The Answer to Everything.

There's been a wave of good mail, lately.
Zines, shirts, and now stickers.
These should hold me over until the birdhouse ones come.



Anna is thinking about getting a bird added to her birdhouse tattoo since it was mistaken for an outhouse the other day.
Ha!
I'll do it, but now I'm excited to tattoo an outhouse on someone.

Speaking of houses, congrats to Mr Albie Rock and his lady Jess for their big purchase.
Owning a house is a lot of work only if you buy a dope one.
New houses are easy.
And lame.
Since their's was built pre Civil War, I'm sure it's amazing.
Can't wait to see it.

If you want some of these stickers, stop by the shop or meet up with me next week on the East Coast.
If you don't live here or there, email me, and I'll send some out.

Cotton, Wood, Glass.

Big plans are being made for the Minneapolis Tattoo Convention.
September 18th - 20th.
Identity Tattoo will be there, rocking a corner booth.
We'll be tattooing, giving away stickers, and having a good time.
A big box of shirts arrived yesterday that I'll be screening up soon, exclusively for the convention.
Guys and girls cuts, 42 shirts in all.
Free to people getting tattooed by me at the show, and for my other clients who are just there for the fun.
As supplies last, of course.



The hours of the show are kinda strange, I'm spending this week figuring out time slots and doing some drawings that need to be made into tattoos that weekend.
If you know you want to get tattooed by me then,
and have a super awesome idea, email me.


I spent a couple more hours painting this last night.
It's not done yet, but I'm getting somewhere.
It's really big, and going up outside.
You'll see.
I have a couple of house paint brushes,
a bucket of white, a bucket of black, a tube of acrylic yellow ochre, and a craft paint bottle of (watery) red.
I had a yellow craft paint, too, but i haven't used it.
Those things will be kites after another couple layers, and I'll be adding a foreground one or two as well.


My mom has dug her stained glass supplies out of the basement.
They haven't been used in 15 years, but we'll be there Wednesday, and Dean K needs a fancy window for the treehouse he's building.
No kidding.
She got a book out of the library and is studying up, Meryl did it a little in high school, and I have a fistful of drawings.
I hope she has lots of earth tone colored glass to choose from.

japanese pisces tattoo image very best design

japanese pisces tattoo image very best design

pisces tattoo on the foot of a woman and very good color match

pisces tattoo on the foot of a woman and very good color match

farious of pisces tattoo design art with various forms of image

farious of pisces tattoo design art with various forms of image

H1N1 in the mail.

The zines came in the mail yestrday,
10 total, and three of them already got scooped up.
If you want one, it's best to order them from here.
I probably won't have any by the end of the day.
Plus, they're only $3.

I think this one is needing to be a tattoo.



Next week Meryl and I head to Maryland, and then up to Connecticut.
We have house sitters, so Shamira will be able to stay home and chase squirrels while we're gone.
I won't be back in the shop till August 18th.

We have a busy schedule,
seeing family and friends, new babies, tree houses, doing and getting a tattoo.
All in 10 days in 3 states.
Hope to see you there.

calf with pisces tattoo best design art

calf with pisces tattoo best design art

simple design pisces tattoo with black color

simple design pisces tattoo with black color

design pisces tattoo on the foot with beautiful color design art

design pisces tattoo on the foot with beautiful color design art

Holding Down the Fort.

The stickers I made for the Wingnut Dishwashers Union have been printed and shipped to some location on the East Coast, apparently.
(I got this photo as a text message yesterday)



I'll be rocking it solo at Identity Tattoo today.
The Bearded Lady Motorcycle Show will be occupying the time of my coworkers, but we'll be as open as it gets.

Next week is the last one before Meryl and I head East for 10 days.
If you're in MD or CT, we'll see you soon.
If you're in MN, and want a tattoo, better let me know asap.
I'm already almost booked solid.

design pisces tattoo on arm with cool and big

design pisces tattoo on arm with cool and big

design pisces tattoo on the foot

design pisces tattoo on the foot

Selling Some H1N1

Parking Block Publishing has just released their first two zines ever, and one of them is mine.

It's 16 pages of Avian Swine Flu animal morphs.
Pigs and birds combined into unholy disease-ridden creatures.
(but still so cute!)

I used a hand screen printed cover that my good friend Megan Thomas-Melly traded me for a tattoo some gazillion (or 5) years ago, and I haven't used until now.

It's a numbered run of 80.
And costs a whopping $3.

I'll have a couple at the shop,
but otherwise you can get your hands on a flu filled zine here.
(and see a couple inside photos)

Thanks to Parking Block Publishing for putting it all together!

Craft Night

Meryl's teaching a class at the Loft right now mixing poetry and crafts for 9-12 year olds.
Apparently she's preparing them to become adults and work in the real world.
(like me)

I spent my night transforming this years chosen object into a trophy for the Bearded Lady Motorcycle Show.
This Saturday is the 4th annual MPLS motorcycle block party, and every year tattoo shops around the Twin Cities the customize the trophies.

Anyway, this is what we were given this year:


I didn't know how that was much of a beginning for a trophy, but I was pitied by the Tough Guy Motorcycle Gods, and they sent me a sign.



I followed the rainbow to the Joann Fabrics parking lot, and I knew I was in the right place.
As I was getting the supplies I needed, I saw Harley and Davidson buying scrapbooking paper and stickers for their "Sturgis Memories 2008" books.
So cute.
I waved and they winked back.

When I got home Meryl and I did our crafting homework together.

I kept the wheels and the basic frame, but turned the rocket into a koi fish.
I hope all the leather wearing bikers aren't upset that I made it way less phallic.

Sinner #4

Sinner #4 - XVI -

An extension of the work week.

Adam said this time he was going to get "one of my pieces".
I took that to mean a fat animal,
using lots of pink, peach, salmon and skin tones.
And really, you can't get much more 'shawn hebrank' than that.
We drew it on his shin in Sharpie, tucked tight between two other tattoos.



It was a long day at the shop between the narwhal and the black swan, but we had a few people come by and keep us company.
Even Ben stopped in to Ebay it up, and stayed a little while for the fun.

A real day off is happening tomorrow.
So far, I have no obligations.

Too much ebbing, not enough flow.

Bex is Back.

And not a moment too soon.
This was not my favorite week.
It was multiple layers of unpleasant,
with some not awesome people getting some not awesome tattoos.

She came in to get a few holes in her sleeve plugged up, and what better way to do it than a tubby bird?
Thanks, Bex, for saving my week.
Two old clucking hens.



Adam is in town again, he arrived this afternoon, and once I got out of work we had a little dinner party turned absurdist wiki conversation and youtube video clip night.
Megan, Patrick, Ryan, and Rebecca came over.
Even Todd Lambright rode his motorcycle into the twin cities to join us.
What?
I know!

If you're going to have a different guest every weekend (or more), make sure you have rad friends.

Of course, tattooing is happening tomorrow.
Meryl and Adam both.
Black swans and narwhals.
I don't believe in days off.
I have an entire week I have to make up for.

It's not real punk rock unless there's carpet on the walls.

Punk rock basement shows.
I'm sure you could get too old for them, eventually, but I still pass for 20.
Wingnut Dishwashers Union played tonight 7 blocks from my house.
It was a dope show, and it was pretty rad seeing the poster I just made for them being dug so much.
I had to be in a few conversations and awkwardly accept some compliments, and Meryl wasn't around to help me any.
But the show was great, Pat has gotten widely known enough that there was a packed house (and backyard) for him, and everyone knew the lyrics.
A sing/scream along that made it feel like Connecticut, and made me long to hear an old Johnny Hobo song or two.

Most Wanted Girl Tattoos

Most Wanted Girl Tattoos

Under the Water and Off the Map.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my good buddy Amy B in Northampton today!!!
I hope the Maynard House is full of birthday cards and presents and vegan cupcakes that someone else made you.
Meryl and I send you lots of well wishes for this next year of your life.




I don't know what kind of jellyfish this is.
I wanted to use color reference, but I forgot to get some nice pictures ahead of time, and the shop computer only prints in black and white.

It's a colorful addition to Chef Jeff's otherwise muted water creature sleeve.


Also,
It's time for booking my next visit at Off the Map Tattoo.
I won't be working there until November, but now's the time to pick your day and get your deposits in.

Here's how I'm doing it this time.
I'm working seven days straight, Monday through Sunday,
November 2nd - November 8th.
I'm splitting each day into 2 four hour sessions.
The first one is 12 noon to 4 pm, and the second is 5pm to 9pm.
Clients filling up a 4 hour session have priority over those seeking shorter time slots.
Of course, longer sessions are possible as well.

Please email me for availability, and once we have set a date, you will be required to call the shop and leave a deposit within a week.

There will be new shirts, of course.
New stickers, new art cards.

It's only an hour from Wallingford CT, so come visit even if you're not getting tattooed.

Girl Tattoos - Kanji Tattoos

Japanese Girl Tattoo

DJ Scotty Boy performing live at BTSOE!

DJ Scotty Boy will be performing live at The Biggest Tattoo Show On Earth. You do not want to miss this event.

For more info visit Tattoo Expo '09

Update City

I spent a few hours last night updating my website,
shawnhebrank.com
I added tattoos, the birdhouses, the new WDU poster, even the framed skin.
I also got in a fight with the "mission statement", and have an entirely new, but maybe not better, bunch of words in it's place.

I'm up for critiques, of course.
On mission statements, word choices, or even tattoos themselves.

Summer is half over, and I haven't done much with stickers this year.
I was at the Triple Rock eating dinner with Meryl last night, and realized I didn't have any in my pocket.
I'm getting lazy.

The Minneapolis Tattoo Convention is coming up.
It's this September, and Todd and I have a corner booth, I believe.

Luckily, I have 4 new stickers coming soon, and some of them are big.
Like this one, it's 4.25" square.
It was going to be the dude's version of the Antlered Birdhouse shirt, but it never went into production.



As soon as they all come, I'll be sending out sticker packs.
My Northampton friends have promised an epic scale of coverage in advance of my guest spot there this coming November.
More details on the guest spot this weekend.

Not to be used for other than intended purpose.

Monday night.
My weekend's end.

Camden is pretty much all healed up from the surgery,
so today we did my part of the deal.
A tattoo for a tattoo.
I did them both, but I got one back.
Camden hadn't even seen the finished product yet, so it was a reunion of sorts as well.
So weird.

Anyway, we did this today.
What is it?
A Mini Gender Changer, of course.

Arm Owls on Almost-Off Hours

I didn't take the holiday today.
I celebrated Independence Day by rocking it solo at Identity Tattoo.
By the time I figured out it was a shop day off,
I had already booked it up.

Luckily, Kelsey and Jenna brought the pre-fireworks fun.
I knew they would.
I got to do this owl tattoo on Kelsey, and some fancy script on Jenna.


After the not-too-normal shop day, we had Ryan and Rebecca over for firework viewing in Powderhorn Park.

There's been a few big black and grey pieces happening lately,
and I've been really into them.
I have some animal cubby-hole sketches that I'm looking to do and might get posted soon.
Let me know if you're looking for something big-ish and slightly absurd.
It might be a good match.

Also, I'll be gone a decent chunk of August.
Meryl and I will be visiting Maryland and Connecticut,
seeing family and friends, meeting brand new babies and tattoo artists, doing poker night, China Pan, and seeing the ocean.
As awesome as all of that is, it means I won't be at Identity Tattoo for two weeks.
Please plan your tattoo getting accordingly.

The Wingnut Dishwashers Union posters arrived, and I'll have some at the shop. Let me know if you want one.

Big Wrenches and Little Welds.

July First.
Ending 11 crazy days of overlapping guests.

We began it and finished it with a Dark Dark Dark show,
and even though last nights wasn't in my living room,
it was pretty f*ing amazing.
Full circles and big happenings.
It's nice to weave together all of those phone stories and mailed tales with a visit from different friends.
Putting faces to names,
or eating lunch with people who's tattoos (and framed skin) you've seen on the internet.

Julie and MJ drove off this morning, heading west.
It was great to have them in town.
Julie got more work done on her accordion sleeve that we started three years ago,
and MJ swapped some car/bicycle help for a grease monkey tattoo.





Also, Andy and Nicole Weld just had an addition to their family.
Aubrey Grace Weld.
Congrats, guys!
We can't wait to meet her in August.