Allen Tattoo

Graffiti - Johnathan

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 23:37:20 -0800

Starry Night

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 23:37:16 -0800

Grim Reaper

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 23:37:13 -0800

Lady with Cross

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 23:37:08 -0800

An underwater scene

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 23:37:02 -0800

Hope

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 10:19:13 -0700

A breast cancer awareness tattoo

Flash Spider

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 10:19:10 -0700

On the top of a left shoulder

Bjork - Homogenic

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 10:19:08 -0700

Sacred Heart

Thu, 24 May 2007 00:44:07 -0700

On Rob Schwager's chest (robschwager.com)

Tree of Life

Thu, 24 May 2007 00:44:04 -0700

Mother Mary

Thu, 24 May 2007 00:43:57 -0700

David Allen

Mon, 21 May 2007 23:51:42 -0700

Pistols and Wings

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 06:32:01 -0800

View larger version, or another/crappier version. This one felt great to finish. We started over a year ago and her visits were sporadic. But today we knocked it out. I'm slowly getting used to having partially finished work walking around. While I know, full well, that it'll get finished... the puzzle of how I'll complete stuff haunts me, occasionally, until it gets finished. *Sorry about the glare and distorted angle.

Secret number one

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 00:20:47 -0800

When in doubt: clean.

Secret number two

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 00:20:46 -0800

Always be professional. The South lost, but that doesn't mean you have a right to judge the guy getting a rebel flag on his throat. But you have every right to make fun of him in the back of the shop.

Secret number three

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 00:20:46 -0800

Soaking it all up can be overwhelming. Just know that eventually some of it will make sense. *eventually = God only knows. So in the words of Tupac Shakur: "girl, keep your head up." And thus concludes our three part series.

Just when you feel safe

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 02:13:44 -0800

I've heard about, and have slightly experienced, extreme sin skin. But today I tattooed a lady behind her neck. Well, slightly at the top of her spine. The stencil went on perfect and life was good. I setup a 7 to line. As soon as my needles went into her skin, I knew something was odd. With my left hand, I could tell the vibration was off. Even more obvious, was the instant blood trail. It was as if I had just sliced her open with an X-acto knife. Her reaction was normal, which was good. No screaming is always nice. Instantly I inspected my needles. All was good. Next up was the power. Again, all was well. So I went back to it. I checked my depth and it was fine. Nowhere near blow out, yet true and solid enough to really be in there. But the blood continued. Pardon this, but it was like I was carving a bloated turkey. About twenty minutes in I began filling solid black areas. Instantly I realized the blood seemed to be effecting the consistency. As if it was seeping and bringing ink along with it. Crap. All I could do was press on. Once you're in, you're in. Which is always the case. Yet, somehow that tattoo was the most stressful of all. You can't really control the canvas... you just sort of adjust to it. The final product was alright. Some of it was spotty, but I wasn't about to chew her up. I just made a point to push the free touch-up and chalked up the entire experience as a lessoned learned. As an instant reminder that, no matter how confident I feel, I've much to learn.

It's the little mistakes

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:42:07 -0800

This week I had almost finished an outline and I wasn't happy. Instead of a solid, clean line, it was a variety of thicknesses and wavy. What had happened? I concentrated on my stretch... it was fine. I wondered about my needle depth, so I set it so I could ride the tube. After trying a couple of more lines, I was getting the same result. So I chalked it up to me having a hard time. I was ecstatic to switch to shading and coloring because I feel comfortable with a mag. I then a made a point to render the butterfly as smooth as I knew how. Then, at the end, I picked up my liner to add some white highlights. I attached my clip cord and noticed the mistake: I had forgot to pull my rubber bands down around the needle. Now, I've always been cautious to not have too much rubber band tension; but with no tension at all, you just get a messed up outline. (#61) Nice. With no visible alarm, I kept a poker face and quickly cleaned up the outline. None was the wiser and I was able to get up from that tattoo with both a lesson learned and no worries that I had completely forgot how to line.

Scale rip

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:42:06 -0800

View larger version For his first tattoo, this guy picked a flesh rip from an old flash book. I took the rip and added some Dan Hazelton flare to it. His skin tear outs are incredible. I found a good reference photo for the scales. I needed something with obvious lighting differences, as opposed to a straight on shot where all the scales would be shaded the same.

Busy, busy

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 02:22:10 -0800

I've been working hard lately. From tattooing to web design, my hands are tired. Then, when I need a mental break, I go and play Xbox. It doesn't really give my hands rest, but it takes me away for a little while. Right after the holidays ended, tattoos picked up big time so I've got some stuff to post. And I'll be doing so soon. It's just that I'm also retooling this site. So bear with me for another couple weeks if the posting seems light.