Another Load of Carp

So my pigskin tattoo adventures continue...It comes in a large roll and I slice it into 5x5 or a bit larger. Vacuum sealing them and freezing them seems to be a good method of preserving them for use. This one I had defrosted in the fridge for 2 days, and I think it affected the quality of the piece unfortunately. It seems that the surface gets mushy and its difficult for the ink to hold so I did my best. The first piece I did was pretty fresh, so I will try to defrost them as they are needed not so much in advance. I was bummed and I know they will come out better. I hate to be the carpenter blaming his tools as they say, but it was really tough to work on. I think pretty soon I will be ready to do some on myself and some friends who are eager. This stuff is just too damn mushy. I know if I used the rubber skin stuff this would have had alot more tonal values in the image. I will post the picture and of the pencil sketch I did as reference. I am not totally happy with it but it is part of the learning curve I guess. I also did a Sailor Jerry inspired piece with a swallow. It came out ok..same deal with the mushy skin. I will definitely redo it. I didnt have red tattoo ink for that one so I used Higgins ink. Blah.

My first tattoo attempt on pigskin

So I finally got some pigskin to practice on. It's the closest thing to practicing on human skin; although its a bit tougher. I decided to try my hand at quickly tattooing a Japanese style koi. My color choices were a bit limited because I only had orange and blue, I need to pick up some yellow and red to add some more hues. I love fish, so I will probably tattoo a few more koi. Enjoy.

19thc Suicide Girl

Here is a picture of a 19thc inspired pinup girl I am working on. Its on a 6x6 square of rubber meant to simulate skin. It isn't quite done yet but for my first tattoo I have ever done I think it could be worse I guess. I need to go to the butcher and get some pig skin. That should be pretty close to the real thing. So yeah this is what I have been up to lately. Enjoy.

Dead Fruit

Here is another twisted tattoo flash design I whipped up. I am working on a series of skull related imagery for this set of tattoo flash. In this piece its a bit stylized, which is always fun for me to do. I wanted to achieve an old woodcut type of feel with the rendering of the apple tree, and keep the illustration fairly simple and straight forward. The image is 8 1/2 x 11 and is drawn with archival India ink, on acid free paper. Check it out at my Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/listing/50195858/rotten-apple

Man of Constant Sorrow

Man of Constant Sorrow

This is a hand drawn illustration I created paying tribute to old school tattoo flash design; namely the work of Bert Grimm and Norman "Sailor Jerry" Collins. I am an apprenticing tattooist and I really respect and appreciate these artists and what they stood for. Their bold and straightforward designs have endured the test of time and are now part of mainstream culture. I wanted to pay homage to their work but also add my own style to the mix.

The "Man of Constant Sorrow" is a theme that has been in art for hundreds of years. It depicts the pain and suffering of Christ, and was usually depicted by the Netherlandish and Northern European painters. I chose to do a variation on the subject matter and added a skull design and razorwire instead of a crown of thorns. Man of Constant Sorrow is also an old timey country folk tune, written in the early part of the 20thc. It has been covered by a host of musicians including: Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, Waylon Jennings. Ron Tyminski's version became a chart topper when it was featured in the movie " O Brother Where Art Thou? "The drawing measures 8 1/2 x 11, and is created using India Ink, and Archival paper. If you are a tattoo enthusiast, or just like art with some grit to it, maybe this is the piece for you. Check it out in my Etsy Shop http://www.etsy.com/listing/50195204/man-of-constant-sorrow Enjoy.

Yeah, Hi...What's Happenin?

It has been a while since my last blog post and for the few who actually read this damn thing im sorry. I do have good reason why I have not posted though....
I am lazy and did not change the batteries in my camera, and I have been busy drawing. I have decided to take the plunge and become a tattoo artist. I start my apprenticeship tomorrow. I even bought a tattoo kit and the whole shebang. I have been working on some flash designs and I will try to post some pictures to show all yous guys out there in tv land. I want a job where I get to be creative everyday. Maybe I have been watching Office Space too much. :)