Double Dragon - Part 2

Here is just a quick update to show the progress on my other side. I've got all the outlines done for this piece now and I'm really happy with it so far. We're leaving the bottom part of this piece kind of unfinished for now as it's eventually going to be integrated with some koi fish and water on my legs so it will all work as one piece in the end. We will be concentrating on finishing the torso part first though.

Double Dragon - Part 1

No, I'm not talking about the excellent video game that I remember playing on the Nintendo Entertainment System when I was a little kid (although now I've written that I kind of do want to write about it) I'm talking about starting the next phase of my inevitable body suit.

I've known for while now that I wanted dragons on my torso. It's a pretty classic design and (maybe subconsciously because of the previously mentioned video game imagery) I've always thought it looks absolutely awesome! 

So before I knew it I was back on the bench under the needle. We got the vast majority of the outlines done on one side and we're going to do the other next week so by that stage all the outlines should be complete.

I'm actually pretty surprised how quick this piece looks like it will come together. It seems much faster than my back which is both excellent and kind of worrying at the same time.

It might sound odd but I'm starting to think about what I'll do when my suit is complete, and I don't mind admitting it's a bit scary. I'm so used to having an ongoing project or future plans that I don't know how I'll fill that void when I'm finished. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, but for now I've got enough to be going on with.

Back Piece Video Footage Start to Finish

10th Session - Finished!

Tuesday 25th November
3 Hours

So today was the day to finish my back. It's been a fairly long process to get this far but at the same time it seems to have reached completion rather suddenly. It's quite a big milestone to get this far and I'm really grateful for all of Diego's hard work. I'm really happy with the results but as always I'm kind of sad that another big chunk of work is now finished. I hate the pain at the time, but afterwards I'm always aware how much I'll miss the sessions once the piece is complete. 

I'm certainly not going to miss having my ass cheeks tattooed though. That's got to be the worst feeling ever. And the not being able to sit down properly for a week after gets old pretty quick too. 

Anyway, here's some pictures of it healed and settled into the skin.

As always though, I'm not done yet. I already know what I want doing on my torso and legs so I'll update this as soon as I can with some more work and tales of pain at the hand of the nicest guy I've ever met.

Session 9

Friday 1st August 2014
3 Hours

It hadn't really dawned on me until this session how close to completion my back is now. I only realised just how little was left to do when Diego started saying one more session would finish it off including any touch ups! 

This was kind of exciting and a little heartbreaking all at the same time. Obviously I want to get it all done to see the finished product and start living with it completed, but part of me feels like I'm going to miss seeing the progression of such a large piece. It seems like I only started this project 5 minutes ago, and it's almost over now. 

I think that might be the difference between people who want tattoos, and people who are genuinely passionate about tattooing. I put myself in the second category as I love the process and the environment of tattooing as much as the finished tattoo. And that's what I'll miss when this is finally complete. I'd love nothing more than to be able to just hang around a studio all day talking tattoos and seeing work progress.

Anyway, enough of my wistfulness for tattooing, here's some progress pics. 

7th & 8th Session

Saturday 3rd May & Monday 12th May 2014
7 Hours

Please excuse the censorship, Instagram now employs the ass police
to ban photographs that are too sexy for the internet

Now that Diego has moved back to Argentina sessions are dictated by when he's in the country so when I heard he was back here for 10 days I snapped up 2 appointments knowing we could make some good progress in that time. These two sessions were all about finishing off the background.

The background shading around the top of my shoulders was very manageable in terms of pain and I happily sat through it without too much problem. The background up the sides which touches the ribs was a different story however. This was a very bad area to be tattooed! Luckily we used numbing cream on one side which made that half a walk in the park. The side without the numbing cream was a deeply unpleasant experience. Diego knew this was going to hurt so decided to do it as quick as possible rather than being too picky over how perfect it would look knowing that we can do some minor touch ups later. This was fine with me!

We also finished off the background around the inside leg. This is a bit of an awkward area as it sort of feels like someone is fishing around near your junk and stabbing you a bit too close to the fun sack for my liking! Thankfully Diego is a good guy and got out of the danger zone as soon as possible. I can't imagine either of us were having any fun down there.

Updated Foo Dog Photo's

I've finally got round to getting some better photo's of my Foo Dog sleeve so here they are. They were taken by my good friend Adam Lloyd, he's an awesome photographer and is heavily tattooed himself too. Check out his work!