More Background Shading, Day Two

Another wonderful night's sleep. If you ever struggle with sleeping, I can recommend getting tattooed.

An easy morning. It was still horrendously hot outside, but the hotel was cold, possibly a little too cold, though I wasn't complaining. It reminded me of the first back-to-back, where the air conditioning in that hotel was broken. Thankfully it wasn't as warm then. I was very grateful for it last night.

The plan for today was to shade the koi. I don't have many in-session photos this time because, if I'm honest, I forgot. But we started on the koi straight away and, compared to the knee and the inside of the leg yesterday, it felt like a dream.

Spirits were high, conversation was flowing! Down at the tail of the koi, where it meets the knee, it was a bit spicy, and there were a couple of tender spots close to where the background had gone in the day before. But the body of the koi was completely fine.

That said, I don't think I'd go beyond a back-to-back. I've read about people doing eight hours a day for four days straight and that is just insane to me. Two days is manageable. You're away from home, there's the extra cost of a hotel, but seeing that much progress in such a short window is worth it without a doubt.

By about twelve the koi was done, and it looks amazing. Then a milestone: the first colour. We put green into the petals of the chrysanthemums, and it went in really well. We were wrapped up just short of two, which was a nice surprise, and I was on my way home quickly.

So the whole leg now has its background. I think it looks incredible. You can see the flowing wave structure, the finger waves, the bold solid black. It'll settle, but this is the look I wanted, and it's here.

We also talked a little about the whole suit, the ideas and the staging of it, which I'll cover in another post.

There are a couple of shots from home in here too, taken today, the day after. It looks to be settling well. There are some detail shots as well: one of the knee showing how saturated it is, and some of the inside.

Apparently the right leg will be finished in one more session. I struggle to believe that, but who am I to judge? So one more session, right leg done, and then more than likely straight onto the left.

That's it for now. I'll follow up with a healing post in a couple of weeks.