Tattoos

Squirt and the App

Squirt and the App

Today’s tattoo took almost 3 hours.  For the size it doesn’t seem like it should take that long, but with my new style and trying to capture a decent amount of detail, there’s no way to avoid it. You can’t rush the needles. I was doing great for the first two hours, but then I…

Feather and Flower

Feather and Flower

I mounted the new iPad mount to my dental light pole and was able to get rid of the music stand. The shop is looking so much better, and working is easier without so many stands in my way. Now if I can just figure out a way to mount my armrest to the chair…

Beginning a Sleeve

Beginning a Sleeve

Day one of a new full arm sleeve involved three-and-a-half hours covering the shoulder with a hawk carrying a compass. I used the Empire white-wash inks and worked as diligently as I could, but still felt there was more to be done in the hawk. I may feel differently at the next session, but if…

Shirts, Lines, and an App

Shirts, Lines, and an App

Today’s tattoo was tough. It was all straight lines. And to add to my troubles, the liner needles were struggling to drop ink. The goal was to get the initial pass in so no stencil would be needed for next session. Therefore I did not spend time cleaning up lines as I went because I…

Break from Reptiles

Break from Reptiles

The reptile piece has reached a point where the client will be taking a break. 17 hours in and I’ve only gotten part of his upper arm covered. This is by far the most time-consuming piece I’ve ever worked on. We wrapped up after only 2 hours today – the shortest session we’ve ever had….

Floor and the Cranium

Floor and the Cranium

I hate when I fall behind on my blog. I finished up the day of the dead full sleeve a couple days ago. Yesterday I finished the Alaska half sleeve (wow her inside arm swelled up a ton!).  I didn’t take a picture, but I’ll post an older pic from a few months ago. After…

Hector and the Wrench

Hector and the Wrench

I’ve been slowly working on a 3/4 sleeve full of tools.  Yesterday we added some feeler gauges, a crescent wrench, and some vise grips. I saw a noticeable improvement in my technique after spending the weekend practicing with my new digital brushes. I’ve been tossing around the idea of selling tee shirts for the shop,…

Skulls

Skulls

My back hurts today. I had two 3.5-hour tattoo sessions back-to-back. My first client had gotten a bunch of work from me a few years ago. We went to a Mastodon concert together up in Reno during that time, had a lot of fun. I liked his skull and house design that he found. I…

Another reptile and coverup design

Another reptile and coverup design

One of those tribal arm bands from the early 2000s came through the door in need of transformation. He wanted a lighthouse and a cardinal implemented in memory of his grandparents, and possibly a ship for his Navy service.  My first thought was to use the rolling flow of the tribal as crashing waves.  The…

Tattoo Brushes for Procreate

Tattoo Brushes for Procreate

I’ve been using my iPad and Apple Pencil for over a year to draw and design artwork. I, like a gazillion other artists, am using the Procreate app. One really cool feature of Procreate is that you can make custom brushes to draw and paint with. Today after my morning tattoo session, I decided to…