Keloiding on a Tlingit-inspired Torso Scar

Posted on January 19, 2013 by Shannon Larratt

Kevin (who you last saw on ModBlog with Enigma) had this Tlingit (Pacific Northwest) art-inspired scarification done by Matt Vermillion of Artistic Skin Design in Indianapolis, Indiana, which is now quite well healed. The cutting looks nice and even — although there is intended variability in the line strength — but as you can see, parts of it keloided much, much more than others. Some of it, like the outside circle, is likely due to the initial cutting, but the majority of the variability appears to be from natural body motion and anatomy, and rubbing from clothes. His aftercare was mildly abrasive with sugar and vaseline.

Click on either half to see the scar in full, or click here for an animation that blends between the two (it’s not easy to line up a fresh scar with a healed one because of how much the skin distorts from the keloids, even with photos this similar), or if you’ve been missing NSFW posts, click here to check out the scar, completely overshadowed by Kevin’s transcrotal piercing and meatotomy.

I’ll also mention what I said to Kevin — who is considering adding more Tlingit scars to the sides of this piece — that I think this is a perfect canvas for tattooing over scarification… With the right application of black and red, and maybe white, it would really bring out the design and also give a nice nod to Tlingit art at the same time.

Owl Scarification

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Shannon Larratt

An absolutely beautiful owl scarification design well into its healing, done by Brendan Russell (facebook.com/brendan.russell.35) of Tribal Urge in Newcastle, NSW. I like the design because it’s quite complex, but at the same time, its simple shapes and repeating patterns keep it visually clean and strong from a graphic design point of view, which should give it a long life even as the scar fades over time.

owly

Decapitated Monroe Scarification

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Shannon Larratt

Another characteristically precise scarification by Brian Decker (purebodyarts.com) — an image that I’ve seen tattooed regularly but never scarred — a Decapitated Monroe, done on KC Jones at Inkaholics Anonymous. I should mention that Brian will be one of many brilliant artists at the International Scarification Convention in London, England in May if you want to make an appointment, and below the scar are a few of Brian’s US tour dates — Perkasie, Des Moines, and Dallas — showing a collection of his implant work, many of which you’ve seen here in the past. Contact PBA by email at [email protected] to make an appointment.

pba-monroe

Ganesha cutting

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Jen Savage

This freshly done Ganesha cutting is the work of Richard Effin’ Ivey or Warlock’s Tattoo in Raleigh, NC.

The detail is pretty amazing and from what I’ve seen of Richard’s work, he does some great pieces. You can check out more of his work in his scarification portfolio on BME.

If you’re and artist and you would like your own portfolio on BME, contact BME Support to get it set up.

Speaking of Iestyn

Posted on December 14, 2012 by Shannon Larratt

Gosh, I’d forgotten both how fun and how difficult posting here is for me. I’m simultaneously excited and nauseous! But before I call it a night, I wanted to share a few more pieces by Iestyn Flye that he’s posted while I’ve been largely offline. I should also mention, if you didn’t catch it earlier today, that he’s now online at the-absolute.co.uk. Anyway, I will try and post a bit more this weekend but I can’t promise a lot.

This first piece is really interesting and not something you see every day (for all of these I suggest zooming in for a closer look of course). It begins life (the left and middle image) as a skin-removal scar, which is then accentuated once it’s well healed using red dotwork tattooing.

Next, a gorgeous example of facial scarification, with an organic free-flowing piece on one side that has a sort of early Celtic/Viking feel to it, balanced and contrasted on the other side of the face with a series of geometric crosses that instead of being free-flowing, integrate tightly and precisely into the tattoo work done earlier. A stunning and world-class creation.

Finally, the some mind-blowing geometric scarification that would be impressive if done as a tattoo, and unbelievable when done as a scar.

A few great self-mods

Posted on October 26, 2012 by Shannon Larratt

Speaking of Yann Brënyàk of Body Temple (londonbodytemple.com), another in his growing arsenal of modifications is this scar on his leg, totally self performed, which is always very impressive to me even though there’s no shortage of self-blading in this world. The core swastika heart design is great, and I like the way that he’s mixed heavy bands of skin peeling with find detail scarwork with the swastika geometry background pattern. Another nice touch is the random slashing around the border, which if you know Yann’s facial tattooing, is a motif that is echoed across his identity.

Those with long memories may recall way, way, way back in 2007 Hugh Mattay, now modifying people at 119 Tattoo (oneonenine.com.au) in Sydney, had his batwing eyebrow tattoos posted here. Since then he’s had a lot of tattooing added to his forehead, with the stripes exploding out over his temples being perhaps my favorite of the bunch. But he’s also been piercing himself this week, adding first the medusa piercing, and now a pair of cheek piercings. I’m always impressed when people do their own labrets or medusas because it’s so hard to judge one’s own facial symmetry, and it only takes being off my a millimeter to look wrong.

When life gives you keloids, make eyeballs

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Shannon Larratt

I think that’s how the old expression goes, right?

Ighlif Rendina, owner and piercer at H.F. Body Art in Turin, Italy, had a customer who’d previously gotten a transdermal implant. The transdermal itself did alright, but in time, a large unsightly scar built up over the insertion incision. The microdermal was removed, and the scar reworked using a combination of cutting and cautery branding. The insertion scar became the pupil of the eye, and the scar that formed in the transdermal scar was covered up by the bottom line of the eye. In the picture where you can see the entire eye, it’s quite fresh, about two months after being done, and the picture where it’s partially covered by clothing is current, showing the piece at almost two years old.

The Friday Follow-up

Posted on September 28, 2012 by Rob

I posted this fresh scar about 2 weeks ago, and Morbid from Street Tattoo in Warsaw was quick to send in a follow-up. I’m not 100% sure of the time between each photo, but it looks to be a more then two weeks, although not much more. In any case, it’s always nice to see how scars can change over the course of healing. Hopefully he’ll send in some more photos further down the line.

No need to be redundant

Posted on September 15, 2012 by Shannon Larratt

I like this simple cutting by Alicia in Milan because it keeps things simple. No one — at least no one that can read — has to ask you the old stand-by question that we all get asked over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over, “didn’t that hurt?”

pain-cutting

Floral Heart

Posted on September 14, 2012 by Rob

Morbid from Street Tattoo & Piercing in Warsaw has really outdone himself with this scar. The lines are nice, clean, and even, which should hopefully result in a beautiful scar. Hopefully we’ll get an update from him for a future follow-up.