This young lady had someone start a watercolor reproduction on her upper chest. I was charged with finishing/fixing what was already there and completing the reproduction. She created the painting herself and I transcribed it to her skin. Thanks guys!
Small Sugar skull on the top of the foot/ankle area.
Here is my process for doing a cover-up tattoo. In this case we needed to cover a “tribal” lower back piece. I begin by freehand drawing the design on the skin to ensure proper placement and it allows me to modify the design as needed. Next everything is outlined and prepped for color and shading. A few hours later and no more tribal.
The glare on this photo fits the design (hehe). Cross with roses, wings and a crown. It’s always fun to do stonework (and black and grey in general really). We already have plans for the other side but we are going to fix a tattoo on his chest next.
Freehand heart-shaped lock on the foot.
I got to do several portraits (which I love doing) on Isais’ sleeve. He has some existing tattoos at the top of the arm but we covered a poorly done armband and added lots of freehand roses to go with portraits of some of his family around his forearm and the word ‘Family’ on his wrist. This is a healed photo of the part of the sleeve that we completed recently.
This was a rare experience for me, This young lady already had a beautiful outline of the tattoo on her arm and I just had to color it. The colors transition from warm red and pink roses on the bottom to the cool greens and blues of the top feathers. We ended up having to do two session in order to finish before she went back to Boston so part of the tattoo is (mostly) healed in these photos.
The last part we did was the tiny farm scene reflected in the mirror showing the blowing fields of her rural roots. (I even did a little barn and farmer on a tractor). Another fun tattoo, thanks for not making me do the outlines!
We did this tattoo in two sessions. This was another freehand design, drawn on with marker then tattooed. When doing work in sessions like this we usually do the design/ layout then do temporary lines to get the design on the skin. The temporary lines are done with a diluted ink that makes them barely visible but will last ling enough for the artist to finish the design at a later date and even color over the lines.
I know it wasn’t fun for her but she was a trooper, I really liked the way it flowed around the arm but it just happened to go right across the inner arm and elbow! Looks and moves well with her arm too. The skull, snail and small butterfly are on the shoulder, bicep and forearm respectively. The flower and butterfly with the crossbones are on the inner wrist. (the skull and bones butterfly was not done by me)
I figured I could post some of the projects I have been working on recently. I have quite a few back-pieces and sleeves and things that aren’t finished but I thought it might help give a little insight into the process involved with some of these big tattoos.
This was the first photo of a cover-up I started a few months ago. This is step one for most of the things I do, the marker drawing. It sometimes takes a little faith from the client but rest assured I have a plan and this thing is going to look pretty sweet when we get it done.
We have done several sessions since this photo was taken and I will update when we make more progress.
My reproduction of a vintage Spanish pin-up oil painting. I always enjoy doing painting reproductions and this was no exception. The client actually owns this painting so she brought me some great reference pictures for it. We did have to flip the design to make it fit on her left arm. (In case you didn’t know tattoos should always be facing forward when placed on the body. It’s bad luck to have them looking backwards)
