Yami yugi/ dark magician

Yu-Gi-Oh! is one of those anime series that a lot of us around my age group grew up with, so it definitely hits you right in the nostalgia. I think it was also the first TCG that I really got in to, all thanks to the anime. For my client Jason, it was kind of the other way around, as he was introduced to it through running his own card and collectables shop, which made this piece feel a little more personal.

As Jason’s first tattoo, we wanted to create something bold that captured the vibe of the series while focusing on two of its most iconic characters: Yami Yugi and the Dark Magician. The challenge was fitting a lot of recognisable elements into a single composition without it feeling crowded, but the Duel Disk, cards and the magic circle actually helped with the flow and hierarchy to bind everything together while keeping the focus on the characters.

The purples, golds and pinks made this a really fun palette to work with, and gave me the opportunity to create something really cool. I think it just feels like Yu-Gi-Oh! which is what we really wanted.

There’s something really awesome about doing a first tattoo, especially when it’s based on a franchise that has been part of someone’s life for so many years. I think the best part about tattooing pop-culture is that I meet so many people that just really love the thing that they love, so much so that they want to get it tattooed!