Tiger, Bamboo and Mitsudomoe Sleeve
Tiger, Bamboo and Mitsudomoe Sleeve
Tiger, Bamboo and Mitsudomoe Sleeve
A Paw Through the Crest
The brief was short: a tiger, bamboo, and three commas, in black and grey. The three commas are mitsudomoe, the swirling crest seen on shrine drums and roof tiles, and putting it together with the tiger was the client's own idea. The sleeve is built on the place where the two meet: the crest sits on the point of the shoulder, and the tiger's paw comes through it.
A Paw Through the Crest
The brief was short: a tiger, bamboo, and three commas, in black and grey. The three commas are mitsudomoe, the swirling crest seen on shrine drums and roof tiles, and putting it together with the tiger was the client's own idea. The sleeve is built on the place where the two meet: the crest sits on the point of the shoulder, and the tiger's paw comes through it.
Three Quarters and a Chest Panel
A three quarter sleeve with a chest panel. The crest takes the cap of the shoulder, the tiger's head fills the outer upper arm just below it, and the raised paw crosses from the shoulder onto the chest, claws open. Bamboo leaves cut through the dark ground on the chest and continue down the arm, and at the end of the sleeve below the elbow a group of rocks gives the tiger ground to stand on.
Three Quarters and a Chest Panel
A three quarter sleeve with a chest panel. The crest takes the cap of the shoulder, the tiger's head fills the outer upper arm just below it, and the raised paw crosses from the shoulder onto the chest, claws open. Bamboo leaves cut through the dark ground on the chest and continue down the arm, and at the end of the sleeve below the elbow a group of rocks gives the tiger ground to stand on.
Wind Made Visible
In the old pairing the dragon owns the clouds and the tiger owns the wind. Wind is hard to draw, and here the crest does that job. Its three commas turn around the shoulder like a gust, and because the crest partly covers the paw, the limb reads as moving through air rather than resting on the arm. Bamboo is the tiger's traditional shelter and the classic match of the rigid with the flexible; its blades give the composition straight, fast lines against all the curves. The tiger itself looks white. That was never the brief: it comes from technique, open skin and stippled shading held against a solid ground, so the animal is the lightest thing on the arm.
Wind Made Visible
In the old pairing the dragon owns the clouds and the tiger owns the wind. Wind is hard to draw, and here the crest does that job. Its three commas turn around the shoulder like a gust, and because the crest partly covers the paw, the limb reads as moving through air rather than resting on the arm. Bamboo is the tiger's traditional shelter and the classic match of the rigid with the flexible; its blades give the composition straight, fast lines against all the curves. The tiger itself looks white. That was never the brief: it comes from technique, open skin and stippled shading held against a solid ground, so the animal is the lightest thing on the arm.
A Circle on the Only Round Place
A crest is a circle, and a circle needs a dome. The point of the shoulder, the acromion, is the one place on the arm that offers it: the crest sits there without warping and turns with the joint when the arm lifts. The head is set on the broad plane of the upper arm, where a face stays undistorted. The paw uses the natural bridge from shoulder to pectoral, so the chest panel is not an add-on but the end of the tiger's reach. Bamboo leaves, narrow and directional, take the zones that bend, and the rocks at the bottom give the sleeve a solid base where it ends below the elbow.
A Circle on the Only Round Place
A crest is a circle, and a circle needs a dome. The point of the shoulder, the acromion, is the one place on the arm that offers it: the crest sits there without warping and turns with the joint when the arm lifts. The head is set on the broad plane of the upper arm, where a face stays undistorted. The paw uses the natural bridge from shoulder to pectoral, so the chest panel is not an add-on but the end of the tiger's reach. Bamboo leaves, narrow and directional, take the zones that bend, and the rocks at the bottom give the sleeve a solid base where it ends below the elbow.
Kept Light on Purpose
A sleeve of this kind usually runs five to six sessions. The outline fixed the three anchors first: crest, head, paw. The black and grey ground was built around the animal, and the tiger was kept light throughout - open skin, stippled shading, fine fur lines - which takes more restraint than filling it in.
Kept Light on Purpose
A sleeve of this kind usually runs five to six sessions. The outline fixed the three anchors first: crest, head, paw. The black and grey ground was built around the animal, and the tiger was kept light throughout - open skin, stippled shading, fine fur lines - which takes more restraint than filling it in.
An Idea That Travels, a Design That Doesn't
After this sleeve was published, people began asking for the same thing, and two projects on the same idea are already under way. The idea can travel: a tiger and the three commas is a subject, not a property. The design does not. Each of those sleeves is drawn from zero for its wearer. Some decisions will repeat, because anatomy repeats - a crest wants the shoulder cap the way a koi wants the center of the upper arm - but the animal, the supporting elements and their placement are different every time. This one stays what it was: one client's idea, built on one body.
An Idea That Travels, a Design That Doesn't
After this sleeve was published, people began asking for the same thing, and two projects on the same idea are already under way. The idea can travel: a tiger and the three commas is a subject, not a property. The design does not. Each of those sleeves is drawn from zero for its wearer. Some decisions will repeat, because anatomy repeats - a crest wants the shoulder cap the way a koi wants the center of the upper arm - but the animal, the supporting elements and their placement are different every time. This one stays what it was: one client's idea, built on one body.
More Projects
Other large-scale pieces from the studio, each built as one composition.
More Projects
Other large-scale pieces from the studio, each built as one composition.
More Projects
Other large-scale pieces from the studio, each built as one composition.
Your Piece Is Next
Every project here began as one conversation. Yours can start the same way.
Your Piece Is Next
Every project here began as one conversation. Yours can start the same way.
Your Piece Is Next
Every project here began as one conversation. Yours can start the same way.
© 2026 All Rights Reserved | Bardadim.Tattoo
© 2026 All Rights Reserved | Bardadim.Tattoo
© 2026 All Rights Reserved | Bardadim.Tattoo