Not all the time. Finger waves are an essential part of a Japanese water tattoo. Different people draw them differently. I prefer chunkier finger waves myself. As far as Japanese designs go I think bigger and more bold designs are better. A proper traditional design can be seen clearly from a distance. I’m still learning the ins and outs of proper…[Read more]

Finally finished koi.

With a light purple mask you’d want to go with contrasting colors like yellows and oranges.

I’ll probably put a “mom” heart on my leg. I don’t know if I should post pictures for a while. The quality most likely won’t be as great as I want. I don’t want to hurt my reputation before I have one. If it turns out halfway decent I might post it. I’ll also be tattooing some friends with simple small designs for a while. I drew up a dead…[Read more]

I’m really impressed with a lot of your work. I especially like the figure drawings, the letter A, and the line drawings of the flowers. Try playing with line weight. Lines can make or break a drawing and thinner and thicker lines create depth and pull the viewer’s eye where you want it. Great work though.

My opinion would be to keep with the black and grey. I think when you add a touch of color, large tattoos tend to look unfinished and less cohesive. It looks awesome by the way.

I say go with full color. You can have the best of both worlds. Plus that chrysanthemum would look great in full color in front of a grey and black background. What color would you do the hannya? They range from light yellow/gold to red and everything in between. Red is the most malicious and gold the most benign. I like the design alot. If you…[Read more]

Shige is amazing. I love how he creates depth. It’s almost like he creates an underpainting with gray wash and colors over the top. Gogue’s style though not traditional Japanese is my favorite. He may be the most painterly tattooist out there. Can’t wait to see what you and your artist come up with.

Hard to twist my arm around for the shot! Here you are.

Sorry about the crappy iPhone pictures but here’s my sleeve just completed three weeks ago by Joel Menter at Hyperion Tattoo in Buffalo, New York. Coincidentally this is also where I gained my apprenticeship!

Thanks for the kind words. I hope some day I can be able to do the same thing on skin. I’ve just been given the ok from my mentor to start tattooing fake skin and let me tell you – it is way different and alot harder. If anyone wants to see my teachers’ work you can go to http://www.hyperiontattoo.com. Check them out.

Yeah. I already knew I screwed that one up.

goldengraemes;81607 wrote:
Photos if possible?

Sorry about the bad iphone pictures through the mirror

Just got this one yesterday- my mentor had a cancellation and told me I was going to get tattooed. Benefit of an apprenticeship. I totally wasn’t ready and turned into a wussy towards the end so the white highlights still need to be done.

More stuff-

My Little Ponies of the Apocalypse

Not finished yet, you get the idea though.

You can also try Steven or Joel at Hyperion Tattoo in Buffalo. Both very solid artists. Check them out at hyperiontattoo.com. Tom Sherman is great too. He’s done work on Steven and Joel if that says anything.

You can find some of them in the flash/designs section of the forums.

I just had my sleeve finished. With traditional Japanese tattoos there are rules. I have a snake, peonies, a toad, a hannya, and water. The elements of my tattoo are all related to the summer season and water. I didn’t get cherry blossoms because when they bloom the snake would still be hibernating. Certain animals go with certain flowers in…[Read more]