Japanese Prints at the Museum of Fine Arts

Posted by admin on October 17, 2010

Yesterday, Natan Alexander gave a thorough and informative guided tour through the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston's “Under the Skin: Tattoos in Japanese Prints” exhibition. The show will remain open through January 2nd, 2011, so if you missed Natan's speech the other day, make sure to go and check out all the amazing artwork while you can!
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Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
“Under the Skin: Tattoos in Japanese Prints”
Showing through January 2nd, 2011
465 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA
www.mfa.org

Portrait Of Mother and Grandfather by N^T^N

Posted by Natan on March 6, 2009

Â Portrait tattoos are a very powerful way to preserve the memory of a loved one forever. Michael Bragan of Salem Massachusetts came into Witch City Ink with a picture of his Mother kissing his Grandfather on her wedding day. He was looking to get a portrait tattoo done, and he chose Natan to do the portrait because he liked some of the other portraits in his portfolio. Â His Grandfather had passed away on December 27th of 2007, and Michael felt this would be the best way to honor his grandfather.

In Michael’s words: “I chose this picture because it is my mother’s favorite of the two together and from what I can remember this was the happiest I ever saw him. The smile on his face was priceless!”

Below are the images of the picture Michael brought in, the stencil Natan made of the picture, and the final tattoo.

The original Image:

Grandfather and Mother Picture

The Stencil:

Portrait Stencil

The Tattoo:

Finished Portrait with original picture

A Close up shot of the Final Tattoo:

Grandfather and Mother Portrait Close up

Natan writes, “Portrait tattoos are always a joy to do because people are so thrilled when you get it perfect. A tattoo of a loved one is a great way to keep them forever in your thoughts. When people bring in their favorite picture of a someone its up to you to really capture not only their likeness but also their spirit. There’s always a great story behind it and its some of the most challenging yet rewarding work you can do.”

Dragon Coverup Tattoo by N^T^N

Posted by Natan on February 25, 2009

Some tattoos get done in one session, and some take many. Brad wanted a Japanese dragon and he wanted it bright and strong. Thats exactly the type of tattoo work I like to do and I was very excited about the project. In the initial drawing consultation he described what he would like, we looked at some references, and I took some measurements to help me plan the tattoo. Brad and I began this tattoo knowing it would take a few sittings because there were 2 very solid tattoos that had to be covered as part of the design.

Heres a picture of the 2 tattoos we covered:

Brads Before Picture

When Brad arrived for his first tattoo session we sat right down and got to work. I was careful to locate elements of the design in places where I knew the color would mask the old tattoos. We tattooed for 3 hours and I managed to lay down the entire outline and some of the black. We made great progress but nevertheless, after the first session it was clear there was a long way to go. After our session, Brad took a picture of the outline. The photo is a little bit low resolution but you can at least get a sense of the progress. After 3 hours the tattoo looked like this:

First Session

The first session we got the whole outline in and some of the preliminary black, in the next session, 6 hours into the tattoo, we began to prepare the underpainting of the scales and background. Fortunately, Brad sat perfectly every session and was patient about getting the results he wanted. As a result I was able to concentrate on every detail along the way. Soon the tattoo started taking shape:

2nd Session

In the 3rd session the entire tattoo started really looking clearer and brighter, and we felt like huge progress had been made. At this point it started getting pretty hard to tell it was a coverup tattoo at all. 9 hours into the tattoo and the 1/2 sleeve looked like this:

3rd Session

At last we got to the final session, the last 3 hours. This is where a large amount of final detail work, color touch ups, and tightening of the outline took place. Using the last session to really perfect the tattoo gave me a chance to go over every area and make those colors pop out. Both Brad and I were very pleased with the final results as seen below:

Brads Dragon Final 1

Front View, Final Session

Brads Dragon, Back View, Final Session

Some tattoos definitely require patience, but in the end it pays off.

Natan’s Japan Trip 2008

Posted by Natan on February 16, 2009

Aya and I traveled to Japan in December 2008 to visit some of the greatest artists to influence modern tattooing. We were very fortunate to meet Horiyoshii III, the master tattoo artist of Yokohama, as well as Shige, of Yellow Blaze Tattoo. Additionally, thanks to our friend Kiyono, we were also able to spend several days studying traditional Japanese tattooing (Tebori) with tattoo master HoriKiyo. Natan received a traditional tattoo from HoriKiyo, a Bonji character for Fudo Myo. Fudo Myo is a Buddhist deity who called the “Immovable One” because he delivers human beings from temptations. Below are some images from the trip!

Horiyoshii III, Japans foremost tattoo master

Shiges work has become some of the most respected and imitated tattoo work in the world in the past few years. Check out why at YellowBlaze.net

Shige, Yellow Blaze Tattoo

HoriKiyo is a true Horishii, quietly and modestly creating masterpieces while seeking no attention. It was an honor to receive a tattoo from him and to sit and observe while he worked. We will definitely be back!

Traditional Japanese Tattoo Lessons

Tebori in progress

The tattoo hurt much less than I thought. I can even forgive the Yankees Shirt!