Tattoo in the works....

[CLSpider]

I figured I've been a member on this site for long enough....at least it seems like I've been a member for a long time....that I'll share one of my favorite tattoos. It's still not finished. I still have quite a few more hours until it is.
The background/waves are going to stay black and gray. While the fish and flowers will be in color. It still has got a LOOOOT of detail that needs to be put into it. I absolutely cannot wait until it's finished though!
This tattoo is completely filled with meaning to me....but I won't get into that.
And I wasn't sure if I could get in trouble for posting some of the pictures that kind of showed little pieces of certain body parts...so I used trusty paint and fixed that
P.S. it was ridiculously difficult to get a picture of it from the back! So it looks a little warped because of how I had to turn my body and position my arm.

[Simple Man]

Nice! That's huge!

Regards,

B

[Kymberli]

It looks great so far and I think you made a good choice with keeping the background colorless when it's finished. Looks like you made a nice choice in choosing your artist, the lines look smooth and the shading is beautiful!

[CLSpider]

Thank you both. And yes, it's huge! Haha.
The line work was done by someone different than the person that did the shading and will be doing the rest.
I debated for a year whether or not I would go back to the original artist...but finally decided against it, for many reasons. I did not feel comfortable around him, he was rude, he talked a lot of trash on people, he does very flat, unrealistic work that has absolutely no depth(although his lines are very clean), and he charged an arm n a leg. I wasn't too happy with how he did the flowers, but my new guy is going to fix them up.
And I drew up the piece, so I didn't feel too bad about going to someone other than the original to complete it.
So I found my new guy and am not looking back.

[Soterios]

Rad looking. Can't wait to see the finished product.

[Kymberli]

Definitely a great decision on sticking with your new artist. Aside from being a horrible person or not, quality in shading (especially when you get to the coloring) makes the piece.

[Skittles1101]

That is amazing, it looks great! I can't wait to see it when it's done

[PitOnTheProwl]

The line work is smooth for the most part but the shading is what makes it a great piece!! If he can color as well as he shades it will jump off your body.

[Lucas339]

looks awsome!!

[CLSpider]

Thank you everyone.
He already made it pop, I can't wait until it has some color!
Shading absolutely makes the piece, I completely agree. Which is another reason I went to him and not the original guy. You can do a good outline, but if you suck at shading and/or coloring, the piece [I]will[I] look like crap.

Here's what he had to work with....bare-minimum outline