The Journal of Joe The Peacock. Yay.

8.01.2008:

The 15 year tattoo, part 7 (final)

9:45 PM

...Wow.

Seems like yesterday that I walked into A.B.T. Tattoo and met Todo, and this all started, but after 7 sessions, the sleeve is pretty much complete. There's still about 5 hours of touchup to do, but for all intents and purposes... This is it. (You can view the whole process in pictures here)

I am pleased to show you the completed vision. But first, the 7th sesson:

This shows the final bit of the smoke and landscape as the city of Neo-Tokyo explodes when Akira goes off.

And now, the full sleeve - a masterwork by the legendary Todo:

One day, I'll do a post on why this tattoo, what each of the pieces mean (both in the story and in my particular design) and whatnot, but for now, I'm beat.

Labels: art, tattoo

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7.25.2008:

The 15 year tattoo, part 6

10:52 PM

I'm beat. 5 hours of having the most sensitive part of my arm poked with needles, through some of the most detailed work of the entire piece so far, has completely worn me out.

Here's pics. I'll be more expressive tomorrow or something.

Labels: art, tattoo

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7.16.2008:

The 15-year tattoo, part 5

8:14 PM

After a month hiatus from the tattoo parlor (well, from Todo actually since he was in California for a while... I wasn't on hiatus from the parlor, since Jeremiah did a piece on my leg a few weeks ago), the Akira sleeve is once again in progress.

Here's the bits from last night and today. The forearm and upper arm pieces will be connected through the unified background next week. For now, they look like separate pieces, but they're all part of the same moment in the story (again, from the comics, not the anime).

A standalone portion of a building's structural pillar, grafitti'ed with a bloody "A" (for Akira's gang)

The iron rebar (the spindly things poking out the top) aren't colored in yet, because of the background work that's going in behind them. They will be next week.

The pillar has basically landed right on top of the most notable (and beautiful) thing from the entire Akira storyline, Kaneda's bike, and split it in half. Back half:

Front half:

Note: the front of the bike that you know and love is actually laying in chunks on the ground... or will be, next week when the wrist is finished :)

Portions of the military's attempt to restore order to the city right before Akira went off are evident in the foreground. We've only gotten to the tank so far:

To give a sense of what it's all coming together as, here's a few shots of the whole arm:

Labels: art, tattoo

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6.17.2008:

The 15-year tattoo, part 4

9:20 PM

Another 4 hours today, and you can see, the other side of the city really puts this piece into perspective.

Yesssss... Getting closerrrrrr....

This is the first appearance of Akira himself on this piece. You will notice that he's on the joint of my elbow, while Tetsuo is on my tricep (a pushing muscle) and Kaneda is on my bicep (a pulling muscle).

More on this when it's all finished :)

Labels: art, Joe's life, tattoo

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6.05.2008:

The 15-year tattoo, part 3

11:42 PM

Today, I sat for NINE HOURS. But the results are amazing:

This new work sees the appearance of the destroyed city of Neo-Tokyo (after the 2nd "bomb" - for you pedantic types, I know that in the anime, TOKYO was destroyed, while Neo-Tokyo was never seen obliterated. In the comic, however, an entire 2/3 of the story takes place after Akira goes off and blows up Neo-Tokyo) in the background, as well as the character Tetsuo on my tricep. Capping the shoulder is the cryo chamber that held Akira dormant for 31 years.

We THOUGHT we were going to wrap it up today, but there's going to have to be one more sitting. The front of the shoulder extending down between the bicep and tricep still needs city work, and the elbow is getting one more character - Akira himself.

Labels: art, Joe's life, tattoo

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5.23.2008:

The 15-year tattoo, part 2

10:07 PM

Finished the first major piece, and got one of the 3 features added.

(PLEASE forgive the wifebeater tank top there, that's what he asked me to wear)

Next phase is next week, where I get the other 2 features added, along with the background work. It SHOULD be done next week. We'll see how far we get.

Labels: being yourself, Joe's life, memories, tattoo

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5.15.2008:

The 15-year tattoo, part 1

2:28 PM

I drew the very first incarnation of this piece when I was 16 years old.

Over the years, it's seen numerous changes, incarnations, refactors and updates, all of which have increased the size and shape and concept. In between my inability to find an artist capable of handling it and my ever-growing pickiness, I always put it aside and told myself "one day..."

Well, the day has finally come. This is the product of my first sitting with Todo, tattoo artist to the stars and musicians and athletes. I am honored that he accepted the piece, and am happy as hell with the result so far:

Obviously, it's not finished yet. I go back next Friday to finalize this piece (complete the shading and coloring in the lettering and glass, then the overlay detail), as well as start on part 2 (additional chunks of the glass around the middle and bottom, wrapping around the bicep and tricep). Then, in June, I go for the final sitting to finish all detail overlay on all the glass and lettering, and fill-in behind the piece with shadow and shading, creating a full 3/4 sleeve on my left arm.

I'm extremely excited. This has been a LONG time coming.

Labels: being yourself, Joe's life, memories, tattoo

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The Journal of Joe The Peacock. Yay.

8.01.2008:

The 15 year tattoo, part 7 (final)

7.25.2008:

The 15 year tattoo, part 6

7.16.2008:

The 15-year tattoo, part 5

6.17.2008:

The 15-year tattoo, part 4

6.05.2008:

The 15-year tattoo, part 3

5.23.2008:

The 15-year tattoo, part 2

5.15.2008:

The 15-year tattoo, part 1

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