learning - resonanteye

the oregon advisory council on permanent color technicians

18th of November 2008

In ethics, health and safety, learning, politics, Tattoo, tattooing,

Today was quite an interesting experience. There are almost a thousand tattoo artists and facilities licensed in Oregon. There are about 150 electrologists. The board that oversees both consists of:

A legislator-type,three electrologists,one permanent cosmetics worker

there are no tattoo artists on this council, even though there are nearly ten times as many licenses issued, and revenue from us makes up the vast majority of funds brought in by that council.

Maybe we can change that at some point. Today I got a sense for how the council works, and what their responsibilties actually are. What they can and cannot accomplish. They seemed like nice enough people. Our inspection/regulations director here, Tim Molloy, was interesting to listen to. He seems to try very hard, but sadly his hands are tied with many things and there’s only so much they’re able to do. It was good to hear that we now have four inspectors rather than just the one.

At any rate, it was a very informative day. I’m exhausted now and I’m going to relax. I may edit up in here later to add more detail once I’ve had some time to digest it all and go back over my notes.

at five years of tattooing

12th of November 2008

In learning, pictures, Tattoo, tattooing,

I was:

in a different crappy relationship

loud

artsy

working too many hours

goofy

going to conventions

crying a lot

drawing with prismacolor markers

painting a lot

taking fewer pictures

getting interviewed for a magazine

(more…)

my first year of tattooing

11th of November 2008

In learning, pictures, Tattoo, tattooing,

I was:

quiet

shy

goofy

not very tattooed

afraid to offend a client

afraid to say no to one

(more…)

collaborative

30th of October 2008

In collaborative work, how-to, learning, pictures, Tattoo, tattooing,

tiger tattoo

I really, really enjoy doing collaborative work. I like the cameraderie, I like seeing how other people do stuff, I like having someone to ask about color choices, I like the way it makes everything go faster, and I like sharing the load. It’s fun to draw with someone else, see what comes out of their mind, it’s awesome.

that said, I hate it when their wiping disturbs my stretching. and vice versa. If only skin could wipe itself without moving, collaborative work would be the easiest thing ever.

resonance

3rd of October 2008

In art, journal, learning, motivation, personal, politics, questions, tattooing,

I’ve had a few people ask me why I use “resonanteye” as a name. I’ve been using it since before the internet, as a pen name at first and then with the advent of email, as my address and username.

ancient picture of me and some guy at some shop

full explanation and some interesting stuff after the jump

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Blacklight inks

25th of September 2008

In clients, ethics, learning, tattooing,

several points to be remembered about blacklight inks:

1NO INK OR PIGMENT HAS BEEN APPROVED BY THE FDA FOR TATTOOING HUMAN BEINGS. NONE. ZERO. ZILCH. there is a brand of ink that was approved for marking animals meant for human consumption. This is totally different (and was exploited by said company in a mildly dishonest way in their advertising.)

(more…)

the history of resonanteye

28th of August 2008

In learning, money, tattooing,

HERE is a link for those of you who are curious about what was going on here back when I first started getting into all this stuff. I’d only been tattooing a short while, so please don’t think I am always moronic. thanks. (more…)

about promoting yourself

16th of June 2008

In ethics, learning, money,

Promotion comes easily to a lot of tattooers. When I first started tattooing, I was shy, a hermit. I disliked talking to people and pretty much felt uncomfortable in my own skin. I did not, and do not now, have great social skills and an outgoing personality. I also have always been a geek, nerd, dork. A skank. A weirdo. Not popular.

Promotion requires friendliness. You have to like people, to convince them that there is good reason for them to come to you for their visual needs. Yes, skill and talent and innate genius go a long way, but not all the way. You have to learn to shake hands and smile. To play nice.

I discovered, after tattooing for a few years, that I genuinely liked the people I was working on. Tattoo clientele vary regionally of course, but I found that even the “worst” client base were people that I naturally thought were pretty cool. They wanted to get a tattoo. Often they were witty, or silly, or just interesting. I decided I liked these people.

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on drawing flash

6th of June 2008

In art, learning,

I am assuming you are a tattoo artist in writing this. If you’re not, it’s not going to help you much anyway.

Most tattooers draw some flash, at least once, somewhere along the line. It’s common to start trying to draw flash when you realize that you’ve accumulated a big pile of sketches that you haven’t tattooed yet, thinking, “I could make a flash set, or a sketchbook, out of all this stuff.”

This is a trap.

(more…)

life drawing resources

2nd of February 2008

In art, learning,

If you have never taken a life or gesture drawing class, you really should. It will take you much further than any anatomy book can. here are some resources to get back into the swing of figure drawing (more…)