the beginning.....

so work's been pretty hectic, and with all the bank holidays n stuff, i just haven't found time to get online.... so here's a hasty update on the past weeks doings etc....

first up, started a big ol' chunk of chris' sleeve.....

"what's that she's eating" you ask.....

a flower.

"why" you ask....

why the hell not.

it's based on 'The Torture Garden'. nuff said.

And aslo started this snakey wrap around.....

looking forward to doing more on both of these pieces. good stuff.

anyways, i'll be at the southampton convention from tomorrow, so don't expect to hear much from me til mid next week.

Oh, and i was gonna go see the Descendents play with Teenage Bottle Rocket the other day.... and 'Milo's voice blew out' the night before, he couldn't finish the set and had to have other people jump in.  Postponed til August apparently. Funny how i was talking to a guy bout them playing Australia a good 6 months ago and they were saying the exact same thing...... hmmmmmm.

lame?

me thinks so.

Tonight i'm gonna get myself down to a screening of the Cabinet of Dr Caligari which is one of my all time favorite films..... and there'll be a live score accompanying. super awesome! 

Sundae bloody sundae

quick post during my lunch break..... here's what i got up to yesterday. it had to squeeze behind something i didn't do. we'll be doing more similar weird and wonderful stuff on this arm soon! she's pretty much left it all up to me, so can't complain!

went to see comeback kid the other night, was an awesome show. got dan higgs this sunday, then descendants on tuesday.... again, can't complain!

2 become 1

so i originally had 2 fucking sweet pieces in today. Unfortunately, the 2nd piece couldn't make it in, and is rethinking the subject matter.... so only did 1.

Cyril is one of my customers from Hong Kong who happens to be in London this week and got in touch to book in a few weeks ago. I've been looking forward to doing this since he first messaged me his idea, so really glad we got it all finished. He sat really well, even though i could tell he was really suffering! Started doing some soft browns as colour fill towards the end, but ended up not doing much as i think he's reached his limit!

click to enlarge peeps. 

total tattoo

So figured it's about time i blog the article that got published last month. Now it's the month after and there's a new issue out i feel that's totally acceptable. Anyways, i've resized the images small enough to make reading it pretty impossible!

Doesn't mean i still can't share though! Once again, thanks to Total and Sally for the honour, and thanks to Al for making Milo look absolutely adorable and managing to set up a mini studio in my front room and take photos whilst balancing on my sofa. And last but not least, thanks to all my awesome customers who let me do weird and wonderful tattoos.

skulls n songs

super shitty day. was running late with my 1st customer, panicking and worrying about not being able to finish the guy in after him.... who doesn't show up anyways. i need to seriously stop stressing so much at work. stuff like this always happens, and it feels like a kick to the teeth on days like today.

anyways, the J Mascis gig the other night was absolutely incredible. I'm so glad i spotted the listing. Coming to think of it, i think that was another time a customer flaked and i was just browsing venue listings killing some time.... so sometimes it works out for the best!

filmed some of the set, but never managed to get a whole song start to finish for lack of space on my memory card. if i figure out how to post those videos ... i will but for now, this'll have to do. (someone else at the same gig who obviously had better foresight than me when deleting files before recording....)

if you don't watch past the 3 minute mark, you're an idiot.

In other non work related news, went to collect the Edwardian mirror i bought the other day, no photos yet i'm afraid as it aint hung up yet and still packaged.... but i also got this....

it's pretty huge. stood nose to floor the top of the antlers almost reach my hip.

gonna have to find a fitting name for him me thinks.....

Tomorrow i have the best intentions of visiting the last day of a steam fair... but don't be amazed if i never mention that again. Monday is awesome tattoos day. Officially. Can't wait.

african or african't?

so was just checking the stats map on my blog....

what's up africa? where's the love?! 

custom vs. flash/face vs. smash

ok, so first up, a coi tattoo i did yesterday. wow did this turn into the mission of the century. long story short... this guy chose a pic outta my portfolio... little did i know he wanted it exactly as is the one in my book. obviously, i aint gonna replicate a custom tattoo onto someone, so i redrew it. (seriously... it's a fish, it's not the end of the world) so he rocks up to his appointment, doesn't really speak a lick of the Queens dialect, and i haven't had time to brush up on my Vietnamese... so a fun filled game of charades ensued, and i finally managed to talk him into getting the coi i had just drawn.

 i was seriously doubting whether he was ever gonna get in the chair, and starting to worry he was gonna take a photo of the coi in my portfolio he liked so much to some backstreet butcher and just get them to do it. i can't begin to describe how frustrating it can be when someone comes to you for a tattoo because they obviously like your work, yet do not give you that little bit of freedom that so often makes the tattoos you produce that little bit extra special. i kinda felt like i was replicating someone else's work the whole time i was tattooing him, as he made it very clear the shading etc had to be exactly like the one i'd already done. it felt like i was ripping something off and didn't feel .... well..... fun.

Anyways, it's a nice tattoo, i woulda done some stuff different, as i like to change up little nuances with things like coi, as i do so many it's always nice to throw something new into the mix. ~The most important thing is that he really likes it, which makes in turn makes me happy and feel like i've done a good job. Job being the operative work in this case though.

so with that rant well and trully over, onto the Earth gig.  I'm not gonna lie and pretend that i enjoy nothing more than 3 chord punk with GSCE level lyrics, so i kinda felt like a chimp who was on a day trip to a museum.... but i had fun. Ross loves them, and i figured i should get outta the house, it was the anniversary of a very dear departed certain someone, and i woulda just sat at home stewing.

Was hard to get photos of the band, so here's one...

was way easier to get photos of the awesome floor....

yup.

tonight i'm off to see J Mascis play, which i'm super excited bout. 

here's a taster for all o y'all who have no idea who i'm talking bout.

and this is the weirdest interview ever....

birds n bees

the weather is way too nice to be working right now. anyways, figured i'd better post some proof that i am indeed still at work, and producing work....

teeny lil' hummingbird on the inside of a girls wrist/arm

and extended the cherry blossom piece i did a while back... spot the lil birdy in there too? 

everything's so summery. 

so yesterday was a pretty sweet day. went to my favorite taxidermy/antique shop, purchased a kick ass edwardian mirror and an ivory mini jotter. unfortunately, we couldn't be arsed to lug a mirror round the rest of the day, and i left the jotter on my bookshelf.... so no pics. soon.... i promise..... maybe wednesday.

tomorrow i'm gonna see Earth play. i'm gonna play count the beards over a foot long.

blink and you'll miss him.....

so it's been a good day. sun's blaring, billy idol's playing on the stereo, fully booked with nice easy stuff, and... to top it off, i got a weird and wonderful walk in i managed to squeeze in.....

yup!

sorry i haven't blogged anything a little more.... interesting tattoo-wise, but it's been a lot of small simple stuff recenlty, which is kinda nice coz i was starting to accumulate a bit of a back log of custom stuff. 

got some cool stuff booked in over the next few weeks, so the blog should pick up a bit. til then.... drink in the parks and apply sunscreen people. words of wisdom right there.

paw me poor me pour me a drink

so went to good ol' Maidstone again yesterday for the 2nd session on my back. Gotta admit i was dreading it.... so much so i felt physically sick the whole way there. Turned out to be a MUCH easier session than the 1st, thank god. I think laying down helped a whole bunch too, so i'm hoping we can have me laying for most of it from here on.....

so here's how much we got done so far (obviously the paw and the peacock feathers are yesterday's doings....).... can't wait til at least all the black shading is in, but we seem to making pretty good progress i think!?!

gonna be tattooing Jay in a few weeks, which'll be weird. Never tattooed him before, and he's getting the back of his thigh done. Not gonna be fun for him, but i just hope he doesn't hold it against me next session we do on my back! haha

In other news, i will be working the Southampton Tattoo convention from April 30th to May 1st, so anyone keen on getting tattooed, please get in touch soon. I would much rather have some prep time and bookings set in stone than just have walk in's the whole weekend.

Oh, and i got the funny feeling Milo may have recently joined a gang...... if that aint some serious gang paw throwdown, i dunno what is.

here kitty kitty

so here's a fun rib smash i just did. it's based on the clients cat... she didn't want a portrait, but brought in pics for the reference on the markings.

harry and ely are both working on backpieces as i speak... i'm not complaining, i'll take a fun 1 shot over session work any day!

today is ross' birthday.... and his sisters birthday, and no they are not twins, and no this isn't an april fools.  so yesterday i surprised him with tickets to this....

it was awesome. even picked up some "this machine kills fascists" stickers. yup!

tonight we'll be having a BBQ at my place, it's the first proper get together we've had at the flat since we moved here.... so should be fun!