several points to be remembered about blacklight inks:
MRSA, it’s our new boogyman. Staph is all over every surface in our homes, even on our skin. It’s a common bacteria and lots of people get staph infections, from scratches, scrapes, cuts, surgical work, tattoos, you name it- if there’s a break in the skin or an injury, staph infections can happen. (Keeping a new wound or injury clean by washing with anti-microbial liquid soaps is a good start to preventing this, by the way. This is key with fresh tattoos or other abrasions, especially.)
When staph becomes resistant to antibiotics, it’s a nasty thing. MRSA spreads quickly, and it can kill you. Most people get MRSA from hospitals and doctor’s offices or dentists. This is because when disinfectants are used regularly and antibiotics are present in an environment, other kinds of bacteria die off, leaving MRSA to rule the field. More than 2/3 of fatal MRSA infections are caused by surgery.
yesterday ended up being busier than I’d thought it would be.
I worked on a few regulars, doing some lettering on the sides of their feet. Ouch! They both sat really well and weren’t at all stinky.
Then I did this really nice treasure map- she and her husband were married right there on the X. Tonight I’m doing a treasure map on him, on his back. I’ll post pictures of the two of them together afterward. I like using the aged paper colors, those soft browns and dull yellows. Creamy paper colors.
At the tail end of the night I did some more work on cory’s arm, we’re a session away from being done with his anatomical man. I can’t wait! It’s one of my favorite pieces I have in progress right now.
Just got back from the Vancouver, WA Ink Traveler’s tattoo convention. It was awesome! I got to see Todd, and Sean, and the crew at Imperial…I hung out with Cain and Will from spiderr Monkey a bit…and Pedro and Tim from Optic Nerve. I also got the opportunity to try out the neuma machines, thanks to my new friends at Sideshow Tattoos. I watched Desta from Adorn pound some jello shots, Erich won best flash, Splat won best tribal, it was an awesome weekend all round…then of course crab shack on sunday night…
On Friday I did a really fun tattoo on Levi, who is a really cool kid and awesome client. On sunday I used the nuemas to do a tiny piece on Sean. I sold some art.,..I didn’t work too much or make much money, but I had such a great time…I was being lazy haha
Here are some pictures, for you to enjoy…click read more to see them.
my client with his new tattoo.
a closeup.
sean asks nick if the turtle is leonardo or donatello?
tod at imperial.
rion from buddha trying to look suave
some guys watching some guy tattoo
cain from spider monkey, with the lovely nanichan
julie at the spider monkey booth waiting on will
using a neuma
really sweating over using a neuma
the friend tattoo I did with them, on sean
travis working on a kickass pinup girl tattoo
hangin with a friend
erich had lyle sign something for him
optic nerve uses a titlist, too
todd hiding behind crab nacho signs
Usually I try to leave free time on saturdays, so that I can take walk-ins, and have a little spontaneity in my week. This saturday, however, had a few of my favorite spontaneous tattoos ever!
This woman wanted a devil girl, to cover up a tiny hand-poked heart. We adapted one of Coop’s awesome devil flash pieces into this hot, heart-breakin devil lady. She sat tough through the whole thing, too.
Then her pal got a ship outlined on his sternum. He kept asking “Are you sure you’ll have time to do something small on me after her?” and somehow this turned into outlining a whole sternum piece, and planning out a chest panel too. They were a really cool pair, awesome people.
I did some painting this week too, and set up my art show at the Indigo.
I still can’t get over how well the atmosphere in the place meshes with my work. It looks good on their walls. Hope everyone is ready for the opening next sunday!!!
Also I found a new big project to occupy my head with; writing an ethics seminar for next spring. whew.
I actually went out twice this week! Amazing!
On thursday, I did a big, big, smooth-transition grey tattoo. It’s extremely challenging to get such a large area of gradient even and smooth…I haven’t felt so challenged in a long while. Click read more for some pictures.
I did this, but I only got about halfway through it. The empty spaces are where later, we will put some hawks. All in black and white.
then I worked on a piece for Matt. On his pigacorn, farting a rainbow. I love that fucking thing.
Then I went out- we went to the emo district, me and Al and Travis. Enigma had come by the shop ealier in the day, so we went to see what he was up to. He was performing- there was some tv stuff being filmed. His show was funny and awesome as always…and he scared Al first:
Then he scared me AND Al,
then he and Al scared some other people:
then travis came up and scared HIM!
Then last night, I worked on my day off for a few hours, to start this WWI inspired piece on Al’s chest. It matches up kinda with the piece Splat did on the other side of his chest. Eventually the stuff in the background will be poppies, and there will be a vulture on top of it. It was really fun.
Then I met up with Jemimah, and we all went to the Pistol Whipped Prophets show.
I had a great time. Today I finished Nicki’s arm, the raccoon. I’m happy with everything but his little hand. Wish it had more detail.
I also started moving my stuff into my new workspace. I’m pretty excited about the move- I’ve been in the same room for four years. That’s longer than I’ve even ever worked in a shop! wowza how time flies.
This room is not done, obviously
Also, my flash is finished. Here’s a tiny picture.
Now, I am going to discuss something most artists hate to admit. Bad Days.
We all have them. Once in a while everyone wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, breaks a nail, has bad hair, steps in dog shit, car won’t start, etc, etc. Most people go to work, hang tight, and eventually the bad mood fades. Not so for tattoo artists.
Our work’s quality depends upon our ability to be friendly, be focused, and be creative. If your juices aren’t flowing it doesn’t really matter how much we might usually like you or your tattoo art…it just sucks to have to smile when you’re having a bad day.
I think most artists work throughout the bad days-they just stuff it in, try to forget it, bottle it up…I see a lot of work that isn’t as good as the artist’s usual work, and wonder…We all have bad days. For a tattoo artist that can mean that someone is wearing your second-best effort for the rest of their life.
My usual solution is to try to call in sick. Or something to the effect-I take extra time away from work, I reschedule people, I stay away from tattooing until the mood passes, and then I come into the shop with a fresh perspective. This is usually in my client’s best interest. More often than not I feel bad, or guilty about rescheduling people. This makes me try harder with the artwork. Makes me try harder to hurt them less. Makes me try to make up for them waiting so long. Also I’m no longer in a bad mood. I’m happy to be there, my creativity is more available to me. This makes my work better in so many ways-I’m willing to take a littl elonger to get it just right-to try something new that will improve the finished product. Also my drawings just seem to turn out better with less effort when I am in a good mood about being at work.
Some people get very angry about this shuffling. I mean, I understand. The day you’re supposed to get tattooed is a big deal! You took off work, you skipped a class, you cancelled plans…and there you are, happy, excited, nervous, ready to pay big money that took forever to save up…and the artist’s not ready? Or asks if it’s ok to change the day or time? I have been there too, on that side of it. I am a tattoo artist, but I am also a tattoo client. I have tons of work. I have been bumped, rescheduled, canceled on, all of it. And it sometimes upset me.
I guess I’m just talking, wasting time and space here by saying it, but try (like I try) to keep in mind that you definitely want your artist bright-eyed and eager to tattoo you. If that means waiting a few more days, it usually is better to go ahead and wait. If it means that you will get better quality work, then it is definitely worth the wait. The experience of the process of getting a tattoo only lasts a little while, but you’ll be looking at the art forever. . .
Also remember that your artists is, indeed, human. We get tired, burned out, have surgery, our girlfriends get sick, our dogs die, and our cars break down too. Just like your life we have things outside of work that we care about. Try to be aptient with us, because most of us are less grounded than most people. We’re artists, too, and that makes us weird. So please be patient with us…we’re trying! We do appreciate it a lot when people are willing to be patient, and when you are understanding…just like you would.
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