Dragon Sleeve!

My awesome client, Kurt, brought in a bunch of reference images of dragon sleeves with limited colour pallets. He loved the strength of a mostly Black, grey, red colour tattoo. I think it gets a slightly more traditional Japanese look by having green in the leaves of the cherry blossoms and yellow in the pollen of the blossoms, plus a bit of brown in the dragon horns and dorsal scales.

The process of getting a sleeve

This tiger sleeve for Ben, who has been travelling up from Tauranga, is one of my favourite tattoos of the year so far.

It took a total of 5 sessions each between 5.5-6 hours so I think a total of around 29 hours.

Ben came in pretty much every two weeks. Started in Feb, Finished in May.

The first session is drawing the design on the arm, and lining it up,

The second and third session are both mostly taken up doing the black and grey shading.

Session 4 and five is when everything comes to life with colour.

Starting a Tiger Sleeve with Bamboo and Sakura

Curtis is an awesome return client of mine who I really enjoy working with. Good banter every time he comes in! He has Carrribean/English roots and so has a darker skin tone which I love working with. We quite often get people enquiring about if Japanese snd western traditional style tattoos work in darker complexions, and I think the answer is definitely yes. Black and grey works super well, but there is definitely room for colour too, and I like the challenge of making an effective colour tattoo in any skin tone. Often I’ll go for a design that is bold and contrasting, and limit the colour pallet. A tattoo will of course look different in every different tone of skin, and there will be different levels of tone and brightness, but in my opinion a real tattoo should work for every body. A lot of modern styles won’t hold up in darker skin tones, and the artists who tattoo like this have to turn people away if their style won’t work on their skin. Honestly if I had to turn people away based on that I would hate it.

Now that we have finished his sleeve/ chest plate, we have lined up a leg sleeve with a Tiger, rocks, cloud, bamboo, and sakura.I lined up the sleeve and did some background today, and will be adding colour to the Tiger, and floral elements at the end.

Just completed this octopus sleeve/chest plate for Daine

Daine travelled down from Puhoi to get this Octopus/water/lightining three quarter sleeve chest plate. The colours in this photo have just been touched up a bit, so I’m looking forward to getting a fully healed shot, which will help with being able to see the detail and contrast in the octopus.

One shot Hannya Tattoo for Nigel's first tat!

Nigel wants a sleeve, but has never had a tattoo and lives a couple of hours out of Auckland, so he wanted to start with one section of the sleeve. We know we will be including Sakura in the overall sleeve so we added a few sakura to complement the stand alone Hannya for now.

Nz Native bird and flora Tattoo

James came up all the way from Christchurch over 5 sessions to get this half sleeve chestplate done. He wanted Fantails and pohutkawa done in a Japanese style. I love doing jobs like this as they are a unique way to represent our part of the world, but have all the elements of a Japanese Tattoo that help make the tattoo be built to last and have stylistic longevity.

The New Zealand fantail, also known as Piwakawaka in Maori, has a cool tie-in with Maori myths, especially with the underworld, Rarohenga, where Ta Moko tattoos are said to have originated.

According to Maori legends, the Piwakawaka acts as a messenger, delivering news of death from the gods to people. Its quirky behavior and big eyes are because Maui, the legendary demigod, squeezed it tight for not spilling the beans about Mahuika, the fire deity and Maui's ancestor.

This myth adds a neat layer to how Maori see the Piwakawaka, as a bridge between the divine and mortal realms in their stories.

Fu Dog and peony sleeve

I've just completed a full sleeve and chest plate tattoo featuring Foo Dogs, rocks, and peonies. In Buddhism, Foo Dogs are revered as the "lion of Buddha," while in Japan they're known as "Komainu.", or “Karashishi” Traditionally, they stand guard at the entrances of Buddhist temples, shrines, and palaces.

In Chinese folklore, Foo Dogs are believed to possess the ability to repel evil spirits and safeguard against misfortune. They're also associated with bringing good luck and prosperity, often placed at the entrances of homes and businesses for protection.

These majestic creatures symbolize protection and fortune, serving as a constant reminder of our inherent safeguarding and the potential for prosperity in our lives. Paired with peonies, according to Japanese tradition, the combination creates karashishi-botan, a motif commonly depicted in Japanese tattoo art, as well as in engravings and paintings across various Asian countries and historical periods.

Starting huge dragon back!

Nothing beats a strong, simple idea for a for back piece, Andrew came in and asked for his whole back to be done with just Dragon, Sakura, and cloud. I have always wanted to do a full dragon back with the face of the dragon looking forward for extra impact, and I was stoked he was keen on the idea! Can’t wait to continue working on this one!

First session, completed the main parts of the dragon body

Second session, adding background clouds, Sakura, and scales to the dragon

Peony and water sleeve finished recently

Traditional Japanese sleeve tattoo finished recently by Tomtom