This fake arm is one of the biggest milestones in my tattoo apprenticeship. The arm is gifted to apprentices by surprise by my mentor, Cash, and symbolizes that the apprentice has the approval to start learning a tattoo machine. My arm was gifted to me a year and a few weeks into my apprenticeship, and the first thing I wanted to do with it was a cohesive half sleeve.

It turned out to be one of the hardest things I've had to do. After putting together the concept for 2 months, I had to spend the next 6 months painting the entire concept to make a tattoo reference in the Japanese Ink Painting style. The next 4 months were spent chipping away at the arm, but as I finished lining the dragon, Cash had approved me to do my first tattoo on real skin.

The arm currently remains in progress as I prepare and start my 100 free tattoos.