Full Back Piece Thread

[scubaron]

I prefer lining to shading. To me, lining feels like getting cut with a sharp knife vs. shadings feel of constant rubbing back & forth with the tips of a fork.

[marley mission]

I prefer lining to shading. To me, lining feels like getting cut with a sharp knife vs. shadings feel of constant rubbing back & forth with the tips of a fork.

i think it depends more on area

i generally like that feeling you get during the shading

[SnowyPlover]

Cringing for Graeme - I can't believe people would pick lining over shading! This is full back lining we're talking about; it's in a special category of mind blowing.

[SeeSea]

One thing I like about lining is that you know where it's going. It doesn't go backwards. You can flow with it.

Shading on the other hand, is grinding in the same area over and over with no sense of how long it will go on and on and on the same spot.

[SeeSea]

I posted this over in "http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/5952-thread-posting-while-getting-tattooed-page9.html#post107507" mid grind last night, but here's an update. Right ribs to arm pit and detailing out the right side. I'm still limited to what he puts on Instagram, so it's not close up and the lighting isn't great. But man this is getting me crazy happy!

Although, of course, next session was supposed to be my last one ... but now it's not again... ;) But he can detail it out all he wants - I'm just in love.

Ahhh, he just put up a detail shot. The right is finished - second pass on the blue and rays are next, and finishing the left ribs, then a final pass for whites and blacks. Stolen from Sean Zee's Instagram

[Graeme]

@SeeSea looks so amazing in the pictures! I regret not seeing it in NYC but @Pugilist said it looks even better in person!

[polliwog]

Super super super cool. You get a sense of how saturated the colors are in those pictures. You must be over the moon.

[DeathB4Decaf]

You must be so happy with how close you are to done, @SeeSea! Love it so far!

[omeletta]

Wow, that's fantastic! I bet the fish get confused when you go diving and they see your back

[guitguy]

@SeeSea I don't comment here very often but, wow ! Congrats on the 'damn near' completion and thanks for sharing. I've really enjoyed watching the progress reports on this piece. It occurred to me, while looking at these current pics, how awesome your back will look in a few (or many) years once it has all settled in. Killer. You are a champ along with all your badass back piece colleagues. I wince and cower from an over zealous back scratching :D Cheers !

[pidjones]

@SeeSea: Combining two passions - double awesome!

[SeeSea]

@SeeSea looks so amazing in the pictures! I regret not seeing it in NYC but @Pugilist said it looks even better in person!

Thank you - that's the trouble with back pieces - hard to share in person! I end up pulling out my phone when people ask how it's progressing ;) It was really good to meet you and @Pugilist at the last meetup. We'll see each other again sometime I hope. (And anniversary congrats to you both!)

Super super super cool. You get a sense of how saturated the colors are in those pictures. You must be over the moon.

Yes, I see it and can't help but smile giddily. :cool: Yeah, he mentions "saturation" over and over. But awesomeness prevails over pain. My jaw and my stomach dropped when I realized most everything was going to take more than one pass. Like the square footage of one back isn't good enough. O.O

You must be so happy with how close you are to done, @SeeSea! Love it so far!

Yup, although finding out the "last session" gets put out again ... I'm like, wft? Really?!? ::laughs::

Wow, that's fantastic! I bet the fish get confused when you go diving and they see your back

We'll be wetting the fins in January. @OutOfIdeas had a great suggestion to get a pic of me underwater and I want to try that, although that means free diving or having a buddy hanging out of frame to share air. Sadly, my great photographer buddy will not be joining us. I'll try to rope someone into the attempt. It would be a cool photo credit. You know, I should offer to pay someone on the dive boat if there is a good photographer willing. I will have to learn to do that effortless breath-holding mermaid pose you see in pictures!

@SeeSea I don't comment here very often but, wow ! Congrats on the 'damn near' completion and thanks for sharing. I've really enjoyed watching the progress reports on this piece. It occurred to me, while looking at these current pics, how awesome your back will look in a few (or many) years once it has all settled in. Killer. You are a champ along with all your badass back piece colleagues. I wince and cower from an over zealous back scratching :D Cheers !

Thank you! It has been a journey. Even though I still have 2 sessions left, I can feel us pulling into the station. I am looking forward to how it settles. Some parts of it are already a year old like that little clownfish on the bottom (Session #1) and it's holding tight. The scratching has been strange - some sessions I am absolutely beside myself and rubbing against the back of a pole like a bear. Other sessions like the last two below my waist, almost no itching at all. Odd.

@SeeSea: Combining two passions - double awesome!

If I could figure out how to put up that thumbs-up icon, I would here! I love that my back piece is actually a collaboration between me and my tattoo artist - my photography and his design from the references. Double awesome, indeed!

Thanks, all. It's been a real journey, and I have few friends with tattoos and really no one to talk to about this journey who can relate. So having my LST family has been tremendous support. You all rock.

[sophistre]

It's so easy looking at pictures of backpieces to get lost in the details of the image and kind of forget the canvas it's on and how much actual skin is involved (for me, anyway). The picture of you lying on your side getting worked on really kinda puts the whole endeavor into perspective. That's some serious endurance. It's an amazing piece!

[Tornado6]

Thank you - that's the trouble with back pieces - hard to share in person! I end up pulling out my phone when people ask how it's progressing ;)

I have a friend with a sea turtle back piece. Thankfully she was cool with pulling up her shirt just about anywhere but work. Poor thing...

[SeeSea]

It's so easy looking at pictures of backpieces to get lost in the details of the image and kind of forget the canvas it's on and how much actual skin is involved (for me, anyway). The picture of you lying on your side getting worked on really kinda puts the whole endeavor into perspective. That's some serious endurance. It's an amazing piece!

Hi @sophistre - yeah, I know exactly what you mean! I didn't even realize he took this picture until I saw it on Instagram during a break a couple hours later!!! I really like the picture for the same reason - it isn't posed. It just is.

Thank you for your kind words!

[Breakme]

@SeeSea looking so good!

[pidjones]

Thank you - that's the trouble with back pieces - hard to share in person! I end up pulling out my phone when people ask how it's progressing ;)

I had a student this year who said she had a full back piece. She emailed us photos of it.

I have to add that I had only seen yours on my tablet until now. Even more awesome on the bigger monitor! Wow!

I imagine you could snorkel (leaving the back free in one of those very low-cut back suits - and if you don't have one you MUST get one now!) and have someone else use your camera to shoot a bunch of shots of you. Even if they aren't a good photographer, they are bound to get you in-frame a few times!

[scubaron]

See Sea, find a diver with their backup reg on a long hose. Some DM's use them.

Where you diving ?

[SeeSea]

I have to add that I had only seen yours on my tablet until now. Even more awesome on the bigger monitor! Wow!

Thanks!

I imagine you could snorkel (leaving the back free in one of those very low-cut back suits - and if you don't have one you MUST get one now!) and have someone else use your camera to shoot a bunch of shots of you. Even if they aren't a good photographer, they are bound to get you in-frame a few times!

I found a bra thing at a gymnastics/ice skating website that has clear straps - the kind that the girls wear so their outfits look completely open-backed. I figure I could wear that with bikini bottoms. There will be folks there with cameras - there will bound to be a decent shot. I am shooting video now and not using my good photography camera. Some video would be cool too!

...now you guys are making me really think about planning this out!

See Sea, find a diver with their backup reg on a long hose. Some DM's use them.

Where you diving ?

Good thought - I dive with a long hose as my primary so I will have one with me. (I find it more streamlined and less an entanglement hazard than a 3' when I stick my head in holes and whatnot to take pictures. I also had to use it in an out-of-air with someone and nice to let them float 6 feet from me rather than all jammed up in my space.)

We are going on the Carpe Vita in the Maldives. I was just telling some dive buddies about your experience with the DMs doing all the Nitrox testing for you. Looking forward to that nice touch of customer service! :-)

[scubaron]

You are going to love the Carpe Vita in Maldives.

My wife and I had an amazing time on that boat last January. Below is the video I made from the trip.

Divers on the boat were joking the mantas got close to me because of my manta ray tattoos.

[misterJ]

I couldnt be more jealous about your trip. Have a blast

[SeeSea]

@scubaron - amazing manta! I can't wait - the water looks soooooo clear!

[KBeee]

@ironchef

I. Can't. Even. It hurts my feelings its so good.

[SeeSea]

It's done. We're done. Except for a touch-up and tweaking session after this heals. Did the left ribs from love handle to arm pit (none of which you can see here), detailed the 3 fish on the left, finished up the eagle rays, ship wreck mast and the blue. Right now it's 29 hours after we finished and I'm still trashed. Healing this one is going to be special.

But of course, since it didn't show up on his Instagram, all I am left to share is an in-progress pic he posted about 7 hours in! (Which coincidentally was the same time I was complaining over on the "Thread to post while getting tattooed" thread that I was running on fumes.)

This is just before the final push to finish the eagle rays, ship wreck mast, blues and highlights in the middle. (Funny enough, at the time, I didn't realize it was also the final push to finish THE WHOLE TATTOO!)

We're taking healed shots in a few weeks and I'll post the final results. For now, I'm just gonna curl up on the couch and nurse my tattoo flu.

[marley mission]

looks great seesea

hammerhead!

30+hours - wow