A bike messenger for many years, Chris spent one summer crossing the US on his bike-- without a map. A couple of years later, he did the same thing in Europe. He had some wonderfully serendipitous experiences and wanted a set of tattoos to commemorate his journeys. His idea was to have two panels, one on each of his outer thighs (as his legs were what powered him through) consisting of maps, based on old pirate and treasure maps. This is the result of our first session-- his first tattoo. (See the Read More button below.) He sat for three hours! We did not get all of the outline done (see the purple parts on the second shot, which are the stencil) but will put the missing elements in next. It will probably take us three or four more sessions to complete the whole tattoo.
Last year Shane came in with copies of some lovely lithographs by Alphonse Mucha that she wanted tatooed on her back, one on each side of a piece that was already tattooed in the middle of her back. (See the Read More button below.) We were able to get the outlining on both pieces done and are now starting to fill in the gray shading and next session, the color. I was really excited to recreate such amazing works of art as tattoos (see the drawings) and am super glad to work on them again.
Jim is a mountaineer who recently returned from Japan where he climbed Mt. Fuji; he wanted a tattoo that would commemorate that journey for him. Here are some shots of the first tattoo we are doing (see below.) This section needs a couple more sessions to complete. Eventually it will join up to another section that will be on his left upper arm.
Adam came to see me in January with some previous work that he wanted covered up. (See "before" shot below.) He wanted something tribal that would not only cover up the blotchy old tattoo on his chest and upper back but that would also unite the armband somehow. The design I came up with (see "in progress" shot below) conforms to the cover up formula: the new tat must be larger, darker, full of detail and use positioning to take the eye away from the old work. We were not quite finished when I took these last photos; the work on his chest and back needed another session to complete.
Meg came in to see me earlier this year for a wristband created by two intertwining snakes, one representing herself, the other her fiance. This time her tattoo concept is an armband and eventual full sleeve connecting the two pieces. The way we work together is: she tells me her ideas, I draw them up, she OK's them and then we ink. Click on the Read more link for pix of the finished tat.
Mark and Stephanie are a couple from NYC who wanted to get tattooed while on vacation out here in Portland. Stephanie wanted some lettering-- a phrase with personal significance written in her own handwritting. She wanted it someplace on her body where it would be sort of hidden but that she could see some of it, so the upper inner arm placement is perfect. Mark wanted a representation of the carniverous plant Drosera Capensis growing up from his inner wrist and curving around his forearm. He's a filmmaker and one of his favorite films features the plant. It also grows very well in Portland and you can see it in many gardens around the city. Click on the "Read more" link for photos.
Dan had an old tattoo of the Playboy bunny symbol on his outer right calf that he wanted to have covered up with some kind of celtic design to reflect his heritage. He sent me four designs that he'd found and I chose a couple that I thought would work well enough for a cover up tattoo. The formula that we use for coverups is: the new design should contain lots of detail and be darker and bigger than the old tat. We also use position and redirection on the body to help fool the eye. See below for the before and after shots-- click on the "Read more" link.
Sara wanted a tattoo composed of flowers that represent the birth months of her family: hers is a rose, her boyfriend's is a lily and her children's are cosmo, calendula and daffodil. She had a small sunflower tattoo right above her right ankle bone and she wanted her new tattoo to be somewhere above it. See below for the drawings and the results of our first session (it will probably take three to complete.)
When he was 30 years old, Kevin discovered he had Lou Gehrig's disease. Now that he's 34 he wanted a tattoo that commemorated his family-- his wife, himself and their young son. You can see from the pictures included below that his tattoo is a tree running from the inside of his forearm to the wrist, circling around to the front. From the drawing you can see what Kevin wanted included in the tat: in the top branches are three birds and his wife and son's initials. In the middle branches a woman and man's silhouette face each other. The roots run over basalt and wrap around to make a fisherman's knot on the top of his wrist. We have completed the outline and our next session will fill in and finish the piece.
Shelly is a midwife studying to be a nurse, who spent some time a few years ago in Senegal, Africa helping women with their health care needs. While she was there she fell in love with the people and the landscape, especially the Baobab trees. Now that she's back in the States she wanted a tattoo that would commemorate her time in Africa, with the baobab tree as a central element but incorporating a setting sun and the North Star. This is the design/drawing that we came up with (see below) and here is a shot of the tattoo as it looked after I tatooed the outline and filled in the tree (click on the "Read more" script below.) Shelly decided that she didn't want to add any color right away, if at all, so I put some gray shading in the backgound to make the sun pop. It will lighten up considerably after it's healed down. To see the finished piece, go to my Tattoo Gallery and look under "Graywork/Lettering" in the Custom Designs section.