You Have to Start Somewhere!

Although I had decided from the outset that I wanted a Japanese body suit (without having had a single tattoo), I decided to start with the cherry blossoms. The most important part of the body suit is the back but, frankly, I wanted to have the first part of the tattoo where I could see it. I had read enough of the medical literature to know that not everybody’s skin will react well or heal well when subjected to the tattoo process. So, I wanted to see my tattoo up close.

Three cherry blossoms. Tattoo by Greg James.

The three cherry blossoms above were done by themselves, without the grey sumie work that represents clouds and wind. But, not realizing that I would eventually document my experience (much less write a book about tattoos), I don’t have any pictures of the blossoms by themselves.

Satisfaction with the Artwork

Notice the detail in the three blossoms. No aspect was too small from some variation in color or some amount of elaboration, even the leaves. Ultimately, I needn’t have worried about the end product at all. My skin healed well and the results were outstanding. I later learned that the healing time, in addition to being a result of each persons body makeup, is also a result of the skill of the tattoo artist. With his 20+ years of experience, Greg is able to minimize the trauma to the skin while ensuring a high quality image.

A Trial for My Skin

Although we took three weeks between tattoo sessions (once the backpiece was started) to ensure complete healing before starting more tattooing, I was basically peeled and healed in about 10 days. In over one year of almost continual tattooing, totaling more than 50 hours, I never had an adverse reaction, let alone an infection.