Here are a pair of scars that are healing quite differently. The scary face is by Martin Kraus of Gelocht&ScharfGestochen (great name) in Neuss, Germany, and the second is by Baz Black in Dundalk, Ireland. Of course Baz’s is at a later state of healing, and Martin’s is just under a month old here, but as you can see, so far the skin removal face is getting an “inset” appearance, whereas the cut web has raised up with a nice even scar. You can zoom them both for a closer look.
I’m a sucker for a well groomed beard, as many people know. Aussie beard guru WayLay Jake knows this very well, and knows that if he sends in a photo of his beard (and of course his many modifications, including that amazing rhino scarification on his stomach) he’s going to see his mug on ModBlog. This photo is just one of many from a fundraiser Jake did to help out the victims of a house fire. The WayLay Suspension gallery has the all the photos of his sideshow act, so be sure to visit them. Oh, and if you haven’t noticed yet, you can comment on photos in the galleries, so make sure to mention to Jake how awesome his beard is.
Beard.
As if you can’t tell by Haffie’s “post scarification glow”, “I’m not sure there is a happier customer than myself today!” His tetris heart design (which might look amazing one day filled in with tattooing one day in the future). I’m not sure if I should be a little sad about the statement that’s being made by the final ill-fitting brick that is just beginning to fall? In any case, this was done by Luke Iley at the aptly named Scarred Heart Body Modification in Leeds.
This swastika (hello trolls!) implant was done at Biotek Toulouse in France, with this picture being taken at three weeks into the healing. If you click the picture, you can see it fresh and swollen, so you can see how nicely the detail is beginning to show… And of course the black tattoo makes it show much better as well (in the same way that body builders artificially tan to make themselves as dark as possible to show off the contour of their muscles).
It’s a good bet that any studio that does implants also does scarification, and of course Biotek is no exception — here are a pair of fresh and healed examples. The first is a condor design from the Nazca lines, giant geogylphs in the Peruvian desert that some believe are UFO landing pads, and other more level-headed but still adventurous anthropologists believe are evidence that ancient Peruvians were perhaps humanity’s first airgoing society, with Jim Woodman going so far as to build an airship, the Condor I, named after the subject of this scarification, using only indigenous materials and technology. I love the idea, but unfortunately it’s been vehemently disputed by mainstream archeologists. The other cutting is a more “typical” cutting over blackwork that is always a hit.
Well, it’s been two years since the very first Friday Follow-up post. In that time we’ve seen some of the most incredible scars, and heard some remarkable stories. The main purpose of the follow-up is, and always will be, to showcase scarification and branding beyond the first day. Two years ago, seeing healed scars on ModBlog was pretty rare, mostly due to the fact that scarification takes so long to heal. With a tattoo or piercing, then end result is visible immediately, and you have a pretty good idea of how it’ll look in a few months time. With scarification taking so long, it’s no wonder that artists don’t have as many healed photos as they do fresh ones, so many things can happen over the course of a year that can make it difficult to get a new photo. This is especially relevant to artists who tour, as they may not return to a location for a significant period of time.
The reason I’ve bringing all this up today is because when I was browsing the galleries I recognized a scar that I first featured two years ago, when it was still fresh. In fact, it was also one of the very first Friday Follow-up posts that showed how it had healed after three months. Now here we are today, two years later, and we have an opportunity to revisit a scar, and get a good impression of just how much scars can change over time.
To start with, here’s the original photo from August 2010.
And now the initial follow-up from November 2010.
As you can see, the keloids are raising up, and the scar has taken on a distinctive reddish tone.
And finally, here’s how it looks today, two years later.
Such a drastic change from the first follow-up. The scar is clearly defined, and you can see how it has raised up more in the upper abdomen, as opposed to the lower, due to movement. The biggest change comes from the colouration. Over time the redness of the fresh scar has died down completely and has reverted to the original skin tone. Some scars lighten the tissue over time, however it seems here that the pigmentation has almost completely been restored.
A big thank you to Gabor Zagyvai (IAM: Wyrd) for continuing to send in updated photos of the scars he has done.
Here’s an oldie but a goodie. This scarification was done by Lukas Zipra back in 2002, three years before the first Scar Wars. You can also tell the age by the environment, as you don’t see too many professional scarification artists these days working on someone with only a bedsheet between the client and the furniture. The young lady in the photo is IAM: AstridVanD, formerly known as Dark Delilah.
It might come as a shock to people that this text in the top photo is a healed scarification. The reason it looks fresh — and will forever — is that the scar has been “embossed” with lines of tattooing done in red on one side and white on the other, making it look like it’s still early in its healing process. It’s amazingly well done, with the scar being initially created by Azl in Montreal, who has been scarring longer than some of BME’s readers have even been alive!!! Another two amazing examples of his scars combined with tattooing (by Barry Buteau of Planet Ink) follow, some amazing painted angel wings that are given form and life by the underlying scars Azl created.
You don’t see scars and tattoos combined very often (which I find surprising), and you see it done this well even less often. These are both very special pieces of body art.
This nice even Day of the Dead style skull scar is now a year and a half old, after being cut at Skin of Steel in Toulon, France. I’m also including a picture of it fresh, because as you may have noticed there are lines of different weights. When I first saw scarmasters using the very thin “shading” type lines I was dubious as to the effect they’d have — I thought they’d likely fade completely — but as you can see they are quite effective and carry into the future surprisingly well.
I shared this tattoo when I posted a gallery of Iestyn Flye’s work on ModBlog (click here if you don’t remember — it is in regards to the scarification seminar he and Ron Garza are hosting that you don’t want to miss if you’re a London-area professional in the field), but I also wanted I’ll just share this wider shot of Dom here, because I also really like her dotwork scars. I can imagine an entire body done in these, and have seen such things in Africa of course, but not as often in a “modern” context. Beautiful work.
PS. Ignore the “smartphone” on the picture, it is only of use if you’re trying to track her down on Facebook!
IAM: Chasethebeard sent in this fly scarification that he did on a client.
Chase works at Ironclad Tattoo Co. in Troy, MI.