This client contacted me in 2014 asking for a black and grey biomechanical tattoo on his right arm.
He was particularly impressed with my “Beauty and the Beast” piece so it was clear, as he later specified, that he was interested in something more organic rather than mechanical.
Beauty and the Beast, despite the passage of time and the pictures not being very high quality, continues to be one of my personal favourites (basically one simply has to ask me for a biomechanical or bioorganic to make me happy 😀 ), yet a little out of the ordinary compared to my usual biomechanicals that may be considered a little old school, with many mechanical parts and tubes, very 90s; but, then again, I come from that historical period 😀
I was confident, however, that I could meet his expectations and, as I almost always do for my biomechanicals, I drew the design directly on his skin. A black and grey work that required relatively little time, thanks to the tenacity of this client who underwent three full days of ink, although the sittings were one month apart.
A beautiful work that could have been even better if only he had listened to my advice.
I had in fact suggested to add some colour in the inner area of the design to enhance the sense of depth and “lighten up” the work, but he insisted on wanting the deeper areas to be black.
It was sad to hear a few months later: “You were right. I regret not having added some colour”. It’s the worst possible thing to say to a tattoo artist or at least to someone who works with passion and dedication.
A tattoo is not something that can be corrected, at least not always, so being right doesn’t change a thing because one can’t take any action to fix it.
In fact, it increases the sense of frustration for something that you know could have been better.
Luckily, I was able to hear this sentence because he returned for a new biomechanical on his left arm: a series of gashes with mechanical elements inside. Gashes that had to imitate a sort of claw injury across the arm.
As much as I liked the idea, I found that the space made available was too little and made it appear a little poor and messy.
But, unless I’m sure that the final result is going to be something I would be ashamed of, I always try not to force my ideas onto customers but I rather try, perhaps wrongly, to mediate between what I think is the best possible implementation of their ideas/suggestions.
The end result was a series of gashes that actually looked like two similar but distinct tattoos, one on the arm and one on the inner forearm.
“Two” good tattoos, but that didn’t look part of a whole like I wanted.
I had to wait two more years before I could see him again and hear, for the second time, the much dreaded and fateful words: “You were right” -_-
But luckily this time there was room for maneuver in order to correct it.
So, in addition to a new project on his chest that would connect the black and grey sleeve on his right arm to the colour piece on his left arm, creating a sort of union between the black and grey organic elements and the coloured mechanical elements, we added other gashes on his left arm making it fuller, more dynamic and tidy. This also gave me a chance to touch up and liven up the “old” gashes that had been done in a couple of sessions without being able to evaluate the need for any adjustments once healed.
The end result is definitely to my liking, too bad that the pictures and/or video don’t do it justice like in real life due to its placement.
Now I just have to confidently wait for the next project since he told me that his aim is to cover himself in biomechs.
I can’t wait 🙂
See pictures of the working process below.
