This is the final part of a 3 part series about this particular tattoo:
It is unusual for me to publish posts about my tattoos on the Travel & Things Blog, however this one is a direct result of seeing a tiger (named Baras)on each day of a 6 day safari while at Pench National Park in India in 2018.
I have been planning this particular tribute piece since seeing 2018, but for one reason or another, it was never the right time.
COVID played a large part in me delaying the work as well the fact that my regular tattoo artist was not allowed to work during the pandemic and then he chose to move to Cape Town.
But the Universe is strange, and I met the artist who would do this work at a family funeral.
It transpires that Daniel is the nephew of my brother-in-law and we got chatting after the service and we agreed that it was not the ideal setting to chat about tattoos, so we arranged to meet where he works at Fallen Heroes in Emmarentia, a more appropriate setting for a discussion of this nature.
This is the final session of the piece and although I though that white was only going to be added to eyes, it seems that I was mistaken.
This is what the tattoo looked like when I arrived for the final session.
To my untrained eye, it seemed complete, but no, Daniel wanted to add white to the colour palette that he had already utilized.
BUT FIRST!
There were 3 tiny black lines that he had missed on the previous session that needed to be completed.
A detail that I had not even noticed.
A quick swipe of a cloth and it is time to get on with the final part of the tattoo.
For those who are concerned about the black marks, they were not part of the tattoo and were cleaned away before we continued.
In retrospect, they might have worked had Daniel left them as is as they add movement to the paw…I might have to return.
The white makes the image ‘pop’, but in the beginning it is more pink than white as a result of the bleeding. Not copious amounts if you are squeamish, but just enough to tint the white ink after it is applied.
It was difficult to capture the exact moment the white was applied in order to get the pristine colour.
However, I persevered and eventually was able to get an image that conveyed what this final addition of colour was going to achieve.
Having sat for almost 6 hours for the first session and about 5 for the second, I was ‘upset’ that this one only lasted about 60 minutes.
Not much white to be added as it is only a highlight rather than a dominant colour.
Whiskers, teeth, claws and some of the fur.
That sort of reminds me of an advert from back in the day for Ingram’s Camphor Cream…the tag line was “hands, knees, heels and elbows”…
You can see the difference between white as it is being applied to that which had been inked moments before.
My what big teeth you have.
I wonder what toothpaste a tiger uses to keep its teeth so white and bright?
And so, this tattoo is complete and my tribute to Baras will be with me forever.
My thanks to Daniel for being so understanding and such a font of information when it came to Japanese tattoo work. I hope that this is the beginning of a friendship that will encompass more work for different reasons.
To find out more about the product and what it offers, click on the image above.
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If you want to find out more about Fallen Heroes and the artists that work there. click on the logo above.
Daniel Feinberg has switched disciplines throughout his career. From interior design to fine art and having a few shows at the Premises Gallery, to Architectural Visualization, he has finally settled as a Tattoo Artist with a focus and love for Traditional Japanese Tattoo. This involves having a strong connection to Japanese myth and culture. The use of Ukiyo-E prints as a core for reference and inspiration mixes well with tattoo flash art sensibilities.
INSTAGRAM: @danielfeinberg
The whole process took about 6 weeks. 3 sessions of about 12 hours in total. 1st session was about 6 hours, the second, 5.5 hours and the last one was about an hour.
After the line work was done, I had to wait for 3 weeks for that to heal before Daniel would do the colour and then there was another wait of 3 weeks before the colour had healed enough for him to apply the white.
For someone who thrives on instant gratification. it was well worth the wait!
For those who have never had a tattoo before, the process worked as follows for this particular piece:
The purple was a stencil that was applied to my leg to make certain that the finished ink would be correctly placed.
The outline was then inked in black. The stencil was cleaned off as the black line work was done. This left only crisp black lines with none of the purple left on my skin.
This was followed by a session to apply the colour
And finally the white highlights were inked in.
Daniel and I are already working together to figure out what my next tattoo might be.
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