Normally when taking on a full backpiece, my first inclination is to use bold black lines- often up to a few millimeters thick- to distinguish the foreground objects and give the tattoo the graphic clarity that it needs. A backpiece can be complex, so attempting the piece without lines means taking extra care to be sure that the distribution of black is strategic and strong, and that color contrast and detail development are used optimally. With this full back, I had the advantage of a good photo reference, since I had built this crazy thing out of clay and photographed it... but it was still my responsibility to translate it into a strong and readable tattoo. I talk in more detail about this project and its clarity considerations in the Lines&Edges chapter of your ReinventingTheTattoo.com subscription.