New York Tattoo Convention

I'll be working at the 2011 NY Tattoo Convention at the Roseland Ballroom May13th-15th.

Think this is maybe my 6th or 7th time doing this one and I'm really looking forward to it.

I work with my friends and mentors Bill and Junii Salmon of the Diamond Club in San Francisco, and we stay with our great friend Shinji (Horizakura) of the Horitoshi Family (currently living and working out of a new private studio in the Lower East Side).

Tengu Sleeve

From a couple weeks ago...

Drew on the rest of the background and even got a little more shading in.  The planning and "hard" part is over and it's just fun from here on out.  We're matching another 3/4 sleeve on the other arm (which we finished not too long ago) and I'm excited to have the pair done all around the same time in the same style with the same themes...

Kannon

The back is still in a pretty bad state, so no tattooing for a little while.  I can however still draw in short intervals...

This is the beginning rough sketch for a back piece I start in a couple weeks.

Kannon is a Buddhist Bodhisattva of compassion.  Like most icons of Japanese Buddhism, she was adapted from China (Guanyin), where it had arrived from India before that.
Very positive and beautiful image that I'm very happy to be able to do on such a large scale.

Koi, Skull and Chrysanthemum Leg

Time to add frog and rocks to the list of ingredients on this leg.

Started the upper addition a little while ago but just getting around to sorting pics.
Technically this is a three legged frog (Sanbonashi no kaeru in Japanese).  In Chinese and Japanese culture it is a symbol of prosperity and a good omen to related to wealth.
Next time on the inner thigh we're adding a small magical hammer called a Uchide no kozuchi, also a good luck type charm that grants its holder wishes.
These were both his ideas, and I've been impressed with the amount of thought and research he's put into his tattoo work.  It's nice to do such a large piece where the client has a very clear vision and style in mind that is open to interpretation...

Injury

So here's the deal...

As some may know (everyone I unfortunately had to cancel recently), I had to go to the Bay Area last week for a family emergency.  As a double whammy I had a bit of a nasty accident while there and injured my back pretty bad.  

Went to the doctor first thing today and apparently I sprained my back.

It's still in a large amount of pain and I'm unable to work.  Hopefully this won't last too long and I'll be back in action soon.

Apologies to everyone who's appointments are getting messed up and thanks for the understanding.  The  work load has been overflowing lately and I'll be taking a brief hiatus from any brand new clients for a little while. 

 I've been asking interested folks to please get in touch starting in June to set up work for the fall and beyond.  Sorry if this puts anyone out, but right now I need to focus on healing the body, finishing current pieces, and drawing and starting all the new pieces that people have been waiting very patiently for.

I have a ton of respect for the fact that people are putting so much faith in me and take that responsibility very seriously.

Thanks again for the interest and support in what I'm trying to do...

Roses

Initially, we were scheduled to do a compass rose and some feathers, but it just didn't look right with the other work.  She has a portrait on her forearm and the owl that I did a few months back kind of under the elbow.  The compass rose looked much too rigid and out of place so she mentioned she had also considered real roses down there and they worked out great.  

We got them drawn on all around the wrist and fitting in around the other work.  We'll also add the feathers next time as well as some background to tie in her upper half sleeve to this new stuff and make it a whole arm...

Passion Flower

Did this fancy one on a great client who's been adding on to an ever expanding floral piece over the last year or so.  This is definitely the most complex one of the bunch and was fun to do.  I was probably complaining about all the little single needle stamen hair things in the middle at the time, but seeing it done it's pretty cool.  

Oddly enough, about a day after I did this, someone got in touch about doing an entire sleeve of passion flowers.  Sounds like quite the challenge just knowing how long one took.  Could be super cool though...

And as for this particular flower, sounds like it's definitely not the last...