My 1st Koi Fish

This design was a surprise. I was texted last night by a regular client of mine, informing me that he wanted to meet me this morning at the shop. He, who is student teaching right now, by the way, got this fish on his forearm. I, being a teacher, am very hesitant to put anything on a place that will show at work and have no intention of being required to wear long sleeved shirts my whole career. However (and it sounds like it was teacher day at InFamous Ink), there were two other clients who were getting work done today who teach at various places near here. These women also wear their tattoos with pride at school. I am starstruck.

Anyway! The fish was derived from an image we found online, but changed. I shaded the entire thing impromptu and created the waves based on a few different styles we saw as we were looking for ideas. A complete original! And not bad for my first Koi fish. It only took my a year and a half of tattooing to do a design that is this common. Odd. But I'm very pleased.

"Always Faithful"

This phrase is the English translation of the Marine Corps slogan "Semper Fi." Looking at different type fonts, I suggested that we try out a look that is textured, rather than completely solid. He said he liked it because it was different. I kind of think it looks like a slightly shiny texture with a rigid feel.

Sons of Anarchy

This design comes from a show I have never seen; it's name is Sons of Anarchy. This thing took me forever. a total of 3 hours. I attribute most of this time to the intricate details that the white lines call for, as you cannot cover those with black beforehand. Then the fire. ... The firs took a long time all by itself. Detailed and tedious. However, despite the time taken, the client will be back for more soon. He's thinking of another symbol from the same show.

Recent catch-up from an old piece

I have not had a whole lot of work lately, despite my waiting at the shop. I haven't had the best luck in picking times to do this second job lately. But oh well!

I was able this last week to complete the "strength" kanji started ever so long ago. In fact, this was one of the first ever tattoos by me. It was left outlined for some time. Finally, I was able to meet up again with this guy and finish it. He allowed me to come up with the designs in the middle of the symbol. It's freehand work, and I like it. He loves it. He requested the sword, while the rest came from different inspiring ideas he talked about as we went on. The skulls were a must and the floating dismembered eye were just cool.

 

Brothers in Arms. ... or Brothers on Arm and Chest

The two brothers had a family member who was recently diagnosed with leukemia. To honor them, as well as others they know and love with similar ailments, they got these tattoos this morning. Slight variations make each one unique, but the main idea the same. I'd like to mention that the design was created by the client. He laughed because it was a rough sketch that he sounded like he expected to change a lot, but it ended up being very similar indeed. Minor shading added.

Tree Roots and Branches

This one is finally done! I took the original pieces from weeks ago and finished them all in a unified piece. I love working with tree branches. Somehow, the element of chaos involved in free-handing the lines makes it easier to make a more incredible design.

Update from a week later below:

Heart and Keyhole

The title on this design is the name of the client's band. "Live or Die Trying," such an awesome phrase!
Below it is the sentence, "If we fail, we fail together." With the dates of several people who are pivotal to the wearer's life.

Construction Cross

 This client works with iron (as you can see) and designed this cross made of I-beams. I only adjusted it a little bit, including perspective, shadows, and draping the flag over it, as per his request. It is 6 inches tall, and took about 2.5 hours. Maybe closer to 3.

I used a 5 liner for the lines and letters. Everything else was a 5 magnum.

Tennessee "T"

 

This is a really cool marine from Tennessee. He's got a lot of national and state pride was was fun to talk to. I was concerned with the idea of putting white in each of the white checkers that this concept called for; white is really difficult to get to stick in large areas. What I came up with was only outlining the white boxes to let is jump out still, but not risk having a bunch of it fall out. It gave the orange a cool lift from the rest of the skin.

Viking Man

This is the second time I have worked on this design. What I did this time was touch it up and add a few things to it that I didn't get done the first time. This is on the same arm as the Viking Woman shown earlier.