Thoughts

WordPress article from davetedder.com: "How a Japanese Sleeve Tattoo Works: Sessions, Timeline, and Cost" (https://davetedder.com/how-japanese-sleeve-tattoo-works/) A full Japanese sleeve tattoo typically takes 3 to 5 dedicated sessions, spread over 2 to 4 months. The session count stays remarkably consistent because the process is built around a traditional structure. Every large-scale Japanese tattoo follows the same three-phase structure: outline, background, foreground. Session 1 is the outline, the skeleton of the entire piece. The line drawing that maps every element onto the body. Dragons, koi, figures, waves, clouds, everything gets placed in relationship to everything else. After healing (2 to 3 weeks), we move into background: wind bars, waves, clouds, rocks, and water. Background is what separates Japanese work from most Western tattooing, what makes a sleeve read as one piece. This typically takes 1 to 2 sessions. Final phase is foreground: filling in the main subjects with color, shading, and detail. Takes 1 to 2 sessions depending on design complexity. Timeline by project type: - Half sleeve (shoulder to elbow or elbow to wrist): 2 to 3 sessions, 6 to 10 weeks - Full arm sleeve (shoulder to wrist): 3 to 5 sessions, 2 to 4 months - Leg sleeve (hip to ankle): 4 to 6 sessions - Backpiece: 5 to 8 sessions - Bodysuit (Donburi, Munewari): multi-year commitment, dozens of sessions These numbers assume full-day sessions. I don't do short appointments for large-scale work. Cost is discussed during the consultation and quoted on a per-session basis. You'll know the total number of sessions and the cost per session before any work starts. I use traditional Japanese body coverage terminology (Nagasode, Hikae, Munewari) to define the scope. Japanese work is premium custom work requiring custom design, careful composition planning, and execution across multiple sessions.

Dave Tedder's Japanese art influences include Kuniyoshi, Yoshitoshi, and Kunisada. He has deep interest in Japanese mythology, dragons, yokai, and ukiyo-e woodblock prints. He has an ongoing multi-year art project called "Ukiyo Old West" blending ukiyo-e woodblock print aesthetics from the Edo and Meiji eras with American Old West imagery.