Fudo Sword

I actually tattooed the sword several years ago and it was super fun to breathe some new life into it with the addition of the flames.  For lack of a better term, I think it just looks tough.

The sword is an object of Fudo Myo-o, a wrathful looking deity and defender of Buddhism, so it is only appropriate to have it look as fierce as possible.

It was a little nerve wracking squeezing it up in between those chest panels, as the right one is by Chris Trevino and the left is in progress from Horitoshi (my favorite tattooer and a great man).

Just the outline as this was a last minute squeeze in appt. to fill a cancellation.  He sat awesome though (I can't imagine it was too enjoyable) and the color should be a one session deal.

Samurai and Clouds

It's been quite a while since this arm's been worked on, so it was great to get back to it.  Filled in the last blank spot with the peak of a Japanese roof.

His concept with the tattoo in the beginning was a samurai who was protecting his home.  Since most of his upper arm was already tattooed, we didn't have a ton of room so I decided to do the samurai from the waist up and represent the home/castle with just part of the roof.  This way we could get more impact and detail, and not just some miniature dude and a tiny building.  

The spear in his hand sort of anchors him down and helps him look firmly planted in front of his home.

Was it easy tattooing that ornate roof on the elbow? Nope.  But do i feel like it worked out? Yup.

Hagoromo Tennyo

Started in on the top robe this session.  Drew on some clouds and it all went in great.  I've been very happy at how well she's been healing and how the color is looking so far.

The bottom picture is by one of my favorite artists, Hiroshige.  I used this as inspiration for the top robe and the upper sash which will be yellow with green swirls, versus green with yellow.

So much of Japanese tattooing is based on old woodblock prints...using composition and design elements to create new works and building on a foundation of tradition...

Starting to realize we're getting sort of close to finishing on this piece.  We've got to take the next month off so she can compete in a yoga competition and run a half marathon, but hopefully done this spring.

Bee Sleeve

Here is a little sneak peek at a sleeve of bees I recently started.

I did a bee and flower on her years ago, and she popped up again recently to complete the whole arm.

Super fun person to tattoo and each session has been a pleasure, even if bees do creep me out a little bit...

Tengu Sleeve

Just the wings this time.  I think we've pretty much settled on doing shorter but more frequent sessions for this one.

That is actually my preferred method.  For larger pieces, two or three 1.5-2.5 hour sessions a month seems to work best for me.

Flower of Life

Long time no blog.  Sometimes the thought of sitting in front of a computer screen gives me a strange sort of headache.  Anyways...

Finished up this one a while ago.  Very fun piece and cool to be able to play around with a different style.  After he gets the other side of his ribs done, we will probably fractal other geometric shapes off this one to fill in some of the open space.  Definitely not opposed to trying out some more of the stippling effect on future projects... 

Hawaiian Sea Life

Haven't really put up many photos of this one.

We're basically 100% finished with fore arm now, and we don't have much to go up top.  Hopefully I'll be better at getting some decent photos of this one, as it's a bit unique for me.  

There's a pretty cool octopus head on the elbow that wraps around the arm, and we recently put a jellyfish on the upper rear of the arm.  

It feels like the never ending tattoo, but we've been having tons of fun and the patientce should pay off...