Alien Dad, and a lotus tattoo.

My friend Melissa came in today to get tattooed. We did a memorial piece for her Dad, who died recently, and was apparently an AWESOME guy, because he LOVED Aliens.

She sat like a champ- we joked and talked the whole time.

This is the cameo-alien-dad-memorial.

(I know her from an amazing website called regretsy, in case you were wondering. She’s one of my internet friends! This was the first tattoo I have done on my friends from that site, but I plan to work on a shitload of these guys on my trip!)

 

We talked a lot about movies too- she told me to watch a movie whose name I forget, but it was because we were talking about the movie “Parents” with Randy Quaid.

geiger tattoo horror movieAlso I am amassing a VHS tape bin for her- since she likes crappy horror movies as much as I do (and I want my collection to go to someone who will love it, since I am clearing space and paring back my things)

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Then, right after that, I worked on my other friend Dottie, doing a Mom memorial tattoo. A tiny bit more classic, this one- a lotus with some swirls and text. The swirls are open and fade at the edges so that we can do more connecting flowers on her arm later.

She knew she wanted a floral piece, so we sat and talked about what flowers she likes, and then I asked her what her favorite colors are…blue, purple, and orange!

I need to get better photos of this. She had dry summer skin (Like I do!) and so it was still shiny in this photo.

SUPER fun, also!

cack.

fighting cock tattooI worked on a good friend today. I like spontaneous tattoos a lot.

There’s something to be said for the energy that builds up when you talk over an idea, do the art together, find reference, and then tattoo- all in one day. It’s my favorite way to work, really- with the client right there, hanging out the whole time.

This is Chicken’s cack.

Chicken is an old friend. He’s covered in no-nos, tattoos that are funny or offensive. He came in to get tattooed with no idea what we ought to work on (he is, like me, running out of space!) so we sat down and started throwing ideas around. He doesn’t have a cock tattoo, so noticing that the front of his leg below the knee was empty it was the first thing that popped into my mind – both as something that’d suit him, and something I’d really enjoy drawing. He asked me to make sure it was damn serious and kinda pissed, so I did.

We looked up a ton of photographs of the actual animal, so that I could get a good feel for the body structure and feather patterns on these guys. Our piercer, Tigger, showed me some photos of Aurmarca(spelling?) roosters, too- very simple and direct colors on these guys. Red, brownish-yellow, and a greeny-black iridescence.

All in all, a fun start for a big giddy tattoo.

I’ll be at the shop tomorrow too- it’s the tail end of the slow season here. Next month I will likely be busy tattooing, but for right now I have the time to work on some close friends and colleagues, which is a nice segue back to regular working hours from camping season!

 

(note, this cack is about halfway done. we still have to do the tail, wing, and background.)

oregon tsunami. work in progress.

We did a 4 1/2 or 5 hour session on this. It’s a cover-up of an older tattoo, a medium-sized rose and banner was there before.

This fellow lived in Eugene for a good long while, and so he wanted a memento of Oregon. We’re doing Mt. Hood at the backdrop of the waves, on the underside of his arm.

This, a version of the great wave as painted by Hokusai, is simply that- a great wave. Our man Joe is a surfer, and currently lives in Socal- we talked a bit about my fear of swimming in the ocean (SHARKS.) and his lack of fear (DOLPHINS AND PUPPIES). He works as a biologist, right now he is working with condors. I LOVE VULTURES AND CONDORS.

We also had some good book conversation, we’d both read Mutant Message, and a bit of McKenna, and he recommended some music to me, and I recommended he read The Flounder.

He also sat like a champ. It was a long, and brutal session, encompassing both his front and back armpits AND the knob up top by the collarbone, not to mention a large raised scar up there that must have stung! But he sat quite still through it all.

I can’t wait to finish this. I still have to refine the splashed droplets of white, and blue- and reline the cloud areas- and finish the mountain underneath.

fabio.

a little taste of my day.
fabio, seahorseI did this for a commission. Things like this are the reason I love commissioned work. I started drawing, imagining a pen and ink, monochromatic fabio- and somehow managed to make him start to be golden.

At that point I was screwed- golden aquatic beefcake, it had to be done.

Done with watercolor wash and prismacolor pencil.

Note: the seahorse is enjoying itself.

 

 

 

 

online selling, etsy, ethics.

Update: people are beginning to migrate from the (myspace )I mean – etsy. Here is a page attempting to list their new shops and venues. And other are protesting it all.

The place has always had resellers; people breaking the rules to pass off mass-produced stuff as handmade.
There’s a lot of money to be had from people who want to NOT support corporations, who want to buy local, handmade stuff. A lot of people don’t like buying things that were made for pennies by slave labor. Lots of companies know that, and will lie about how their stuff was made, to get that dollar.

The people who produce things with slave labor want that dollar, too.

“Former eBay and PayPal executive Stephanie Tilenius has joined the Board of Directors of Etsy, joining Etsy founder Rob Kalin, FlickR’s Caterina Fake, Union Square Ventures’ Fred Wilson, and Accel Partners’ Jim Breyer (also on Walmart.com.’s board) on the board. Tilenius left eBay last year and now heads Google’s commerce division.”

So they invaded etsy (and a few other places) and have been trying for a while now to find ways to successfully sell to people who don’t want to buy from them. Recently, an attempt to pass off furniture built in Bali as “handmade in CA” was busted. The thing is- etsy isn’t supposed to be a place to buy factory-made goods being resold. Its own mission statement says that buying direct from people who are making things by hand, not in factories, is the point.

I signed up there because of that but now…well, the fact that when confronted with a (GIANT SHITPILE OF) evidence, including an email from the man who actually makes the furniture, that the stuff is not produced in CA, and that the original seller is a fraud, etsy chose not to apologize, not to admit fault and remove the seller—but to close discussions about it and deny. (note- the fraudulent seller? is not only still open, but still in their list of “featured sellers”)
So, I’m in the process of migrating. (check out my home page– new links to my stuff for now! All my rocks, sticks, logs, and moss will stay on etsy- but anything I made, art, paintings and stuff- originals- has been moved. still debating whether to keep my prints there or not, my “production work”)

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ms.vader, and a zombie tattoo

lady darth vader tattoozombie tattoowhat I did at work today!

ghost ship; glazes

I recently did a painting of a ghost ship for a good friend of mine.

I used a lot of glaze layers in this; starting with the hard edged underpainting, then proceeding with white glazes, and blue.

I used ivory in my liquin to dull and smooth out the moon, and the ship itself. I wanted it to be ghostly and still, despite the rough and choppy water.

I aimed for ghostly more than violent. At first I was going to do sharks and severed hands and gore, but my friend wanted ghost ship, not disaster scene. So I toned it down a whole lot for this one.

The water was particularly fun. I shipped this out, and it was the first bigger canvas (16×20″) that I’ve shipped. I sent it insured, media mail…next time I might splurge on priority though…

I know she’s waiting for this to arrive, but I figured I would spoil the surprise by posting it right now. haha

I painted this during our big storm here; I had to keep stopping when it got dark outside, since painting by candlelight doesn’t work very well. Also my electricity was out.

head tattoos, and pirate skeletons!


I worked on some friends yesterday. FUN!

It was my day “off”, so I worked on my best friend, her brother, and another very close friend of mine…

It was a great day. I even put on my mp3 player and we listened to the most epic playlist I’ve ever made, all damn day long.

At one point I serenaded my friend with a Stevie Nicks song while tattooing the center of his head.

I also haven’t seen my best friend in a while so getting to hang out with her was awesome.

We’ve both been a bit reclusive lately so have only been in touch online and on the phone.

It’s the one problem with living where I do right now- my best friend is an hour away. On my way home last night my car got stuck in the snow on marys peak, too, and I had to chain up just to pull it off the road…and hitch a ride home from my partner in his four-wheel drive. So there are downfalls to my woodsy life. Worth it though- and the days when I DO see my friends I am so glad.

A few finished-product photos after the jump.

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darth marth day.

darth vader tattoo darth vader tattoo in progressone finished, one in progress!

excuse the crappy photos,

I left my good camera at home, and had

to use the crappy phone camera.

saviour complex

eye tattoo with lettering on chestWhat I worked on today.

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