Samurai Dragon
- Details
Matthew was looking to cover up some old tattoos he had on his chest and clavicle areas. They were pretty dark and a variety of different styles.
He brought in a couple of really bad ass images of Japanese Samurai masks with Asian Dragon illustrations that I thought might work well. After I did some of my own research into Samurai masks, I drew up a fairly complicated design based on that concept. But first we had to pump some white into those old tattoos to get them to turn a bit gray, so that the new black ink going over them would stand out more.
He says, "For a while now I have been wanting to do a cover up of some old tattoos-- an old sacred heart and some terrible tribal ones on my shoulders. To cover this, I knew it was going to take an artist who specializes in cover up work. I started Googling and found many artists out there who do cover ups, and judging the outcome of their work, it was evident not all artists are truly skilled in this type of tattoo work. I came across Victoria's website, and when I came across her personal thoughts, I knew she was the one. Her intro and her explanation alone took 20 minutes to read; Victoria knows what it takes to truly cover up old work. I took in a few pictures that I had, and we talked about the layout and the design."
Click on the Read more link to see the drawing, before, and very fresh outline photos.
Michelle had collected a lot of tattoos, but when she came in to see me for the first time, the ones on her back were unfinished and fighting in style. They represent her heritage (her mum is from New Zealand), hense the Tikis; there was an unfinished Hermit crab, plus there was also an unsuccessful cover up in the mix, that had created a scarring in the middle of her back. Her piece had good bones, it was eighty percent complete, but just needed some help to become completely realized.
Last year, Alisha came in to see me about covering up an old tattoo that she had on her right foot. The details are a little fuzzy now, but we settled on an evergreen branch with a pine cone, for the imagery. I did the drawings but life interfered, as it sometimes does, and she was not able to come in to have the work done until several months had gone by; then she contacted me earlier this year to say she was ready to complete the project. Luckily I keep all of my drawings, and I was delighted to hear from her. I think the final piece turned out very well and I'm happy that she is pleased with the outcome.
