schiena tatuata in bianco e nero in stile surreale, realistico. Due anime definite da un panneggio sono sospese nello spazio, tra di loro una clessidra, nella parte superiore un teschio e nella parte inferiore il viso di una donna attorno a loro delle saette ruotano come elettroni, il tutto sospeso nello spazio, l'immagine è incorniciata da esagoni 3D. Il tutto realizzato in modo magistrale dal miglior tatuatore italiano Jerry Magni. Como, Lecco, Milano, Bergamo, Brescia, Mantova, Firenze, Varese, Vicenza.

A unique idea.

This guy’s initial request was a man and a woman linked by a symbol representing time, it could have been an hourglass or a clock.

It seemed relatively simple, at least until he specified that the man and woman had to be souls.

How could I convey the idea of ​​two souls, considering all the technical limitations of a black and grey tattoo?

Ghosts, light beings and the like…nothing that crossed my mind seemed noteworthy or otherwise achievable on skin, until I began thinking about the most classic representation of ghosts (the ones with a blanket over their head), thus arriving at the idea of ​clothing outlining the shape of two human beings without, however, having the man and woman actually inside. An idea that immediately appealed to both of us.

As far as the symbol of time was concerned, we found that the hourglass was way more fascinating and original than a clock, but given its size, having only sand inside the hourglass seemed like a waste.

So I suggested including some elements inside, an idea borrowed from an old Renault advertisement.

After evaluating various options, a skull and a woman’s face were chosen, a sort of representation of the cycle of life.

All I had to do was proceed with the drawing.

disegno a matita rielaborato in digitale per tatuaggio su schiena in stile surreale.

The importance of the background

To create the drapery of the two figures, I took several photographs of my girlfriend and I with garments of various shapes and forms to have as much reference material as possible to create a realistic effect.

As for the hourglass, I couldn’t imagine or find one that was quite unique, until I saw one with two circular supports. The bars were not to my liking though so I replaced them with something a little more interesting.

The drawing seemed ready but I felt the lack of a background, I tried various solutions but none of them seemed functional to the project. I don’t exactly remember how I came up with the idea of ​​suspending these figures in space, but anyway, I came up with it and it worked perfectly.

The graphic pattern that acts as a frame is a solution I’ve been using in my work since 2015 and has become a sort of signature, even if in this case I borrowed the 3D effect from Jesse Rix.

Finally, I decided to add lightning bolts that rotate around the main subjects like the electrons of an atom, taking inspiration from another work of mine which is currently in progress (Afterlife), where the atom represents the immutability of the cosmos: everything changes but the atom retains its shape. Concept that perfectly matches the theme of this piece.

Limited resistance

Once the design was approved, we just had to start.

More time than expected had to be taken into account to create the space.

With a painting or digital drawing one can apply black then, using various techniques, “apply” the stars, but that technique can’t be used on skin, one needs to apply black leaving empty spaces to simulate the starry sky which is a long and laborious operation.

Unfortunately, from the very first session it was clear that the patient’s resistance wasn’t that great, so we proceeded with very short sessions.

The final result speaks for itself, a decidedly unique and evocative piece.


materials I used for the design.

Faber-Castell Grip Plus 1.4: https://amzn.to/3OJIPQ2
Faber Castell 138471 0.7: https://amzn.to/3nonOPi
Staedtler, silver 0,9 mm: https://amzn.to/3nnSznC
Tombow Mono Zero – Gomma di precisione: https://amzn.to/3u50XMw
Tombow Mono Zero – Gomma a penna: https://amzn.to/3nndCXb
QWORK Gomma da cancellare elettrica: https://amzn.to/3u7iOCp


Below are the processing phases and two time-lapse videos of the creation of the design and the tattoo, at the end of which you can see the tattoo one month after complete healing.