The Last of Three

The Kiku book is dated 2016, the last of my three flash books: fifty-three pages of chrysanthemums, all of them line work. It was published in print and as a digital edition, the digital one dated 2016.

A chrysanthemum is mostly petals. In outline every one of them has to know where it belongs, because nothing else on the page will hold them in order.

The Contour Left Open

The dragon and the snake arrive shaded. These pages stop at the line. No shading decides where the light falls or how heavy the flower sits; that choice is left to the artist who picks up the sheet, and to the skin it lands on.

A contour is a promise. The shading is how you keep it.

Line work flash asks more of the person using it, and trusts them more. That was the point of drawing it this way.

The Same Company

The flower does not stay alone for long. It appears beside a hannya mask, beside a skull, in pairings from more than one tattoo language, the same mixed company as in the other books. That was my hand in those years. How I see these books now, and why I do not tattoo from them myself, is told on the Dragon page.

Where to Find It

The digital edition is available through the link below, and the book is also on Apple Books. The designs remain under copyright and are offered as reference for tattooing, not for resale.