u/Tattoodles

Posting as the artist.

I’ve been tattooing koi for a long time, and one of the things I love about traditional Japanese tattooing is how much meaning can be communicated through imagery without having to spell everything out literally.

Koi are a great example. The direction they’re swimming, their color, the season represented by the surrounding flowers, and even their relationship to the water can all contribute to the story of the tattoo. Upstream and downstream koi can suggest different points in a journey, while seasonal elements like cherry blossoms, peonies, maple leaves, or chrysanthemums can completely change the mood and context of the piece.

I put together this short video explaining some of the symbolism I consider when designing koi tattoos, along with a little background on where those ideas come from.

Obviously, Japanese tattoo symbolism isn’t a rigid dictionary where every image has one universally agreed-upon meaning. Traditions, interpretations, and individual artists vary. This is simply how I’ve learned to approach these elements and use them to help tell a story through a tattoo.

Adam Sky
Tattoo artist, San Francisco / San Diego
adamsky.com
@adamskytattoos

Posting as the artist.

Blue koi sleeve I completed using traditional Japanese imagery. In irezumi, the koi is closely associated with perseverance, courage and overcoming adversity, drawn from the legend of koi swimming upstream and eventually ascending the Dragon Gate. That’s why this koi is swimming upward, fighting against the current rather than being carried by it. Blue koi are often associated with strength, tranquility and masculine energy, making the color a nice contrast to the movement and turbulence of the water.

We paired the koi with sakura (cherry blossoms) to represent spring, renewal and the fleeting nature of life. Cherry blossoms bloom spectacularly but briefly, so alongside the persistent koi they create a nice balance: life is temporary, but the struggle forward still matters.

Thank you for looking.

Adam Sky
adamsky.com
@adamskytattoos

My wife and I are considering making the move from downtown San Francisco to Ocean Beach in San Diego, and I’d love to hear from people who actually live there.

We’ve lived in California for about 16 years, mostly in and around the Bay Area, and I think we’re finally ready to get out of the Silicon Valley tech bubble. We’re both in our 50s, active, no kids, and our household income is currently around $400k/year. My wife is a director at a major video game company, works remotely and makes around $280k. I’m a tattoo artist making around $120k, although I’m realistic that I probably won’t make anywhere near that initially while rebuilding a local clientele. San Diego seems to have one of the highest concentrations of tattoo artists in the country, and while I already have invitations to work at a couple of well-established local shops, both have more than a dozen artists. Trying to stand out in that crowd feels a little daunting, and I’m assuming it could take me a few years to really establish myself.

Lifestyle is probably the biggest consideration for us. We LOVE being able to walk places. Restaurants, coffee, bars, groceries, grabbing dinner without getting in the car, wandering around the neighborhood, etc. We don’t want to leave downtown SF just to find ourselves trapped in a car-dependent suburb. We’re not surfers, so the attraction to OB isn’t really about surfing. It’s more about having a casual, walkable beach community with some personality and a social scene. We’re in our 50s, but definitely not looking for a quiet retirement community.

One important practical consideration is the airport. My wife’s job requires her to live within about an hour of an international airport because she travels to Europe for business, sometimes twice a month. OB seems almost ridiculously convenient for SAN compared with a lot of the other coastal communities we’ve looked at.

Our other serious contender is North Park, which seems to offer more restaurants, nightlife and urban walkability, but obviously without being able to walk out the door and be at the ocean.

So for people who actually live in Ocean Beach: What’s the day-to-day reality? Does it still feel like a real neighborhood once you get past the tourists and beach traffic? Can you comfortably live a mostly walkable lifestyle there? How annoying is summer traffic and parking? Do you find yourself constantly driving to other parts of San Diego anyway?

And perhaps the dumbest but most important question: If you live that close to the beach, do you just resign yourself to having sand in your house, car, shoes, bed, basically every possession you own for the rest of your life?

Would especially love to hear from anyone who has lived in both OB and North Park.

Posting as the artist.
My client requested a tattoo of Poseidon’s trident with a conch, designed in an art nouveau style. We used seaweed to create a filigree border and then added the circling hammerhead sharks to give it a sense of depth. Total tattoo time was approximately 25 hours over five sessions, completed at my private studio in San Francisco, Bay Area, California.
Thanks for looking!
adamsky.com
@adamskytattoos

Posting as the artist.
My client came to me with a Vietnam War-era military eagle tattoo that had seen better days. He wanted to transform it into a blue dragon surrounded by roses, with each rose tattooed in a unique color to represent a different family member he wished to commemorate. He also wanted to keep the piece contained to a half-sleeve, so I focused the composition on the dragon’s face and upper body, allowing us to preserve as much detail and impact as possible within the size constraints. Total tattoo time was approximately 20 hours over four sessions.

Adam Sky in San Francisco, Bay Area, California
adamsky.com
@adamskytattoos

NSFW - Posting as the artist, not the client. This was my customer’s first tattoo. She asked for a red and pink lotus flower on her underboob and just left the design up to me. Total tattoo time was about 4 hours in a single sesh.

Some skin is just an absolute dream to tattoo, and this was one of those days. But great skin isn’t always just luck or genetics. How you prepare for your appointment can make a surprisingly big difference.

One of the simplest things you can do is hydrate. In the days leading up to your tattoo, drink plenty of water, moisturize your skin regularly, and avoid alcohol. Well-hydrated skin tends to be more supple, takes pigment more predictably, and generally makes the whole tattooing process easier on both the artist and the client.

You don’t need some elaborate pre-tattoo skincare routine. Just take care of yourself. Drink water, moisturize, eat well, get some sleep, and show up with your skin in the best condition you can.

Your tattooer will appreciate it, and your skin wills too.

@adamskytattoos
San Francisco, California

Posting as the artist, not the client.
My client came to me with an existing outline of a lighthouse that had been tattooed by another artist. He wasn’t happy with where it had been left, so I reworked the original piece and expanded it into a complete coastal scene featuring the crashing waves, rocky shoreline, and a Coast Guard skiff.
Total tattoo time was approximately 30 hours.
Tattooed at my private studio in San Francisco.

Forged with jewels and gold in the depths of the Aegean Sea: Poseidon’s trident and Conch, tattooed in an Art Nouveau style.

Can we post goofy guest spot promos? I seriously f🐙ck with making octopus tattoos and I’ll be guest tattooing at Guru Tattoo in San Diego in September. Who else is into tentacle stuff?

I’m a tattoo artist in San Francisco, and I absolutely love tattooing octopuses. My fascination with these incredible animals is only matched by my lifelong nostalgia for classic Star Wars.
I was genuinely thrilled when my client asked for a pink and green octopus (his daughter’s favorite colors) and wanted it wielding a lightsaber in one of its arms. I didn’t need much convincing.
Tattoo by Adam Sky in San Francisco, California.

One of the biggest myths I still hear is that bright color can’t be tattooed into darker skin.
My client asked for a Japanese-inspired leg sleeve made up of peonies and waves. He’s African-American with what I’d describe as a medium caramel complexion. Going into it, I was confident the reds would hold because his skin tone had enough warmth and brightness to support them.

What surprised even me was how well the cooler fuchsia tones came through. The yellows also healed brighter than I expected, and the white highlights in the flower centers remained clearly visible after healing. They don’t read as paper white, of course, but they provide exactly the contrast I was hoping for.

The flowers shown here are fully healed. The sleeve is still in progress, and we’ll be adding more waves and background to tie the entire composition together.

I hope this helps dispel the idea that color tattoos and darker skin are mutually exclusive. With the right palette and realistic expectations, bright, saturated color is absolutely possible.

Edit: Reddit, I love you. Don’t ever change.