Full Back Piece Thread

[Graeme]

@jimmyirish There's not really any getting around how daunting a full back is. I knew that getting one would be a huge commitment but I don't think I actually understood how much of a commitment that was until I started it. I think without that dedication it would be as easy to abandon a back done locally as it would one you travel for because it still takes a lot of time, pain, healing, money, and so on. It is nice though that I don't have travel costs, paying for hotels, having to take time off work in addition to the tattoo. I don't have to worry about the exchange rate. There have been sessions where I haven't been able to take the whole day off because my workload can be super heavy but I start work early so I can work a half day and then go to my appointment. I don't especially miss driving home eight hours with a fresh tattoo, and I think that would be especially uncomfortable with a back session. If I had to travel to get the tattoo I wanted I wouldn't hesitate to do that, though I would get tattooed at a slower pace and would probably sit longer sessions than I'd like to, so it is great to have Dave in the same city.

[Wilhell]

Healed photo of my back that was finished last year in September, and a fresh one to the left. Both by Marius Meyer

[Cork]

@Wilhell I don't know about you guys, but pulling duct tape off my hairy butt would probably hurt as much as the tattoo. Both of those tattoos look awesome.

[Hands On]

@GraemeHaving just moved to Australia from London I don't think I realised how lucky I was to have so many great artists on my doorstep. Now that I'm gone and can't see myself being home for a couple of years I regret not tackling some bigger work.

just get bigger work in Australia! :D

[SeeSea]

Duct tape. Classy ;)

And just love that pretty snarly face @Wilhell!

[sophistre]

This thread never fails to amaze me. I cannot imagine what it must feel like to have the backside of your body be that intricately covered from neck to thighs. All that color. I think it'll always seem crazy and unreal to me.

[misterJ]

Got some work in Saturday, but life has been crazy. Wanted to post this up. Detailed in the hair, and sank some color into the top oni. The pic makes him look very bright but the colors have cooled off nicely and now have a deep tone to them. We spoke about detailing him up more next session with either a patterned robe or doing more in the body. Either way I'm on board.

EDIT: just to put it in perspective, the horns are colored white that's how red I got

I always love the way the tray looks at the end when all the colors are laid out and all is said and done. I thought this concept would make a really neat print. If there is some rule about not showing these details let me know and I will remove it, but I thought it would be a fun share.

Hope you guys like it, and I have 2 sessions coming up so maybe we can close in on this project.

[ironchef]

smooth as eggs @misterJ ! tell rubes, ricky wong says what's up!?

[Graeme]

Oh man @misterJ the colour in the tiger is so great.

[misterJ]

@Graeme I really appreciate that because your back is killer. @ironchef I def will, I know you told me to do so before and I honestly forgot.

[Iwar]

Amazing @misterJ!!

[suburbanxcore]

@misterJ that looks so good, as does the progress shot Mike posted recently. I can't wait to see this thing fully finished.

[Graeme]

Since we're sharing progress, here's what we did on mine last week. We have to put the greys in some of the water and then do the details in the faces and the tiger's paws and things like that but we're getting super close to wrapping this up.

[tatB]

@Graeme don't forget the final step.... re-outlining

[Graeme]

@Graeme don't forget the final step.... re-outlining

He said a couple of sessions ago that he didn't think it needed to be reoutlined, so here's hoping.

[mtlsam]

He said a couple of sessions ago that he didn't think it needed to be reoutlined, so here's hoping.

Your back is looking super sharp! My highly trained eye doesn't see any weak outline, haha. Here's to hoping for you as well.

By the way your back is making me highly tempted to get something huge from Dave!

[Graeme]

Your back is looking super sharp! My highly trained eye doesn't see any weak outline, haha. Here's to hoping for you as well.

By the way your back is making me highly tempted to get something huge from Dave!

Oh there are no weak lines or weak anything else on that tattoo, it's just that sometimes some relining is called for. I had some bits of my arm relined during the final session even though there was nothing wrong with it. I don't claim to understand the reasons why, but I trust my tattooer here.

I totally recommend getting something huge from Dave. You've been tattooed by him, you know that he's a great tattooer and possibly an even better guy, and the experience has been so great that it's going to be really bittersweet when my back is done.

[tatB]

@Graeme my guess is the re-outlining is usually done on pieces where the original outline is 3-4 or more years old by the time it is finished. good incentive for getting it wrapped up as fast as possible.

[Graeme]

@Graeme my guess is the re-outlining is usually done on pieces where the original outline is 3-4 or more years old by the time it is finished. good incentive for getting it wrapped up as fast as possible.

That's what I would have assumed but my sleeve took about nine months from start to finish and while there was nothing wrong or weak about the line work on the raven's talons (the part that was relined) a second pass did make it pop a lot more. Though I'm sure you're right and this would be far more necessary on tattoos that are completed over years.

[Cork]

That's what I would have assumed

Same. After 16 months I got relined.

[Dennis]

@Graeme Looks amazing! You're cruising through that thing! I need to get tattooed more often. Usually I get something every 2-4 years! Hahah

[Graeme]

@Graeme Looks amazing! You're cruising through that thing! I need to get tattooed more often. Usually I get something every 2-4 years! Hahah

Monthly sessions gets it done!

[Dennis]

Monthly sessions gets it done!

Having a great artist locally doesn't hurt either! Hahah

[Piha]

Hi all, started my back piece yesterday...roughly 5 hours lining..a few rough spots but otherwise not to bad !

Artist is Dan Andersen from Sacred tattoo in New Zealand..Cheers !

[SeeSea]

Hi all, started my back piece yesterday...roughly 5 hours lining..a few rough spots but otherwise not to bad !

Artist is Dan Andersen from Sacred tattoo in New Zealand..Cheers !

That is going to be awesome!