First Sitting - Water Sleeve

Today marks the first sitting for my sleeve.  After three hours, with minimal breaks, we have a pretty fabulous start if I do say so myself!  I can not wait until it is completely colored in.

Here is a picture of the outline Mark drew up for me:

Outline/Sketch

I fell in love with it the moment I saw it.  It was just what I was wanting and luckily when he placed the stencil on my arm, it fit perfect.  The stencil was actually a little small for my arm and we ended up having a whole section we will need to fill in of empty space.  (My arm was fatter than he anticipated!)

Empty space...

Here are some pictures of the finished outline.  I will write about the actual process shortly...

Here are some detailed shots:

Butterfly Koi number one

Butterfly Koi number two

Peony one

Peony one with Peony bud

Peony two

Peony two

Mark and I decided that we would go for the full sleeve, instead of the 3/4 sleeve he had mentioned at our initial consultation.  He is confident we will be able to work my existing pieces into the sleeve without it being awkward.

Overall, the actual process of the tattooing was not nearly as bad as I had expected.  I think only sitting for three hours was the key.  I think if I had sat for four or even five hours it would have been too much.  We covered a lot of space in the three hours, all things considered.  Mark is wonderfully fast and has a fairly light hand which definitely helped!

Some of the areas that hurt the most were the areas I least expected.  I anticipated the inside of my arm would hurt, and my elbow crease.

Elbow crease

The top of my shoulder hurt more than I anticipated, as well as the small section that went over my wrist bone:

Top of shoulder

Wrist

The section that did not hurt nearly as bad was my elbow:

Elbow waves

Now I have to wait for the healing to begin.  I am anticipating some swelling and bruising, but so far it is not that bad.  I think tomorrow will be the worse day as far as the "aftermath".  So keep an eye out for updates.  I will be posting info about tattoo aftercare, updated pictures as my work heals, and more information about upcoming pieces.  Night all!

Water sleeve

My first piece on my tattoo journey will be what I have been calling my "water sleeve".  I decided that I wanted to use the traditional style of Irezumi, but also incorporate some personal elements.  My water sleeve is also serving as a memorial tattoo.

I had a very unexpected miscarriage in July of 2010, and I have reason to believe I was carrying twins.  It was a pretty devastating experience and I found solace in a very interesting place.  At the time I was working at a pet store that had pretty well stocked aquatic department.  When I returned to work, I found myself calmed by watching the butterfly koi we had there. (I used to get anxiety attacks pretty easily in the weeks after the miscarriage.)  Because of their calming affect and their beauty I decided to incorporate butterfly koi into my water sleeve and let them serve as a memorial to the events in July.

Butterfly or longfin koi

Koi are traditionally used in Japanese Tattoo/Irezumi because they represent perseverance in adversity and the ability to overcome obstacles.  There is a Japanese legend stating that if a koi was able to swim up the Yellow River to a point called The Dragon Gate, the koi would then be transformed into a dragon.  This is one of the reasons koi are typically tattooed swimming up the body versus down.

Another aspect of my water sleeve will be the incorporation of peonies.  They are my absolute favorite flower and I had a bouquet of them for my wedding.

My bouquet of peonies.

Traditionally the peony represents wealth, prosperity, and good fortune in both Japan and China.  In tattoo, it is usually paired with lions, to help balance the ferocity of the lion with its delicate nature.  In Japanese tattoo specifically, it represents a "devil-may-care" attitude towards life.  It is also a reminder of our fleeting and fragile existence.  I chose the peony for my tattoo because of the personal link it has in my life and also its delicate timeless beauty.

I am also incorporating the traditional wave depicted in Irezumi, but I have found some non-traditional sources for my ideas.  I have done a ton of research and found various pieces of old artwork to use as inspiration.  I think this is one of the reasons my artist Mark is so excited to work on my sleeve.  Instead of using other tattoos as reference, a lot of my material is actual art work.  Here are a couple of the "wave" pieces I love.

I will be posting more as the tattooing day approaches.  I can hardly wait!