hogg

i finally got to see those legs in person two years ago, in san jose at the convention of the tattoo arts. i could not stop starring! and i wasn't the only one, there was a group of people watching him and stuart. it was weird to have a carnival feeling of checking out the "amazing tattooed man" at a tattoo convention. a truly beautiful work of art. who isn't jealous?!!

Photo 2 by Chris Garver.
Photos 1 and 3 by Tim Lehi.

Healed pics of my tigers have been stolen from Tim Lehi's blog and posted in my gallery. 7.5 hours total--unbelievable!

I don't know how many times I've looked at those legs that Stuart did. That is some of the finest tattooing I've ever seen. The whole thing...it's just so fucking cool.

I don't know how many times I've looked at those legs that Stuart did. That is some of the finest tattooing I've ever seen. The whole thing...it's just so fucking cool.

i like the outline if it works with the design. i think stewart robson at frith st. tattoo did a fine job on this one...
i totally think mario is right too, cut out everything that doesn't need to be there. i always find that the tattoos that make a big impact, are simpler and less involved. filler can definitely look cool, when done right. but i prefer the negative space between tattoos, i also think it gives each piece a stronger impact and it adds more of a storyboard effect to the body, which i think reads better. stuart cripwell at spider murphy's executed this perfectly...

i talk people out of backgrounds and useless additions all the time. i see so much garbage online. people just throw every trick in the book in there. or just tack on a bunch of roses around something, it looks awful. just let the image be itself, it has strength on its own. a gypsy head doesn't need blood splatters, a crescent moon, fog, a tree, roses and fake cholo letters all around it. except for a few people, tattooing is in a sorry state creatively. by the way, the outline thing is a SMITH STREET thing, which has now been beaten to death by anybody with a computer. you can't do anything new and cool without vampires sucking it dry. ok, i'm done...haha

There's a guy in SF named Maron Hasegawa. He had full sleeves from Colin Stevens, then decided he wanted a full suit. He flew to Japan and, in one year, got fully suited by Horiyoshi III:


It's not shown in those pics, but it goes down to his ankles. Donburi style, as they say in Japan. I think he got tattooed every other day for a year. Just think about that for a minute.
I had the pleasure of meeting Maron at Diamond Club a few years back, and I asked him a similar question: does it feel weird to be [/i]done[/i]? He seemed to imply that it was. He said he asked Horiyoshi about tattooing his head, to which the master replied, "Nah...you're done."
There's also a guy in one of Horitaka's books who has a full 9-dragon body suit that Horiyoshi did in a year and a half. It's everything but the strip down the center of his chest ("river style"), and the whole thing--neck to ankles, full sleeves--is black and gray. I think about that guy from time to time, because it's insane to me to think that someone went 30+ years without a drop of ink, then made the huge decision to get fully suited. I just can't get my head around it.
As I alluded to in the Collecting Different Styles thread, I'm really happy with what I've got, but it's all over the place. The thought of having a full cohesive body suit is absolutely foreign to me.

I'm with Shawn. I didn't initially set out to have "a suit." If I had, I would've approached things much differently. I have no regrets about my tattoos (but I do have a coverup!), and I love what Dan Higgs said in an old video that Shawn posted. It was something to the effect of, "Don't worry about whether or not something will go with what you already have--just put it there and it automatically goes together. You got Hot Stuff next to Jesus next to a clown."
Take a look through my gallery and you'll see that I look like a yakuza from behind and a typical confused American from the front. :)

There's a guy in SF named Maron Hasegawa. He had full sleeves from Colin Stevens, then decided he wanted a full suit. He flew to Japan and, in one year, got fully suited by Horiyoshi III:


It's not shown in those pics, but it goes down to his ankles. Donburi style, as they say in Japan. I think he got tattooed every other day for a year. Just think about that for a minute.
I had the pleasure of meeting Maron at Diamond Club a few years back, and I asked him a similar question: does it feel weird to be [/i]done[/i]? He seemed to imply that it was. He said he asked Horiyoshi about tattooing his head, to which the master replied, "Nah...you're done."
There's also a guy in one of Horitaka's books who has a full 9-dragon body suit that Horiyoshi did in a year and a half. It's everything but the strip down the center of his chest ("river style"), and the whole thing--neck to ankles, full sleeves--is black and gray. I think about that guy from time to time, because it's insane to me to think that someone went 30+ years without a drop of ink, then made the huge decision to get fully suited. I just can't get my head around it.
As I alluded to in the Collecting Different Styles thread, I'm really happy with what I've got, but it's all over the place. The thought of having a full cohesive body suit is absolutely foreign to me.

There's a guy in SF named Maron Hasegawa. He had full sleeves from Colin Stevens, then decided he wanted a full suit. He flew to Japan and, in one year, got fully suited by Horiyoshi III:


It's not shown in those pics, but it goes down to his ankles. Donburi style, as they say in Japan. I think he got tattooed every other day for a year. Just think about that for a minute.
I had the pleasure of meeting Maron at Diamond Club a few years back, and I asked him a similar question: does it feel weird to be [/i]done[/i]? He seemed to imply that it was. He said he asked Horiyoshi about tattooing his head, to which the master replied, "Nah...you're done."
There's also a guy in one of Horitaka's books who has a full 9-dragon body suit that Horiyoshi did in a year and a half. It's everything but the strip down the center of his chest ("river style"), and the whole thing--neck to ankles, full sleeves--is black and gray. I think about that guy from time to time, because it's insane to me to think that someone went 30+ years without a drop of ink, then made the huge decision to get fully suited. I just can't get my head around it.
As I alluded to in the Collecting Different Styles thread, I'm really happy with what I've got, but it's all over the place. The thought of having a full cohesive body suit is absolutely foreign to me.

There's a guy in SF named Maron Hasegawa. He had full sleeves from Colin Stevens, then decided he wanted a full suit. He flew to Japan and, in one year, got fully suited by Horiyoshi III:


It's not shown in those pics, but it goes down to his ankles. Donburi style, as they say in Japan. I think he got tattooed every other day for a year. Just think about that for a minute.
I had the pleasure of meeting Maron at Diamond Club a few years back, and I asked him a similar question: does it feel weird to be [/i]done[/i]? He seemed to imply that it was. He said he asked Horiyoshi about tattooing his head, to which the master replied, "Nah...you're done."
There's also a guy in one of Horitaka's books who has a full 9-dragon body suit that Horiyoshi did in a year and a half. It's everything but the strip down the center of his chest ("river style"), and the whole thing--neck to ankles, full sleeves--is black and gray. I think about that guy from time to time, because it's insane to me to think that someone went 30+ years without a drop of ink, then made the huge decision to get fully suited. I just can't get my head around it.
As I alluded to in the Collecting Different Styles thread, I'm really happy with what I've got, but it's all over the place. The thought of having a full cohesive body suit is absolutely foreign to me.

There's a guy in SF named Maron Hasegawa. He had full sleeves from Colin Stevens, then decided he wanted a full suit. He flew to Japan and, in one year, got fully suited by Horiyoshi III:


It's not shown in those pics, but it goes down to his ankles. Donburi style, as they say in Japan. I think he got tattooed every other day for a year. Just think about that for a minute.
I had the pleasure of meeting Maron at Diamond Club a few years back, and I asked him a similar question: does it feel weird to be [/i]done[/i]? He seemed to imply that it was. He said he asked Horiyoshi about tattooing his head, to which the master replied, "Nah...you're done."
There's also a guy in one of Horitaka's books who has a full 9-dragon body suit that Horiyoshi did in a year and a half. It's everything but the strip down the center of his chest ("river style"), and the whole thing--neck to ankles, full sleeves--is black and gray. I think about that guy from time to time, because it's insane to me to think that someone went 30+ years without a drop of ink, then made the huge decision to get fully suited. I just can't get my head around it.
As I alluded to in the Collecting Different Styles thread, I'm really happy with what I've got, but it's all over the place. The thought of having a full cohesive body suit is absolutely foreign to me.

Flying to Rockford Il at the end of may to interview Zeis's Daughter Joanne. Joanne and her husband ran the supply business for a period of time after Zeis passed away and then sold the remaining stock to Lyle Tuttle for his museum. I am honored to speak with Joanne and I am excited as her input will add a level of depth to the book. I can't wait.

I guess I should post mine here, since I've enjoyed this thread so much:

By Jill "Horiyuki" Bonny, State of Grace, San Jose, CA. You can also see my Scott Sylvia cobra on my right elbow (with my itsty-bitsy Ben Grillo spider under it), and my left arm, the upper part of which was done by Eddy Deutsche back at 222 and the lower 2/3rd of which was done by Horitomo, also at State of Grace.

just cram 'em all in there. i don't get it when people plan their whole bodies out or want all this "balance". do they plan on posing around naked all the time for us to scrutinize? most of the time people only see our arms anyway.

IMO it's nice to have and appreciate different styles as it is in other arts.it's part of being open minded and not having limits and boundries

I'm with Shawn. I didn't initially set out to have "a suit." If I had, I would've approached things much differently. I have no regrets about my tattoos (but I do have a coverup!), and I love what Dan Higgs said in an old video that Shawn posted. It was something to the effect of, "Don't worry about whether or not something will go with what you already have--just put it there and it automatically goes together. You got Hot Stuff next to Jesus next to a clown."
Take a look through my gallery and you'll see that I look like a yakuza from behind and a typical confused American from the front. :)

I'm with Shawn. I didn't initially set out to have "a suit." If I had, I would've approached things much differently. I have no regrets about my tattoos (but I do have a coverup!), and I love what Dan Higgs said in an old video that Shawn posted. It was something to the effect of, "Don't worry about whether or not something will go with what you already have--just put it there and it automatically goes together. You got Hot Stuff next to Jesus next to a clown."
Take a look through my gallery and you'll see that I look like a yakuza from behind and a typical confused American from the front. :)

I'm with Shawn. I didn't initially set out to have "a suit." If I had, I would've approached things much differently. I have no regrets about my tattoos (but I do have a coverup!), and I love what Dan Higgs said in an old video that Shawn posted. It was something to the effect of, "Don't worry about whether or not something will go with what you already have--just put it there and it automatically goes together. You got Hot Stuff next to Jesus next to a clown."
Take a look through my gallery and you'll see that I look like a yakuza from behind and a typical confused American from the front. :)

I'm with Shawn. I didn't initially set out to have "a suit." If I had, I would've approached things much differently. I have no regrets about my tattoos (but I do have a coverup!), and I love what Dan Higgs said in an old video that Shawn posted. It was something to the effect of, "Don't worry about whether or not something will go with what you already have--just put it there and it automatically goes together. You got Hot Stuff next to Jesus next to a clown."
Take a look through my gallery and you'll see that I look like a yakuza from behind and a typical confused American from the front. :)

I'm with Shawn. I didn't initially set out to have "a suit." If I had, I would've approached things much differently. I have no regrets about my tattoos (but I do have a coverup!), and I love what Dan Higgs said in an old video that Shawn posted. It was something to the effect of, "Don't worry about whether or not something will go with what you already have--just put it there and it automatically goes together. You got Hot Stuff next to Jesus next to a clown."
Take a look through my gallery and you'll see that I look like a yakuza from behind and a typical confused American from the front. :)

I just sort of slap it all together. I was never going for a cohesive bodysuit, so it all just sort of blends.

A friend of mine once said, "If a chick is hot, her tattoos don't have to be good." I used to agree him, but I don't so much these days. Hot chick + great tattoos = infinitely hotter.

A friend of mine once said, "If a chick is hot, her tattoos don't have to be good." I used to agree him, but I don't so much these days. Hot chick + great tattoos = infinitely hotter.