The client wanted a biomechanical, clearly knew what he wanted and in this respect he showed me an image downloaded from the internet.
The tattoo he had found was very nice but copying the work of another tattoo artist is not how I work, so I suggested using the tattoo as inspiration to create an entirely new one. The client immediately understood my point of view and agreed with me.
I usually do most of my biomechanicals freehand but in this case the style was very different from mine, so I took the time to study the subject on paper. I liked the end result and the client was also satisfied.
The idea of putting a crocodile’s eye made the work seem more alive. To fill in some empty areas I decided to add, along with other elements, a human eye at the bottom of the tattoo. This, along with other additions, I drew freehand during the first sitting. The contrast between the human and animal eye inspired me the title of this piece.
The client wanted to finish the piece as soon as possible, therefore, in accordance with my schedule and his, we scheduled all the sittings that were needed in the shortest time possible, taking into account the time required for healing to avoid damaging previous work.
After 4 sittings and in just over a month the work was done.
The client and I had made arrangements to meet again after a couple of months to take some pictures of the healed tattoo and for any needed adjustments but I had to wait almost a year to see him again.
Upon his return he told me that he wanted to extend the piece up to his neck and find a way to hide the clouds around the old tattoo he had on his shoulder. A pleasant surprise. I got my markers and began sketching the drawing directly on his skin. Within 3 sittings, the work was completed. It’s a real pleasure to deal with clients so determined.
The last sitting was supposed to be just a work of integration, but both of us agreed that the old tattoo at the center of the shoulder was now completely out of place. So on the occasion of the 4th and last sitting I got my markers and traced the basic lines to rework that tattoo so that it would be consistent with the rest of the arm.
We are both very happy with the result.
Maybe I should revise the title of this piece but at the moment I have no inspiration 😀
Look at the images of the working process below.
