Cherry Blossom Geisha with Sword

This tattoo started with a flurry of cherry blossom on the clients shoulder as a coverup for a tiny first tattoo.
The cherry blossom turned out so pretty we've gone on to add the geisha, which I just finished this morning,and next sitting we're starting on the inside of the arm to make it a half sleeve.

The design for that includes an owl, a rose and a horseshoe - not what you'd generally expect to find with a geisha but that's half the fun and the design looks great (though I do say so myself...).

From Art Nouveau to Zombie Ice Cream

Yesterday was a geisha day - getting close to finishing one of my 'trademark' geisha tattoos in my equally trademark colours of pink and teal. That one should be finished at the next sitting so we've arranged to leave time to take some decent photos at that point (which should be in about 3 weeks).

I also talked to the lovely Sarah from Electric Cabaret (an alternative clothes store up the road from me) about designing her a zombie ice cream tattoo (with added bat sweets, naturally). Started the beautiful art nouveau lady above this morning - yet another cracking amount of outlines!

Last but by no means least found the artwork for one of my old business cards I thought I'd show you - come to think of it should really put some of the new ones up too...

Off to draw - more later.

Japanese Dragon Lines

Started this dragon on Richie this morning - the eventual plan is for full-colour - blue dragon, red 'trimmings'....
It's only his second tattoo, but he sat like a star - so I got pretty much all the lines on in one, which is great going cos this critter fills a sheet of A3!
Was supposed to be doing final tidy-ups on a floral sleeve this afternoon but half the guys work are down with the 'flu right now so that's another one for another day.

What that means is a LARGE mocha coffee before some serious drawing then a yoga class to
unfold from tattooing hunchback to relatively upright...

Saturday evening and a good chunk of Sunday were spent making these babies. Looks more like a cake decorating class than painting/ sculpting. But it's all part of a cunning plan. Well two, in fact.

Stopped painting things pink in the nick of time to get ready for Donna and Johns Wedding.

Meant a late night and have two big tattoos am working on today so it was a sober one!

Have been at it again. Was on the way to my studio, innocently seeking out pink gift wrap to make origami fans (for a website photoshoot,as it happens). Found yet more pink and geisha-covered stationery. Since 'everything more pink and sakura-covered than everything else' is my number one design rule - it just had to be done. I'll consider them inspirational materials.

This lovely fishy design is part of the plan for 2 sleeves. Sleeve number one has five koi swimming upstream, going from full colour at the bottom, to the sumi grey you see pictured at the top. In keeping with the Japanese story, once the koi are complete, there will be a dragon on the other arm. I've just started this tattoo, today was sitting number two - so expect some pictures of the actual sleeve materialising in the not too far distant future.

I was supposed to be tattooing again this afternoon, adding flowers to an existing foot tattoo - but my customer has really bad flu symptoms (scream 'swine flu' everyone!) - so we both agreed it was better all round if she didn't come in.

Going to get on with chipping away at my enormous drawing list for a bit, then this evening either start on the aforementioned origami fans, or continue painting some more of the modelling clay blossom I'm making to decorate the frame of one of my geisha paintings. A lot more on those babies soon too...

Sakura Stationery

En route to the studio this morning I picked up a whole load of stationery decorated with cherry blossom designs... ...the blurb on the back of the folders says its a tribute to the Japanese Hanami (cherry blossom viewing).
One of the advantages of having a girly tattoo studio which specialises in Japanese style floral designs is that I get to buy all this stuff and call it work...
One of the disadvantages is I still have to do the accounts to fill the folders...

Dragging my ass into the modern age...

Since I'm totally new to this blogging carry-on, there will be a lot of experimenting going on... learning how to upload images and wotnot - so bear with me!
As someone who generally hates having her photograph taken, it made sense for my first ever post to include one of the few pics of me I really do like - my Dad took this one of me and Paul in the wedding car he hired for us about 10 minutes after we just got hitched. Yey!