A Japanese tattoo is a whole composition, not a set of separate drawings. The main image (a dragon, a koi carp, a mask, a Buddhist lion) is surrounded by waves, clouds, flowers and wind, and the work is built around the curves of the body: a sleeve, the back, the chest, the thigh.
In the tradition every image has a meaning, so choosing a motif starts with a conversation: what the design means to you, where it should go and how it will sit with the tattoos you already have. The sketch is then made for the specific place and size.
I work in Saint Petersburg, by appointment (Primorsky District, Chyornaya Rechka metro). Finished works in this style are below, and in the flash sketches you can choose a motif and adapt it to yourself.
A traditional Kyōgen theater mask.
Guardian of the Emperor's secrets.
He dances and laughs.
It crushes the serpent with its hooves.
In the Sumi-e technique.
It creeps up the arm.
Covering up old work.
