#17 Pentagram and Rose

Once in a while, you get a design that you want to make sure that the client knows about before going ahead and starting on it. I figured this was one. However, she knows her stuff and understands the meaning behind a pentagram even better than I did, so we went ahead and did it.

I wish I had a photo of the shading that went on before the color. The textures on the vines look really great, but the thick color is blocking a lot of it. It will all show up when it's healed properly, however. Even if it were stuck like this, it would still look really nice.

#16 Hops and Barley on Upper Chest

My word of advice to all who can heed me, "Don't get a tattoo on thin skin unless you're sure you can take it." This guy could, but it nearly sent his fist in my face. Not really, but he was making more noise than anyone else so far. The very center of the chest is apparently an "are you sure?" area. The inking went very well. When I started shading, he was impressed with how realistic I was getting. He said that if he knew I was as skilled as I am, he would have planned for me to do more complex designs!

The client brews his own beer (which made the tip fun, *belch*), and it's an important part of who he is. He was tell you countless types of brews and their ingredients. He said he's even replicated a beer type by tasting it, making note of which yeasts and plants were used to create it, and made his own with excellent results. Seriously, it's an art form that I never knew about. He has plans to take this tattoo to further places on his upper body, but wanted to start with representing the barley and hops plants that are so important to the beer-brewing process.

Ending note: I got another, "This is so much better than I expected," remark from this one. I'm glad that the gracious people who are donating their skin to my learning process are happy with the results. I wouldn't have it any other way.

#15 Shooting Star

This client is a friend of mine. She wanted a cute little shooting star just below the bikini line on the front of her leg. I was a bit concerned with the size of the tattoo, as it's smaller than anything I've done before. Then, as I got started, I realized that even though the overall size is smaller, the fine details weren't any smaller than on some other tattoos so far. I like how fast it went, although I was very picky when making sure the lines were perfect.

#14 "Micah" Fix-up

Such a cute couple. This client and her husband had their one year anniversary about a month or so ago and she had decided to get her sweetheart's name tattooed on her as a gift to mark the occasion. The original tattoo was about a half inch off center on her lower back, and she was also concerned that the design itself was left-heavy. She came to me with a great design for two butterflies that we applied, as well as a flower to fill in the center. I also went inside the lettering and made the shading more gradual and natural-looking. I was happy to work on this one and the client is very happy to have it fixed!

#13 Live Laugh Love (Fix-Up)

This client had this ankle tattoo done a while back, but wasn't happy with the lettering and placement. As we discussed what could be done to fix it, we figured that even if the placement can't be easily fixed, w can at least make it look nicer. Below are the before and after photos; left being before and right being after.

With the lettering, my goal was to darken it and make it a little more interesting. I went ahead and widened some of the curves and lowered some letters' bottoms to make them fix their word.

Another main task for me was fixing the stars between each word. The stars had originally been done in a kind of curvy convex pentagon, rather than a 5-point star. I got that fixed relatively easily.

This was another main portion. The design had a cherry set, whose colored ink had almost completely faded. I like how they turned out after the fix.

#12 Purple Star

This one was extra exciting and a little bit more nerve-wracking than normal, as this tattoo was for my lovely bride. Abi has loved this design ever since seeing it on an art-sharing website. She and I played with a few similar ideas, but this is what she kept coming back to. I must say that the color set I recently got is quite worth the money. The purples and pinks are fantastic! (Prisma brand)

I got plenty of practice with lining and filling in during this one. Luckily for me, the tattoo will never be that far from where I can see how it's healing. I have only seen a handful of my work during of after the healing process.

At any rate, I love this. She loves it. It was fun!

#11 "Misunderstood"

This one was nice and simple. I used a 3-round to outline and a 5-round to fill in the lettering. I ran into a similar issue as the Aquarius symbol with the inside not wanting to meet the line. Basically, what I did was I went over the areas that were giving me trouble at a different angle to make sure everything that needed to be filled in looked good. It may need a few minor touch-ups in some places, but nothing anyone will probably notice. She's had a few tattoos already and said that the arm was fine except closer to the wrist.

#10 Celtic Circle (Cover-up)

PHASE 1 (Outlines)

 

My client for this tattoo had a rebellious period earlier in her life and had this swastika design tattooed by a friend. She has since been ashamed of it and hasn't felt comfortable wearing any shirts that show her back, and was so happy to find that she could get it covered. Apparently, other artists wouldn't touch it because it was a "political tattoo." Well, that may be true but it isn't anymore! This is a 2-part cover-up that is going very well.

This particular client has a low tolerance for pain. If you look closely at the finished photo (top), you'll see that the lines are not all perfectly inked. When she felt pain... she jerked like something else, I tell you. However, this thing will look perfect after the next visit. Shading is not as painful as lining (from what previous clients have told me after working on their skin).

You can't even see the swastika any more unless you know where to look. It will be even better when it's finished next month! She's also lucky that she didn't get the swastica filled in when she got it, because it would have been impossible to cover effectively.

UPDATE: Tattoos of California

I am taking a good break from everything this week. That includes my tattooing, which is a break from my normal job of teaching 5th grade. I'm in Northern California right now, and I'm noticing that tattoos are much more common here than in Utah. I see a tattoo on more than half of the people I see in this town! This would not be such a big deal if I were not used to the huge difference of seeing a tattoo once a week or so in Happy Vally, USA. However, there's something to say about what I'm seeing.

Forgive me if I sound confusing at all. We had Mint Juleps tonight and whiskey gets me a little too easily. Anyway, the thing I'll point out about a lot of the tattoos I've seen in California is that a good handful of them seem to have been done with a lack of skill. NOTE: I am not saying I have that skill. ... yet. What I am saying is that many people have tattoos that are everything to them, and were done in the best way the person knew they could get them at the time, but that the execution of these designs sometimes leave something to be desired. Whether it's the ability of the artist (whoever he/she was) or the choice of design by the wearer, I feel like there is a great deal of tattooing that has been done in either haste or (for lack of a better phrase) low artistic skill.

Some tattoos I have seen looked a bit... scribbled. Others were off-center on a person's body part. One that I saw in a grocery store the other day wasn't even filled in the right way. What I am seeing is making me take pride in my desire to always give my clients something that will never be duplicated. It is my dream that they will never look at that tattoo and have the slightest regret. A person's body is far too precious to leave a permanent scar on it willingly that will detract from its beauty.

Anyway, I know that this post is long, but I felt like I should put it online. I know that I'm not where I want to be quite yet, but I feel so confident that I can soon get there, based on my ever-present ability to express myself in new mediums. I have already given tattoos that are beautiful and unique, and I feel like I am living a personal dream through it. A big thanks goes out to every person who has offered their skin so far. I know that you took a gamble by accepting an offer from a beginner, but I keep hearing that you got way better than you expected, so I am definitely not going to stop with this new hobby of mine.

#09: Circle Design

This was a new experience for me. I tattooed my older brother. Needless to say (or should I say "needlefull"), I was nervous with this one, as tattooing a person close to you can have long-term effects on your relationship, positive or negative. It's a different feeling than when you tattoo a person you have never met before. However, I was able to get myself into the same zone that I have been using with all my clients, where all I can think about is the upcoming design and tattoo. This got me to the exact point I needed to be.

He wanted the design to be of a circle with a point in the center. All I need say is that he is into the abstract, and when I proposed a few concept drawings to him, he loved this one. A few hours later, when the kids were asleep, we were ready to go.

His first tattoo was another abstract design on his right shoulder, as shown below. This new one went well with it, but he wanted to embellish the first one a bit. You can see the fresh ink on both designs now. This was a neat experience, because I got some abstract experience. Even in my college studies, I hadn't been asked to create very many abstract pieces, and have certainly not seen many abstract tattoos (at least as far as the design is concerned). But I have a deep respect for the idea now, and am thinking of adopting it for my own future tattoos. How better way is there to express your inner self than having something on your skin that no person anywhere will have in the same way? Tattoo flash definitely won't do that. I don't say that to put down more common tattoos in any way. I am just feeling a connection with the originality of commissioned abstract work right now.

#08 Transformers Logo Split

This is great. He wanted a half-and-half with the Autobots and Decepticons and it turned out fantastic. He plans to come back and get the metallic areas colored as well, but this is all we could do for the first visit. So cool...

This was the second tattoo of the day. I am so tired right now... And Bud Light is delicious.

#07: Heart and Wings Memento

This is my favorite so far, for sure. I was honored once again of being asked to represent a deceased loved one through a tattoo. My client had an idea of what she wanted, so I came up with the design and we went for it. I was both nervous and excited for this due to it's high level of detail and shading. I think it turned out beautifully.

It took about an hour and a half of work time. There are a few things she is planning to have touched up in a few weeks when the skin heals, like adding purple to the heart and blueish tints to the wings. It will look amazing.