IT TOOK 11 hours, spread over two days, but at the end of it, Jeremy Howe had an entire side of his torso covered in a tattoo tribute to family members who have passed away.

Featuring two angels, the elaborate tattoo also includes a radiating cross, the Southern Cross and two roses on his hip.

Howe took to Twitter and Facebook to show off his new ink receiving more than 130 likes on Facebook and many responses and retweets on Twitter.

Howe said: “The tattoo isn’t so much about religion but a tribute to family members who have passed away. I told Bridget, the tattoo artist who also does Mitch Clark, my ideas and she drew it up and I loved the look of it and went ahead and got it done.”

“Mum saw it when it was half done and her jaw nearly hit the floor. But when I told her what it represented she loved it as her mum, my Grandma, is represented in the tattoo.”

While the idea of being tattooed for six hours at a time might sound like a nightmare to the average person, Howe remained quite relaxed, even falling asleep at one stage.

Howe joins Mitch Clark, Nathan Jones and Colin Sylvia, just to name a few, who have dedicated parts of their bodies to tattoo art.