Old Beginnings part 2

So second on the look back at older work list is this cover up.

The challenge with this piece was keeping it dark enough to cover the older 'tribal' tattoo but keep the chest as 'light' as possible. I had previously worked on a half sleeve on the left arm (also a cover up) and on talking to the customer it became apparent that we both wanted a sense of continuity from the arm to the chest.

After some thought we hit upon the idea of a wasp's nest, experience has taught me that a cover up needs lots of lines in addition to dark areas, the hexagonal structure was a great way of breaking up the old tattoo.

The 'paper' blowing away came to me as I have very vivid memories as a child finding a discarded nest and looking at it with some wonderment trying to grasp it's complexity. The image of burning paper as it floats around in the wind and the fragility of the nest strike me as very similar.

It dosen't really come across int he pictures but some areas of the 'paper pieces' have lettering on them. I forget what it was but I do remember the book had a special significance for the customer.

Next week maybe a Japanese style tattoo with some explanation about the imagery and it's meanings.

Cheers