We’re going to start the day off with a request. Brian, I want a follow up picture of this scar.
You see, the reason I’m calling Brian out is because of his comments about this scar. See that scar just to the bottom left of the cutting. That’s from a case of chicken pox. Given how the owner of the lion scars up, the end result of this could be incredible.
It’s not often a scarification artist gets to create a life-size portrait of something, especially when it’s in the same room. Unless of course your name is Brian Decker. Then you can expect someone to walk in with a lobster asking for a scar over top of some heavy blackwork.
As for the lobster. He was either released back into the wilds of Williamsburg, or was served with a generous helping of butter.
Oftentimes the scars that are noticed the most are the large ones. Size of course is one factor, as is the level of detail allowed in a large scar. Yet sometimes a small scar can be just as noticeable, especially when you have an artist like Brian.
According to Brian this was an extremely delicate piece to cut out. I’m not 100% sure of the positioning, but if he says it’s delicate it’s safe to assume it’s a small scar.
I suppose you can never get lost if you always have a compass with you.
Brooklyn bad boy Brian is the mastermind behind this incredible scar/brand combo. Brian points out this this scar was particularly challenging from a technical standpoint. Getting the dimensions correct to give the piece an accurate sense of scale is tough when you’re working with skin, especially on a scar of this size.
Up until 5 minutes ago, I thought that this piece by Brian was on someone who just loves bunnies and fish. Well much to my surprise, the Bunnyfish is actually a creation of LA based illustrators Kozyndan. Even at my age, it’s still possible to learn something new every day.
You can see a bit more detail in the full sized image which is located in Brian’s BME portfolio gallery.
Well if you’re one of Brian Decker‘s clients the answer to that question is pretty simple.
I could be wrong, but this looks like a straight up flesh removal as opposed to some of the cutting and branding combination pieces that Brian has been doing lately. We’ve seen a bit of Brian’s work this week, and there’s one more left for tomorrow. Head over to his BME portfolio gallery to see if you can guess which one is coming up.
I first saw this photo on Brian‘s page a few days ago, so when I saw he had submitted it to his portfolio gallery I made sure to get it up as soon as possible. Now there is a fantastic story behind this piece, and since Brian explained it so nicely, I’ll let his words explain the bands.
I don’t remember if i posted about this last year, but here is some scar work i did on a young, Native American girl. In her Blackfoot tribe it is customary to have a line scarred around their arm for each year they’re alive. It is known as Ponn Miistis, which literally translates to “the rings of a tree”. When they run out of room on one arm they move to the other, then the legs, but apparently their average life expectancy is only 43.
Anyhow, her parents are more modernized now and didn’t want her having this done while she was growing up. She was intrigued by her grandfather’s rings, which covered his arms and legs, so decided to come to me from Montana to catch up. Last year i worked on her upper arm and finished it up this time. She’s 24 now.
She promises to be back every year for another line, too!
I love the fact that not only is this scarification so deeply personal for the girl, it is also a way to remind the rest of us where our modifications come from. When I read news stories talking about a “new trend” of people getting scars, it saddens me to think that we live in a world where the vast majority has no concept of just how significant cultural rituals involving modification are. Of course I’m speaking from a North American perspective. There are many places the world over where not only are these rituals remembered, they are still practiced. Thanks to this brave young woman, and Brian’s talents as an artist, the people she encounters in her life will be able to learn of a tradition that has faded away.
From what I understand, Yankees fans are some of the most dedicated fans in sports. Of course I’d argue that the Leafs fans are a little more dedicated, but that’s beside the point. Last week Brian got to do a small cutting for a Yankees fan to fit perfectly behind his lobes.
Brian’s done quite a few new pieces in the past couple of weeks, so keep an eye on his BME portfolio gallery for when he uploads the pictures.
While you’re there, check out the new portfolio gallery sorting that Jen did recently. They’re all sorted alphabetically, making it much easier to find a specific artist.
Last week we got a look at Alan‘s fresh chin cutting that Brian did at the Philadelphia Tattoo Convention back in February. If you don’t remember, you can find the original story, with all the bloody photos, right here. Now normally when it comes to the Friday Follow-up I’ll post a photo of the scar as fresh as possible, and then how it looks after healing up. With the original story being only last week, I thought for a change of pace you can see a true before and after comparison. Plus, Alan’s looking pretty good in these photos so we’ll also call this the Friday BMEBoy post as well.
So here’s how Alan looked pre-cutting.
To see how his mug looks now, you know what to do.
For those keeping track, in addition to the chin scar, Alan also has had his cartilage punched by Mr. Decker, and his tongue split DIY style. Oh and he has a fondness for old school tattoos.
A few weeks back at the Philly Tattoo Convention I had the chance to take some photos for Mandic of his chin scarification piece. This cutting by Brian was a pretty bloody affair.
Oh, you want to see the pictures of the cutting? Just keep on reading.
This is about three quarters of the way through the cutting, and also the time that the bleeding was at its worst. The top and bottom parts of the scar and had already been peeled away, and what remained was a stretch of skin right along the tip of his chin.
The tiny hands (well, tinier than Brian’s) belong to Dyscordic, who was assisting.
Finally, here’s how the scar looked just before it was wrapped up.
You can see even more photos of this cutting in the skin removal scarification gallery.
Oh, and you can definitely expect to see this as a follow-up post once it has healed a little more.