, but now chooses to live in Malmö, Sweden. She’s an incredibly busy lady. Not only does she do tattoos, she also makes murals for childrens’ educational facilities and hospitals, as well as exhibiting her drawings, paintings and tapestries, which of course, she has to find the time to make in between the tattooing and mural painting… Phew!
But Chamfreau doesn’t succumb to stress very easily; instead, she keeps herself cheerful and upbeat by creating wonderfully whimsical art works. Her most playful tattoos are those that she inks in full color and boy, are they vibrant. Fire engine red, turquoise blue, lemon yellow, grass green, maroon and salmon and heather and mint; the list of colors that Chamfreau uses is full of delightful sounding names and even more delightful colours.
Many of Amanda Chamfreau’s tattoos feature humorous storybook themes, with animals, geometric shapes, paisley patterns and flowers featuring quite heavily. Chamfreau likes to send her cute tattoo characters on little adventures, in which they go flying in hot air balloons or swimming in swim rings. Her quaint tattoo style is reminiscent of her bold illustration style, which adds to the strength of her body art works.
While not every tattoo tells a specific story, the characters are still very lively and funny even when they are simply sitting in a field of flowers or doing something ordinary, like walking or sitting in a woodland forest. This is the most appealing part of Amanda Chamfreau’s tattoo art; that it is a joy to look at even when the characters have not been over-exaggerated and turned into gross parodies of their real counterparts.
If you’re looking for a tattoo that is fun and maybe even a little silly without being kinda dumb; you’ve found the right artist in Chamfreau. You can contact Amanda Chamfreau through Facebook or visit her website.
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- An adventurous bear takes to the skies in a colorful hot air balloon in this excellent tattoo by Amanda Chamfreau. Purple is not a common ink color in tattoos. Blues, reds and greens generally feature far more frequently than purple, because it has a tendency to clash with other colors. In this tattoo, however, Chamfreau has balanced the purple beautifully with the pink clouds, the aqua and turquoise of the bear and the mint and olive greens of the forest below. Only in a carefully selected color scheme like this one can purple be so attractive in a tattoo design.
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- A colorful flying fish is totally confused about whether it should swim, walk or fly. Tattoo by Amanda Chamfreau. Instead of round fish scales, Chamfreau has used triangles to give the appearance of a scale texture.
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- Amanda Chamfreau uses a bold color scheme in this lovely paisley flower and stylised bird tattoo. The flat areas of color and strong silhouettes make this tattoo readable from a distance – even from quite a distance away, it is clear that this is a floral, paisley tattoo, not some kind of terrible skin disease. Some tattoos, when seen from a distance, just become a mushy blob of color and you can’t be sure if the person brushed up against a freshly painted wall or if they’ve fallen down and bruised themselves. Amanda Chamfreau’s stylised tattoo work, such as this one, always looks like body art. Some of the colors might need to be re-inked after a few years, but with a design as strong and clear as this one, the process shouldn’t damage the overall effect of the tattoo.
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- A running fish carries elephant shrews in this storybook illustration tattoo by Amanda Chamfreau. She has a knack for using just a few simple elements to make a busy, full background. Just like in the other fish character tattoo, featured in this article, Chamfreau has used triangles to give the impression of fish scales. In this design, the triangle scales change color and opacity, a technique that makes the design appear to be busier than it actually is.
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- The king of the elephant shrews holds a bouquet of watercolor flowers in this fun tattoo by Amanda Chamfreau.
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- Amanda Chamfreau tattoos a little bird who looks pleased with himself in his new sneakers. This tattoo shows that Amanda Chamfreau can create softer, watercolor gradients too, not just the solid, saturated areas of color that feature in her other tattoo designs.
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- A happy cow finds her zen through ballet dancing in this cheerful tattoo by Amanda Chamfreau. How could you ever be down with a dancing cow tattoo on your arm?
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- An elephant, a pig, a bird and a fish make an animal totem pole in this whimsical tattoo by Amanda Chamfreau. The artist’s use of simple geometric shapes and uncomplicated outlines give this tattoo a child-like, simple appeal.
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- Creatures from the orient, including a peacock, feature in this geometric and colorful tattoo by Amanda Chamfreau.
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- A fish burps up a fiery flower in this humorous geometric tattoo by Amanda Chamfreau. The artist has used a limited color scheme which adds to the elegant simplicity of the design. This tattoo in particular shows how clean Chamfreau’s silhouettes and line-work are.
