| My name is Jeff AKA the Ruler Of Zoltar. I am 22 years old, and from Coral Springs, FL. I have all my tattoo work
done at Cool Cat Tattoo in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. The tattoo artist who did my Hellraiser sleeve piece is Dan King.
He is co-owner of both Cool Cat Tattoo shops. This was the 1st piece he has ever done with Hellraiser. He is a
portrait and realism specialist. I have been a Hellraiser fan since the first time my mother took me to see the
original in the theatre back in '87. It scared the hell out me. I knew from that moment on, this movie was going
to stick with me for the rest of my life. I decided to get my Hellraiser tattoo work done on my leg in order to give it a pillar-like shaping. I originally only wanted the Order of the Gash AKA the original four cenobites from parts I and II, and also including the Engineer. I had a change of plans as we proceeded with the work. We started the tattoo at the 2001 South Florida Tattoo Convention. Xipe Totec AKA Pinhead was the first cenobite to be worked on. I have a three ring binder of Hellraiser history that I created with pictures, bios, and all sorts of other information for each character in all of the movies, including the Lament Configuration. Dan used my book to freehand the entire tattoo. He used a green sharpie and red sharpie when drawing each portion on my leg. He only used what he saw in my book of pictures. |
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Once Xipe Totec was complete, we then started to work on the Chatter Cenobite. We decided to make it as if the chain hooks were actually sticking me in the leg, and into other characters as well. Soon after he was complete the next character to be worked on was the Female. She wasn't too pleasant. There was probably more pain tattooing her than any other of the characters. I suppose that was due to her being the High Priestess of Hell. The tricky part about doing the Female was that she looked slightly different in both part I and II. She was more feminine-like in part II. I did though want the extra wiring opening up the trachea from part I on this piece. So, we basically took the face of the Female in part II, subtracted the hair from part I, and just added the extra wiring from the first movie. I was originally going to add a serrated knife to her, but there was really no room for it, and it wasn't a really necessary. Next was the back of the leg. I had to lay down on a table for this portion to be fully completed. The Butterball Cenobite took a couple of weeks to complete. It took me a while to really find a picture that showed a real close-up of his weaponry. Butterball really made no facial expressions, just licking his lips and fingering the wound in his belly throughout both parts I and II. I wanted his triangular shark-like teeth to show, and especially the wound in his belly. At that time I wasn't sure where else I wanted to go with it. Next came the Engineer. He took approx. one session to complete. If it wasn't for the Engineer the torture devices the cenobites use in hell would be absent. Soon after he was complete, I was uncertain where I wanted to go from there. I really liked some of the new characters from Hellraiser IV: Bloodline. I did feel that movie was not that good overall, but some of the new cenobites were shaped very well. I passed up on part III due to the fact there were so many new cenobites, none of which really caught my attention. The CD cenobite was almost an option, but at the last minute I decided not to use him, and to do the Twins, and Chatter Beast instead. The Twins basically represent comedy/tragedy in a sense. One of which had a grinning facial expression, the other which was frowning. The way there heads were twisted together really made an awesome piece, and it fit in great! Then towards the very bottom of the ankle came the almighty Chatter Beast, Xipe Totec's new found pet. This was my favorite new cenobite from this film, therefore I wanted to add it to the sleeve. The last character was none other than the infamous Channard Cenobite. I wasn't sure if we'd have enough room for him considering I wanted the clawed tentacle of the Nether God on his head. We in fact did have enough room to fit him at the very top. I am extremely glad we decided to do this. I really wanted him in the sleeve because of his involvement in part II. Due to the Sin of Remembrance, Channard was sent to destroy the Order of the Gash, and send them back to their personal hells. After Channard was complete, we touched up a few things, and then bam, we were all done, seven months later. The work was finally complete. It took from August of 2001 to February of 2002. During the work of Xipe Totec, Cool Cat Tattoo was filming a commercial for local TV air play, and I was asked to be in it, while Dan was working on my leg. It was very cool to see it on TV. I am extremely glad I decided to finally get this piece done. I awfully proud of all the hard work and dedication put in to every inch of this tattoo. It is completely amazing work. Pictures cannot do it the justice it rightly deserves. I hope to one day meet the most amazing man in the world, Clive Barker, to show him my piece. I’m sure he would appreciate it my hardcore devotion. If you have any questions, I can be contacted at RulerOfZoltar@AOL.COM or RulerOfZoltar@Bellsouth.Net Jeff the Ruler Of Zoltar |
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