Bad news: Horizakura broke his collarbone and is out of commision for the month! Let's all wish him a complete and speedy recovery. Of course this means I won't have any tattoo updates for a little while, I'd say at least 3-4 weeks.

The work pictured here was done on 10/5/2006. In this session we continued the shading on my right thigh, as you can see the rocks at the bottom edge of the design have been completely shaded. I wasn't quite sure how they would turn out but I think they look great.

Is it strange to say "we" continued the shading? Even though I have given Horizakura pretty much complete creative control, somehow I feel as if I played some part in the creation of this tattoo. Perhaps it's just wishful thinking. Others have made similar comments. Once someone asked me why I chose to undergo such extensive tattoo work, and I jokingly replied "Everyone's got a hobby" - to which she responded under her breath, "More like someone else's hobby.."
Another friend once asked if Shinji ever requested that I let his friends tattoo me, sort of like a "guest appearance" on my skin. That struck me as an absurd question. Why would he ask such a thing?I can only guess that he perceives me as having surrendered my skin completely to the whims of others; a living canvas who cared little what ended up painted on him.

Perhaps I do surrender something each time I go in for a session. But I still believe that because this act of surrender is what enables the creative process to begin and continue, it is in fact my small way of actively taking part in that process. As strange as it may sound, it takes a significant amount of energy and will to surrender in this way. I believe that energy and will is exactly where a tattoo derives much of it's ability to amaze.