Hello tattoo lovers!
At one point, at a tattoo festival, Karina and I met and started talking about a project we had wanted to do together for a long time. We live not far from each other: I am from Tomsk, she is from Omsk, the two cities that everyone constantly confuses. For me, this was also a reason to visit Omsk for the first time.
By the time I arrived, Karina had already found a model, a girl who was ready for any Japanese-themed design. This style is something we both enjoy. While I was traveling to Omsk on the Trans-Siberian Railway, we stayed in touch, refining the idea and discussing what we could do. In the end, we decided on a classic Japanese cat covered in colorful Japanese tattoos in a more realistic manner. Essentially, a tattooed Japanese cat within a full Japanese composition.
While the train carried me to Omsk, Karina and I worked on the design together, and by the time I arrived, the sketch was completely ready. The model saw the drawing and had no objections—in fact, she was very excited about the idea. The next morning, I came to Karina’s studio. We set up our workstations, printed the sketch, and adjusted the size. Photographer Alex Ruppel, one of the top photographers in Omsk, came to document the process.
The client was tall, which was perfect for our four-hand workflow. We positioned ourselves on different sides of her thigh: I worked on the top, Karina on the bottom, occasionally switching positions. We worked almost the entire session simultaneously, and the model handled it incredibly well, calmly sitting for two artists at the same time. The atmosphere was light: joking, talking, filming the process, and everything went smoothly without tension.
In the end, the result was a strong, cohesive project and an excellent collaboration that I would love to repeat. Working together on one large Japanese piece was an extremely positive experience, both in terms of the result and the process. Karina and I are now planning a trip to Brussels to attend a convention and explore the city, and if we manage to create something interesting there, it will be a new story for the next chapter.
At one point, at a tattoo festival, Karina and I met and started talking about a project we had wanted to do together for a long time. We live not far from each other: I am from Tomsk, she is from Omsk, the two cities that everyone constantly confuses. For me, this was also a reason to visit Omsk for the first time.
By the time I arrived, Karina had already found a model, a girl who was ready for any Japanese-themed design. This style is something we both enjoy. While I was traveling to Omsk on the Trans-Siberian Railway, we stayed in touch, refining the idea and discussing what we could do. In the end, we decided on a classic Japanese cat covered in colorful Japanese tattoos in a more realistic manner. Essentially, a tattooed Japanese cat within a full Japanese composition.
While the train carried me to Omsk, Karina and I worked on the design together, and by the time I arrived, the sketch was completely ready. The model saw the drawing and had no objections—in fact, she was very excited about the idea. The next morning, I came to Karina’s studio. We set up our workstations, printed the sketch, and adjusted the size. Photographer Alex Ruppel, one of the top photographers in Omsk, came to document the process.
The client was tall, which was perfect for our four-hand workflow. We positioned ourselves on different sides of her thigh: I worked on the top, Karina on the bottom, occasionally switching positions. We worked almost the entire session simultaneously, and the model handled it incredibly well, calmly sitting for two artists at the same time. The atmosphere was light: joking, talking, filming the process, and everything went smoothly without tension.
In the end, the result was a strong, cohesive project and an excellent collaboration that I would love to repeat. Working together on one large Japanese piece was an extremely positive experience, both in terms of the result and the process. Karina and I are now planning a trip to Brussels to attend a convention and explore the city, and if we manage to create something interesting there, it will be a new story for the next chapter.