Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Here's a picture of the last of the touch-up work done a few weeks ago. You'll note the head of the large koi in the center of my back is now shaded a bit darker, making it consistent with the shading on the more recent koi. I also had the red ink in my backside redone (ouch).

This past Sunday I had an appointment and we began to outline my left side. While that work is too fresh for me to post pictures of, I do have something else - a picture of the tattoo in progress. Strange, over the years I've never managed to get a photograph which illustrates any of the preliminary arrangements; this is the first one. What you see here is a premlinary sketch drawn on your favorite human canvas and narrator. The detailed koi on the bottom was transfered onto me from a predrawn sketch in preparation for the tattoo. The rest of it was drawn on me freehand. First the outside boundaries of the tattoo shape are marked, using a line drawn down the center of my torso as a reference. Then, broad shapes are drawn using a light green marker. You may be able to make out crashing waves and rocks on my chest/torso, as well as the head and fin of a koi on my upper left arm. Next, the final detailed outline is drawn on with a black brush-tip marker. This is then tattooed over. I'll post pictures of the completed outline soon.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey man, love the blog and the work! Shinji is a amazing! Curious, how did you get an appointment to do this with him? What's next on the tattoo?

Mike Crash said...

I just went in for a consultation, and we took it from there. Although that was years ago, and it's a bit harder to fit appointments in his schedule now. Next. we finish the outline on the left side of my body..