Stage one of the hydra is done. About 5-6 hours in the chair for the outline. Each head of the hydra is for each of my kids. My inspiration for this piece started with “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” I read that book when I was in a pretty dark place and the imagery of that kind of power all of your back wormed in my brain. I didn’t want a dragon though, I wanted something kind of keeping with my mythology. So there’s my Phoenix for transformation, and the hydra as the battle I have been fighting for 2 decades, with my kids being the force that helped me go further than I could ever dream. The lyrics that kind of cemented the idea were from Antichrist Superstar “Cut the Head off…grows back hard. I am the hydra, now you’ll see your stars…”
The myth with the hydra is that if you cut the head off, 1-3 grow back. That’s how I see the kids. As I learn and transform, I raise them to be powerful forces of nature, and all us crazy people multiply. I wanted the water and lotuses to offset the fire from the Phoenix. Colors will be lots of blues, purples, and teals. The lotuses represent the philosophy that saved me – especially Watts and the study of Buddhism. And the study of psychology – especially Jung. All those forces combined brought me here to this friggin monster. I’m so happy. this design has been being turned over for years in my mind’s eye, and Dwayne managed to make it even more sick than I imagined. #transformation #tattoos #backtattoo #hydra #greekmythology #awakening #phoenixrising #revelationtattoo #outlinetattoo #workinprogress
Mah Butt Itches 
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