Colourful peacock tattoo: a forty-hour back piece

Why a peacock?

I have loved peacocks for a long time. I love their presence, their way of being there. They know they are liked, they have nothing to prove. They take up space, naturally.

Their colours are magnificent, deep, imposing, and at the same time there is something very sweet about them. It's forte, but never aggressive. It’s beautiful, sensible, female. And for me, it couldn't possibly be anything other than a back.

The project is starting

I had drawn this colourful peacock, conceived from the start for a large area, and I posted it on Instagram, hoping one day to tattoo it.

One day, some bloke commented on the post tagging his sister and saying, "isn't that what you wanted to do?" And actually yes, that was exactly it.

We chatted directly via social media. Very simply. The project was clear: a colourful peacock on the back. We very quickly fixed the appointment dates. There was no need for long speeches, we both knew it would be an important project.

Forty hours for two

We started shortly afterwards. In total, we spent about forty hours on it.

Forty hours, that means long sessions, sometimes gruelling ones. Moments when it really hurts. Others where we chat, where we have a laugh, we tell each other stories. Despite the pain and the fatigue, she always came back. Every time. And that's essential in this kind of project.

Build session after session

This type of piece is built together. You have to accompany, encourage, adjust, sometimes slow down, sometimes push a little, always listen.

The colour took its place. The feathers opened up gradually. The back built itself over time, without rushing. It was essential that the whole remained legible, that the tattoo worked from a distance, that it lived on the body.

The moment when everything makes sense

At one point, the project was presented at the Vaison-la-Romaine convention, at the Vaison Ink Festival. She walked the runway with this back.

And then, everything made sense. The tattoo was no longer just a work in progress. It was worn, embraced, fully visible.

Why this project matters

Ultimately, this peacock is not a complicated symbol or a concept. It's a shared story. Forty hours of work, of pain sometimes, and of lighter moments too.

And that very simple satisfaction when you look at the finished back and you know it was worth it.

That's precisely why I love doing projects like this.