Tuesday, September 24, 2013

PALOMA'S ANKH

So, yesterday it was my son Jeremie getting tattooed,
today it was his Mom, Paloma.

She has wanted an Ankh symbol to go around the 
Caduceus symbol tattoo she already has on her forearm
for years now. She wanted it to be black & white,  as 
sort of a backdrop to the existing colour tattoo.


This is the one she already has, the Caduceus symbol,
that she had done 6 years ago.



So I printed out a copy of a photo of her forearm
and did a drawing of what I thought it might look like.

Paloma liked it.....alot!


I then drew it onto her with a grey marker.
This is NOT a tattoo yet, just my rough under-drawing.


Her the first grey lines are going in. The final look is soft and subdued,
so I am using no real dark blacks at all, mostly soft grey tones.


Here it is with all the preliminary lines and darkest shadows done.



Here it is with all the preliminary lines and darkest shadows done.



And now here it is after the first shading pass.



And here it is finally after the final shading pass, 
although I am planning to add white and fix a
couple of lines tomorrow.


Here it is finally after the final shading pass



Here it is finally after the final shading pass




Monday, September 23, 2013

My Son Jeremie's SoundWave Backpiece


My son Jeremie said he wanted me to do a tattoo for him years ago...
And I finally got the opportunity just the other day.

Jeremie wanted something for his back
that would incorporate a sound wave design from 
a sound editing software interface, blending in with 
my own unique splash designs.




So I started messing around with this idea....


And as I cleaned it up Jeremie said he really liked it.



So I reworked it and made the sound wave look 
more like the actual thing, whereas in the first one I had 
stylized it quite a bit. Then I traced it onto a stencil...



And put it on Jer's back..



Soon the black ink lines were going in sweetly...





After day one, and about 5 hours, we had all the black and grey
line and shading work done...





And by the end of day two and another 6 hours, we had the finished product



After the whole process was said and done
it looked pretty close to the original! 




Here is the comparison between the photoshopped version I initially
put together to show what Jeremie what it would look like.

I made some conscious decisions to change/add certain things
her and there, but I am happy with how much it got to the look 
of the original drawing...




Jermie and I had an incredible time the last few days, 
chilling out and spending some seriously quality time together.


Jeremie's new backpiece goes very well colour-wise 
and stylistically with both of his shoulder tattoos.





Friday, September 6, 2013

Elemental Tattoos Emerging....



tentative signage...


...and more tentative signage. Ought to come in handy for something. 
Great freestyle lettering practice...!


I often forget this tattoo on my right arm is here, 
and seeing this photo for the first time was sweet. 
I rarely see my tattoo this clearly from certain angles.


No I wasn't tired it's just one of those photos,
timing is everything...


Close-up of Nicole's rose cover-up...




Elemental Magic Tattoos Re-Emerging~!

Here are a few photos of my most recent and not so recent works as well. Some are pieces that I may have posted earlier versions of long ago, so in some cases it is a long overdue final version of an earlier piece.






Bruce's left shoulder is a cover up of a fairly faded and 
very old earlier tattoo, similar to his right shoulder clover-up. Subtle.
Before and after colour.....





The pure black and grey was very sweet. Black went in very nicely.





Nicole's Rose cover up came out so-o-o sweetly!



Working on Nicole's gorgeous roses, on location in Seyward, B.C.





Crystal's backpiece 'tree of life...'




Crystal's backpiece 'tree of life...' detail




checking out her new back.....



Initial line work on Bruce's left shoulder 'cover-up'



Drawing, old tattoo, and first line work on Bruce's right shoulder 'cover-up'




Initial line work on Bruce's right shoulder 'cover-up'



Final black and grey on Bruce's right shoulder 
cover up, before any colour, Rocky Mountain Road Glide
(the blueish tint in the center area is the old faded tattoo being covered up)



Final glorious full colour on Bruce's Rocky Mountain Road Glide



Further progress on Crystals tree...



Earlier work in progress on Crystal's tree...



Nicole's roses, before I added the final darker red and blue.





The finishing touches on Jesse's Reaper

This was how Jesse's Reaper back piece tattoo looked when I was finished the last session.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Riley's Traditional Clay Smith Cams Tattoo....


 Traditional 'Clay Smith Cams' 
Woodpeckk Tattoo for my friend Riley,
right shoulder.