Blessings Going out to all my Homies

This Virgin of Guadalupe B&G lower leg piece has taken 9 hours so far- there is an hour or so worth of shading + white highlights to go. Ya Catholic boy did well to hang in there that
last 4 hour session on Tuesday, just could not do the extra hour or so that was needed to make
this tattoo finito...no shame in that mang.

My artistic aim was to have the Virgin look like a white marble statue and to stand out as much as possible as she is the focus of the piece. The "Blessings" script plus the three stone roses (at the bottom) helped make things pop with their different tones and added more perspective. I like how the different elements have come together to make this religious icon a somewhat unique tattoo.

Only rotaries were used for this piece- Stealth, Bishop and Blitz machines.

BANG!

This pop art style pistol tatt was done in just over 2 hours. The client wanted the piece on his right inner bicep so if he came across the boss in town he could fold up his arms and keep his new gangsta tatt on the down low.  The gun barrel is alot straighter than it looks in the pic, ya boy Josh is just making out that he be in tha gym lol

As I really dig Andy Worhol's art this was a fun piece to ink- the fat black outline gives the tatt a rubber stamp/sticker look and deep red got packed into the flames so they popped out from the gunmetal grey.

The three tattoo machines that starred in the making of this tattoo were: Paolini liner, Juan Puente Liner & a Dragonfly rotary to finish up with the shading.

(Don't Fear) The Reaper

UPDATE 9/4/12: This reaper half sleeve was finito after today's 90 minute session. Total time from start to finish was around four and a half hours. The tedted king of the dead "Godfather" shader is one of my favourites - used it to tighten things up and blend the greywash.
A Dragonfly rotary was utilised for the soft "out of focus" effect in the background.

Only a 2-3 hour session is left to go on this Black and Grey Grim Reaper piece. I think its looking pretty cool so far and the client is stoked so its all good.
Next session I need to finish off the shading with a couple more shades of grey on the flames etc..and a darker background is a must in order  to give depth and add more perspective to the tatt.
This work was inked with a variety of machines - mainly my trusty Lauro Paolini + Juan Puente liners. The shaders I used were both rotaries ( Blitz and Dragonfly ).

Eye of the Tiger

Oriental back piece (work in progress).

This photo was taken after the first session. Tassie chicks- they are tough as - she never complained one time and I even had to suggest to her once or twice that a break would be a good idea.
the tiger/snake back job has got fair bit to go until completion, I'm really looking forward getting started on the shading next session. All of the linework on this B&G piece was laid down with rotaries (Stealth & Blitz machines).

El Angel de la Muerte

Client wanted an Angel of Death tattoo on his inner left forearm. He chose some steve soto religious flash that I then pimped up with Italiano chiaroscuro techniques to best emphasize the light and shadows of the design (as usual).
The outline was laid in using a 9RS with a Juan Puente liner running at 7.0, I then switched to the Stealth rotary for the fine detail (teeth, fingers etc..) running at 6.0 with a 3RL. I then pulled out the trusty Paolini Iban shader to pack in the black areas with kuro sumi ink and a 5RS @ 7.0. After the Iban I used a custom made Dan Hill cutback soft shader for the light shading areas in the skull using a very light grey wash with a 3RS @ 2.5. To finish the piece the Iban shader was fitted with a 5 mag to tighten up any loose areas with a mix of white and grey ink (1 drop Starbrite white + 10 drops kuro sumi black). This makes sure the tatt has no patchy areas and the same overall composition.
Goth industrial was pumping out of the Monster Beats dock during the making of this tattoo...definately not my bag but imho the tunes helped give the piece a "dark" edge for sure.

On Fiyah!

This client wanted three flaming skulls ( aka Ghost Rider style) on his inner bicep.
He originally wanted chains going through the skulls/flames but I managed to convince him that
the flames would be enough- but I could freehand the chains in if he really wanted them once the stecil was applied. Fortunately he really liked the design as it turned out so I started slinging the ink.
Outline was applied using a Paolini Shape liner running @ 6.0 with a 7RS. Smaller linework was completed with the Stealth Rotary @ 5.5 with a 3RL and the shading was done with the Paolini Iban shader running at 5.0-5.5 using a 7 mag.
I decided that the teeth would look  "mo' daemon" if they were sharper fangs so I freehanded them in as
I was tattooing. Client prefered the fangs over the original teeth by far thus proving its always best to follow your instincts whilst tattooing....never stop thinking about the design and ways you can improve on it.

Pray For Us

Client wanted skeletal hands in prayer on his upper arm. I dug up some oldskool original early nineties  flash and he chose a Corey Miller (L.A Ink) sheet from amongst them (nice choice!)
I pimped up the flash using chiaroscuro techniques which added alot more relief and composition to the design.
After I applied the stencil I got the thumbs up so I set to work using a Davan Infinitii Rotary running at 7.3 with a 7RL to nail the outline. The smaller, more intricate, linework was completed with a Stealth Rotary equipped with a 3RL running @ 5.0.
All shading was done using four different tones of grey wash with a tedted King of the Dead Godfather shader running @ 3.5- 4.0.
The client could not believe how fast this piece healed up compared to his other tatts- he actually said: "I love those rotary machines." lol