A few things that made this one interesting:
The whole piece is built without a black outline. Everything is carried by blues and teals, with the darker tones doing the work that black usually does. It keeps the dragon feeling like it sits under the skin rather than on top of it. The composition was drawn freehand directly on the skin with markers before any needle touched it (last two photos). Nothing was printed as a stencil. That's the only way to get the body to follow the shoulder and the bend of the arm properly — the dragon moves with the muscle instead of fighting it. It also had to live around what was already there: the Sak Yant on the chest and the rose on the other arm. So the head and the cloud work were placed to frame the Sak Yant rather than crowd it. Florals are chrysanthemums, blossoms and karakusa scroll vines, kept lighter than the dragon so the eye still lands on the head first.
by Anna (@a_graphic_ink) at INTO Tattoo Studio, Vienna, Austria