Japanese motif, small?

eviltimeban

Going in on Saturday to get a small tattoo on my forearm; I have a full sleeve on one arm and just wanted to get a small Japanese motif done on the other, but in keeping with the Japanese style. To kind of kick start sleeve #2. :-)

I'm only going in for about 30 - 40 minutes so will have to be something small, quick and easy to do - originally I was thinking of cherry blossom(s), but if anyone has any amazing ideas maybe post them?

Things like koi, dragons, lotus flowers etc would take longer than the alloted time I have so it would really have to be something v small.

Elbow

Its a Japanese Swastika or Manji - I'll post up a bit more information & history of the symbol after work

eviltimeban

I might try and avoid the swastika reference - thanks all the same! No, its more naturalistic motifs I'm looking for; I know there's Japanese peaches, and frogs, other flowers like maple leaves, etc. Something along those lines. I've done a lot of research already and there isn't a lot I haven't come across; it was just in case someone had an idea I hadn't considered.

Elbow

No worries, I've been reading up on ancient Buddhist & Asian symbols for my sleeve and the swastika features heavily so i taught i'd throw it out there anyway


Anything else i can think of at the moment would take longer than 30-40 minutes

Black Sheep

If you're planning on getting a full sleeve on that arm then why not plan the sleeve first and worry about the timeframe later?

Unless you specifically plan to accumulate a bunch of small designs for the sleeve (which is something I'd associate more with trad style sleeves than japanese style) then why limit yourself to what you can get done in under 40 minutes?

Save the extra money, book the extra time and head in and that way you won't be limited in what you can get. If you're planning something like a sleeve then I'd just accept that that might entail getting an outline first and having it unfinished for quite a while.

My few cents anyway - no offense meant, that's just the first thing that occurred when reading your post.

If you're dead set on a very small motif and have researched I doubt I can really come up with anything you won't already have seen ... Dragonflies, various types of flowers, crabs, frogs... Maybe the tattooist is quick and you're working in black and grey maybe something a little bigger like a hannya mask or severed head...?

eviltimeban

Black Sheep wrote: »

If you're planning on getting a full sleeve on that arm then why not plan the sleeve first and worry about the timeframe later?

Unless you specifically plan to accumulate a bunch of small designs for the sleeve (which is something I'd associate more with trad style sleeves than japanese style) then why limit yourself to what you can get done in under 40 minutes?

Save the extra money, book the extra time and head in and that way you won't be limited in what you can get. If you're planning something like a sleeve then I'd just accept that that might entail getting an outline first and having it unfinished for quite a while.

My few cents anyway - no offense meant, that's just the first thing that occurred when reading your post.

If you're dead set on a very small motif and have researched I doubt I can really come up with anything you won't already have seen ... Dragonflies, various types of flowers, crabs, frogs... Maybe the tattooist is quick and you're working in black and grey maybe something a little bigger like a hannya mask or severed head...?

Good point about the sleeve, the way I see it, anything small I have done can easily be incorporated into the sleeve design. I'll probably go for a large dragon down the arm, with the usual windbars, waves, and cherry blossoms around it, so having a cherry blossom done (which I'll probably end up doing) will fit in. My existing sleeve was done in 3 sections and worked out fine.

Its more about sating my desire for ink now, as I won't be able to afford a sleeve for a while, and when you wanna get something done, you have the itch, you gotta do it! :-)

eviltimeban

Ended up getting this. Am very pleased with it: