She sat like a rock.
The full poem quoted in the piece:
Don’t stand by my grave and weep,
for I am not there.
I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I’m the diamond’s glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn’s rain.
Don’t stand by my grave and cry.
I am not there. I did not die.
I’m posting a piece from scratch sketch to finished study for a tattoo.
I’m working on this art for a friend who lives quite far away; I probably won’t get to tattoo her, but wanted to make sure she was able to get some of my work anyway.
Calling magpie, marigolds, and roses.
In my town, there is one corner store. There is one tiny diner-like restaurant. There is one gas pump. There is no bar, one (puny) church, and one post office. Add a few houses and that’s all there is.
This befuddled cougar hangs out by the beer cooler at the corner store. They’ve got a lot of impressive elk and deer mounts in there, as well as a bearskin rug and a few other cool things- but this cougar is the most compelling. The look on his face just screams, “WHY ARE YOU BUYING BUD LIGHT?”
finally finished this set of awesome stripey arms tonight. This is my best friend by the way.
I feel like we worked on these foreeeever.
She had a straight, solid one-inch thick black line around each upper arm, done by someone else, to start with. And she wanted…”something besides just a band around each arm, something bad ass”
We’d already done a bunch of color work on her back (It’s still in progress- snakes and flowers) and so I asked her if she wanted to do something big and abstract, that would make the bands into something crazy awesome.
Since she is my best friend, she said, “HELL YEAH”
We finished her right arm a long time ago and have been working on her left (the more zig-zaggy one) for a while, tonight we finished it.
I might go back through once everything settles in and tighten up some points and edges here and there, and touch up any spots that have gotten skeeter bites over the years…but her sleeves are DONE.
(the color areas on her forearms were done by another great local artist, once I know it’s ok I’ll put up a link to his work here. Suffice to say he’s goddamn awesome too.)
my blog: like a hundred baboons writing shakespeare with assault rifles
My standard advice to anyone wanting to learn to tattoo is “MOVE OUT OF OREGON AND GET A REAL APPRENTICESHIP”. I find the idea of “schools” laughable and repugnant.
You simply cannot teach “class” of more than one person hands-on, tattooing is not like other fields in this sense. Apprenticeships served one-on-one, by the person who plans to hire you afterward, are and were the tattoo industry standard.
Being here is the first time I have ever heard of a tattoo “school” being taken seriously by ANYONE as anything but a scam that teaches the student nothing.
Churning out people without being responsible for their future career is a terrible idea; I’d never before heard of ANYONE being taught without being hired by the teacher once they’d learned.
An artist who is very skilled and dedicated does not have time or interest in teaching twenty people. They may take the time to properly apprentice one or two during their career. In order for an artist like this to have an apprentice in Oregon, they must open a school in a manner that assumes they will want to teach multiple people; they must charge money, they must do a lot of things which deters them from bothering at all. The system in Oregon is set up so that the very best tattoo artists won’t teach, and those with less skill, will.
SHE DOESN’T EVEN HAVE ANY TATTOOS
I feel like a lot of these younger artists were completely ripped off by the system, taken advantage of, their ambitions falsely turned against them. We could have so many highly-trained young artists here, instead we have a pile of people who COULD be great, but are flailing around trying to learn on their own. It’s a waste of time, and it’s bad for tattooing.
Again- you can NOT teach tattooing in a class. This requires apprenticeship and mentoring beyond that; should be done in the interest of furthering our art, not raking in cash from naive starry-eyed kids and then tossing them out in the street to beg for work (or worse, open their own shop because they can’t find a job…how are they going to learn more then? When they are working alone with only their limited knowledge to go on?)
A few people have done the best they can teaching under these rules, but a first-year OR tattoo artist is still, STILL, light-years behind almost any other first-year tattooer.
In tattooing, it’s not good form to talk down on whoever taught you, no matter how fucked-up things ended, or how poorly the teaching as done. I feel that the current rules in oregon were passed without any insight into the general standards of tattooing nationwide and have really made us look bad in comparison to other places. The school/apprentice thing being the biggest issue.
Y HALO THAR TINY JACKASS
It’s not so much the number of new artists, because demand is still high and rising. it’s the quality and skill of those artists! YOU SHOULD NOT TEACH SOMEONE YOU DON’T PLAN TO HIRE. simply put!
The input given by a mentor during the first few years of tattooing is just as important as the original apprenticeship, and a formal apprenticeship gives in-depth, hands-on information that can’t be given in a class setting, or by someone who is teaching a herd.
For you guys who are wanting to learn tattooing: MOVE OUT OF OREGON. If you have other things in your life preventing that, be aware that YOU WILL NOT HAVE TIME FOR THOSE THINGS ANYWAY. The time during your apprenticeship, tattooing needs to be the first and only priority in your life.
So, move! Find someone who wants to INVEST in you, share their knowledge, and guide you. Don’t slap down cash on the barrelhead and expect to be a respected artist because you bought in.
I’m crossposting this rant from a forum where I posted it all; I have snipped out a few bits that were more technical, but the gist is the same. Learn from someone who wants to hire you, teach only someone you plan to hire.
Finished a family crest tattoo today. He had the center (bird part) started about four years ago, by a different artist. I did the filigree and background…
I also repaired a tattoo his wife had done years ago, as well.
I overslept this morning, and missed my first appointment, with one of my favorite people. When I saw her I apologized- “I’m sorry I overslept.” She replied, “I went to a chili party and rode in a helicopter.”
Ok, I am not sorry! Because that sounds awesome.
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!)
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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.
Also 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!
I 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.)
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