Mystic Fire Toad

When I started this blog I intended it to be a platform where I could post about all the great stuff that other people do, rather than posting about my own art, most of which you can see on my myspace page. But then I decided it would be nice to have the opportunity to share a bit more about the tattoo and the person it's on or the circumstances under which it was done, as I think this is sometimes more interesting than the tattoo itself. 

The pieces I select for my portfolio are generally the pieces that best reflect my capabilities as a tattooist, as well as being enjoyable enough subject matter that I'd be willing to do more tattoos like them.  The thing I find lacking with this way of condensing down my output is that it doesn't always include the tattoos with the best stories or experiences attached to them, and I do think they're sometimes the highlights of the job, even moreso than the opportunities to do the fun custom pieces. So I think it would be nice to post images based on something other than the quality of the tattooing for a change. I also might start including tattoos that are in progress, as sometimes it takes months or even years to get the finished photos, and it's nice to be reminded of all the exciting pieces you're working on.

For this post I thought I'd share one of the most enjoyable tattoos that I've done so far, partly because it is on my husband, and partly because it is a mystic toad engulfed in flames with a jewel for a third eye. After Shaun encountered this toad (I'm not going to divulge what he was doing at the time), he described it as the size of a house, with a forked tongue and a calm, buddha-like gaze. He made it very clear that the toad was looking past him, not at him - that it was aware of Shaun's presence but choosing to ignore him.  I couldn't resist the opportunity to draw such an incredible vision, so it ended up on his leg looking something like this.

Some photos Shaun took while I needled him: