Tattoo artist Roy Lee Rowlett recently went viral for his modern take on an art form that has been around since 12,000 BC; the tattoo.
The Rick and Morty art the Louisville, Kentucky tattoo artist created features an interactive green screen, which Rowlett says works the same way as video compositing and visual effects post-production software used for film and TV.
“You saturate an area of skin with green, or any other color depending on how good you are with the software. Then use video editing software or an app on your phone to overlay a video,” he told BuzzFeed News.
Rowlett said he saw the concept elsewhere and decided to adopt it for the Rick and Morty ink. “I sat down with a friend, Brian Lejman, and we went over cool ideas that would be practical with the green screen effect,” the 30-year-old told the publication.
“Rick and Morty just made sense. I plan on doing more of these in the future.”
Fans of tattoos and of Rick and Morty sent Rowlett’s creation viral, with many on social media remarking on its creativity and nearly magical quality.
“Honestly, I figured people would like it but not to this extent. It was pretty overwhelming honestly. It’s been email after email,” Rowlett said to BuzzFeed News.
This green screen tattoo is hard as fuck! pic.twitter.com/oKhXgUdyDA
— Ken Blicky Jr… 6LACK stan account (@_ChefDon_) August 6, 2018
“It was good to see that most of the responses were positive. A few negative ones but that’s OK. I understand it’s not something everyone’s going to be into.”
“My favorite responses were the ones from people that thought the tattoo actually moved in real life. They were pretty funny.”
h/t BuzzFeed News