totoro_miyazaki_anime_cherry_blossom_tattoo_thousand_stroke_japanese_Oliver_Wong_November_2022
baby_tiger_forearm_thousand_stroke_tattoo_san_francisco_oct_2022
I personally consider tattooing to be a fine art and I treat it as such by continually looking for ways to improve the quality of my tattoos. I have found that many of the principals applied to other media used to create aesthetic balance and visual clarity can be also be applied to tattoos. Clients will likely wear my tattoo work for the rest of their lives and I want to make sure they are proud to share the art with others. My goal is to make sure the tattooing I do is originally designed and unique to it’s owner. I enjoy doing custom illustrative tattoo work for people because it allows me to tap into my inner creativity to help my clients tell their stories.
Although my work is heavily influenced by Asian art, I choose not to limit the scope of my tattoo work to any of the popular tattoo genres. This allows me to explore and continually grow as an artist. Instead I look at my projects in broader terms, choosing to limit black outlines, and relying more on the illusion of depth created by shading and contrast.
During my design process, I leverage both digital and traditional media. Digital design has become essential in allowing me the versatility to explore possibilities under tight time constraints. Traditional media is used to bridge the gap where digital applications are inappropriate. In addition, I have worked on a variety of skin types and tones, which allows me to assist my clients in gaining the best outcome for their personal situation.
As a personal collector of tattoos, I am well aware that people make mistakes with tattoos and I am more than willing to cover up and re-work existing tattoo work to help clients re-new confidence in their appearance. People have the capacity to change over their lifetimes and so should the body art that they wear. Several pieces featured above are in fact cover ups of unwanted tattoos.