Design

Times are Tough

Times are Tough

For the last 4 months I have been facing an epidemic of cancellations and no-shows of such proportions that I have had to start considering other job opportunities. I’m still getting in a few sessions though, but keeping the bills paid has been a struggle. Here is a seahorse I did on a first-time client…

Music and Tattoos

Music and Tattoos

I bought a new guitar a couple weeks ago, and it arrived today. It’s beautiful and amazing. The last time I bought a guitar was 15 years ago – my Prestige RG1570 which I still play all the time. Now I have a J.Custom RG8570Z. It’s so pretty that I haven’t even taken it out…

Covering Up

Covering Up

Coverups are tricky. Coverups can be tough. I don’t like to do coverups. They’re always risky, especially when someone wants an entire arm full of old tattoos covered up. I’m getting to a point in my tattoo career where I might choose to not do coverups anymore. However I will say that this Hawaiian-themed Pele…

Feeling Better

Feeling Better

I used Hector to help me create a new tattoo design for a client who I met when she was 6 years old. I was painting a huge Disney mural in her parent’s house. It was my first art job after college and I think I made about $4 per hour. Anyway this mermaid’s face…

Drawing Health

Drawing Health

For me, art has always been therapeutic. Feeling alone and unimportant sometimes permeates my life. Wishing someone would care or help doesn’t make life better, so if I’m paying attention to my downward spirals, I usually start drawing…a lot. It’s not an instantaneous cure, but it usually gets me through the days. I like to…

Staying Viable

Staying Viable

I spent most of my day drawing up this cracked face design, which is based loosely on an existing tattoo that a client sent me as an idea for his sleeve. I’ve been drawing a lot lately, spending more time studying anatomy and faces, always trying to improve. 32 years ago was the last time…

Design Time

Design Time

I have a client who got a full sleeve from me earlier this year, and he’s ready to start another one. He gives me ideas and then just lets me draw whatever I want. One of the worst things going into a tattoo with a client is not having the artwork prepared and approved. So…

No Blog Time

No Blog Time

Last year a guy I went to high school with walked into a church and shot Bert Miller dead. It was a horrific tragedy for our small town. Bert was a volunteer firefighter, husband, father, grandfather, and a devout man of God. The guy who shot Bert has never been deemed competent to stand trial,…

Loss

Loss

I was asked to draw a little boy who drowned recently as a gift for the family. I used charcoal pencils on Bristol board and finished it in 7 hours. The grandparents of the boy have since asked me to draw them one. I did a flying pig in remembrance of the client’s brother who…

First Timers

First Timers

We had six hours planned for this young lady’s first tattoo session, and she was determined to sit until the end. But after four hours she decided she was done. I grew up with her dad, and they traveled from the town of Tonopah four hours away so she could get her first tattoo from…