PHASE I: Outline Work
Pictures taken by me on 17-May-2006
Artwork designed and inked by Ant at Ascension Tattoo.
This tattoo serves as a celebration of my son Reed, who's initials and birthdate are on the rocket on the outside of my calf, as well as express my enjoyment of high power rocketry. The original concept was "only" the rocket flying through space on the outside of my calf, but the "sock" idea was born when I stumbled upon an image that had a retro-looking astronaut, flying saucers, and aliens. I conceived a story where a young boy is inspired by rocketry to become an astronaut, blasts off and goes into space, and finally touches down on a planet where he is greeted by a small group of aliens who bear a gift. In my consultations with Ant, he really liked the overall "story" idea and put together a sketch which turned into the work you see here.
It was important to have this tattoo on me where it would be easily covered while at work but be just as easy to show off when I am at a rocket launch.
What you see below is just the outline work for this tattoo. When finished, it will be in full color and go from just above my ankle to just below the knee on my right leg. This outline process took about 2.5 hours to complete. The skin looks a little pink because these pictures were taken only an hour or so after the work was completed.
 This is the front of my leg. The boy holding the rocket overhead with rocket launching behind him was inspired by an image created by Shrox. (And yes, I did get his permission before I incorporated it into my design!) |
 This is the outside of my calf. This image of the rocket in space was the original concept... I had envisioned a typical space-like background of planets and galaxies but Ant took it to a new level by showing the rocket leaving KSC on Earth, which will be a lot more obvious when color is added. |
 The inside of my calf. Here a grown up version of the boy is on a planet where he is greeted by a trio of aliens bearing a gift. Several color only details will be added:
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 The view from behind. Here you can see where everything meets up in the back. |
PHASE II: Black & White Shading
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PHASE III: Colors
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