Dark Knight Celtic Half Sleeve Tattoo

Today  I completed a knotwork piece that was custom designed to frame and enhance the Knight's Cross, and be integrated with it into a full half sleeve.  Using a black background in the cross draws the eye to that central focus, and a dotted texture behind the weaves is a way to add the feel of a stone carving. Bringing part of the knots into and through the ring around the cross makes it clear that the central element was not there first, that it was all one idea, now made manifest in skin.

Dark Knight Celtic Half Sleeve Tattoo by Pat Fish

Dark Knight Celtic Half Sleeve Tattoo by Pat Fish

And here is a view of the inside of the arm, showing how the piece connects completely around and has a secret. The initials of his two beloved daughters are enclosed within the band. 

inside view of Dark Knight Celtic Half Sleeve Tattoo by Pat Fish

inside view of Dark Knight Celtic Half Sleeve Tattoo by Pat Fish

Celtic Battle Armor Tattoo

Today's client wanted the effect of battle armor, so we started with a double-wide band around the bottom and joined it to a circle above to fit into the musculature of his upper arm. The photo is taken from the front here to show how I fitted it as high as I could without being too far into the armpit, and made an arc at the top that scribed the shape of the shoulder. The overall effect is fitted chain mail, a complex and intricate new skin.

Celtic Battle Armor Tattoo by Pat Fish

Celtic Battle Armor Tattoo by Pat Fish

Celtic Valor Sleeve Tattoo - Colored

Today I am thrilled to finally do a  knotwork half-sleeve with a vivid color in the background. I've done solid black or dot shaded fill in the area behind the knots in the past, but this is the first time I have had a client who wanted color. I very much like this look, where the color makes a shield of their skin for the knots to appear above, it lifts them into the foreground. The previous blog post shows it when it was just lines and shading:

http://www.luckyfish.com/blog/celtic-valor-sleeve-tattoo

Celtic Valor Sleeve Tattoo by Pat Fish

Celtic Valor Sleeve Tattoo by Pat Fish