Almost finished with this whole leg piece. It is five heroes from Japanese artist Kuniyoshi's series of Suikoden prints. It is a very famous Chinese story that was translated to Japanese in 1757 and became a wildly popular phenomenon in Japan. It is the story of 108 outlaw heroes and their exploits.
Several of the warriors in the story have full body tattoos, and this was the initial inspiration for the aesthetic of Japanese full back and body tattoos. Most of the dudes on this leg have full single needle body suits themselves.
It has been a very difficult tattoo to photograph as a whole. We usually do 2-3 sessions on consecutive days every few months or so. Maybe when it's done and all healed I can get him to shave his leg for the final photo session...
More to come...
