How to turn double mastectomy surgical scars into a forest floor wonderland: a visual tour

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When books opened in the fall, J approached me with this incredible project. After beating + recovering from breast cancer, and deciding against risky “reconstructive” surgery, they’re ready to turn their scars into a brambly ode to the outdoors that they love to immerse themself in. My response was a resounding fuck yes. They mentioned that they want ferns to feature prominently and gave me the freedom to design a Cascade forest composition, noting that they are a fan of hermit thrushes, moths, and bunchberry. We met for a consult to check out the scars and get on the same page about what a project like this would entail, then got started this past week. Here’s the work we’ve done so far; stay tuned for more progress as we continue building!

1) Value plan + composition, created digitally

  • The final piece will be rendered in my tattooing style, but this mockup gives an idea of the composition and value weights to expect. This particular composition is exciting to me because it provides an opportunity to create a visual flow unconstrained by typical breast tissue.

2) Torso and surgical scars before tattooing, healed 2+ years

  • Tattooing scar tissue is entirely possible as long as the scars have had plenty of time to heal to ensure that the tissue is stable (a year healed is good, two is better). It’s a common myth that getting scar tissue tattooed is more painful than unscarred skin, and while it can be, that’s not universally true. It depends on each individual’s situation. In this client’s case, parts of the scar tissue were notably less painful than the surrounding areas.

3) The stencil

  • Five pages of stencil paper, a bit of Sharpie, and two hours of fitting later

4) First session - grey wash lined composition

  • Grey wash lining is a great technique when you need to block in a composition quickly. These lines will heal fairly light, resembling a pencil sketch and providing a blueprint for the value-building work in subsequent sessions.

After this session, I anticipate 3-4 more to complete the project in time for summer. Stay tuned for more progress!

So much gratitude to J for choosing me for + trusting me with this powerful project!