Chronicle 01: The encounter, the body and time. Full body project.

The Human Before the Plot: A Spiritual Quest

It didn't all start with a needle, but with a layer of paper. My client arrived with a real research file, an accumulation of matured intentions over the long term. For a project of this scale, urgency is the enemy.

We devoted three preliminary meetings to listening: understanding man and his quest for constant spirituality on the path of life. This time for reflection is the basis of the Workshop. We do not "consume" a life project, we tame it.

The Architecture of Life: Stencils and Transitions

Creating on a full body is a compositional challenge. We proceeded zone by zone — back, arms, legs, torso, stomach — using a mixture of precise stencils and freehand drawings to adjust the transitions. Take the time to think, compose, analyze the rendering and plan for the medium and long term: it is this entire approach that allows the project to take shape in the best way.

The back: The invisible painting for oneself

The back houses an emblematic figure: Raijin, highlighted by a Dharma wheel in the foreground. I sought to highlight the client's musculature by keeping a "V" shape that goes from the shoulders to the hips, while respecting strong iconographic details such as the three-fingered hand, symbol of the past, present and future.

Giving a dimension of endless spiritual quest, the wheel of Dharma, which is never completely held by the hand that pursues it, leads to deep inner reflection. The Tomoe, symbols of Raijin's power, revolve around him as depicted in ancestral representations. The clouds around Raijin give the illusion of a breakthrough in a picture anchored deeper in the body.

The belly: The discreet representation of the lycoris

When switching to the stomach, we opted for red Lycoris, deliberately discreet to make way for a future more imposing torso composition. Each step is a reflection on the overall balance, a complete projection to keep in mind before each addition, before each inked trace. The junctions between the back and the stomach have been adjusted in real time so that the work is fluid from all angles and can continue to play on this illusion of clouds which open onto both the back and stomach rooms.

Les Jambes: Two living paintings

Today we are working on the legs. I designed two living paintings that respond to each other in false symmetry. It is an intertwining of chrysanthemums, Tomoe symbols, lightning and clouds. The idea was to create two prints that face each other, with similar themes and central elements that respond to each other: slightly different chrysanthemums for each side, but placed in the same places. The main principle here is to maintain a balance of contrasts by playing on the depth of the elements.

Nothing is ever set in stone. Each route is re-evaluated so that the artistic movement embraces the movement of life. This constant dialogue between the prepared pattern and the fit on the skin ensures that the ink is not an addition, but an extension of the anatomy.

The Crossing: The test of duration

Such a project is a crossing that takes years. It's a pact of patience. Over the months, life invited itself: personal hazards, moments of fatigue and significant stages of life.

I have always wanted this transparency: tattooing advances to the rhythm of our realities. Agreeing to slow down means respecting the work. Each session is not just a technical stage, it is a meeting where we come together to continue building this mutual promise, without ever sacrificing the soul of the project to haste. 

It is about respecting both the body, which endures all these hours of work, and the mind, which navigates through the feelings, constraints and tumult of life.