pat's sleeve part II

On Saturday Pat spent four hours in the chair getting the shading finished up on his Egyptian Sleeve. In my first post back in December I went through the symbolism of the tattoo on a general level as well as why Pat choose it, so I am not going to get in to all of the specifics again. I will however say that Cynthia did an amazing job with the shading, as she did with the line work, and as his tattoo is healing and the color is coming down slightly it really looks like a work of art. Pat is really pleased with the piece for now, though he may decide to add on later. Once again, I am super excited for him!

Here are some pictures of the shading process:

[[ neon. the waiting room. getting set up. parlor art. pat getting worked on. peak-a-boo. icing one of the other artists. before sketch. the after tattoo. a few details of the final piece. ]]

my week in pictures 3

monday 4/8 - sunday 4/14

We enjoyed some delicious meals this week both at home and out at restaurants. Thursday night we decided to skip the gym and head downtown to Barrio which was delicious, as always. I did some experimenting with braids during the week. And over the weekend we headed to Salem so that Pat could get the shading on his tattoo worked on (this will get its own post), we could pick up the Maxima, and to see Tony at Gilgamesh. Sunday after breakfast we braved the snowy pass and made our way home.

[[ delicious home meals. barro. spring flowers in my office. experimenting with braids. pats tattoo getting worked on. a stop in to gilgamesh for dinner. tony! breakfast at a little cafe in salem. ]]

pat's sleeve

Pat has been enamored with Egyptian art and history since long before I met him, and had been toying around with the idea of converting his existing Eye of Ra tattoo on his left arm into an Egyptian sleeve for years. On Saturday (12/8) Pat finally got started! I had looked into an artist named Cynthia Davis a while ago because one of Pats friends Sara has an amazing sleeve done by her, and after seeing some of her work with shading, Pat decided he would like to use her as well. So, after visiting with her a few weeks ago to talk concepts and put down a deposit, we spent upwards of four hours in All American Tattoo in Salem over the weekend.

We were both really into the concept drawing that Cynthia adapted from some examples that Pat brought in, and based on her line work thus far we are very impressed and excited for the next step, shading!


Here are some pictures of the outline process:

[[ the parlor. pat before. getting the stencil ready. sign. the sleeve outline in progress. the completed outline. ]]

The design incorporates Anubis, Horus in his falcon headed adaptation, a stylized scarab with feather wings, and the Eye, which will have sun rays radiating out of it, sort of as a take on the Sun of Many Hands, once the shading is complete. Pat's previous representation of the Eye of Ra tattoo will be moved to the inside of his arm as well, but will be rendered differently than last time since the "branded" technique is hard to maintain. There may be some other elements involved before completion, but if you look closely at the detailing, you will see that many traditional shapes and symbols are being represented also, such as the ank that Anubis traditionally carries with him, and line work with shapes from ancient dress and popular hieroglyphic symbols. The entire thing will be in black and white.

I love it so far, and I am really excited for him!

((( more posts to follow the remainder of the process when we get there )))

"all good things are wild and free"

As mentioned, last weekend Megan got her third tattoo and I decided to tag along and take some pictures. Two and a half hours later...

[[ stencil. outlining. glance. shading. scenery. first look. final piece. ]]