A black-and-white photo of a person mid-air in a Superman-style body suspension pose, supported by multiple hooks in their back and legs, smiling joyfully toward the camera. They are suspended horizontally in a large indoor space with high ceilings and visible rigging. A group of onlookers—some seated, some standing—watch with expressions of admiration, amusement, and support. The atmosphere is lively and communal, capturing a moment of shared experience and transformation.

Big Lion Chestpiece

This great tattoo (with still lots to do) is about six years old in this photo, done by Cat Spencer at Show Me Tattoo in St. Robert, Missouri… My singular objection is that I think nipples should be tattooed over in chestpieces like this. That said, I don’t think the nipples are tattooed in my chestpiece, so who am I to talk…

Comments

25 responses to “Big Lion Chestpiece”

  1. ross Avatar

    i quite like how they have used the nipples as the eyes… very cool…

    almost as good as hte monkey’s arswhole bellybutton picture that was on i-am-bored

  2. Shannon Larratt Avatar

    ross – the nipples aren’t the eyes…

  3. EternalLife Avatar

    I was just gonna say, at first glance I thought the nipples were the eyes and it looked weird. But then I looked properly! It’s a great tattoo, but I do think the nipples are distracting.

  4. Veal Avatar
    Veal

    If ever there was a good case for nipple removal……

  5. bex Avatar
    bex

    It looks like the lion has rosy cheeks 🙂

  6. Alkaline_fairy Avatar
    Alkaline_fairy

    I would definitely say that the nipples are distracting, and I am a big fan of nipples in general so that’s a hard thing to type.

  7. Claire Avatar

    I don’t think I would have even noticed the nipples had they not been mentioned, now they’re all I can see when I look at it.

  8. lala Avatar
    lala

    Hehehe.
    The nipples are his cheeks!

  9. CreativeNonFiction Avatar

    I agree, while it’s an interesting stylistic approach, I think it would look a bit nicer with tattooed nipples. That said, they did a great job on it.

  10. RecklessTryg Avatar

    I have half of my chest tattooed right now and I don’t have my nipple tattooed. The artist suggested an idea of putting negative space flames coming off my nipple. I thought it was a good idea and we did it. My nipple look like it is on fire.

  11. bravemenrun Avatar
    bravemenrun

    I saw his page yesterday and was wondering if that was Cat’s work!

    The nipples are mildly distracting, but it’s a great piece either way.

  12. wish_I_were_a_dragon... Avatar

    thats really impressive 😛 but yeah the nipples need to go lol

  13. L1ZZARD Avatar

    I agree on the nipple removal. I think that this tattoo would have looked much better on the back, simply because the nipples take away from it. The lion is a beautiful tattoo though. I would be in awe just looking at this guys chest.

  14. ives Avatar
    ives

    Shannon… you don’t think your own are tattooed? Peek under your shirt and remove all doubt?

  15. goomy Avatar

    yea, the nipples should definitely be tattooed over…

    ives, I think he means that he didn’t finish his chestpiece and doesn’t think they are going to be tattooed

  16. ross Avatar

    hahaha, im BLIND. wooda been damn cool if they were.

  17. choice Avatar

    the nipples are too distracting. if this guy lifted up his shirt my initial reaction would be nice nipples.. HEY, nice tattoo. i’d definitely have them tattooed over.

  18. Vienna Avatar

    I say… cut the nipples out and tattoo over the areola. 😀 Seriously though, this is a wonderful looking big piece!

  19. an0nymous_vamp1re Avatar

    I agree on the nipples as well. I prefer the nipples to be eyes. If it was all moved down a bit, they could be the eyes and the navel could be its mouth.

  20. choice Avatar

    ^ that’s the tackiest thing i’ve ever visualized.

  21. milquetoast Avatar
    milquetoast

    not to be too critical, it’s a very nice tattoo, but yeah the nipples stand out more because they are so colourful in contrast to the black ink.

  22. Phill Avatar

    Wait, what do you mean you don’t think the nipples are tattooed in your chestpiece? Can’t you just … look?

  23. scotsjerry Avatar
    scotsjerry

    It’s a good piece of tattooing, and I agree about having the nipples tattooed. I had mine done about 25 years ago and occasionally have them re-done. They’ll probably be reworked to fit in with the total chest rework I’m having done at the moment. So, if the nipples get in the way of a good piece, get some colour in them. Go for it lad!
    By the way Shannon, you could let us have a gander at your own chest, and let us know for sure if yours are done or not. lol.

  24. Shannon Larratt Avatar

    scotsjerry – I’ve been posting some procedural photos on my zentastic.com blog and IAM…. I’ll post the tattoo here when it’s done.

  25. McErin Avatar
    McErin

    Cat is a great artist. iam: Patrick has another great piece by him if anyone cares to take a look.

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