Body Suit (Koi and Lotus)

After the last year of diligently working on the dragons on his sides, it was finally time to start new work below the knee.

As it stands now, his dragons are outlined from under the arm pit down to the thigh, and the background is 100% done down just past the waist.  The back piece (phoenix) has been done for years, although there is still a little background to finish on one butt cheek.  We got to a place where it was either color in the dragons, or start outlining the rest.  I decided to go the later route...

His whole upper body has clouds as background and as we get to the bottom we'll be transitioning into water and a few rocks. He had the dragonflies (of which I plan on adding more) on his thighs already that served as a very natural meeting point between the sky and the water.  We went with lotuses as they're an aquatic flower, and there's not going to be much earth element going on in this piece.

Of course I didn't get a great picture, but from the back and side views it's really cool to see the upper body and legs almost connected.  After next session (where my plan is to outline the whole back of the left thigh above the koi) he'll have solid tattoo from the top of the shoulder to the ankle.  Pretty exciting stuff...

Koi Sleeve #2

Second day...

Kept on going up the arm with more of the same as the day before (see below). 

I'm digging how strong and bold it's looking with just those primary colors and black in there...

Koi Sleeve

I'm very enthused that we were able to get some more work done on this sleeve that was started several months ago.  She lives about 8 hours away, and she and her husband come up a few times a year to get tattooed.  Last visit we outlined the whole arm during 2 sessions in 2 days.  I was (and am) really into into it, and enjoyed the slight added pressure of having to do a little more work than normal for me, as she was traveling from such a long distance to get it.

This first of two sessions we began color starting at the wrist.  Although I had some slight reservations about it at first, she really wanted vibrant blue water, and despite the fact that I almost never do it that way (black and grey shading has been the norm for me), I thought it could be really cool and knew that it would suit her very well.

It was a slightly different mental approach for me to go in making it as rich and bright as possible, but I think it really works.  Once I got into the swing of things I started having a lot of fun with it.  I'm always very conscious of staying focused and present while working, not really thinking about much, but I distinctly remember reflecting on how it was really fun to do something that was a slight tweak off of how I normally do it...

Chrysanthemum

Well, this was actually started over a year ago, and we are just now getting to coloring the elbow region in.

There is a hawk above (that I did a few years ago) that takes up most of the upper arm, and a snake and clouds that were added later (that we're still finishing).  After completing the lower arm, we should just have a couple more sessions up top to be pretty much done.

This go around I shaded in the background on the elbow and colored in the chrysanthemum bud.  These flowers were intended to be very strong and bold, and I think have sort of that old school punch and good visual impact.  I went back to the powdered Japanese white  pigment on this one, and it went in great for sort of a rough spot on the arm.  I'm also happy that the white on the blue flower from at least a year or more ago is still looking good and bright, and it makes me feel confident that this one will stay very vibrant as well.

Getting really solid, rich white can be tricky sometimes, but he seems to take it well.  

He's always been super enthused about his tattoos and the process, and it's good to have him back in the rotation again...

Mucha Woman

First color session on a piece we started a while back (within the last year I believe).  This is one of three Mucha women on her arm (that will be getting a bunch of nouveau background eventually).  I've actually finished the bottom two women recently, but wasn't able to grab decent pictures this time.  I am super happy with how they turned out however and am planning on this one also going very well.

In the original print the hair is a kind of grey and brown, but she was interested in doing black hair, and I thought that would be just fine.  The lower women were done extremely faithful to the originals, and she felt comfortable veering off slightly for this one. 

This top piece is 2 or 3 times the size of the lower ones, so a very subtle thematic shift should work out just fine.  

I love this style of art and I'm really enjoying doing these.  Combining Mucha's very clean and technical line work (which is also extremely busy but perfect) with the very soft and watery color tones is a super cool look, and has given me lots of ideas and inspiration for some of my other work...

Tiger Sleeve

Pretty cool session...

Picked up right where I left off last time and went up the chest, over the shoulder and down the backside of the arm.  This means that the overall silhouette of the background is complete.  There's still a little water and a few rocks to finish, but all the borders are done and it's got the look now (I think we were both equally excited to see it hook up all the way around)...

Time to start re-calibrating my brain for color mode soon, but I think I've got a few ideas.

He's back every three weeks for the rest of the year, so we should see a finished arm before not too long...

P.S.  In my opinion, this is the best way to get a larger piece (at least what works best for me and seems to be good for my clients), having a half day session every 2-3 weeks for a several month stretch.  Seems to be a nice balance of staying really consistent and on it, with just enough healing time in between to enjoy a little non scabby time before the next one...

Here's a few shots of the whole arm as of now:

Tengu Sleeve

Last time we pretty much finished up the robes of the lower karasu (crow) tengu, and this time it was on up to the the big man at the top.

I do enjoy working on the clothing patterns, although these real detail oriented sessions can be a mixed bag.  It really gives the tattoo that something special, but you sure don't cover that much square footage in a session.  It ultimately is about quality over quantity (as with most things in life) and as long as I feel good about what we're putting on and he continues to be super happy then it's a win win.

I realized that we only have 1-2 sessions left and it's a done deal.  I'm really happy with this set of sleeves he's gotten (fox one on the other side).  We were able to do them one right after the other which really helped maintain aesthetic cohesion. That combined with their individual symbolism (and as a pair) in relation to the client's life just made for a very unique and positive situation.

Sounds like we'll be heading to his back next...