Pre-Third Session. May 9 2003. 10:00AM.
Finally friday. Thank God. The waiting is definitely the hardest part. And then, of course, I worry if Chris needs to cancel for whatever reason. That would suck. My body is still a bit sore from last weekends gardening extravaganza in my Mom's back yard. Weeding, painting, planting, pruning, digging...

Post-Third Session. May 9 2003. 11:45PM.
Some days, sitting under the machine are harder than others. This session was a little more aggravating than the last. I think that's because the area that we were working on was still a little sore from the last session. All that said, Chris has a great hand and a better eye. The work is really impressing me. The little details like the way he mixes the colors and how he ends the color right before the he hits the outline leaving an 1/8th of an inch of bare skin. Very cool.

I had dropped off printouts of my back for Chris to sketch the background on. When I got to the shop, we started discussing where the other elements will be placed. We're moving the bamboo to the right upper back to use as the cover up on the preexisting work. We discussed making sure the maple leaves don't look like pot leaves. He also jazzed me up with how he plans on doing the "wind" swirls and other little (big) touches. I think we're pretty much agreed that there won't be an element of fire on this. Makes sense as it is an aquatic theme, but he does these really cool pieces I've been calling "Tibetan Fireballs" and I hope we can suss out a way to drop them in there somehow. It's interesting how I have given him complete control on this. If he thinks something isn't quite right, that's that. I don't push like I would normally. While I like 95% of the work I wear and respect the artists who did the work, Chris is undoubtedly the most accomplished artist I've ever worked with.

This "piece" will be an awesome combination of bright oranges, blues and greens. Obviously a good deal of blacks and reds, too. And I still can't get over how huge this tattoo is. My entire back and tying into my sleeves. Once I finish my back, I'm going to complete the chest work. And then I'm done until I turn fifty and at that point I plan on seeing Trevor Marshall to do my legs. :-)

Back work is strange in the sense that you have no idea what is happening until it's done. I sat for about two hours straight today before we took a break for me to see. So you lay there and deal with the boredom and the annoying noise and little bit of pain and then when you take a look at what's been completed, your face lights up. "Hell yeah!"

We got the dorsal fins and the "flipper fins" done today. This will probably take six more sessions to complete. My hope of being finished by July 4th will not come to pass. But that's fine, because this is going to be pretty rocking when it's done.

From: Carol (mymunkylvr@hotmailjustkillme.com) wrote:
"I showed my husband. He said, "that looks f**king real."

  

Pre-Fourth Session. May 22 2003. 9:45AM.
Lord, I am dying to finish this work. The irony is that one of the meanings behind the Koi as a symbol is patience and persistance. Another thing annoying me is that Chris is unavailable until 7/11. What's that, like 6 weeks away? Grrrrrrrrrr. Well, he's going to get his back done, so I can relate. But still...

Post-Fourth Session. May 23 2003. 10:00PM.
Not much to add to this running account after tonight's session. We finished the Koi except for the head and face and a bit at the fins. It's a damn big fish! As usual, it looks amazing. Some of the work on my side hurt like hell and some I didn't even feel. Weird.

Anyway, I have to wait over a month 'till the next session. That sucks. I'm told that the rest of this piece will move along at a greater speed than everything up to this point due to the more "open" nature of the background elements. I'm really ready to start seeing the other colors. The bright greens of the bamboo and the blues of the water. Cool.