weapons of war and vice

With the lovely weather the last month of so when not at the shop I've been spending far to much time on the lake fishing so I figured it's about time I posted something on these pages. I was a little concerned when asked to do the 2x4 with nails,  I had had apprehensions on whether a board could make a solid, interesting tattoo and just maybe the concept would be more dynamic than the image itself. However I have to admit it holds up quite well and I can't say I've ever seen a 2x4 with nails tattoo before.

Meditating in your flesh

Endless knots are great tattoos to execute due to the technical challenges and the concentration required. It's all very zen, in my opinion. This knot is a very ancient symbol and it's always a pleasure to be a very small part of it's history and existence. Etching it in skin makes the symbol permanent yet not infinite. After all the wearer shall pass at some point. There's an interesting duality at work there that's rather intriguing. Enough of the transcendental thought for now....

Grinnin' In Your Face-

There'll be tattoo related posts sometime in the next several days, in the meantime however I would rather go on a small tirade about contemporary music-

This stagnant, soulless whore machine which is referred to as contemporary music is heinous. We exist in a world where MTV is a product or style, where both online and printed correspondence believe that little transvestite Bieber's hair and music is newsworthy, so much so there's a movie about the boy/girl? The radio waves are choked with blonde after blonde pop tarts who sing songs which were written by someone else to music who was composed by someone else while sporting an image and persona developed for them by someone else. The term artist is thrown around so recklessly to the point where it has lost its gravitas. All you need is some glitter and prosthetic shoulder pads and your a ground breaking visionary.

However, there are true musicians among us still, you just have to dig through the shit. We still have Jack white making music with the Raconteurs and his numerous side projects. John Frusciante will always make brilliant independent solo albums, his album Curtains is great and always stands out in my mind. We are quite fortunate that Mumford and Sons came out of obscurity to save us from ourselves.  I have strayed from my intentions.

The point of this post is to share this...  Son House performing Grinnin' in your face...

Soul my friends, soul. Everything great and pure about music and no fucking instruments, yet everything is conveyed. All the fancy bullshit, the smoke and mirrors, back up dancers, designer clothes, and eyeliner. All gone and stripped bare to reveal only the elements which matter.

spider skull and watercolors

Here's a quick and simple spider-skull I did on an ever so loyal client of mine, nice tattoo on a helluva nice guy.  I've been tattooing a great deal of skulls lately.  Not that I'm complaining they're always a great bold image and there's nearly an infinite number of ways to execute them.

And a pair of recently completed watercolors. Please forgive the quality of the images, my scanner won't accommodate the 11 x 14 inch format so digital photos were my only option and the quality is less the ideal.

momento mori

It's been a few since I last posted and I'm nearly certain it's of no consequence to the universe and all that's contained within. None the less, here are a pair of images to distract those who are in need of a distraction.

First, a traditional skull on a gentlemen's neck. As a general principle I attempt to avoid tattooing the necks of individuals whom have ample room elsewhere on their bodies, alas, I enjoy tattooing skulls far too much to decline, as well as the fact the person in question is a fairly regular client of mine so I obliged.

In the realm of non flesh based arts, I have recently completed this small oil on canvas painting of skulls and chrysanthemums. I believe it to be quite successful, particularly the lighting and overall ambiance. The reflected light from the camera's flash has washed it out slightly but here it is none the less.

An owl and a Portrait

Here's a pair of recent tattoos. First, a fairly traditional owl, he's a little cuter than I would have like and I really would have liked to fill the eyes, make 'em glow yellow or some shit. However, the client... well she was quite particular (but a pleasant girl)with the look she was going for and it is what it is.

Since I'm somewhat on the subject I would like to take a few sentences to reflect and ponder what goes on in some peoples heads. When you hire a plumber do you tell him how to fix your toilet? A mechanic how to repair your vehicle? Do you tell a hooker how to provide her particular services? As a tattooer I don't make a living giving clients bad tattoos, I'm not secretly plotting in the dark hours of the night ways I can fuck up your tattoo. On the contrary, I have all intentions of supplying you, the client, with the finest piece of art I can give you. I don't want to hear the friend you brought along or your insecure, over protective boyfriend/girlfriend with the Ed Hardy shirt and Affliction jeans thinks that this should be blue or that should be like this. Have them do the fucking tattoo. I have in a few circumstances discussed this with the occasional client who's requests and desires fall on the far side of lunacy. There's a common denominator between all who behave in such away and that it they all say one or all of the following:
"It's my body, I have to live with it, it's permanent".

 Well that's some enlightening shit right there. I've been tattooing all these years and you say it's permanent, are you sure? It's your body? I thought it was your monosyllabic boyfriend's over there with the fine eye for fashion. Yes I know it's your body and that the ink I'm inserting into your flesh is indelible but you see I'm trying to prevent a disaster from occurring on your flesh with my name attached to it.

So ladies and gentlemen what I'm trying to say here is- give your tattooer creative freedom. In the end you'll have something great instead of average or worse.

Now with that tirade aside, here's the second tattoo.

I don't enjoy portraits, they're entirely to stressful. Nine times out of ten they're of a loved one who passed away and meant a great deal to the individual. I do traditional tattoos, bold thick outlines heavy shading, splash of color here and there. A proper portrait consists of zero lines and very delicate shading, the antithesis of how I work. I'm not sure how I ended doing this tattoo but I'm kinda glad I did. It's of the clients Grandfather who passed away fairly recently and they were close, etc... Im not insensitive but spare me the backstory, you're not on L.A. Ink, give me your arm and be still my friend.

Emerald Skull

Did a few photo worthy tattoos recently, however I couldn't get any decent pictures to post here, so that will have to wait until a later time. In the mean time here's a recent oil painting of a skull done in monochromatic green. I like my tattoos to look like tattoos and my paintings to look like paintings and I believe this demonstrates that well in all of it's brushy, dripping glory.

In a more tattoo related way here's a sampling of some flash sheets I've been working on occasionally. They contain images, elements and techniques that interest me. I'm fairly happy with them at the moment. Due to the size of my scanner I was unable to fit the images in their entirety.

Lastly, I did this lighthouse for no reason in particular, not  quite sure how I feel about it but I thought I'd share it.