Right Leg Done!

The aim was to complete the right leg, and I was sceptical, because it looked like there was a lot still to do.

The usual train down to King's Cross, then across to the studio for about ten. The first few minutes went on marking out what we were going to do with the flowers, and we decided to keep them classical: red, crimson. There were a few remaining petals to fill too. Given the complexity of the line work on the flowers, I'd assumed this would run over two sessions. It didn't. We finished.

We started on the back of the leg in the morning. There's a shot in the photos of the big chrysanthemum on the rear of the thigh being filled, which was a bit spicy but nothing too bad. From there we worked down to the flowers on the calf, then round to the side, then the inside of the leg, and finished with the petals. Wrapped, and home.

I forgot to take many photos during the session because it was moving so quickly. I've set a reminder for next time to document it properly. That's more for myself than anything else: I'd like a photo record of each step of this.

Standing in the studio looking at the finished sleeve and talking it over with Deneka was hard to take in. Partly the speed: six sessions, just shy of thirty hours, from March to September. But mostly the boldness of it. This is the anchor for the rest of the bodysuit, and it looks incredible. The simple complexity I keep going on about runs all the way through it.

The knee and the swirls around it, the waves up on the thigh, the koi swimming up towards what will eventually be the Dragon Gate, the finger waves on the inside of the leg, the rock at the bottom, and the back with the huge rock and chrysanthemum. The palette is deliberately simple, greens and reds against the black and grey, and it works. We did consider filling the centre of the flowers with yellow, but we're leaving that until we start designing the left leg and can see how it reads across both.

That's next. There are three or four sessions booked, with the first one in September, so look out for an update. We've talked a little about the design already. This koi will be swimming down, possibly with the head near the knee. It's been through the Dragon Gate and is on its way back after the transformation. The successful side of the story.

No tattoos to a full leg sleeve in six months. The pace has been remarkable. Really looking forward to getting the left one started.