I have started to challenge myself more when it comes to tattoo practice on fakeskin.
Fur texture is considered to be one of the hardest to replicate in tattoing and the lion is amongst the toughest to represent. So I told to myself: let's try to tattoo a lion.
Challenge accepted. With time I came to realize that I am always in competition with myself and that I can be my hardest critic as well as my best admirer. I am slowly silencing the critic and make room for more self compassion and understanding.
I have chosen to draw my stencil by hand as it makes me more attentive to details.
I have started with the mane and I must admit that this part took me the longest in comparison with the face.
I was so stoked to be able to finish this piece of work amongst working and other miscellaneous stuff in my life I have to deal with.
On real skin I would need more than one session to finish this and I would probably need to cut some of the details off as on human skin it is often not necessary to put the tiniest detail in a piece.
I will continue to challenge myself. I have felt the pungent smell of envy amongst some of my colleagues, telling me how I should not dare to try realism and to remain small, working on boring designs. I refused. I do what I want and I will not make myself small in order to accomodate other people's lack of talent. The truly talented tattoers appreciated my work, the ones who can't even draw tried to see the flaws. I am growing so much by learning how to neglect the envious people and focus on my own self growth. The mediocre people are always the loudest in the room, that's for sure.
