some works from the archives.

These are the more popular things I’ve made available as prints over the last few years. They’re not all my own personal favorite pieces, but they’ve gotten the most attention and love from you guys. I think collecting them together here might give me some clues about what you all like so much, maybe.

Also I won’t be posting for a few days as we’ll be celebrating solstice here, but I’ll be back right after, on the 23rd. xox

“Down with the Ship”
This was a piece of tattoo flash I did as part of a series, and people really seem to like the sideways lighthouse in it. I did it at 11×14″ in watercolor, and did the linework with a nib pen and ink. The original sold and the prints have sold a lot too, I don’t often draw ships but I think I did a decent job on this one. You can still get some sizes of prints of this, here.

vjhbh

 

“Einstein”

I did a little contest on my facebook asking people to tell me the funniest story about someone falling down. My friend Tiny told a great story, and was the winner. The prize was a portrait of anyone famous they liked, they’d get to keep the original art. He chose Einstein, and man was he fun to draw. Lots of people seem to like this one. I tried to give him nice gentle eyes. Yes, there are still prints of him. I did this one at 8×12″ in colored pencil.

ein

 

“Red Highway”

The original of this, I gave to a collector of my work. It was a 10×13″ watercolor. Of all the landscapes I’ve done, people seem to be most interested in this one. Maybe it’s all that hot dawn cloud color. I’m not sure.

reda

 

“Dahlia with Dice”

Of all my still life work, this one gets the most attention. Maybe it’s the format, that high vertical? It was originally a 12×16″ watercolor painting. The prints of this one are popular and I’ve made a few handmade runs of it, as well as the open edition prints.

EPSON MFP image

 

“River Otter”

A lot of you guys love the animal totem series, and this guy is the crowd favorite. He’s a little more simple than some of the others, so I think a lot of people just really, really like otters. Colored pencil on handmade tinted paper, 8×12″.

ott

 

“Weeping Doll”

I’ve done handpainted prints of her. The original sold as soon as it was finished. I’ve redone the entire image twice and both reproductions by hand sold immediately. And the open edition prints…people really like this beat-up old doll. She’s pretty melacholy. It’s originally a 10×13″ watercolor on hotpress.

EPSON MFP image

 

Then, there’s “Shy Owl”. The most popular of them all. Due to the buyer of the original schmoozing me out of open edition printing, (I was an idiot and won’t be doing that so cheaply ever, EVER again) there are only cards available of this guy. Every print I did make of it, that limited amount, sold instantly. People email me asking for a print all the time. I’d be at least a few hundred dollars richer if I’d never said I’d only make a few prints of him.
An expensive lesson.

I'll never give up my reproduction rights so cheaply ever ever again.

I’ll never give up my reproduction rights so cheaply ever ever again.

 

The Horrors, two pages!

The new coloring book, The Horrors, is out!  The book is an adult coloring book containing ghosts, cryptids, mlnsters and urban legends from around the world, complete with stories and descriptions. You can find it here (it’s the scary werewolf!) click the images for a size you can print out and color.

 

 

 

 

 

EPSON MFP image

 

 

 

Jackalope
The jackalope is an antlered, sometimes winged, jackrabbit. It’s found in the southwestern United States.
They’re as fast as an antelope, and as camouflaged as a jackrabbit. You can get hunting tags for them in Wyoming, every year. When hunting a jackalope, wearing good, high leather boots is a must, as they can be dangerous and may try to gore your legs or savage you with their horns.
The jackalope can imitate human voices and may lure hunters away from their fires at night by calling for help. They also find the scent of whiskey irresistible, so traps baited with glasses of whiskey are a good way to capture the elusive beasts.

EPSON MFP image

 

Jersey Devil
I personally encountered the Jersey Devil. I was taking a long solo hike and was passing through the Pine Barrens in NJ- a grey, odd landscape, at dusk. I was coming around the bend of a trail when a…a thing ran past me, across the trail. It was the size of a small horse, on its hind legs, with antlers. It had a horse’s head, emaciated, and a deer’s body- but behind it flapped immense leathery wings.
I turned and ran about a mile back on the trail, at full speed. I didn’t try to hike past that point until full daylight, with others, the following day. There were clear deer tracks in the dirt, only two feet…

The Jersey Devil is said to be: a cryptid, some kind of giant bat-deer, and alternately, the evil deformed child of a satanic witch. Nobody knows its actual origins, but stories in the area are common. It’s one of the few creatures in this book I have seen with my own eyes.

 

I’m going to include the sheilanagig as well, without story. enjoy coloring these, and grab a copy of the book!!! xoxEPSON MFP image

 

 

 

all-saints’
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I’m not religious by any stetch and no amount of ceramic dominicans can change that.

all-saints’ day. i’m not religious but i was mainly raised catholic, my middle name is a saint’s name. patron saint of migraine sufferers and writers. she liked to read. she was a rebel at home so they sent her to the convent, which was a lot less strict than her family had been.

she of course was religious but not nearly enough. she had malaria and seizures and visions, and decided to promote reform in the church. “The only right prayers are those that create actíon. Prayer without action does go unheard.”

this was a bit of a mistake. the catholic church persecuted her and disliked that a woman was ‘teaching’. she lived a good long time though.

http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=208

I’m pretty sure that my middle name was intended to be the name of the “little flower”, st. therese. however it’s spelled as the english version of st. teresa of avila, which means they done screwed up and gave me a hotshooter as a namesaint rather than a quiet little girl, and I’m ok with that.

tomorrow is all-souls’, or dios de los muertos if you’re latinx/excatholic. a much more meaningful day for me. but I figured I’d share this tidbit about saints and middle names. what’s your middle name? who’s watching out for you?

geometric tattooing, discussion question and thoughts.

let’s discuss.

Geometric tattoos and “mandalas”, while they’re in resurgence in every part of the globe right now among modern tattooers, are a very old way of marking the body.
Given new technologies, they’re different than traditional geometric work, but do they follow that same tradition? Is this really a trend within tattooing, or has it been there since the beginning? Do you think we will see more of this in the years to come, or will it peter out (like westernized tribal work has petered out a bit)?

These geometric designs aren’t limited to one region, race, or culture- from the far north of europe and the arctic circle all the way around the globe, equatorial and islands, jungles and deserts- straight down to the southern tips of Africa and the Americas, these sort of designs are found everywhere. Most modern interpretations draw on multiple sources, new and old, and don’t snag directly from any one tradition, don’t appropriate meaning the way some westernized tribal art did. (Although there are exceptions as always). Almost every person can look back to their own heritage and find base images to begin working from- or they can use modern maths to create something entirely new, that fits within this style.

I’ve been planning a few art brut tattoos lately, using this sort of layout for the body forms, and have done my share of geometry and radial symmetry tattoos as well. I’m wondering what everyone thinks of this little surge in demand for these.

Also here are some amazing images culled from various sources, of tattooing in this style. Feel free to add your own images or thoughts in the comments.

 

 

Miahwaska Tattoo Artist - Oakland, CA

Miahwaska Tattoo Artist – Oakland, CA

indochina_17

Mianmar woman

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ancient Pict

 

Traditional Croatian Catholic Tattoo

Traditional Croatian Catholic Tattoo

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Roxx at 2Spirit Tattoo in San Francisco

Roxx at 2Spirit Tattoo in San Francisco

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Kalinga tribal tattoo artist Whang-Od. Photo via Lars Krutak.

Kalinga tribal tattoo artist Whang-Od. Photo via Lars Krutak.

 

by Nate Euvrard @ Secret Society

by Nate Euvrard @ Secret Society

meeting niharika and luisa

On this visit I got to meet two incredible, creative women. One was Niharika, who does costume/dress for movies in India. She is so sweet, funny, and stylish. And she made me feel stylish too.

I worked overtime one night and stayed late, and when I came home she gave me the most perfect soft sweater ever…
Also she took some pictures of me which are kind of funny. We had cactus tacos together, and she got a really fun floral tattoo (with wasps in it! I’ve been dying to do some wasps.)

Here are picture she took and pictures I took.

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Then I also got to meet Luisa, a glass worker from Mexico City. She’s Colombian, beautiful, and hilarious. We watched some episodes of the Strain together and talked about art, and she shared her coffee with me.
Here we are looking fantastic.
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And here she is with some of her work, which was marvelous. I got a pair of green glass ear weights from her.
In this picture is her work in mirrored glass.
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While all this was happening, the shop here got a new owner. She’s a really wonderful woman and incredible tattooer that I worked with ages ago- and I’m really glad to be working for her/with her again. Here’s a picture of all the women I work with right now, it’s so great to have a good mix of man and woman at work. I love working with other women.
There are men at the shop as well and they’re awesome too, but I had this photo of all of us ladies together so I figured I would post it.
vbnmjhg
Last but not least, I got my hair trimmed and fixed by Jordie, my favorite hair worker, I think she did an amazing job. I feel stylish. Between her, Jason, and Niharika I was a fashion queen this week.
cvbnmjh
I say Jason as well, because I got the most amazing glass ring that matches my eyes. He made it from matte glass and layers. You can see it in the photos up top that Niharika took of me, it looks like sunny side up eggs (just like my eyes)

tattoos from seattle in september! (and other things)

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seriously I take a lot of notes. there's also reference images you brought me, loose doodles that get abandoned because they won't fit right, and all the other people's packets of this stuff piled nearby so I can do each drawing in order.

art opening at True Love Gallery, Seattle in september!

Art opening images: what a great show! My friend Aaron and I had work hanging, there was a great DJ, and snacks. Thanks to George Long for putting on the show and being such a great organizer. True Love has a great space for art, too.

The work will be hanging until October 4th, so stop by there and take a look if you missed the opening. Some things have sold but some are still up and waiting for you… xox

 

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The Baron has an adventure, movies in Portland, and tattoo artists save the day.

As I was driving north from Roseburg, the Baron (my volvo) started behaving strangely- he was running hot, too hot. After a while it got so bad I stopped, and called in the cavalry. My friend Rachel came and got me, and I stayed at her house with her and her manfriend Zack (one of my favorite people!) and their tiny, insane dogs. Kozmo made some friends.

they don't hold still, they're insane little dogs.

they don’t hold still, they’re insane little dogs.

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guarding the precious

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the Baron gets a ride

In the morning, Jimmy drove up and we picked up a water pump. He helped me get a mechanic friend of his to put it in, and basically took care of it all. He also got his girlfriend some wicked futuristic wipers for her car.

Then the Baron got a ride. Kozmo guarded the new water pump until the mechanic friend could pick up the Baron. Once the Baron got his ride, I went to Bruki’s house and hung out in her awesome blanket fort.

 

After a day in Bruki’s (AMAZING) fort, all seemed well. I started out again and made it almost to Portland before again, the Baron started acting strangely.

Every time I went uphill, or accelerated, he’d shudder. He’d stutter. He’d strain and eventually surge. It was bad, and I knew it couldn’t be long before real trouble started.

Sure enough, I nearly stalled out on the bridge to Vancouver, WA. I pulled over at a motel sign, thinking I’d grab a room for the night and get a mobile mechanic in the morning. The motel, however, was in Murder Town, and was completely boarded up and not even open (despite its gigantic, glowing sign).

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the ubiquitous rag

I sent out a call for help, and sure enough, one of my tattoo-babies, Austin, showed up. We spent about an hour under the overhang at a gas station, on speakerphone with my mechanic in Spokane, tinkering and testing. Since one of the springs is missing from the hood, we propped it up with my clamming shovel. I put on my murder gloves, and Austin grabbed a handy (ubiquitous) rag and some sketchy tools.

After an hour, with no solution in view, we taped up a randomly-split hose we noticed and limped, in the pouring rain, to his house.
I passed out on their couch, and in the morning had some coffee after Austin and his lady friend had left for their pedicures (true story). Fortuitously, right near their house is a volvo mechanic shop! They took my car in on priority, and spent the day diagnosing.
The Baron should be in fighting trim tomorrow morning, and I shall be off to Seattle (two days late).

NAME THAT FILM

NAME THAT FILM

I can’t say it’s been terrible. I mean I’m anxious about my car, and bummed over the appointments I had to bump, but I also have enjoyed seeing a few of my favorite people and watching weird movies with them, and drinking good coffee in their houses. Kozmo made a ton of new creature friends, and I decided on my next tattoo.I know this isn’t a great art or tattoo post, but I’m on the road, and when you’re on the road you take what you can get.

Also I discovered that Jimmy, Rachel, and Austin are definitely the cavalry, and along with Zack and Bruki, all really good peeps. Thanks for having my back, you guys. 

paper planes, baobabs, and poppy dreams.
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healed.

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detail

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SO. MUCH. FUN.

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fun stuff!

 

somewhere there’s a feather
Warning to people using this as an informational resource: I am not a lawyer. I curse a lot. Follow the links in the text to find official sources and research, rather than relying on my say-so.
he flew into my house through an open window, I caught him and let him go. he's a flycatcher.

he flew into my house through an open window, I caught him and let him go. he’s a flycatcher. I didn’t keep any pieces of him, except the poops he left behind on my counter.

There’s this law, see. Every time I bring it up, people get salty about it. Hell, sometimes I get salty about it when people bring it up. But I’m bringing it up anyway.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal for anyone to take, possess, import, export, transport, sell, purchase, barter, or offer for sale, purchase, or barter, any migratory bird, or the parts, nests, or eggs of such a bird except under the terms of a valid permit issued pursuant to Federal regulations.

The MBTA does not apply to: (1) Nonnative species introduced into the United States or its territories by means of intentional or unintentional human assistance…, or nonnative, human-introduced species that belong to families or groups not covered by the Canadian, Mexican, or Russian Conventions.

(If you have found a feather, there are resources at the very end of this post to help you figure out what bird it’s from, and if you can keep it or not. Click ‘read more’ then scroll down.)

song thrush

seriously, these guys kept coming in. that place had big windows, they really liked shitting all over my house and refusing to fly back out. this is a female, maybe the special friend of the other bird. she also left some potentially-illegal feces behind.

Definitely-legal feathers come from European Starlings, House Sparrows, Rock Pigeons, Eurasian Collared Doves, AND basically any bird you are legally allowed to hunt (meaning, YOU have a hunting license for it) or farm/have as a pet legally- these game and domestic birds include non-native parrots, wild turkey, pheasant, some geese, peacocks, some grouse, domestic chickens, domestic ducks, domestic geese, domestic quail, and domestic turkey.

(side note: all the feathers used in my work are from legal species and sources; I paint and stain legal feathers to resemble rare/illegal ones, and you can too, and if you do I will keep liking you and your art)

There’s a damn good reason for these laws. I know that you’re thinking, “but I’m not out harvesting cormorants, smashing baby sparrows, and yanking the tails of owls! I found it on the ground, how could it possibly harm anyone for me to just have it in my own house?”

fox skull mount

chicken feathers behind a fox skull. these look rad and they’re legal and easy to obtain.

It’s harmful because people actually do kill these birds to get their feathers, and they can and do say the same fucking thing when they get caught. In order to keep poachers from saying they “found” feathers that they actually killed to get, the law simply won’t allow anyone to have them at all. This includes you, and me, and includes ‘private collections’ and ‘I won’t sell it I just want it for my shrine’. I won’t even get started on people who are selling protected birds’ feathers (online or off) because it makes me too frothy and I want this article to make sense.It used to be that poachers could claim they had ‘found feathers’, and didn’t actually kill the birds. This law ensures that this doesn’t happen. There are exceptions and loopholes, of course, but you’ll need paperwork to fit into them.

I understand that it feels like the Fun Police have arrived when someone brings up the fact that you’re endangering birds by keeping those crow feathers in your hat. Hell, I know that before I got super involved in this kind of art I pretty much felt the same way. It wasn’t until I did a lot more reading and a lot more thinking that I really got it. I don’t mean to prevent you from making cool stuff. I truly understand, and I also dislike the arrival of the Fun Police in general. But.

BUT. But there’s this law, see. And if you’re breaking it, you’re not being an Ethical Shaman-type Person. So if you wish to represent yourself as a Magical Unicorn Dancer of Good Intentions and The Like, read on. (Evil Bastards of Doom, feel free to skip ahead to the “crow” or “canada goose” sections, or just go squash a european starling.)

 

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