Today was a day for red and grey tattoos - using sumi (charcoal) grey Japanese ink which settles down over time to become a beautiful silvery grey...
First up was a phoenix design - running from waist down to thigh. The softer plumage and the tail feathers are monchrome - the wings and body deep red.
Then came a Japanese style koi design - a pale speckled fish against a traditional looking dark background of water/wind - this time the red was in the form of mottled red maple (momiji) leaves overhanging and floating on the water.
As much as I love working in colour, I'll never get tired of working in monochrome too - I especially love the way these tattoos age and actually improve with time...
