Well love them or hate them, here is my newest addition. About 5 weeks in the making and a lot of pain, but I love the final result, my new half sleeve koi carp tattoo.
I apologise now to my Japanese family, don't worry no plans for becoming Yakuza, this is actually for sentimental reasons. Also for my Japanese family I hope you can read the writing, in fact on the wooden block is Mizuyo's hand-writing converted to a tattoo.
So for those that cannot read Japanese on the wooden block is Naoko (Ni's real name), on the bottom half in the water is Amy (she's the youngest so the lowest on the tattoo) and on the top in the water is Ollie. So I now have a life long memory of my family, including my beautiful wife, and the symbolisation of the koi swimming up stream is "love and prosperity" - what more could you wish for your family? Plus the koi and the water design is classic Japanese.
So again I have to say I love it, worth all the pain to have something with me for ever. I hope you all do too. In fact both mum's, English and Japanese, who are not avid tattoo lovers have sort of showed their appreciation - isn't that so ladies! And finally apologies to Naoko, I know you didn't want me to have one babe, but hey it is so nice, if you were here how could you not have loved it to!