favourite tattoos: May 2008

And....now back to Antler Creatures.

Did you miss them?
This one landed on Elias' underarm, matching the placement of Juanes'. They can make the antler creatures kiss in this horrible act of cross contamination. (I've seen it).
I would like to state for the record, there hasn't been a crutch or an antler to come out of OHIO in quite a while. JR promises more, but at this rate, I think he'd have to start a leg sleeve of crutches with antlers in order to catch up. He's like Hillary, and I'm Obama.

So, Casey came and left, and Michelle arrived. I doubt she was expecting the youth hostel we're running, but has managed to find a space in the living room to set up camp.

You Betcha!

Adam finally finished his Minnesota pride tattoo today. Two sits of three hours each. We have all the state things included: the common loon, the wall-eye, the lady slippers, even the state phrase. I wanted to add in Prince, but he wasn't feeling it. I was also hoping to do some dead cardinals (OHIO's state bird) being crushed by the awesomeness that is Minnesota, but he wasn't having that, either.
Oh well.

The wave of visitors.

It's a true story: I have single handedly boosted Minnesota tourism totals 10% in the year I've been here.
Elias (formally Fidget) and Juanes made it safely to MPLS yesterday, Casey comes Wednesday, Michelle comes Friday, and my dad's going to be at a convention here all next week. And, since my friends know what's important in life, Juanes added the latest victory to Minneapolis in the 'Great Antler and Crutch War' on this fitting holiday.
After you've put all your picnic foods in your mouth, please remember our friends in OHIO who are now officially losing, and will never again gain the upper hand.
I am debating bringing the tattoo equipment to CT in two weeks when I go for
Andy's wedding. If so, you can have whatever tattoo you want, as long as you want a weird animal with antlers.
If you want a tattoo in MPLS before I go out to CT for ten days, let me know asap.

Skull on Fist

Another Skull done on the fist !!

Design Credited to Bob Tyrell. The Legend !!

Check his works here - http://www.bobtyrrell.com/

Our own little castle.

So Meryl and I put an offer on a house today, and it got accepted (after some fierce negotiating on Meryl's part, while I was at work like a slacker). So, yeah.... I don't know how MPLS feels about moats filled with flesh eating bacteria, or the gun turret that Albie Rock will install on the roof for us. But those minor upgrades aside, it's so dope, and I am so excited. I've been spending tons of time on looking at houses, meeting with mortgage brokers, etc, so I'm happy to be moving forward, and moving in.

Today I tattooed some organicness on Rachel's shoulder/back. She believes in George Bush, and used her economic stimulus check at Identity Tattoo. Now, we may not be the biggest Bush supporters around, but we think letting him pay for your next tattoo is a great idea.

Right from my sketchbook.

Miss Bex has been collecting way too much fun tattoos for the past few months, and sat for these sexy legs last night. She did so well, no complaining at all, even though it's on her underarm, and almost to the armpit.
By the time we were done, it was pretty swollen/angry/raw, so I'll get a better picture soon, this is just a sneak peak.

Big things are happening. I hope to have the most awesome news tomorrow to share.

Skull Over Scars

I had my friend Naren come in today, wanting to get something to cover up the scars he had on his inner forearm region. What better thing to do over the scars? A skull of course !!

The skull image is used in several religious cultures. The Indian god Kali is pictured with skulls in her wrathful form. Within the Kabbalistic tree of life, the skull symbolizes not death but rebirth, and is a celebration, not mournful time.

In Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico, the skull is a reminder of death, but it reminds people that while death is a misfortune, it can also be seen as “the ultimate liberation.”

Gamblers enjoy using the skull as a “reverse bad luck” charm, hoping it will bring them good fortune. When used by gamblers, it is often accompanied by black cats and dice rolling seven.

Not all meanings are positive, however. The Nazi SS used the death’s head as a symbol, and many neo-Nazis still use the symbol in tattoos to this day.

For more : http://tattoos.lovetoknow.com/Skull_Tattoos

Art Games.

At Identity Tattoo, we're doing this painting exercise/contest thing where we each draw up a jackalope, then we have to paint not only our drawing, but the other two coworkers jackalopes as well. So we'll each have done three paintings, making nine total between us. It'll be fun to see how differently we each paint, and attack the very same outline.
These are due at the end of this month, but I finished painting my own jackalope, minus any finishing touches I throw in after it's dry.
Sorry about the glare on the the leg area. It's oil on 8x10 gesso board.

Time and Crutches

"We must use time as a tool, not as a crutch." John F. Kennedy

There's been a large focus on Time for me lately, and not only with me not having enough of it. In a month from now, I'll be in CT visiting and attending my good friend Andy's wedding. June 30th is our last day in this apartment, and we need to have bought a house before then to move into. May 20th is Meryl and my 2nd year anniversary, but in June will be our 10 year anniversary of "being together". Yeah, I know, it's crazy.

Anyway, today I worked a lot more on the "pile of skulls" sleeve. This time some black roses and thorns under the arm, but he sits like a champ, and lets me do my thing. We're going to add a little more blackness dripping from it after it heals.
Also, the war between myself and OHIO is still going on, and I would love to do this drawing as a tattoo. If this, or any other antler or crutch tattoo ideas call to you, let me know. And there will be a drawing to match the John F. Kennedy quote above posted tomorrow, which will need to immediately be turned into a tattoo as well.

4th Event @ Chillies

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls of all ages who have helped in contributing to the counter hits by clicking on my site for the past year or so. I thank you all !!

The 4th Event - The Final Event. Immortal Nite @ Chillies !!

Before I start off, I just want to let you guys know, we were all wasted even before the whole tattoo event began for that night. How did we pull it off? Well, what can I say? Feast your eyes on the visuals!!

(*For those who don't know what the term "wasted" is, I don't wish to explain anyway.) Hehe !!

Dave - The Man - The Canvas - Al Pacino's Body Double !!

Yes !! We are the Golden Girls...

Naren - Ma' Boy !! ( The one who got the Dotted Chucky in my very first event )

Feeding Time for Ms.Kim - Oh No !!

No idea what they looking at, but ya...

Area is Reserved? Where did that come from?

Rock on !! Lets get the engine started !!

I have no memory of posing for this picture...Trust me!!

So here we go. Rain or shine or being wasted - Show must go on!

So this is what we have in the end..But, the Party doesn't stop here for us !!

I swear its just Lime Juice !! Ask Dave, he will tell you...

Too Much of Magic in the System !!

Rockin On with Kim !!

Dave - Partyin on !!

What can I say? Emo Moments? EMO SUCK !!

Without a doubt, Dave stole the night, going home wasted, getting tattooed and what more can you get?

Hereby, I am signing off again !! See ya'all again real soon !! Thanks for the support and Love ya'all !!

Antlers AND Crutches!

With Dustin's help, MPLS was not only victorious in the latest battle, but is now on a winning streak of two. It will be hard for OHIO to now rise from this latest defeat, boost morale and rally the troops to keep up the fight. While they are in such a weakened state, I am also barraging them with mail of all kinds, but I never post my mail art on here, so you'll have to use your imagination. Here's two hints: there's a lot of it, and it's awesome.
Anyway, a frog with antlers climbing a crutch makes me pretty happy. I hope to get a better picture of it soon, one without outside redness and bloodspots, but this will give you the idea.

In other news, yesterday was both Mother's Day and Meryl's 27th birthday. We have her sister Casey visiting, and it was a really awesome day. We did the bootlegging/mushroom caves under St Paul, Seward Cafe (where they stuck a candle in her tofu-no joke), went to an art show, and then had some banging Indian food in some far away suburb. I had fraternized with the enemy, and asked JR's wife to make Meryl this awesome purse. Her name is Mandi, and has lots of hot stuff here.

Sun Tattoos

The sun plays in an important role in many cultures. Several prominent early civilizations were involved in worshiping the Sun - such as the Romans, the Egyptians, the Aztecs and the Incas. While other cultures also paid homage to the sun, in these specific areas, the Sun was their highest god.

In Rome, the sun god was Apollo. He was thought to bring the sun each morning in a chariot across the sky. He also was considered to be the god of healing and arts.

In Egypt, the god Ra was in charge of the sun. Ancient Egyptians believed that Ra went through various transformations throughout the day, just as the sun did. He was the most important of all of the Egyptian gods, and pharohs from the fifth dynasty forward took the title "Son of Ra".

In Aztec culture, Huitzilopochtli was the god of sun and war. The patron deity of the Aztecs, it was said that he was supposed to guide the Aztecs to a promised land in the south. Human sacrifices were at one time made to this god in hopes of winning wars.

The rich mythology surrounding the sun means there is a wealth of different tattoo styles that can be found depicting its image. Many choose to get the sun and moon depicted together, as they are complimentary and, in some cultures, symbolize male and female power.

Others choose the blocky, tribal style of Aztec suns. The sun can also be a symbol of rebirth, so some people choose to combine it with other imagery such as Celtic Knots and Stars. The light and dark, good and evil symbolism are also a reason that people are so drawn to these tattoos.

3rd Tattoo Event

Immortal Nite @ Chillies - 3rd Event !! Enjoy it !!

Starting off..

Closer to the End..

Highlights...

Last touchups...

That you see, Ladies and Gentlemen is a work done in 1 hr.

And what happens when you finish your job faster than expected? Well, You will start clowning around !! Welcome to my world !!

Rock on and suck on my boots !! Well, don't we all have "duties"?

This what happens when someone tries to imitate you. Haha !! And STOP looking at his crotch !!

Showing off the tattoo aren't you, Kim? Haha !! ( Thats the girl who got tattooed in my 2nd Event of Immortal Nite )

Well that's right. We are bunch of CamWhores - Representing Immortal Tattoos , Singapore!!

Signing Off - As we all are gettin ready to be wasted !! Or are we really? Hehehe !!

The war between OHIO and MPLS

Right now, OHIO is winning. There's an art war on between JR of FX Tattoos and myself, involving painting, tattooing, mail, and other yet to be used mediums. We also narrowed down the imagery being used to antlers and crutches, really causing us to focus on that which truly matters: absurdity and competition
After seeing two dope pieces JR did this week, I was able to do this one on Ryan, and score one for MPLS. If anyone wants to help out my side in this fight, please let me know. I have a bunch of drawings all waiting for homes on your body.

Pink Cat

A friend of mine wanted a cat tattooed on her for a very long time and she wanted something cute with colours. So, what do I do? I give her what she wants...

A Pink Pussy - Who wouldn't love that? Right? Haha !!

Skeletal Pirates and more.

Unless you happen to have gotten to tattooer stardom, tattooing involves a lot of compromise.
You're working with customers on their ideas, aesthetics, size requirements, pain limitations, and budget.
Sometimes, people give you a lot more control, and real fun tattoos are able to be created. I was given the idea for this piece, and little other direction. I even ignored the spacial limitations and blasted the pirate hat over a really poorly done rose outline on the elbow. I enjoyed myself greatly, and I know he was real happy with the results.
Also, if anyone is looking for a tattoo involving antlers or crutches (or both), I am officially on it. I will have lots of drawing of said imagery on request by email or stopping in at Identity Tattoo.
I hope your Mayday was awesome, Meryl and I will be headed to the parade here in MPLS tomorrow.