He was in town because his friend had won tickets to the MTV Video Music Awards the night before, and he got to tag along.
Burton is a tattooist with thirteen tattoos, and the one he shared with me is truly spectacular:
He collaborated on this design with his friend Richard Nunnaly at Psycho Tattoo in Marietta, Georgia.
Burton wanted something traditional, that represented an inner struggle.
They developed the tiger fighting the viper (and winning), but modified it to give the design a cartoon-like spin.
He explained that they had the original design, but that it wasn't that exciting to their creative sensibilities, so they started sketching directly on the arm. The whole piece took approximately 14-16 hours.
I especially love how the tiger's fur spirals at the elbow.
Thanks much to Burton for sharing this amazing tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!