Portfolio books

Bodysuit Journeys

Three illustrated multi-year journeys, told like the blogs they're modelled on — the money, the pain, the ribs, the bits nobody warns you about. Flip through, session by session.

irezumi

Mika's Journey

irezumi

Mika's Journey

Hi, I'm Mika. I make pots for a living, and apparently I make questionable decisions in my spare time, because I just spent four and a half years (and an amount of money I refuse to add up) getting a full Japanese bodysuit. This is the blog I wish I'd found before I started — the actual version, with the ribs and the bank balance left in. If you're thinking about doing this: read it all first. Then probably do it anyway.

4 years, 7 months86 sessionsSoushinbori Donburi — full body, no chest gap

“Everyone warned me about the ribs. Everyone was right. Would I do it again? Yeah, honestly, in a heartbeat.”

Read diary

blackout

Daniel's Journey

blackout

Daniel's Journey

I'm Daniel, I design sound for games, and before all this I had seventeen tattoos that had absolutely nothing to say to each other. A rose here, a skull there, a quote I cringe at now. The blackout wasn't about covering up regrets exactly — it was about turning the volume down so the few things I actually care about could be heard. This is the blog of slowly turning most of my body black. People think it's intense. It mostly just took a really long time.

2 years, 3 months48 sessionsNear-total blackout with sacred geometry negative space

“Everyone calls it extreme. To me it was the calmest decision I've ever made — less stuff, not more.”

Read diary

geometric

Yuki's Journey

geometric

Yuki's Journey

I'm Yuki. I design buildings — towers mostly, all glass and steel and structural maths. So when I decided to get a bodysuit there was genuinely no debate about the style: geometric, bilaterally symmetric, every line measured, zero freehand. Basically I wanted to apply the same fussiness I use on things that hold hundreds of people in the air to the thing that holds me. My friends think this is unhinged. They are not wrong. Here's how three years of it went.

3 years, 1 month62 sessionsDense geometric blackwork — bilateral symmetry

“Yes, I made my tattooist use calipers. No, I will not be apologising for it.”

Read diary

These are personal accounts of full-coverage bodysuit tattoo journeys. Every experience is unique — pain tolerance, healing, and timelines vary widely between individuals.