Video summary
The video documents the two-day process of customizing an intricate outer sleeve tattoo that deeply integrates elements of Mesoamerican mythology, specifically focusing on the culture of the ancient Mexica people. The artist begins by meeting with his client at a restaurant to finalize ideas for a design that represents the journey of Ketal Koak, a central figure in this narrative. The sleeve is structured into three distinct sections: the top features the deity of death, Miklati; the middle showcases a shield representing Chimalma, the mother of Ketal Koak; and the bottom depicts the feather serpent, Ketal Koak himself. Throughout the project, the artist emphasizes the importance of cultural accuracy, explaining how specific symbols like corn and the fifth sun are woven into the design to tell the story of humanity's creation and survival.
The technical execution of the tattoo relies heavily on the artist's consistent technique, utilizing a 14 round liner needle at a steady 5.0 voltage setting. A key aspect of his process involves creating a glowing effect for the main figures by carefully managing contrast; he applies black ink sparingly to allow the light source to appear to emanate from the top of each glyph while fading down toward the wrist. To achieve a textured, stone-like appearance, the artist employs a scribble technique and adds subtle cracks to the designs. He also demonstrates his preference for freehand drawing alongside stencils to accommodate the unique contours of the client's arm, particularly around the tricky elbow area, ensuring that every element fits aesthetically with the body's natural shape.
Beyond the visual details, the artist shares the profound personal significance behind the chosen deities and symbols, noting that his client is a police officer who risks his life daily to protect his community. This profession inspired the inclusion of death as a representation of both an end and a necessary part of the cycle of life within the culture, rather than something negative. The design also incorporates the story of Ketal Koak's journey through the nine rivers of the underworld to retrieve ancestral bones, which he mixed with corn and his own blood to create the new civilization. Additionally, a dog is included in the sleeve to symbolize a companion that guides the soul through the underworld, drawing a parallel to Dante from *The Divine Comedy*.
As the project moves into its final stages on the second day, the artist focuses on refining the details without overworking the skin, mindful of future plans for an inner bicep piece. He takes breaks to assess the overall composition, ensuring that the glowing elements remain vibrant and that the background stays dark enough to make the figures pop. The video concludes with the artist expressing satisfaction with how the sleeve is coming together, highlighting the joy of creating a piece that carries deep symbolic meaning for his client. He invites viewers to engage with his content by commenting on their preferences for future vlogging styles while thanking them for following the journey of this culturally rich and technically demanding tattoo project.
Read the full video transcript
How's everybody doing? Welcome back to
my channel. I am here at the restaurant
waiting for my client so we can have our
consultation. I got the chips ready, the
salsa. I'm here at the restaurant where
I love the aesthetic. I like how
everything looks. And finally, my client
got here. [music] So, uh, we're just
getting ready to go over every single
idea. All I know is that he wanted
something cultural, [music] something
that represents the machica culture,
OTak. So, that's exactly what I'm going
to be customizing for him. And we
ordered some delicious food. I got some
enchiladas. I think he also Yep, he also
got some enchiladas as well. [music] It
was really delicious. I finally made it
back home. So now I'm ready to start
customizing. The idea is right on the
top I'm going to be [music] doing the
deity of the death Miklati.
And [music] the glyph that represents
Mikluti, it is uh so that's what I did
as a headdress. [music]
As far as the bottom, we have the
feather serpent uh which is Ketal Kal.
And I'm trying to figure out how I'm
going to customize the whole sleeve. I
want everything to to look [music] very
aesthetic. And as far as the middle, I
did add uh some sort of shield which
represents the mom of Ketal Koak,
[music] which her name is uh Chimalma.
I also wanted to represent the dad of
Ketal Koak. So, I'm going to be adding
it right on the top. And I also [music]
wanted to represent the sun and corn
just because it's very uh [music] it it
really means a lot to the machica
culture which I'll probably be
explaining later on in this video. And
to finalize it, I added on the bottom
the body of Ketal Coal. And I'm pretty
much ready to go. I got my dog here uh
for emotional support, but apparently
I'm I think I'm more of the emotional
support for her. And here I am opening
up the shop, getting ready to start the
day. I got my breakfast here. Uh,
spinach and egg breakfast for champions.
Finally, [music] my client got there.
So, I'm going to start getting ready to
put on the stencil.
And as you can tell, we just, [music]
you know, we look very relaxed. He was
about to sit get on top of the bed from
the front side of it. And I thought the
whole bed was going to flip. I said,
"Hey, hold on. chill out. Get on get on
the bed through the side. And you can
see me making fun of him a little bit.
Uh I always start putting on the stencil
um on the arm. I feel like it really
shapes the rest of the project. Then I
started adding the ketal coak on the
forearm [music] and I started adding the
little details.
I decided to also freehand as well, just
because I knew it was going to give me a
lot more flexibility to customize
something [music] amazing and really go
with the uh definition of his arm. Uh
just because the elbow can be very
tricky. [music] I wanted it to look very
aesthetic. And here I am cheering with
my client some water, but I also wanted
to let him know we got some special
juice, some mess,
but I don't recommend it. [laughter]
Uh, I added the black already just
because I feel like it's very it's very
boring part of the video. Uh, I think
everyone who watches me [music] know how
to pack black, I'm assuming. Uh, so I
decided to skip that part [music] and I
wanted to go ahead and start adding the
texture. Um, I'm explaining that [music]
I wanted the contrast to start from the
top of Ketar and start fading [music] it
down onto the wrist just because I want
Get Coak to really glow. I wanted the
darkest point to be behind the head.
I am using my 14 round liner as I always
do. And as far as the voltage that I'm
using on my machine, it is a 5.0 voltage
as I always do. I never really change my
voltage. And whoever's been watching me
for since I started my channel, I've
never [music] changed my voltage. And
I've never changed my technique. I'm
pretty sure everyone can tell exactly
what I'm doing, which is the scribble
technique. It [music] never changes. I
just feel like I always have good
results. Um, but I did want it to start
um adding my contrast on the bottom of
[music] every glyph, every little design
because I wanted the the light source to
start on the top of every item.
And I'm still adding my contrast,
[music] uh, my texture. I'm just trying
to get a feel of what is the direction
that I want to take.
And as far as right now, I'm starting to
get a little bit more comfortable. I
wanted the [music] wrist to be very very
detailed. Everything is going to be very
detailed, but I feel like for the wrist,
I needed to be a little bit uh more
mindful as far as how it ends just
because it is the first thing [music]
people are going to be looking at. So, I
wanted them to feel, you know, like I
wanted to have like a wow factor.
[music] And you can tell I'm getting
more comfortable now. I'm starting to
add my little cracks everywhere to
really make it look like [music] stone.
And I wanted to show how it looks. This
is the the look that I'm going for. I
really love the way it looks. So now I'm
going to be matching the same texture
onto Ketal Coal, the feather serpent.
And you know, I feel that um [music]
what I'm thinking right now, I really
got to be careful on how much black I
add on the face cuz if I add a lot of
black, it is not going to look
>> [music]
>> um like it's glowing. The background got
to be dark cuz that is going to be super
bright. [music]
And this is where I'm going to start
adding my texture. I feel like this is a
really good spot since you guys already
know exactly how I'm going to be
executing it. Uh I'm going to share just
a little bit of how I ended up
customizing this outer sleeve. Um and
I'm sure you can find it on Google
different versions and stuff like that.
I do like reading a lot as far as the
culture as many of you know. I study the
culture a lot. So just a quick little um
story behind behind this leaf um just so
I don't take too much time [music]
um ended up going down into the
underworld which is called El Miklan
[music] and the whole purpose of his
journey crossing the nine rivers of El
Miklan the underworld is that he wanted
to ask Mikli which is the deity that's
located on the top of the shoulder the
one the the the deity of the death. He
um he had in his possession the bones of
the ancestors. So what Ketal Koal wanted
to do was ask for them back so he can
recreate humanity [music]
basically save us and create the new
civilization that was going to be living
in in the world. [music] So he ended up
crossing the nine rivers of the
underworld. He asked Miklat Goodli, "Can
[music] I please have these bones back?"
He said, "You know what? Yeah, yeah, you
can have them back." He gave them back.
But shortly after, Miklat Goodli
regretted his decision and he he said,
"You [music] know what? I think I messed
up. I want them back." So, he ended up
creating a whole bunch of obstacles. So,
Ketaka couldn't be able to [music] make
it back. And, you know, he ended up
making it back even though he was really
hurt. He was bleeding everywhere. He had
a lot of wounds open and he was dying
and he basically died and uh he shortly
after he was [music] uh he resurrected
and from the bones he ended up just
[music] mashing them together uh with
um corn. [music] That's why I added the
corn implemented because he made uh he
[music] ended up mixing together corn
and the bones plus
um some part of his um [music] his
blood. He he ended up pouring a little
bit of his blood from the wounds that
were open into the mix [music] and
that's how he created the new
civilization and they called it the
fifth [music] sun.
And uh that is just a little bit of the
story. I can keep going, of course, but
uh [music] I'm going to take forever. As
you can see, now I'm focusing on the
contrast of Ketalco.
I wanted to make sure that it really
glows. [music] So, I'm being very
careful how much black I add. As you can
see, I'm moving very slowly. I do not
want to I do not want to compromise the
piece. And I'm still using my 14 watt
liner with my voltage of [music] a 5.0.
I'm really really having fun with this
piece. And if I'm talking too much, just
mute this video and just enjoy uh the
execution of this project. I can get
carried away with uh explaining things
and I don't know, I just get just get
very excited when when [music] I'm
explaining these kind of things. And
yeah, I know it's annoying sometimes,
but if you like culture, hey, you might
just enjoy this video. But yeah, I'm I
am currently [music] um I'm really
loving these videos where I just do a
voice over and really explain my
process. Um I was getting some feedback
from a lot of my
>> [music]
>> uh subscribers. You know, I feel like a
lot of you enjoying more these kind of
videos uh vlogging style maybe. So let
me know in the comments what do you like
what would you like me to um post a
little bit more [music] of. But yeah, um
I'm still really being careful how much
black I add. I did want to focus a lot
on the background because I do feel like
the the items that are going to be
glowing, [music] they're going to be
very standard standard. My bad. They're
going to be they're going to be the
center of attention. I don't even know
why I say [music] standard. Um but yeah,
I am um here we're [music] taking a
quick little break. I really want to
step back and really see uh the whole
entire thing. As you can see, I'm really
taking my time. Um, I look laser focused
uh to make sure the contrast and the
highlights are on the right areas. You
can tell my client is feeling a little
tired. And here I'm telling Chris, "Hey
man, wake up. Wake up. Get to get to
work."
And here I am. I'm feeling more
confident now knowing how everything's
coming out. So, all I got to do now is
[music] just continue with um with the
same texture.
these kind of concepts just they're
super fun, you know, they're super super
fun, especially because I gave it
[music] I gave everything a meaning,
which makes this uh a lot more
meaningful, a lot more symbolic to my
clients and I'm able to tell his story
as well. You know, I did not pick this
deities [music]
at random. You know, I I listen to my
client's story. He is a cop, you know,
so he goes out there being a warrior
every single day trying to protect
[music] the comm the community. um he is
also the provider for the family. So um
he needs to make sure that he's always
you know being able [music] to to come
home and and and provide you know and
take care of the family and the
community and [music] risking his life
every single day. Uh he also mentioned
that in this line you know you never
know anything can happen any day [music]
his life is always at risk. So that is
why he wanted to get mikla kuti [music]
on the top to represent death. But it
also represents life. You know it is not
a bad thing. [music]
Um death is not a bad thing. It is just
a place that your body goes and rest
according to the mythology of the magika
culture of course. Uh as you can tell
here I am adding the corn. [music] Uh
and I already finished the shield of
chimalma which is the mom of ketal
kowal. And you can see right [music] now
I'm doing the corn. As far as the top,
what you see those little triangles with
little circles in the middle that is
meant to represent the fifth [music] sun
which is called tonati
and that is connected to ketal koal and
everything else in the [music] magika
culture like the astic calendar and that
is the incorrect name. I always like to
just say the aic calendar just so I can
[music] not lose anyone. Um but the
actual name of the Astic co the Astic
calendar it is Donal Macho.
Um so yeah um I wanted to add that just
to represent [music] that as well and be
able to tell the story uh and and make
sure that it really tells the story
correctly of course.
And at this point I'm still using I
ended up switching my 14 W liner. Not
that I'm using a different cartridge.
I'm still using that 14 mil liner. But
at this point, I am I took out a a new
one, a new cartridge cuz I felt like the
other one, I don't know. I just felt
like it was getting a little old. I
don't even know if that even makes
sense. I don't know if any artist goes
through this, but I do feel like the
needles kind can lose a little bit of
that sharpness, so they get a little a
little nasty. So, I always like to get
new ones. And you can tell here I'm
vibing, bro. my client it is. He is
hurting, [music] but I'm over here being
annoying as hell. But I said, you know
what? All right, let's get back to work.
[music] Let's chill out. We're in a home
stretch right now. We're about to finish
day one and we're ready to go home.
But here it is. You can tell [music] him
he's getting a little, you know, tired.
And this is day two. [music]
I I I knew it was going to be a short
day, so I wanted to just go ahead and
get to work. No more vlogging. just just
get [music] it done.
The little um circles that you guys see
right underneath the tongue, I didn't I
didn't get a chance to record it, but
they have a little circle in the middle
[music] and they're empty. That is meant
to represent the father of Galco. The
father's name it is [music] Miko,
which represents uh which means the
serpents of [music] the clouds [snorts]
and Miklat. Right now I'm working on
Mikla Deutli which is represented as
death. [music] So I did a skull. And
this is the area that I want to make it
glow. So I'm adding as much texture as I
can but also being very light with the
texture. [music]
I'm not doing too much. I'm doing just
enough.
Still using my 14 liner with my 5.0
voltage. Um constantly changing to
[music] new cartridges so they're
they're fresh and new.
But at this point I'm just having fun.
you know, my client is just relaxed now.
He knows it's the last day. Uh we are
doing a full entire sleeve. [music] So,
this is just the first visit from him.
Very soon, we're going to be booking for
uh the inner bicep. And I [music] cannot
wait to complete this sleeve. This going
to look insane. I already know. I'm not
even I'm not even going to say too much
of what I'm going to be doing cuz I'm
going to get carried away. I'm just
going to enjoy this.
But yeah, I'm getting very close to
finishing. I'm not taking a lot of
breaks today. I wanted I wanted my
[music] client to come in and in and
out, you know, let's let's get it done.
I'm not taking a [music] lot of breaks.
I wanted him just to go home and rest
cuz I know he works a graveyard, so he's
always working at night time and I know
he's exhausted and [music] I I wanted to
take, you know, I wanted to be efficient
with my time today. And I already
started the dog, you know, the dog is
meant to represent [music] uh the person
the person, I'm sorry, the dog is meant
to be your companion, [music]
the one that's going to guide you
through the nine rivers of the
underworld so they can lead [music] you
to um the afterlife so you can rest
forever. If you haven't seen the movie
Koko, [music]
watch it. And this is basically that is
basically explaining this [music] part
of the tattoo.
And if you've seen it, you know who
Dante is.
And I'm really excited. I'm not going to
be adding a whole bunch of contrast on
this because I know he's going to be
coming [music] back. So, I do not want
to ruin future plans. So, I got to be
very, very mindful on this area. I don't
want to overdo the contrast until we add
the background for this piece and the
shoulder piece. So, with that being
said, if you're a tattoo artist, I hope
you learned something from this video.
And if you're a tattoo enthusiast, I
hope you were entertained. [music]
Thank you so much for watching. I'll see
you guys on the next video. Peace.
[music]
>> [music]
[music]
>> Hey, hey, hey. [music]
>> [music]
>> Heat up.
[music]