Large Tattoos & Full Day Sessions
The work I like making most is the work that doesn't fit into an afternoon. A back, a chest, a whole torso — drawn for that body, and built over however many days it takes.
Some of these start from a piece of flash I've already drawn, which can look brilliant big. Others are drawn from scratch for you. Either way I compose it over a photo of your body first and change what needs changing so it still holds together at that size — nothing just gets scaled up.
How it works
1. Tell me the idea. It can be loose. "Something growing up my spine", "a vase on my stomach", "that skeleton one but big", or "I want my back doing and I trust you" are all good starting points.
2. I draw it. You'll see the drawing before we start, and we can move things around before anything goes on skin. On bigger pieces this is where most of the work happens — fitting it to your anatomy, and around anything you always wear.
3. We work out the days. Big pieces are tattooed in full day sessions. How many depends on the size and the detail — a stomach piece might be one or two, a full back is more. We'll agree roughly how many before we begin.
4. We tattoo it. We place the stencil together, take breaks whenever you need them, and if something wants changing halfway through, we change it.
5. It heals in between. For a stomach piece I'd usually book days about five weeks apart, because stomachs are slower to settle than most places. For a back, four weeks is normally enough. If you're travelling in and can't keep coming back, there are ways to run days back to back — there's more on that in the questions below.
What it costs
A full day session is £750. A deposit secures your first day and comes off the total.
I can't put a price on a piece before I know what it is — the same drawing costs a different amount depending on how big it ends up and where it sits. But for anything multi-day, the day rate is how it's worked out, so you'll know where you stand before we start. The projects below all say how long they took, which is the nearest thing to a price list I can honestly give you.
Larger pieces I've already done
Here are some past projects on the larger scale I've worked on. I've noted how long each piece took to tattoo — so if you find one similar in size and detail to what you have in mind, it'll give you a fair gauge of what yours might cost and how long it might take.
Spine spiral — one day
Spirals from the neck down, following the line of the back.
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Sun and moon stomach — a day and a half
Two figures across the whole stomach, drawn to the body underneath.
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Shoulder, spine and knee — one day
Two tattoos in a single session: a shoulder and spine piece, then a sun around the knee. A full day doesn't have to mean one big thing.
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Dancing figures across the stomach — one day
A day including drawing time, because we started from flash I'd already drawn and reshaped it on the day to sit properly across her stomach. Drawn from scratch it would have taken longer than a day.
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Dancing figures and a sun — three quarters of a day
Across the torso, with a small sun sitting above them.
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Twin skeletons, either side of the ribs — two half days
One piece, one skeleton on each side, with a single pop of colour. We split it across two half-day sessions, though it would have fitted into one full day.
The last photo is both sides head on — the other tattoos in that one aren't mine.
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Chest and stomach vase — three full days
Three full days, plus a lot of design time. Drawn around his anatomy and the necklace he never takes off, with the butterflies worked out in the room on the day.
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Designs I'd love to do large
Flash I've already drawn that's built for a big placement. Any of these can be reshaped to fit your body — there are plenty more on the artwork page.
FAQS
How much is a full day session?
£750 for a full day. A deposit secures the date and comes off the total.
Anything that doesn't need a whole day is priced on its own — tattoos start at £130.
How many days will my piece take?
It depends on the size and how much detail is in it. A stomach piece is often one day, sometimes a day and a half. A pair of rib panels fits into a day. A chest and stomach has run to three.
I'll give you an honest estimate once I know what we're making, and I'd rather over-estimate than rush it.
How long does a back piece take?
More than one day, always. The largest piece I've done so far — a chest and stomach — ran to three full days, and a full back is a similar order of commitment. They're worth taking slowly.
Can we do the whole thing in one go?
Sometimes, if it genuinely fits into a day. Past that it's better not to — skin can only take so much in one sitting, and the work is better when it's fresh rather than pushed through at hour nine.
How long do I wait between sessions?
Long enough for the skin to settle properly. For a stomach piece I'd usually book days about five weeks apart — stomachs are slower to heal than most places. For a back, four weeks is normally enough.
We can book the days in advance or arrange them as we go, whatever suits you.
I'm travelling to Bristol — can we do days back to back?
Yes, with a bit of planning. The way it works is that I finish one whole area per day and work along the body, so I'm never tattooing over skin that's still healing from yesterday.
It changes how the piece gets designed, so tell me when you first get in touch and I'll build it that way from the start.
Do I need to know exactly what I want?
No. A feeling and a body part is enough to start with. Some of my favourite pieces began as "something growing up here" and got worked out in the drawing.
Can I just have one of your existing designs done big?
Yes, and plenty of people do. I'll compose it over a photo of your body and adjust the details so it still works at that scale — a design drawn for an arm rarely holds together on a back untouched.
What I don't do is copy a design you've found elsewhere. If that's what you're after, there are artists who'll do a better job of it than I would.
Where are you based?
I tattoo at Nice and Good Studio, 8 St Gabriel's Business Park, Easton, Bristol.
It's appointment only and I'm not there every day, so everything goes through the booking form rather than dropping in.
Not ready to book yet?
Tell me the idea anyway — a feeling and a body part is plenty. Big projects are the part of this job I enjoy most, so I'm happy to go back and forth working yours out long before anything is committed to.
Send me a message with whatever you've got, or have a look at the artwork page filtered to Large for the kind of thing we could build from.
Ready to book?
Full day sessions are £750. A deposit secures the date and comes off the total.
