Full Back Piece Thread

[RoryQ]

@Lance

Well, I ended up looking for the copy you were talking about, and now I feel like flying to Korea and punching that guy.

He's got a few other Shige copies up there as well. The weird thing is that Korea isn't that far from Japan and Shige almost certainly would have tattooed whoever got that backpiece if they'd been willing to travel. I don't know what the copier charges, but Shige doesn't even really charge outrageous money by cost-of-living-in-Japan standards.

The original backpiece is amazing - I think the green foliage is my favourite detail. When I hear people say things like 'Shige's work isn't as good as it used to be' (seriously) I look at his recent pieces like this one and Uncle Allen's and wonder how they can honestly say that.

Speaking of backpieces and approaches to handling plagarism: We all know that Smith St. prefers their work not to be posted online, and you can see their reasoning at times like this. When I was getting tattooed there I asked Steve Boltz about the kind of tattooing he did day to day, and I think I thought he was doing all medium and small pieces. Anyway, he was like 'Ah, I'm working on about eight backpieces right now'. Not just traditional, but japanese influenced too. Blew my mind, wasn't what I was expecting at all for some reason.

[ironchef]

Okay folks, quick update after yesterday's session. Great experience as usual over at Kings Avenue Manhattan. As I stated in my previous post, I took the summer off from tattooing and just jumped right back into it with a 6+ hour session with Mike Rubendall on my back piece. To get the real effect of this, check out the first two pics. Started off during the day and ended well into the evening. Needless to say I'm very happy with how things are turning out so far. LOVE the colors. Will be seeing Henning at the end of this month for upper back portion of this collaboration. Enjoy the pics and my goofy commentary:

The man himself laying it into me...noon time shot

Almost end of the session...about 7pm or so

You want to talk about a shop with heavy hitters? Rubendall, Grez and way in the back....O'Donnell. And each one of them super down to earth and funny as well. Can't really ask for anything more.

Messy and yes...painful

Full on progress shot, what we managed to get done

Left cheek and right inner thigh

Right cheek

[chrisnoluck]

man, i WISH i could sit 6+ hours on my back. after 2 hours i'm beat. looks awesome.

[cltattooing]

@ironchef Sooooooooooo... I hate you. With love, of course :)

No but really, that is incredibly badass and you are a warrior for sitting 6 hours on the ass/thighs. Much respect.

[MikeL]

@ironchef looking strong as hell! 6 hours straight in that location...tough. Going to be hitting my lower half on the 26th.

All work being done by Rodrigo Melo at Northstar NYC

Mike

[ironchef]

@ironchef looking strong as hell! 6 hours straight in that location...tough. Going to be hitting my lower half on the 26th.

Mike

LOVE Melo's work! Great looking sleeves and back piece you have!

[Hospitelli]

So @ironchef the backpiece is really starting to come along! Those finger waves healed beautifully and I absolutely love the color of the scales on the dragon. Was that your choice or Mikes? I can't wait to see the update on this after Henning gets some more time on it. You going for multiple sessions while he is here or just another 6 hrs? @MikeL, that back piece is looking good and I love the thick line work. When it gets colored in it's really going to pop.

I will be starting on mine with Chris January 23 2014 at Kings Ave NYC. Pushed the start date ahead a year because I've been working like a dog doing a ton of OT at work. Social life has taken a hit but it will be well worth it. I'm all kinds of giddy and nervous at the same time.

[ironchef]

So @ironchef the backpiece is really starting to come along! Those finger waves healed beautifully and I absolutely love the color of the scales on the dragon. Was that your choice or Mikes? I can't wait to see the update on this after Henning gets some more time on it. You going for multiple sessions while he is here or just another 6 hrs? @MikeL, that back piece is looking good and I love the thick line work. When it gets colored in it's really going to pop.

I will be starting on mine with Chris January 23 2014 at Kings Ave NYC. Pushed the start date ahead a year because I've been working like a dog doing a ton of OT at work. Social life has taken a hit but it will be well worth it. I'm all kinds of giddy and nervous at the same time.

Rubendall asked what colors I was thinking of for the dragon. I showed him a piece he had done a few years earlier where I loved the various greens. He suggested a red belly which I was stoked on, so we're pretty much on the same wave-length. I'm scheduled for multiple sessions with Henning. He's got some more outlining to do, that's for sure and I'm sure we'll get everything shaded. If things go fast and I don't pass out from the pain, maybe we can get some color into the phoenix!

I got to chat with O'Donnell a little bit. Still kicking around the idea of getting something from him. Have to finish up this back piece first before thinking too far ahead, haha.

[Cork]

@ironchef looking strong as hell! 6 hours straight in that location...tough. Going to be hitting my lower half on the 26th.

All work being done by Rodrigo Melo at Northstar NYC

Mike

I didn't want to start going off topic in the "Latest Tattoo Lowndown", but seriously I love those thick lines. Koji Ichimaru does lines like that too and it looks damn fantastic. Already digging the potential theme of those robes too!

[MikeL]

I didn't want to start going off topic in the "Latest Tattoo Lowndown", but seriously I love those thick lines. Koji Ichimaru does lines like that too and it looks damn fantastic. Already digging the potential theme of those robes too!

@Cork big thanks!!! Going bold and extremely classic with the color palette. Koji is an amazing artist...anything he does can be read from across the street...love it. Thanks again.

So @ironchef the backpiece is really starting to come along! Those finger waves healed beautifully and I absolutely love the color of the scales on the dragon. Was that your choice or Mikes? I can't wait to see the update on this after Henning gets some more time on it. You going for multiple sessions while he is here or just another 6 hrs? @MikeL, that back piece is looking good and I love the thick line work. When it gets colored in it's really going to pop.

I will be starting on mine with Chris January 23 2014 at Kings Ave NYC. Pushed the start date ahead a year because I've been working like a dog doing a ton of OT at work. Social life has taken a hit but it will be well worth it. I'm all kinds of giddy and nervous at the same time.

Thanks you very much! Should be hitting color in the beginning of 2014.

LOVE Melo's work! Great looking sleeves and back piece you have!

Thanks man!!!

Mike

[Lance]

Man @ironchef, that is coming along fabulous. Thanks for sharing. Also 6 hours? Oof! Yeah bet you were worn out after that.

[hogg]

6 hours of ass and thigh meat is NO JOKE! You truly are a man of steel, @ironchef.

[ironchef]

@Lance @hogg Rubendall said, "You can't half ass the scales and they take a lot of time." Well worth it.

I'm more nervous about my upcoming sessions with Henning as he always wants to maximize the time when we're working together. We're talking 7+ hours that I've sat with him before. Hope my back can take the punishment.

[Gregor]

@ironchef those photos are amazing !! Love it !!

[9Years]

First, I'd just like to say that this thread is hugely inspiring! The commitment, the imagery....man, it's all just so awesome! All being well, I would like to get cracking on a backpiece of my own in the next year or so.

I'm really curious about what the process was like for some of you that have pulled the trigger already. Did you always have a firm idea of what you wanted? Did you juggle a few ideas back and forth? Go to your favorite artist and say "gimme all of it"? An analyzed decision or a gut feeling? Did you start with an artist or a design in mind?

I realize that there are probably as many different answers as there are backpieces, but this sort of thing really fascinates me.

Anyway, please continue sharing badass backpieces! When the time comes, I'll contribute my own!

[ironchef]

@9Years

I actually did not want to get a back piece done initially as my thought was, how the hell will I get to see and enjoy it. But since I was getting comfortable with my artist and also the process of tattooing, it was natural to move on and have at it with the biggest canvas on my body. I had looked at various Japanese/Asian themes, Quan Yin with Dragon, Tiger and Snake, General Gwon, etc. Eventually decided on the Dragon and Phoenix motif (balance, yin and yang, female and male, etc.)

I got extremely lucky in that I was able to get two fantastic artists to agree on a collaboration. They decided who was going to do what and we've worked everything out so far. Been a FANTASTIC experience.

[Cork]

@9Years

It took me about a year of looking at all the varieties of backs to really decide what I wanted, but I definitely had a solid idea when I approached Dana. Unfortunately for him, I approached him way sooner than I was financially ready, and he was getting antsy to start, haha. I definitely never realized how rough of a dedication it would be. Probably the worst part is the healing. Maybe I'm a slow healer but I take about 2 weeks until I can get a normal night of sleep.

[Joe Stratford]

3 Weeks today!!!!!! I'm a little bit exited.

[CaptCanada]

@9Years Before I started my backpeice I talked with my tattooer about what would go best with what I had already. Had a few ideas about what I would want and he said all of them would fit relatively well and wouldn't say one is better then the other. He told me to think it over and which one I wanted. I settled on Monju bosatsu, cause it would work with the space I had available. While the other tattoos would look fine, they would look best when done down to the mid leg area, and I only had till the end of my butt. So it was just talking it out with my tattooer and having a few ideas in my head.

I just wish I would have started my backpeice first. Which in japanese tattoos is the normal approach, back, arms, chest, ribs, legs.

[DevilMan]

Yesterday my wife had her 4th session on her backpiece, and the background brought it to life and we are so stoked I just had to share it with you all :-)

The piece is made by Bonel from Corazon Santo in The Netherlands, which also did both of my sleeves and chest pieces :)

[Gregor]

That is lovely @DevilMan ! Cool wee sparrows !!

[milk tank]

sweet back piece i hope to get one in 5 years tops

[chrisnoluck]

finally get to contribute to this thread again on friday. driving down to richmond for session 3 on my back, i'm excited to knock out some more black but at the same time i want to puke when i think about it.

[a1steaks]

I got some more work on my back last week. I think I'm down to 2 sessions plus a touch-up session or two. Can't wait for the journey to be over! I'll post some updated pics soon.

[suburbanxcore]

finally get to contribute to this thread again on friday. driving down to richmond for session 3 on my back, i'm excited to knock out some more black but at the same time i want to puke when i think about it.

It may be mentioned somewhere else in the thread, but who is doing your back in Richmond?