Healed Arm Sleeves by TomTom

There's nothing quite like seeing a big piece once it's fully healed. These two sleeves have had time to settle, and the colour and line work are sitting exactly where we want them to.

On the left arm, a Hannya mask sits across the chest and shoulder, with a koi swimming down to the wrist. The Hannya comes from Noh theatre , a mask representing a woman transformed by grief and jealousy into a demon, and one of the most iconic images in Japanese tattooing. Below her, the koi is a symbol of perseverance, drawn from the legend of a carp that swims upstream against the current until it becomes a dragon. Together, they play off each other nicely: one figure already transformed, one still pushing forward.

On the right arm, a dragon curls from the shoulder down through the bicep, surrounded by chrysanthemums in red and gold. Dragons in Japanese tattooing represent strength and good fortune rather than menace, while the chrysanthemum, or kiku, is tied to longevity and honour. The flowers give the dragon's scales something soft to sit against, which is a lot of what makes traditional Japanese work feel balanced.

Across both arms, the waves, cloud backgrounds and lightning tie everything together so the whole piece reads as one continuous story rather than two separate tattoos.

Thinking about a sleeve of your own? Come chat with us about placement, concept, and how to build something that heals as well as this.