Tattoo of carp and cherry blossoms

Carried out in the city of Madrid, between 2014 and 2017.

This is Camilo. We were classmates in MMA classes and grappling when we began to talk about what would become his first tattoo.

His initial idea was to make a small tattoo in the shoulder area in honor of his old dog Typhoona good labrador friend who had passed away. He is not the one in the pictures, this is Kobe, his new companion.

LOOKING FOR A WAY TO REPRESENT AN IDEA IN A TATTOO

To Camilo already liked large tattooseven though I didn't have one yet. But at the moment of paying tribute to Typhoon, he thought of doing something symbolic, he didn't want a portrait of the dog, he wanted something related to the word typhoon. He found a figure with spirals representing typhoons and thought of tattooing it.

I asked him if liked the aesthetics of Japanese tattoos. and he said yes. Then I suggested making a whirlpool of water and air to represent a typhoon, and commented that it would be nice to add cherry blossoms. to give it some color and highlight the wind and wave movements.

I was telling him about the cherry blossom symbolism and how the samurai once identified themselves with this small flower, which no sooner has it bloomed than it is about to give itself up to death, even before it has withered..

The great symbolic value of the sakura in Japan have their origin in Buddhist and Shinto thought, which in these flowers contemplate the transience of life, the impermanence of everything.

So Camilo was training very hard and competing in MMA and grappling. I think that, for its warrior spirit had more reasons to like the idea of adding the cherry blossoms to the swirl of wind and waves we would do to represent Typhoon.

PERFORMING THE TATTOO

There was no longer any doubt about how to represent the idea of the tattoo. Now it was time to decide on the size. It was Camilo's first tattoo, and decided for a tattoo from shoulder to elbow, in principle only the outer and upper arm..

It has been many years since then, it happened in 2014 and we have dedicated two sessions to do it.

Camilo was not long in coming back to finish the half sleeveThe inner part of the arm, that is to say, to complete the inner part of the arm, taking what was missing from the biceps and triceps.

This was in 2015 and we finished it in one short session.

After some time, Camilo wine to order a drawing for the free space of the same arm, and thus complete the sleeve.

He told me that liked the symbolism of the tents very much. and that would like to have one on the forearm.

A dragon or dragon-tent had also been considered, but in the end, the koi was the best option to complete her water tattoo and sakura.

The koi fish has a vast and diverse symbolism. For centuries it has stood out as one of the most iconic animals in Japanese culture and has equal vigor in horimono (traditional Japanese tattoo).

Among the many meanings attributed to the carp, one of the most important is that of being symbol of the resistance in the face of adversitybecause of his great strength and determination going up the river.

This was the concept with which Camilo identified himself. when he chose this theme for his forearm.

We started with his forearm in 2017 and in three sessions we finished what was missing to complete the sleeve.

COMPOSING A FULL SLEEVE JAPANESE TATTOO

In the case of Camilo's tattoo, as I told before, has been carried out in three parts, in three different years.

It should be noted that the same tattoo, if it had been designed from the beginning as a full sleeve, would have taken less time and would have been more economical. 

Thinking and to draw a composition that became a single piece in partsin different years, leaves its mark on the drawing and many times is noticeable in the final result.

When a Japanese full-arm tattoo is thought out and drawn from scratch, the composition looks more homogeneous and balanced.

This is because, having prepared a single drawing for the whole tattoothis would have been somewhat different, even if exactly the same elements were used.. I think I would have placed the koi and other elements in a slightly different way.

Initially, the line of the whole sleeve would be made, and then all the black and gray fillings would be inserted, and finally the colors. This is the most efficient and common method of tattooing with these dimensions and would cause all pigments to heal uniformly.

Finishing lines, grays and colors in three different periods, a small difference in tones is noticed. between the older and newer parts, even when care is taken to use exactly the same pigment mixtures and brands.

On the other hand, it should be remembered that it is quite common that people do not have the idea of the full sleeve tattoo from the beginning.. Rather, it is usually a desire that arises after starting to tattoo the arms.

As a tattoo artist, I seek to inform and guide the customer in order to help him choose the ideal way to represent your ideas in tattoos.

And being a Japanese tattoo, even if the client decides for a small piece, I will try to give him a nice tattoo with good possibilities to be enlarged in case he wants it in the future, which happens frequently.