Looking good, Carey!

MONTREAL - Carey Price was back in the tattoo chair earlier this week.

The seven-time NHL All-Star made his way to Calgary's Bushido Tattoo for another session with renowned artist, Riley Hogan.
Hogan, who specializes in black and grey realistic tattoos, continued working on a breathtaking sleeve tribute to Price's Ulkatcho First Nation heritage as well as his family.

"We finished off the eagle, so the whole back of the head and the body. We did some quick little white highlights of the arrowhead in the center and the bottom inside forearm with all the feathers and beading, and then the little fly with the fishing line going through it," revealed Hogan, regarding the new additions to his artwork. "We also did some more work on the top of the shoulder, adding two or three inches to the bear to kind of extend it a little bit."
So far, so good. And there is still more to come to ultimately complete the remarkable piece.
"We have a couple of spots on the very bottom to fill in. The design isn't 100 percent finished yet," confirmed Hogan. "We're waiting to see some final images from Carey, and then we'll kind of see where they'll be placed and fit in with the design we have."

According to Hogan, Price has been a real trooper throughout the entire inking process, which thus far has included three sessions.
"He sat great and didn't really move. It didn't seem to bother him at all. We did two days back-to-back during the first sitting and he had great pain tolerance," mentioned Hogan. "As far as a client, he could've kept going. I was like 'Ok, we're going to have to call it for today and we'll be back again tomorrow.' He's a great client with great patience. Overall, it's been a great experience."
Planning is everything
Hogan says that approximately 12 months of back-and-forth exchanges between himself and Price went into creating and selecting the imagery for the sleeve before the actual tattooing began.
Price reached out to Hogan after seeing some of his work on another NHLer, and the Alberta-based artist eventually made his way to Montreal for a consult to get the design process underway.
"It's definitely one of my favorite pieces. Everything has kind of come together the way I wanted to, which is nice," said Hogan, who boasts 11-plus years of tattooing experience and estimates having completed over 2,000 pieces during that time. "We've had lots of prep time, so I knew where to go with it long before Carey was actually in the shop. It's great to see something you've been working on and put together, once you get it down on the skin, it's nice to see it come to fruition."