Some new (and some not so old) work by Jess

A traditional phoenix with a twist, this was a ton of fun to work on.  Obviously filled with a bunch of symbolism, the subject matter all worked well together.  Most people lean toward doing the phoenix in color, lots of reds and oranges, but this was an awesome break from the norm.  Thanks to Steve for letting me have fun with it! 

Peter's back has been a project that we have worked on for over the last two years.  It was both exciting to be done and be able to snap some photos, and sad to have finished and know that our sessions were over.  After so long in the chair, I think of Peter as both friend and family.  During our last appointment we figured out that in total her had spent almost 3 whole days of his life in the chair.  It was definitely a large project!  I had a great time doing the work and am truly honored to have done it.  Perhaps a bodysuit will be in his future.

Brian found a photo of a cross with wings that he liked.  We tweaked the background and pushed the colors to make it as bright as possible.  It was a blast to work on.  Thanks Brian! 

This was Katherine's first tattoo.  She sat like a champ and we finished it all in one sitting.  It was great to work in such a painterly way - I found the whole process to be very intuitive - very much like doing artwork other than tattooing.  I forget what that's like sometimes!

Sexy Grim Reaper!!!  Pin - Ups are pure fun.  Whether classic, sexy style or modern and stylized like this one they are always full of sass.  Kevin came in with a few vague ideas of how he wanted her to look and we went from there.  We both wanted more color than a traditional reaper so red became the obvious choice for the cloak. 

Kristen's half sleeve was inspired by all of her musical influences.  When she first came to me with this idea she had a stack of references and ideas.  At first we struggled with finding a solution that didn't involve covering her arm in band logos.  In the end we used a few and incorporated them with other elements, lyrics and other symbolism, to tie the whole piece together. 

It was quite the process to lay everything out and I think I had a migraine after one of her appointments, but it was worth every bit of discomfort.  Kristen is a fierce chic and this design fits her personality perfectly.  It was a fun collaboration and I hope to work on her right arm in the future. 

Ken and I had done the buffalo a while back and now we thought that it needed to be expanded upon. We added the lettering and decoration to enlarge the whole piece.  I never get sick of doing "Buffalo" inspired tattoos.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am obsessed with Halloween.  When George told me he wanted a Jack - O - Lantern, I think I may have screeched like a school girl, kind of embarrassing.  I still have a whole list of Halloween stuff I would like to do if anyone is interested.  I promise I will keep my composure.

It happens often where clients come in with an awesome conceptual idea and no idea as to how to execute it.  Sometimes this gap between idea and finished design stems from the limitations of the tattoo medium.  Sometimes it stems from a client's desire to put too much into a small design.  Either way it can be a struggle to come up with a satisfying plan.

When Pete came in with this idea I knew I could have some fun with it - just not sure exactly how.  Thank god he trusts me.  As it turned out, it was a tough concept to put together.  In the first few sketches the skull did not come across as much as I wanted - it just looked like a bunch of random pieces of glass.  It took some tweaking, but in the end it worked out just the way we talked about.  I really enjoyed the challenge and am thankful for the inspiration.

Garrett came to me wanting a tattoo for his children.  He chose feathers and flowers to symbolize them.  It caps off the top of his arm and perhaps it will grow someday if his family does.  I love when people think outside of the box.  We could have easily done their names and zodiac symbols, but this holds much more meaning.