Hey guys,

If you follow me on Instagram/Twitter/Facebook then you'll have seen the stuff I've been working on lately. If not, then I've compiled it all here anyway with some commentary.  Hope you like. :)

Going Solo

Due to unfortunate circumstances, I'm essentially learning to tattoo by myself. It's been working out fine so far and I bought machinery, ink etc. to practice at home.

It had been a while since I last used a machine before this move, so I used a pomelo* to begin with:

Thought I'd start off with some freehand script.

After disliking the wobbliness of the first one, I decided to take it a little more seriously and made a stencil. Stereotypical stuff, just for practice.

Started to get the hang of it. :) None of the stencils would stick so I had to freehand all of the script in the end.

Hello Kitty is deceptively tricky to get right. More often than not, the simpler the shape, the harder it is to reproduce effectively. I figured she would be a good subject to practice such things.

Everyone seems to get Chinese characters done at some point, so here is 'love'. I'm not bilingual, so I had to rely on Google for this translation. :P

* pomelos are like a giant grapefruit that is milder in flavour. They're really tasty; I recommend it!

Back on the Arm

It didn't take too long to feel comfortable with using the tattoo machine, so I went back to the A Pound of Flesh arm to finish up the Buddha and complete some other pieces:

My first tattoo design! Still need to finish the lotus petals.

My second attempt at tattooing something realistic. I simply had to ink a lion after seeing this gem.

Roses are another popular item, so I crammed in five. Also added some more script, which isn't very good. Must improve.

Switched to something more Maori-inspired to see how I faired with line work. All original designs.

I wanna squeeze in a portrait or two if possible....and saving the white highlights for when the whole arm is finished.

Japanese Sleeve: 'Four Seasons'

After focusing on realistic, black&white designs, I wanted to do something that was the complete opposite. Japanese tattoos are hugely popular, despite their dark roots in the Yakuza. To stem away from this, I focused on making it look like a woodblock print. This is reminiscent to my work on Fall of the Samurai, which was pretty fun.

Here are sneaky previews of my progress so far.....I don't want to post the whole design until after it's done. :)

Matsumoto Castle and The Great Wave.

This was lifted from Hasui Kawase's Autumn print. Normally, I wouldn't agree to using other artists' work without their permission, but Hasui's work is well out of copyright law.

A snippet of The Great Wave by Hokusai.

To those of you who are wondering, I'm using a rotary machine by Wayne Taylor and ink by Kuro Sumi.

If you're interested in getting a tattoo from me (I'm based in Wales, UK), contact me at info [at] naomihoang.com

Thanks for visiting!
Naomi xxx