BRANDED
Do you have other tattoos besides your sleeves? “I have a bunch from when I was younger, but they are mostly covered up now. I have two tribal dragons on my back and two pinup girls on my chest – and if I had three months to hit the gym I would’ve been prepared to take my shirt off for this shoot. I also have my ribs done. I recently got an old piece on my leg covered up with a skull, blue birds and roses – it’s a modern, realistic take on American Traditional by Chris Moniz (@tattoomoniz) at AsteroidM Tattoos. Doug has done all of my other tattoos – so when I decided to do a sleeve, Doug was the obvious choice because he’s always been very well known for his work.”
What is the symbolism behind your tattoos? Do the “They are connected. My one sleeve, my first one – is built around a dragon, with wind and cherry blossoms – those are the three things that Doug was known for early in his tattooing career. The other sleeve is of an octopus in water, with a cliff and pagoda in the background. I really wanted the elements of wind and water – in a sense it represents balance.”
What is next? Will you add or are you done? “I always say I’m done – I get tattooed and I think, ‘ugh, this is brutal, why would anyone do this?’ Then the bug bites, and I’ll end up getting something else. All of the older tattoos I wanted covered up are now covered up so I’m kind of at a point where I really am wondering what I could do next. I’d like to connect my sleeves at one point with a chest piece – which I would get Doug to do for sure because he’d have to go around his own work and figure that out. It’d be cool to see what he would do.”
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