I made a good start on the lion tattoo today — but didn’t get as far into it as I’d hoped.

My wish for this piece was to get the lines and blackwork completely done in one sitting. That didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. So…I made as much progress as I could in the time constraints I had.

Looking at it, I’m happy that I was able to at least get the stencil committed to the skin. The next step will be line-sculpting, finishing the blackwork, adding color.

Next session will be about sculpting and cleaning the lines up and 100% finishing the black. After that, if I have time during that session, I’ll do the color on the rose.

Then, after another 6 weeks of healing, I’ll work on finishing up the color on and around the lion as I work on touching up everything else that’s healed.

It’s going to be a LONG process, but worth the effort once I finish.

What went well?

• Getting the stencil committed to the skin.

What needs work?

• Client pain management.
• Planning large-scale work in more manageable chunks.

What did I learn?

Creating a finished portfolio piece requires a TON of effort. And it takes longer than planned. Always.