Sometimes they just don't show up....

I spent the last few weeks preparing a backpiece drawing of another Suikoden warrior; Kaosho Rochishin. Rochishin is bad ass. He is a big, fat, drunk, angry warrior with a bad temper who becomes a priest to escape the death penalty. Bald, hairy and covered in flower tattoos. He is also known as the "flower priest". (The below rendition is by Kuniyoshi, 1830.)

 "Rochishin in a drunken rage smashing the guardian figure at the temple on Five-crested Mountain" 

Rochishin ransui godaizan kongôjin o uchikowasu no zu

(The below image is by Yoshitoshi,1887)

"After killing a man in a fit of rage, military captain Rotatsu (Lu Da) escaped a death penalty by becoming a monk at a temple on Five-crested Mountain, where he was given the name Kaoshô Rochishin (Lu Zhishen). He was unable to reform his appalling behaviour, and could not be punished because of his violent temper and prodigious strength. One night he staggered back drunk and tried some physical exercises at the temple gate to prove his strength. He accidentally knocked down part of the gate, and in his drunken surprise saw the guardian statue looming above him and attacked it. Rochishin was persuaded to leave the temple shortly afterwards, eventually linking up with his friend and fellow outlaw Rinchû."

This is the thumbnail sketch for the piece. I planned on adding peonies and wind, for background, to complement the cherry blossom and wind tattoo designs that I was planning on tattooing on the warrior. 

After all of my hard work, the guy never came in...and his phone is disconnected.

KUMONRYU: Tattooed Warrior

 After over a years worth of work I have finished this backpiece of Kumonryu. Kumonryu is one of the Suikoden warriors. Meaning he is a character form one of the 108 folk stories from Japan's beloved Chinese tales of heroes, warriors and bandits. Kumonryu was a great warrior having mastered all of the 18 martial arts of his time. He was a top cavalry officer and although born into wealth he chose not to follow his family's footsteps and instead pursued the life of a warrior. His name comes from the tattoo he bore; a bodysuit of nine dragons. A perfect warrior archetype, he is depicted as strong and handsome and died young while being ambushed by arrows while surrounded on all sides by enemies. Kumonryu is among the most popularly depicted characters in the Suikoden stories.