天狗!!! Oh those Heavenly Dogs!

I've always been an anime/ manga /chambara (samurai films) nut.
I grew up thinking ninjas ruled & obsessed over Shinobi and Ninja Gaiden. I read up on what I could in high school on Japanese culture, but didn't get full exposure until my college days. I was able to meet many diverse friends and get insight into their cultures. Relationships I still have til' this day. Yoichiro Tagiri was the first person to give me clear insight into Japanese legends and folklore. He told me stories about the various creatures in Japanese folklore. The Yamauba, Oni and Tengu. I found the Tengu to be the most interesting of all the creatures. I saw them depicted as bad ass bird- like warrior monks. A saw the other various incarnations in design where some had the long noses and others that looked full on like birds. I even created a character with Yoichiro based on his whole folklore, but gave him a modernized story( I have the sketches somewhere I'll have to dig them up). Which brings me to what you see here. Above is the concept sketch. And below...

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This is the B&W inking of a tattoo design that plans to be a tattoo. Not for me of course (I have another idea in mind for myself). My cousin Mike is looking to get some fresh ink done and I'm on design.  My good buddy and fellow art class mate from high school Seth Mushrush is doing the handy work this weekend at the Philly Tattoo Convention. I made it a point to keep as simple a inking as possible for him so that he could have a simple base to work from.  but I plan to go in and do a colorized version of this image myself for a bit of compare and contrast.