I’ve been having my left arm, between the shoulder and elbow, tattooed for a few years now, and this past summer I really concentrated on getting the main part of it, what I like to call “Phase 1,” knocked out.
One reason it’s taken so long is because I let it go for a while once all the black line and shading work (three sessions) was done. The other reason is that the artist who’s been doing the piece, Henry Lewis of Skull and Sword Tattoo, is an in-demand tattooer, and it’s tough to get an appointment with any immediacy, so when I did decide to dig back in and finish the piece, I had to get into his queue for a few months before I could get back under the needle. From that point, we put in another three sessions within the last three months to complete Phase 1: the main character with the immediate background (what you see here).
As I see it — and as proven by the finished product, I think — a waiting list is proof positive of Henry’s skills, and I don’t mind waiting a little longer to make sure that something that’s inked in to me for the rest of my life is of the utmost quality. And it is. Henry is a deeply respected player in the tattoo game — as are the other artists at Skull and Sword: Grime, Yutara and Norm — and I’d gladly wait just about any length of time for an appointment.
The piece is a rendition of the Buddhist deity Mahakala. You can read about it here and here. I’m not particularly interested in explaining why I chose Mahakala or what that iconography means to me personally — because it’s not really any of your business — but it suffices to say that I’m extremely happy with the work that Henry’s done so far, and I’m looking forward to Phase 2: the inside of the arm, the deep background.