A sudden change.
The initial request was for a full sleeve dedicated to the Greek god Ares. Before the preliminary meeting, I took the time to read about this mythological figure on Wikipedia and with great surprise I learned that it is anything but positive, on the contrary, it’s definitely a negative figure. Quoting from the first lines: “He embodies the physical valor necessary for success in war but can also personify sheer brutality and bloodlust“.
During the preliminary meeting I asked the client why he wanted something so negative on him, realizing that he obviously didn’t have much information on this mythological figure. In addition, on his inner forearm he already had an old tattoo he had no intention of covering-up or removing and that could in no way be integrated harmoniously into a mythological themed sleeve. As if that weren’t enough, it was a very dark old tattoo on the shoulder that would have made everything even more difficult and disharmonious.
After the first evaluations, the client suddenly changed his mind and from the mythological figure he moved on to a totally different theme: a space landscape.
At this point all that remained was to look for beautiful images to manipulate and create something unique.
Since the preliminary meeting took place via video-conference, evaluating images and ideas would have been quite difficult and would have taken a long time. Therefore we said goodbye agreeing to exchange interesting images that could meet both our tastes.
Quick and easy offline choice
After exchanging images and providing me with his arm measurements, I selected the images I preferred and after a little manipulation and assembly I created three or four alternatives, also taking into consideration the tattoo to be covered. After that we chose the most suitable one that we both liked.
All that remained was to schedule the sessions and transfer the project to skin.
It was a relatively simple project, being an almost abstract landscape it didn’t require much effort, it was a matter of reproducing lights and shades in the best possible way without the precision required by a drawing with architectural or anatomical elements.
In four short sessions I was able to finish the work and make the old tattoo on the shoulder completely disappear.
A somewhat unusual but definitely fascinating work.
Below are the processing steps and the picture and video of the healed tattoo one month after the last session.
