some trees I have made, tattoos and the like.

I love trees. 

Most of the tattoo trees I do are drawn on the skin, in marker, right before being tattooed. That way the person getting the tattoo can control the size and scale better, and I get a better feeling for the flow the tree needs to have to fit on three dimensions. I go outside and look at trees. That’s what I use for reference-I take a lot of photographs of trees as well. I love drawing them.

I used to climb trees all the time. Actually I still do when I see a decent climbing tree. Climbing a tree was always a way for me to get some time alone in a house full of extroverts- a way to escape.

I learned a lot about what each tree was like. They not only have a personality because of their species, but individually too.

Willows are always friendly and mellow, but can be risky to climb- they like to slip their bark once you’re high enough to get hurt by falling. Oaks are big and old and kindly, but their twigs are crackled and dry. Birches are my favorite trees- spry, springy, and easy to take a nap in.

When I tattoo a tree, I try to imagine how a real tree would grow, if the muscles were wind and weather. This means each tree is form-fitted to the wearer, their own. It would only fit that person, in that space of the body. I feel like trees adapt to any place where they grow, they adapt so completely, twisting to fit- they’re the perfect subject for tattoos.

(Originally Published on: Oct 20, 2011)

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be yourself

be yourself tattoo

Devery’s awesome, awesome tattoo. Font invented by me just for her. (Dec 6, 2009)

Print edition of essays!

51E8o9iuGgL._AA200_Real, actual ink on paper!

Here they are. In all their unvarnished glory.

Buy one for yourself and one for your auntie.

Or just one for yourself! Who am I to judge.

Contains rants about art, explanations of various tattoo things, stories about tattooing, about squatting, and about zines. Also contains some taxidermy info, essays about madness, and more.  A ton more! 166 glorious pages!

My next book will likely be the horror/cryptid coloring book. You can find individual downloads of the pages here if you like.

rats win races, sloths succeed.

556740_10151360701822712_101340810_n559917_10151362094257712_740607251_nDSC_1159a reminder tattoo for a tattoo artist friend of mine. he wanted to remember to slow down, and do more focused work, instead of hurrying up and rushing himself. He is the kind of artist who feels a lot of pressure from his clients, he tends to feel so glad to be tattooing that he forgets that his work is valuable, that his BEST work is worthwhile…that people who want really good tattoos are willing to pay for them, and that he is capable of doing great tattoos, and therefore shouldn’t undervalue his time…

If you undercharge people, you start to feel rushed. it’s inevitable- you end up booked solid for months but barely making ends meet. hurrying up to get that tattoo done in time, in the small amount of time you quoted them for. it’s far better to quote high, to take your time, take that extra hour to do your VERY BEST work on people.

any rate- I love fucking sloths. And this one is particularly classy, too.

also,

 

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autumn birdsong.

bird with autumn leaves tattoobird tattoo with oak leaveshe’s got a white berry in his beak. This took about three or four hours, total. we did it all in one session because she is a tough cookie!

I had originally drawn this as a bird flying down, with loose leaves in the wind around it. she wanted to make the branch more prominent and loved the oak leaves in that drawing- and wanted the bird perched. This was the second round of drawings.

I really like using subdued colors right next to bright ones, like the yellow on the bird’s head among all the greys and browns in this piece.

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more bird art from me is available here.

big tree, work in progress!

while working on my friend’s tree tonight he told me about his zen retreat experience.

the group meditates, all sitting in position. a monk creeps stealthily and calmly between the rows of silent people, carrying a long flat stick. when he notices someone out of position or obviously distracted, he taps them on the shoulder, then whacks them hard on each shoulder.

I’ve also been promised a link to a podcast that discusses the nature of pain and how to cope with it by staying in the moment.

I find that if I start paying attention to someone’s physical pain while tattooing them, it becomes more difficult to focus on the art itself, the technical aspects and creative aspect of the work. So I try my hardest to block it out or make a joke – I am far from a soothing nurse, in other words.

So maybe if I have access to a soothing podcast, I can throw headphones on my clients while I torture them.

blackwork sleeves, no, NOT tribal. Blackwork.

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.)

crater lake sleeve, work in progress.

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!)

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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.

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.)

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