Andy's Watership Down Sleeve

I met Andy back in September in Penn Station and he shared this incredible sleeve:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqDjujrTDZRK5fueIOC_qbQuNGVTcTwI_iBSW6X1V7tSXKM6CSQBtDdFtvppuxrWDiJ9prsOnE9wJpKZm9II8Otl2Go_JUZO-BMTg6nLGjEjKuRyA1TDn9QRk7Kd6GNfamHeUM1lOZiN4/s1600/watership+collage+alt+wm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqDjujrTDZRK5fueIOC_qbQuNGVTcTwI_iBSW6X1V7tSXKM6CSQBtDdFtvppuxrWDiJ9prsOnE9wJpKZm9II8Otl2Go_JUZO-BMTg6nLGjEjKuRyA1TDn9QRk7Kd6GNfamHeUM1lOZiN4/s400/watership+collage+alt+wm.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When I asked him about the inspiration behind this incredible work, he indicated the rabbit, which is based on his pet Fiver:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNx8XaEx-lIqXAU6GffGjaDabR2NB4qkkfad-LhS7tAMw4fLzNkBDxUoqpd_4qkkVCVv65jXNGZRVSwtvnnUM4ljDDmOBSyWze9JP27LemH3FgwyJEpqlxSbwfpNAkpRwSDlNtK0bQ0PI/s640/watership+detail+3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="364" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I immediately recognized the name as one of the characters in Richard Adam's wonderful novel, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Watership-Down-Richard-Adams/dp/B00394TGB8?ie=UTF8&tag=bill03-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Watership Down</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B00394TGB8" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">He basically wanted something that was nature-based and gave the artist, <a href="http://www.naturalbornkeller.com/index/home.html">Keller</a> at <a href="http://classic-tattoos.com/home.html">Classic Tattoos</a> in Pinellas Park, Florida, free reign on the design, allowing him to pretty much free-form the sleeve.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7vBiIAYqX0H-qeTLCkYrLqLrvseK77U5wWMnVJ5wAbKi2k_csL5Lg5IWZqneQZlto216gxeAJz1fM-3S4ni3wilhZqlTlpVcllmbDFc5yypzicI95wPuXrv6Sapn-RSfEIsUl_2m_ZRg/s1600/watership+detail+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7vBiIAYqX0H-qeTLCkYrLqLrvseK77U5wWMnVJ5wAbKi2k_csL5Lg5IWZqneQZlto216gxeAJz1fM-3S4ni3wilhZqlTlpVcllmbDFc5yypzicI95wPuXrv6Sapn-RSfEIsUl_2m_ZRg/s640/watership+detail+2.jpg" width="426" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The collage at the top of the post consists of my shots in Penn Station, but the detailed photos are based on the pictures Andy generously sent me after the fact. These detailed photos show the brilliant colors and exquisite detail that Keller put into the tattoo, which Andy estimates represents about 18-20 hours of work.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht178hQPUP9RJOg8FuZd1525q6NfVkNcg6i4gklI86cOU9hMcShX9RbOeQqlNuksXasSDLkRM98lGecpH6n-rsmISiEvSHRN80ednlufDhaycbdg1lM5ElNyIbl5uQa9wky4EBtH8TCoI/s1600/watership+detail+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht178hQPUP9RJOg8FuZd1525q6NfVkNcg6i4gklI86cOU9hMcShX9RbOeQqlNuksXasSDLkRM98lGecpH6n-rsmISiEvSHRN80ednlufDhaycbdg1lM5ElNyIbl5uQa9wky4EBtH8TCoI/s640/watership+detail+1.jpg" width="424" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />Thanks again to Andy for sharing this amazing sleeve with us here on Tattoosday!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=bill03-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B00394TGB8&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></div>

Andy's Watership Down Sleeve

I met Andy back in September in Penn Station and he shared this incredible sleeve:   When I asked him about the inspiration behind this incr...

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