Another Beautiful fan!

As promised, here is another picture of an Asian inspired fan piece! This client sat like a champ even though this piece is on a difficult area!

The symbolism of the fan

I have recently done some beautiful asian fan tattoos. I thought after discussing the meaning with one of my clients that I wouls post a brief description of the fan in asian culture as well as the link where I found it. This picture is one of my favorites, I just completed another this weekend that I will post asap!

Significance

1. The Chinese calligraphy character for the word "fan" has the same sound as the character for "kindness" or "good." Thus, fans are viewed as good luck charms and expressions of generosity.

Types

2. Flat Chinese fans are round and made of silk stretched over a frame. Folded fans are made of silk, paper, feathers or leaves. The handles can be bamboo, sandalwood, bone, tortoise shell or ivory.

Symbolism

3. The round fans symbolize union or reunion and are often inscribed with romantic poems, Chinese characters or floral designs representing wealth and longevity. The folding fans have a history of symbolizing scholarship.

Function

4. In the past, Chinese fans were used to signify a high social status. Today they are used to display grace in dances and personality traits of characters in theatrical plays or storytelling. In connection with the annual Dragon Boat Festival, Chinese fans have also been used as memorials of people who have died.

Fun Fact

5. Traditionally, men and women use different folding fans, based on the number of "ribs" between folds. Women's fans must have at least 30 ribs, but men's fans can have nine, 16, 20 or 24.

Read more: What Is the Meaning of the Chinese Fans? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_5647816_meaning-chinese-fans_.html#ixzz17HuSQ6cb

http://www.ehow.com/facts_5647816_meaning-chinese-fans_.html

This is one of our 6 for 6 sessions. Although I have many more hours to go I am happy with how this back piece is coming along. ALSO This client takes bright color really well which I am thrilled about! I am looking forward to our next session!

The claim

This drawing was created for a local function. It had been hanging on my wall when a good customer of mine claimed it for his own! I was so happy I finally got to do this one as a tattoo with little modifications!

Lineless

This piece was completely created with no lines. I would love to do much more work like this in the future!

Frumpy and frazzled

Hello everyone!

I’m in the middle of our crazy summer push. I will be working two weeks straight and I have had some really tough projects to work on. I took one of my days off this week to draw as I have some HUGE projects coming up in the next two weeks, and I have 8 six hour sessions all starting large scale projects. This is exciting and exhausting all wrapped up in a neat package.

I had a special circumstance day this Thursday. Those who know me know how against tattoo parties outside the shop I am on so many levels. Well this week I broke my cardinal rule of tattoos outside the shop! A friend of a customer who lives in Connecticut is terminally ill with brain cancer, and is in her last days. One of her wishes was to get tattooed before she passes, and I was truly honored to be the person chosen for the job! So…I packed up my equipment and made a pilgrimage to Connecticut where I met her and her family who are all fantastic people trying to deal as best they can with a difficult time. The woman got the symbol of the brain cancer ribbon made into a butterfly on her back shoulder. I did not photograph this out of respect for her and her family. My heart goes out to you all and you will be in my thoughts.

The leaf piece above has been a project Ive been working on for a while and was happy to finally finish! We had a color revision after the first round and now I think it looks real sharp!

Both the panda and moon pieces were done on sisters who came in for their first tattoos. The panda picture originally had no ears so I added them in. I love how this piece stands out from across the room! The moon piece is the exact drawing the customer came in with. I tried a few different design revisions, but she was set on the original drawing so we worked with that.

Finally the bird piece is an oldie but goodie that came in for a minor touch up and I couldn’t help but include it!

So in short I’m feeling a little frumpy and frazzled these days! I’m rocking my best “mom jeans” with a loose t-shirt, messy hair, poorly done makeup! But…as long as the tattoos look good I guess that’s all that matters isn’t it?