Word Virus.

Skull Cover-Up Session 2

2012-02-09T18:25:00.002-06:00

Today I tattooed what I had hoped would be the last session on Chris's cover-up but the top skull will need another pass. Here is a link to the first session. The Kanji is 90% hid, but I want to hit it again. There is some white packed in over some key areas and I'd like to see how that heals before I call it "complete." Nonetheless, I'm happy about how this is coming along.

Gladiator Swordsman

2012-02-03T00:36:00.000-06:00

Hey readers! As of January 27th 2012 I've been tattooing a whole year! It is hard to believe that it has only been 12 months since I touched needle to living skin. The current year's focus is bringing in more custom work that I design myself. The pieces my clients allow me to design for them tend to be my strongest and boldest. It might have something to do with a year's worth of experience and some basic knowledge of what looks good on skin. Here are a few of my recent tattoos in chronological order.

More like this shadowpuppet "Death to Fake Metal" piece please! I have a dark heart. More Virgin Mary, Demons, UFOs, sick & twisted monsters etc. I'm going to start drawing more of this and posting it on here so if you see something you dig - get at me!

The very lovely Courtney shows off her finished Sugar Skull. We took it slow and did this in three sessions because I wanted to learn some things while I worked on it. This piece is an original design.

And finally - an Ouroboros on the best Schooley. I nailed the stencil on the first try despite stressing about getting it around her ankle all day. Ankles - they are tender.

I've been using tight needle groupings for some of my smaller work but I'm going to make the jump and try larger tight needle groupings (aka. thicker lines) on some of this small work so my lines are smoother. Controlling the power to my machine has been changing the way I'm tattooing.

Thanks to all my clients, friends, and family for a great year!! Onto the next!

The Year of Not Sucking.

2012-01-15T21:51:00.001-06:00

Black Canary Inspired Piece.

I painted three small 5 x 7 watercolors this week in between tattooing and going to my part time job at Chicago Comics. I must get good at them because water coloring is at the core of flash art for tattoos. This recent focused productivity is stemming from a realized drive to not suck at life. Usually I hate everything I make. Some things I draw make me physically ill with fears that I'm going to die mediocre. Just looking at mediocre drawings makes me sick to my stomach. One of my worst fears is that someday I'll be the person people compare shitty crap to. I will do anything to not be the Rob Liefield of tattooing. Although, even when I finally totally rock at life I will probably still hate everything I do. At least I'll have put forth effort to do something about it!!

So it goes. Anyway, watercolor! HARD! I'm using cold press paper because I had it already. It is terrible. When I run out I'm switching to a nice thick Arches hot press because it is just so much better and the blends are way smoother. Nonetheless, even with crappy paper I am starting to get the hang of it. Stress the word starting. My goal is to make one 5 x 7" drawing a day - completely finished, but I'm taking it easy on myself while I build up skill. I've been on this pattern: Day 1: Idea and rough sketch. Day 2: Linework and 75% of color. Day 3: Finished, scanned, and online.

I'm learning and it is awesome. I wish I could beam you into what it feels like to change my working practices. First, I'm not getting bent out of shape over one idea and obsessing over it. I'm trying to get stuff done, and done well, and then move on to the next piece. If I draw something I don't think is perfect, I am ok with accepting that I can't go back and rework it forever. Nothing will ever be "perfect." I'll just do a new drawing and incorporate the things I've learned from experience. It is very liberating. It is why I got three watercolors done this week. Onto the next!

Thanks for reading. See you next time!

Apollo 1

2012-01-11T00:01:00.001-06:00

Happy 2012!! I hope everyone get's out in time!

Two Tatties Update

2011-12-01T20:42:00.000-06:00

Did this little number on a referral's wrist! Healed pic!

And I'm in the middle of this huge coverup of some kanji on the back of a client's arm. We have another session to completely hide the blue parts and finish the top two skulls.

Just a quick update for today.

Sunflower & Sugar Skull

2011-10-31T18:48:00.000-05:00

The sunflower is a cover-up of this tattoo.

The sunflower tattoo in the top photos I did about a month ago on a friend from Ohio. It is a cover up. She got married the day before I did this work. Congratulations to the happy couple! I will probably do one more short session on this to make sure the cover-up is completely hiding the original text tattoo. I thought we could get it done in one session but everything takes longer than I expect it to. I'm either going to stop estimating time, or I have to do a much better job at it!

This sugar skull is a gift to a friend who let me tattoo her very early on in my tattooing career. I finally felt comfortable tattooing this sugar skull on her. It is an original design. We have one, possibly two more sessions on this one for the black shading and the color. Looking forward to it!

Geraniums Healed & Cyrus Cylinder

2011-10-27T01:33:00.000-05:00

Thse are pics of my geranium tattoo all healed up on my friend Rose. The red flower section above is my favorite part.

This client came in with work from a tattooer who no longer works at our shop. This tattoo is a an excerpt from the cyrus cylinder. We tried to get him to go back to her, but he didn't want to travel so I started finishing it for him. I tried matching the spacing as much as possible and depicting the symbols as accurately as I could from the reference he gave me. You can see in the pictures the divide between myself and his other tattoer. Despite the slight change in styles, I think it still works.

Complexity

2011-10-04T17:51:00.002-05:00

A customer came in and wanted two shamrocks, two of his dog's paw prints, and tribal all around it so that the space between his forearm and his bicep was filled. I came up with the design above to base everything off of. We didn't end up doing this exact design which I'm happy about because what we ended up doing is closer to what I envisioned. He is very happy with it. We have an entire session to go to tighten everything up and color in the shamrocks and remaining stripes. I got really horrible pictures of the whole thing because I had my camera set up wrong. These pictures are much darker than the tattoo actually is. I'll post some final pictures after his final session.

The tattoo above is a memorial tattoo for a belated husband and father. I did three of these on a really charming family. The design is based off a chalk drawing the family brought in. That's it for now!

Goodbye Summer

2011-09-28T02:30:00.006-05:00

Lake Shore Drive in the summer aka. LSD. Cut between the city of broad shoulders and the cold dead lake. A paved sliver of happiness.

Transcendental Meditation

2011-09-23T00:58:00.001-05:00

This feather is the first "peacock" feather I've done. She wanted an eyeball in it somewhat like a third eye. Crikey, did I learn a lot doing this one. This was a big piece for me, and I like how it turned out. In retrospect I feel that I would have done a few things differently. I had to change the drawing on the fly from the drawing you see on the left to the one above. That raised some questions I wasn't prepared for. I choose to whip shade this because I wanted the practice but black and grey might have been a better choice since she didn't want any color. I'd like to do something like this again someday.

A friend of mine Peter wanted a Usagi Yojimbo tattoo and I couldn't have been happier. I can't wait to get a healed pic at his touchup.

This one is one I just did and it is an interesting piece. A local tattooer who is not in a professional shop did the tattoo you see on the left but my client could not reach him and it remained unfinished. He offered to let me finish it for him so I am touching the whole thing up and filling in the color. Many of the original lines have fallen out and so I relined most of the piece and started shading and color today. Next session will be neon green background, lavander horseshoe and green grenade coloring. I am looking forward to it.

Holy Shit Tattooing - AGGGGHHHHH!!!!

2011-09-18T02:05:00.002-05:00

Got a healed pic of Gaby's Sailor Jerry skull I did. Looking good.

Second tattoo on a nice client from Evanston. This is his whole side.

FIRST NECK TATTOO! Old LA Dodgers logo on the side of a woman's neck! Terrible photo - had the camera set to no flash manual on a dark setting! Oopsie!

This little angel was fun to do. Pretty small and detailed, maybe 3 x 3". Lower Back. I'm loving my new Eikon tight 5 liners!!!!

The last couple weeks have been kinda slowing down on the tattooing front. Walk-ins are few and far between. We're seeing about half the number in a day that we were seeing over the summer. It is actually better to get tattooed in the winter so that your tattoo is kept clean and covered during healing. A tattoo kept inside out of pools, the hot sun, and sweat is going to heal much better and look brighter with fewer touch-ups. This week is more booked and I have a couple custom pieces in the works so the next update should have pics of those. I'm pretty stoked about the Usagi Yojimbo piece I'm doing tomorrow on an acquaintance.

Tattooing has been REALLY stressing me out. I'm full time at the tattoo shop now and getting into the rhythm of the shop will take some time. It seems that I always get tattoos at the very end of my shift and I end up working 10-12 hour days. It is time to schedule a regular day off into my work week. Tattooing itself - well what can I say? It is hard! Sooooo hard! I think I may turn grey thinking about it. It is terrifying to do every tattoo and I am almost always somehow disappointed. There is ALWAYS something I can do better next time. Thanks to modern technology I can sit and stare at my work all night and obsess over future pieces and designs. I must enjoy it or I wouldn't be putting so much into it. I just can't wait till I'm seeing my technical tattooing techniques do what I want them to do 100% of the time! I think I'll be there in . . . ohhh . . . 10 years or more! I miss my dog and the rest of my life though, and I think relaxation will benefit my work in the long run so this is my own reminder to myself - TAKE BREAKS! TAKE A BREATH! RELAX!

1st Swallow

2011-08-29T09:00:00.002-05:00

J.R., who previously came in and got the spider-webs from me came back and got a little birdie on him yesterday.

It was my first swallow and I heavily based (straight up traced) the drawing from a Tatts Thomas flash. I freehand drew the clouds in with highlighter and sharpie. J.R. is black and the sad fact is that color is REALLY hard to get to stick in heavily pigmented skin. He wanted to try some color because the red on his spider had stayed in. I was up for the challenge. We tried out some dark blue, lavender, and *the real winner* Eternal - Spearmint. You can see for yourself what worked well in the pics. In addition to being hard to pack in, brown skin somehow conceals the pigment and you can't see to know if you even put anything in at all. Then you are really tempted to come back repeatedly to push more in and you end up beefing the tattoo. I learned to give it a second and trust that it was there. I am pretty optimistic for the blue and green sticking for awhile. The lavender I'm not sure about at all. And honestly, 5, 10 years down the line? Who knows? Not me! I'm excited to find out.

Those clouds were fun as hell to do. The whole thing was, and I was REALLY happy to finally do a swallow!

Anyway, J.R. - if you're out there. Thank you! You've been a frickin' awesome client and you sit like a champ!

Works in Progress

2011-08-28T23:59:00.000-05:00

Process! This is my friend Dawn's willow tree with mums and owl. This is a very big ambitious piece for my skill level so I insisted that take it slow and do it piece by piece. This is our progress so far. The next session will either be the last or the second to last. Dawn is really cool. You should check out the unique stuff she sells on her etsy shop!.

Another friend of mine who is getting a tattoo right now is Rose. She's getting these geraniums and we're one session away from finishing them. She can't sit very long because her ankle is ouchie, but that's ok with me because I want to take my time with them too. I did a color study for this one as well but it is at work. I'll include it with the final post about this tattoo.

She tapped out and that's ok, because I want to go back into the green with some medium tone olive browns when this heals to give it some more shadows. Aside from the fact that I got pretty crappy photos, under the florescent lights at work this tattoo looks really neon. I can't wait to do the dark and light reds in the petals!!

That's all for now. Check my website at http://www.caitlindrakemckay.com for my portfolio.

Healed Pic Extravaganza

2011-08-23T01:45:00.000-05:00

A really early tattoo - the Illinois/CTA map!!! I'm pretty sure this pic is from a week or two after a brief touch up we did later. Pretty much healed but kinda flakey still.

Mothwoman all healed up.

Another early one. A pic from two or three weeks after tattooing him. This one is still flaking too, but it is mostly healed.

The client with my spider-webs and spider came into my shop this week all healed up and looking fine. He has since gotten some gray shading added to his whole lower arm. Nonetheless he came back and wants more work from me!! Hooray!! I will probably be emailing him after I finish this!! ;)

That's enough for now. I'm beat. I haven't blogged as much as I used to and not nearly as much as I had intended. I'm going to try to take some time to do small regular updating from now on. Tattooing is taking up a lot of my time and it is a blast! It is also incredibly, crushingly stressful and I need my rest. I appreciate all of my clients for letting me do work for them and I look forward to the tattoos of tomorrow!!

Big July Update of New Work

2011-07-07T00:38:00.001-05:00

It feels like it has been forever since the last update! At first, I intended to blog every time I tattooed. Now it seems almost impossible to grab a second to sit down and even get my wits about me! For the last couple days I've been organizing my computer files and collecting the last few pics of my tattoos so I have enough for a couple good updates. Onward! Onward!

All images are clickable.

These small technical tattoos have been really fun to do. They have really helped me feel out proper needle depth and continue to teach me to be meticulous and patient.

Retouched this entire Superman symbol. If my memory is correct, the original tattoo was over 11 years old.

Sneeches - First Session

The above image is a cell phone pic from the first session on Steve's Dr. Seuss Sneeches tattoo. This one was particularly dear to my heart. Dr. Seuss is one of my favorites and at one point in time I entertained the idea of getting this tattoo myself! It was a blast to tattoo it.

I did the outline and the fill on this tattoo in the first session and we touched up the entire tattoo and filled the second Sneech during the second session. I am really happy with how it turned out. That light color fill is hard to get consistent and this is the first belly I've tattooed. Bellies are really smooshy and giggley! Here is the latest photo.


Sneeches - Second Session

Batman vs. Lord Death Man comic panel tattoo. Yaaaaay! First Batman tattoo!

Two views of the same tattoo. Like I said at the beginning. . . these technical tattoos are fun. At this point I need to be learning technique. I don't want to do ONLY this, no, variety is the spice of life. But I can really see this sort of thing benefiting me in the long run. I'm still hoping for some cholo script. MORE CHOLO SCRIPT PLEASE! GODDAMN!

Chemical compound for ATP.

This really nice gentleman had me do pentagrams on his chest. As above, so below. I am fascinated by the dark arts and dig this. More like this too please, and possibly some demons fighting minotaurs, lightening bolts striking down the damned, goats with huge phallic images banging naked chicks...................... and script around everything of course. Thank you. And good night!!!

SSSSSnakes Touchup! First Spider Webs! Rad Skull! Walk-in!

2011-06-06T00:57:00.003-05:00

First off this week, Luc came back in for a touch-up on his "Chosen Sons of Snakes" tattoo. Ever since I tattooed this on him a couple months ago I'd obsessed over how the snakes needed tongues. Therefore, this time around I gave them green tongues! Yay!

Go ahead . . .all images are clickable on my blog to view larger versions!

Luc had responded to my plea for anyone willing to get original work on them to the tune of American traditional. I need to tattoo lots of simple dingers to get a good handle on technique! I designed and tattooed this RAD skull on him. Thanks Luc!

Next, I'd been consulting with J.R. about adding webs to the lower part of his arm. Vince suggested I add a big spider! That turned out to be a bitchin' idea. We did some measurements and I'm proud to say these are the first tattooed spider-webs I've ever done!

ONLY the spiderwebs by me!

During the web tattoo this nice girl and her friends walked in. I tattooed these roman numerals on her after I finished with the spider-webs!!! HAHAHA! Her friend wanted a similar thing, but I told her to come back! I assured her she didn't want me tattooing AGAIN on an empty stomach and all googley eyed from tattooing all day! I was pretty strung out! I called The Nut at home and told him cooking dinner was canceled and to order pizza! Bacon, Pepperoni and Black Olives! I'm eating it right now! It is amazing!

Self Tattooing & Walk-in!

2011-06-01T11:30:00.000-05:00

I've been tattooing often. And drawing a lot! I'm sure I've missed posting. So it goes. Lately the amount of work I've been doing has really cut into my late night blogging time. It doesn't help that I haven't had a good camera because I vowed not to borrow Chicago Comics' camera anymore. Buuuuuut then I borrowed their camera again this week because I got sick of my tattoo pictures looking bad.

Tattooing:
   1. Always - always - 100% safety. Bloodborne Pathogen localization.
   2. Don't rush. Slow down.
   3. Order disposable tubes because so you don't have to borrow when the autoclave is broken.
   4. 100% Focus - mental checklist. Are you doing this the BEST way 100% of the time?
   5. Follow the leader.
     6. Develop systems for everything.

Appointments:
    1. Do not set them for non-friends without deposits.
2. Craigslist people will show up 1/5 times. Often late.
3. People will never call if they are late, or no shows.

Yesterday my tattooing appointment canceled so I ended up drawing for my 2nd consultation appointment that was in the evening. I finished the drawing for my appointment and then decided I wanted to "touch up" the blue and purple flower I'd tattooed on myself a couple months ago. I wanted to add something fun to it as well, and prep it to be incorporated into my leg when it is finally filled in.
This is what I ended up with.

I bobbled ever so slightly on the curve. :( It may heal and disappear.

Someday I'll add a rose growing out of the other snake's head.

Blowouts! Gah! I started with this big fat blown out line behind the snake heads. I was a bit over-zealous.

This really soft fatty part was hard to tattoo.

I didn't really end up putting color into the flower much this time. It hurt too much so I only did some black shading and a *touch* of blue. I wondered if my skin is more sensitive because when I first tattooed it I overworked this piece. The awesome part about tattooing yourself is seeing yourself grow. The top picture is a day after, and the tattoo is healing correctly like a professional tattoo. I didn't overwork it. The mistakes are my questing to find my tattooing technique and limits of my artistic skill. Screw all that jazz. I'm really happy with it. Lighting! BLAH! FIRE! GAAARRRR!

Oh yeah, and then my consultation appointment didn't show up so I drew all morning for nothing. I liked the no-show's idea though, so I'm going to turn it into a watercolor tattoo design and offer it up to people - making positives out of experiences!

Uh. . . and then I tattooed a walk-in who wanted some simple text script. I didn't get a picture because I stupidly forgot. They came in really late and everyone was busy. I don't know how I feel about it yet, but the tattoo looked good. :? I hope she comes in and gets a touch up so I can see it again.

Pillow Vampires

2011-05-26T19:02:00.000-05:00

Tattooed a couple pillow vampires today on a pair of friends moving to California! I wish them well!

This next one is approx. 1" x 1.5"

Today's Tattoos

2011-05-19T23:59:00.000-05:00

I tattooed twice today. That's the second time I've done that. It is pretty fun.

First Gaby wanted the Chicago skyline slightly amended so the Sears (Willis) tower and the Hancock were closer together.

Ben was pretty much the first person to commit to a tattoo from me when I started apprenticing. That was really cool, and I sincerely appreciate it. He first came to me with an image of Slime from Dragon Quest. I wanted to do it right away but it was beyond my skill level at the time. We put F that S in him last month. I had put the call out for anyone who wanted script and he volunteered with his rad idea. I swore to him I'd get him in to do this Slime eventually. So, without further adieu. . . this is why patience pays off.

Big Tattoo Catchup Post

2011-05-17T00:59:00.001-05:00

I've been tattooing alot lately and taking pictures on the shop camera. It is difficult to transfer pictures off of due to some hardware problems. . . without futher adieu. Here is my recent work:

Not that there are any blowouts in these but blowouts eat at my soul. Life altering. I have dreams about it.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE CAN SOMEONE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LET ME TATTOO ORIGINAL DESIGN AMERICAN TRADITIONAL ON THEM!?

Punk Rawk Grrl

2011-05-10T19:03:00.002-05:00

A nice young man named Derek came in today and had me tattoo this flash on him.

Flash by Richard Tate! Super great appointment!

Hero Bands Redo

2011-05-09T23:00:00.002-05:00

Someone at Taylor St. did his bitchin' Potter snake.

Fresh and juicy.

Aaron is having me redo his arms. These were originally done 11 years ago by the same girl that did the spine eagle piece I retouched. I owe her dinner. Today we added width to the top band and blacked the whole right arm. He asked me to draw around a scar "jagged like broken cement." Damage to original tattoo caused by trauma. You can see it in the final pic.

Skull with Roses - 1st Session

2011-05-06T01:55:00.000-05:00

I had an appointment today with some regular old jackoff from Craigslist who was a no show. Didn't call or anything. Who does that? People off craigslist do apparently. Please Craigslist people - just call me and say you can't make it. Don't be a jackoff. . . or at least don't contact me using the same email you use for Facebook. That way I won't be tempted to find you and ruin your life.

Anyway, FUCK that guy because Desi let me tattoo this ridiculously large skull and roses on her inner left hip. Vince was all like, "WTF - you are insane." I was like "But it is Desi, and it looks so good there." And because it is on Desi really, it is ok, because Desi is shop family and she will not tattle on me to the tattoo police.

Have I mentioned lately that I KNOW NOTHING AND I AM AN ARROGANT FOOL! Anyway, blowouts are my new enemy. I feel like I am understanding how to feel for correct needle depth and I'm starting to have confidence riding those lines. I can't wait to finish this one!

Color Bands and Dr. Seuss quote (First Foot!)

2011-05-03T13:53:00.000-05:00

The last couple days were probably the most fun I've had tattooing so far. This was because my friend Tyler (referred by Ralph - aka Illinois/Subway map) got some color bands on his arm, and his friend Carmen got some text. Both individuals were really enthusiastic and fun! These bands were HARD. I'm not satisfied with how the fill went - it was a big experiment. Light mixed pastel colors are terribly difficult to pack in, especially for an apprentice. We did the top two bands Sunday and the bottom three bands Monday. It was more of a "learning" than a "do-ing" but we got them in there. After it heals there is no question that he will need a touch up. There is fine line between overworking the skin or not with colors this light. I have oh I dunno. . . .1 million questions.

I tattooed Carmen yesterday. We did a nice text quote from Dr. Seuss on her foot! I think it turned out well. I enjoyed doing it. I could see how I've improved and how I'm faster. I keep mindful not to sacrifice detail for speed. I'm hoping more people want text because it really hones my skill! Text Text Text and Script Script Script!

Obey & Banana Man

2011-04-30T12:19:00.000-05:00

Shepard Fairey and Banana Man wheat pasted Clark & Belmont this week.

Pretty exciting!

Eagle Spine Touchup

2011-04-28T23:39:00.006-05:00

Click to see larger image.

Alexis and I met at Revolution tattoo when we displayed work in the "Sealed Signed and Delivered" group show together. When he asked me to touch up his old back piece I was so excited. I really like unique, large pieces like this. Interesting designs that compliment the body with subtle details. The pre-existing design is rad! Today he came in and we added another set of "waves" to the top and shrunk them a bit to fit the contour of his spine. We also filled the top two waves and the "cactus blooms". The tattoo I had to work with was done by a novice, and the waves were later retouched by Omar at Revolution. It was an honor to work on a piece those hands had touched before, and it was also fun making sense of the really faded original tattoo! I want him to come back in when it heals and I'll work more on those cactus blooms. I think they could be way more symmetrical and "perfect". At the 2 hour mark of the appointment, we couldn't progress much further without committing to large amounts of more tattooing. If I did anything totally right it was the close approximation of the original colors based on the "Before" pic above. This was fun. Fun fun fun. I am realllllly happy with how the color turned out.

Also . . . new one-piece single cast tube! So safe - but they cost almost $25 a pop! That's the price of no joints or cracks for blood borne cooties to hide in! I <3 SAFETY! I LOVE IT SO MUCH I HAD TO TAKE A PICTURE:

Sailor Jerry Skull

2011-04-26T20:35:00.003-05:00

I wanted to do some flash, humble myself, and learn from the greats, so I asked for volunteers to get my drawing of a Sailor Jerry flash skull. My friend and coworker Gabby said she wanted it! Yay! That made it extra special. I redrew the stencil and tweekd a few things before tattooing it. We also scaled it 25% bigger than my original drawing. I am very happy with how this turned out. I learned a lot. Gabby is a cool lady!

Secret Tattoo

2011-04-25T21:56:00.000-05:00

I tattooed today but I'm not allowed to put it on the internet per client request. It turned out fraking amazing. You wouldn't believe your eyes if you saw it. 0_0

Guitar

2011-04-21T18:12:00.002-05:00

Did this guitar today. The pictures I got of it are awful. The bottom string on this pic is very bloody. I'll wait till it heals and get a healed pic. There are only 5 strings on this guitar. This is not my design.

Ruby

2011-04-20T11:24:00.001-05:00

I'm going to start calling this blog "The Record of Unstoppable Self Dissatisfaction."

Did this script on my old roommate Alana yesterday. That was fun. No black outlines. I went into this thinking it was going to be easy, and then the red wouldn't pack in. It made me really mad honestly. I keep thinking I'm making progress and then it is reaffirmed that I still know basically nothing. Jolly helped me a lot with this one by pointing out I wasn't going deep enough at first. The red threw me off because it changes color depending on depth and saturation. I don't know the difference between healthy and hamburger with it yet. This is why black is so much better to start with than color because it is so dominating it is harder to fuck up filling it. There is this careful balance to strike between the power supply, speed, and the depth and I do not have it down yet. It pisses me off and makes me want to tattoo all the time till I get it right. Anyway, this tattoo turned out fine. It'll heal ok but I expect it will need a touch up. I'm happy with the crisp edges. I really tried to clean this one up and make it sharp and may have sacrificed some healthiness. GRR. I want to give the world top quality tattoos. I think Alana is happy with it, and it looks good. More tattooing please...everyday. Maybe a couple times a day even.

Snickity Snakes - FIRST COVER UP!

2011-04-17T21:14:00.001-05:00

This idea wasn't mine but the design is completely custom. I think this design is solid. My client discussed the choice of fonts and I drew up the triangle and snakes. This tattoo is not only my first referral from a previous customer, but my FIRST COVER UP! The design ended up being bigger than my client or myself really expected, but that was ok. It didn't end up fulfilling my "simple tattoo" request really either, but c'est la vie.

Apprentice Criticism:
I was not nailing my "O"s. The cover up needs another pass with my shader. The top and left side of the triangle need straightened some. I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to add bad-ass green snake tongues. *crosses fingers* He had a red reaction in another tattoo so I'm shying away from red. I need to clean up the lines on the snakes some more. If I did all this when he comes in for a touch up I would think this tattoo was "done." This is a problem I need to solve.

Solution: SMALLER TATTOOS!
Bigger mag.
Patience patience patience.

F that S

2011-04-15T02:20:00.001-05:00

This one is on my friend Ben. F that S! This is my original design from his idea. I'm happy with how it looks to the non-tattooer eye, but also frustrated with some of the application's technical details. It seems that for everything I learn I also experience 1000 more things to learn. I'm getting there. . . slowly. I must be strongly self critical, pace myself, and always strive for tattooing perfection. Ultimately, I still know nothing.

More script. More things that really challenge me to get my lines looking perfect - and healthy. I really want to do a few small, simple, Sailor Jerry inspired flash pieces. Now to draw up something. MMMMhummmm.

Seth Stripes

2011-04-12T00:55:00.000-05:00

Work in Progress- Infamous Seth Emily let me start striping up his leg today. This was the first appointment I felt like I set up and got the tattoo moving smoothly without delay. We got right to business! I used a 7 round shader for the lines and a 13 flat mag. I didn't get a chance to come back and touch up the edges but that's fine because he'll be back for the yellow fill. We started around 6:30 and stopped around 9:45pm. Took awhile but it was steady! This was such a great piece to practice shading. I actually began truly understanding my shader, my power supply, and my hand motion!

I didn't draw the Spider-Man. :( I wish!

FF7 "The Planet" aka. Gaia

2011-04-11T11:35:00.000-05:00

This was a fun nice practice shading piece I did on my friend Chrissy. It looks great doesn't it? Super healthy! Count those pores! Truth be told - Vince definitely helped me with this. I did most of the fill and tried blending it, and then he finished it and showed me how to make the blends really creamy. I still "fear the skin" a little bit. I really don't like ditching people!!! DUH! Vince definitely showed me that I can be more confident and I grow ever closer to conceptualizing and understanding tattooing!!! Awesome possum. I definitely need more wrist strength. . .

Illinois Map

2011-04-07T23:38:00.002-05:00

When Ralph told me his idea about a month ago, I was excited. . . he and I are Chicago Comics blood children. Over time it evolved into the CTA map within Illinois. I made him a stencil, but the train map was cramped and it didn't feel right. Raph told me to let the map extend over the outline of the state. AMAZING. WHO SAYS THAT?! THANK YOU RAPHAEL. I considered moving the loop over Chicago's actual location but it didn't look right and it extended way too far up onto his upper leg. Ralph and I discussed different placements of the El, finally deciding this location over his musculature complimented his leg best. We could add some more tattoos laterz too!!! ;D :D ;D

The Stencil.

Bloody Bloody Bloody.

Amateur mistake: I chose to "lay down the lines" before I lost my stencil and wanted to come back to each color and clean up the fill. We collectively tapped out for the day after only the black. When it heals, Raphael can come in and I'll touch up all the colors and they will be zazzeriffic. I think you can maybe see the difference in the picture above. I need to do it right the first time. That's the deal. :|

First Script

2011-04-03T22:08:00.002-05:00

Script today. "One Last Caress" from the Misfits song.

The plan was fill this solid black. Vince and my client talked and decided on a gradient fill. I was happy to try it out. More script please. Script script script. More tattoos. Body suits.

Banjo playin Felix

2011-03-31T17:52:00.005-05:00

This tattoo rocks. Banjo playing Felix with sweet haircut on Arpad. This is the first tattoo I've done that I would consider getting myself so that made it pretty fun. The design is from this flyer Arpad drew:

Click the pic to go to Arpad's site.

I was happy with the technical side of this one. And as always, I learned a few things such as what order to do lines and which lines to carry through ;) One thing I will definitely change at the touchup: The hair near the sideburn needs a better "S" curve to bring out more zazz. Want to play spot the differences?

Pay to play.

2011-03-29T11:59:00.002-05:00

One step forward two steps back - or progress? This tattoo is so beefed and there are about a million other tiny things I could nit pick about it. Uhhhgggghhhhhhhhh. I wanted to push myself forward by making mistakes. I tried shading on myself and used a 7RS grouping for the linework. I ended up really liking the 7RS. There are also a million things I learned. Mission complete.

"I love my scuba man"

2011-03-26T00:57:00.002-05:00

This was an original piece I drew on my friend Agnes last Thursday, 3/24/2011. Agnes provided a lot of really cool source imagery to inspire me. She has an octopus on the other side of this piece by another artist and wanted her scuba man and her octopus to be cohesive looking. She intends on expanding on her sleeve someday and putting in more environment. I really like her scuba man!

Signed. Sealed. Delivered...Presence of the Unknown

2011-03-25T13:45:00.001-05:00

This blog is owed an update about C2E2, Magikal Quest #2 and the newest tattoo I did.

But for now. . .I'm excited to be in a show at Revolution Tattoo tomorrow night!!! You're invited to come enjoy some local art with us! Their shows are always excellent!

Touchup of Tribal Phoenix

2011-03-14T14:31:00.000-05:00

Vero came in again today and we touched up her tribal phoenix. This was only the second tattoo I had ever done on someone else so I was very curious to see how it healed. The black had fallen out of it in a couple overworked spots, but overall it looked better than I expected. I spent the session cleaning up my linework and making the overall piece more cohesive. She wants to expand on this image and let me tattoo the rest of her leg. I'm really excited.

Hellboy Skull Touchup & Text Zaps

2011-03-10T23:16:00.005-06:00

Have I told you that tattooing is changing me? It is really good thing, but it hurts a lot. Tattooing ain't easy.

Compare Elease, which I did first today on Ralph, to Pamela, that I did later. I "warmed up" because I'm still new at this. I'll only admit that small tidbit outwardly - being so brutally hard and critiquing my work so harshly inwardly that it would wound even you to hear it. Apparently that is the name of the game and every tattoo is another stepping stone to never being satisfied with my art. *laughing* My work is out there in the world affecting people's lives. It's pretty fun, and frustrating, and crushing . . . soul wrenching . . . painful . . . stressful. . .

Pretty much the worst pic of all time.

We also touched up Ralph's Hellboy skull. It healed with some scarring in the upper left corner where I started, and from there the fill was pretty consistently light and the whole thing needed touched up. Pretty expected from the first tattoo, but I think it will look much better now. I'm waiting to see if the white highlights stick.

Saturn Symbol

2011-03-06T16:15:00.001-06:00

Symbol for Saturn.

We finished the second session on Colby Jack today. I'm satisfied with how it turned out. I enjoyed doing this nice simple black fill. The edges are all supposed to be a bit hand drawn looking so there was a lot of room for error and I could take my time drawing those lines and getting the feel of tattooing

I liked how the top part of this tattoo had healed. The fill was very dark with just a handful of lighter spots. I went back in and hit those again today. He was very specific about where this tattoo ended so we hand drew some of this design! I think that the overall design and placement work well and have a dark mystical vibe.

Lucky Cat Healed Pic

2011-03-05T22:29:00.000-06:00

Paul sent a pic of his lucky cat all healed up. Brian.

Clarity

2011-03-04T03:19:00.000-06:00

Micky the Mouse

2011-03-03T00:52:00.003-06:00

Micky died of natural causes.

This is my dead mouse snowglobe, Micky. Nutty and I found Micky dead in our house and because I've wanted to try doing this for some time - I am harvesting Micky's skeleton. My anatomy teacher in college sort of outlined how to do this, and google searches have augmented the knowledge she passed on. Technically you're supposed to leave the lid off and skin them before you let them sit in slightly heated water for a couple weeks. I didn't know this before hand, so I'm working up to pouring out the water and cutting off his little leathery skin. I'm not really into that until I can do it outside, but I have the tools for it when I'm ready!

I am a shaman, don't fuck with me.

2011-03-01T23:01:00.000-06:00

I am a shaman, don't fuck with me.

If you do, you will reincarnate as a Chicago-style polish.

Happy Tribal Elephant - with a side of WINGS!

2011-02-28T02:36:00.003-06:00

Courtney came to me and wanted a "happy tribal elephant". She gave me the image on the left as inspiration and told me I could do pretty much anything along these lines as long as the elephant was happy.

It reminded me of this artwork I did when I was 16 in Drivers Ed. I don't think I had ever done drugs, but I was drawing psychedelic images during class instead of paying attention. I don't mean this as an insult. See for yourself...

Ok. . . . maybe I had done some drugs.

Anyway. . . I couldn't tattoo something that looked like I drew it in drivers ed on a friend of mine. I asked the guys at work what to do about it - they told me either tell her flat out no, or figure it out because I wouldn't want to look at something I didn't like on a friend of mine forever. (Hi Courtney!!! This is the inside scoop on your own tattoo . . .diggin it?) A real artist would figure it out so I began to believe I could convince her to get a realistic baby elephant. Something maybe with a banner. . . . I drew her this and emailed her and held my breath . . .


If anyone wants to get this or something similar tattooed on them let me know! LOL.

Courtney's email came back and long story short - she said NO. She wanted something more stylized. In retrospect I realized this design is not Courtney AT ALL so I took it as a lesson to open myself to vibing with people's tastes. Instead of becoming dejected, I started to break down what "tribal" means to me. Tribal to me is petroglyphs. Rock carvings. I googled that shit:

Google Image Search - Elephant Petroglyph

It was inspirational, but those drawings aren't mine. I took elements I liked and was finally making progress. I sketched and sketched - and then Courtney threw me for a loop. What about wings?

Well . . . ok. Why not wings? If I was annoyed it was because it meant I had to try harder and rework some ideas I already had. Funny thing is I think the wings turned into my favorite part of this tattoo. I did most of the drawing for it on the train going to and from work. Train drawing is better than drivers ed I guess! For Courtney I wanted to design something fun, unique, and happy while still representing the spirit of the elephant itself so she may continue to be inspired by it in the years to come!

Elephants are a beacon to Courtney - so I tried to capture that.

I sent Courtney this "final sketch" for her approval. She gave it a resounding YES!

When she came into the shop, I had gotten the information wrong and she ended up actually wanting the elephant on her inside left leg instead of the outside. That means the design was facing the wrong way when I drew it. DOH! No biggie - I just flipped the stencil.

The only snag after that point was my skill level. I'm not going to lie I was terrified to do this tattoo - but I'm happy with how it turned out. I think after I see it healed, and I get to do a touch up to make sure the color sticks and those lines are solid I finally won't obsess over it. This was my first real light color fill, my first feathering, and my second original design. That white is sure hard to pack in without it being blotchy! All that blood really distracts you!

While I was tattooing, my mind began to see a resemblance between my final elephant design and early Mesopotamian art - specifically human headed winged lions only without the phallic imagery. Click the image to the right to read all about this guy.

I learned a lot today.
I still know nothing.

First Totally Original Tattoo Design

2011-02-24T23:59:00.000-06:00

First original "custom" tattoo piece today on my water brother Paul. He documented the whole process. He was in alot of pain but handled it really well. My big clumsy apprentice hands aren't very forgiving. He would demand breaks, and then take photos of the tattoo's progression - so I know he wasn't crippled by it. He stuck it out. I am incredibly grateful.


Bloody Linework

Seepy Body Fluids - Filling in the Blacks.

A touch of color.

Final piece.

See? I told you I had a tattooing epiphany.

This final shot is my favorite imaging of my "concentration" face. I learned a billion things from this tattoo including not to feel too bad about my client's pain. It is a part of the job. Don't placate your customer's pain to the detriment of your work. They either endure the pain and get a good tattoo - or not.

First Text

2011-02-17T19:12:00.000-06:00

First TEXT! I had a skin tattooing revelation similar to my fake skin tattooing revelation right after the N of WHEN and the I. Can you tell?

Eartha Kitt Catwoman

2011-02-16T05:14:00.000-06:00

Hello 5am. I have just finished this piece of art.

First Cancellation & Saturn!

2011-02-14T00:27:00.000-06:00

My scheduled appointment cancelled on me this morning. Epic! First cancellation!! I was advised to, "get used to that."

I called up a backup and Colby Jack agreed to come in instead! He wanted a simple symbol for Saturn that we could do without much preparation. Success in the face of adversity! It turns out he wanted it HUGE! Vince vetoed doing it that big, but I got him to agree to let me do it by cutting the design in half in Photoshop and doing the first part today, and scheduling the other half in early March. Limitations are frustrating but I know they are for my benefit. I didn't get a pic because we only did half the design and I'm not concerned that Colby will disappear for good. . . . well. . . ever. X..D

Bonus: Vince helped me tune my liner and it is shockingly better.

Sex Toy Party!

2011-02-13T10:21:00.000-06:00

Barbarian Kings

2011-02-11T00:45:00.000-06:00

Today I tattooed my friend Joe. He wanted designs of his choice - two barbarian king woodcuts from the Medieval Ages. I was really excited to do them because they are quite interesting. We knocked them both out in one day. I'm not sure in retrospect that this was the best idea, but if I hadn't I would have missed an incredibly important lesson! At the end of the second king my liner stopped working temporarily. My liner needed adjustment the whole time!! (¬_¬) I continue to learn. I ask a lot of questions. More questions arise. I realize I know nothing. I owe a soul debt to Vince Leblanc forever. I want to mix a delicious mix of my blood and sweet milk into a bowl for him so he can drink it. Go to him and pay him to give you tattoos. We'll sterilize everything from the blood drinking before you get there.

Joe took some pictures as he was tattooed.

UFO and Horse

2011-02-09T01:47:00.000-06:00

I wanted to explore drawing another horse. This time I'd do it without the anxieties of being at a new job and drawing in front of strangers. I also wanted to draw something ambitious and color it. I ended up doing this all in one day. This is the result:

First Lotus!

2011-02-03T22:41:00.000-06:00

Paul, my H20 bro came to eat lunch with me today and he decided to get tattooed! It is not my design but I helped him pick it out based on his ideas. We sat around debating about colors and choose to do just the blue highlights. I hope my bro is happy with it. I think it turned out swell! He has plans for another tattoo soon, and I'm excited to draw it up!

2nd Tattoo

2011-01-30T17:07:00.000-06:00

Today I tattooed a phoenix above my friend Vero's left ankle. This was a tricky one because it has lots of tiny points and lots of long swooping lines. It was a nice design that looks great on her leg. I enjoyed doing the tail and trying to get those points! It was a great learning experience for me because it challenged my skill level and I didn't make a mistake I won't be able to fix. There are definitely some lines I want to tighten up - but this is a tattoo, and the #1 priority is to keep the skin healthy.

I think the best part of this is that it is a friend, and I know I get that chance.

"First" Tattoo on Another Person

2011-01-27T15:33:00.043-06:00

On January 27th 2011, my friend Ralph Darden aka DJ Major Taylor, let me tattoo a Mike Mignola Hellboy skull on his left arm and fill in a pre-existing abstract cog on his right arm. It was a really fun first official tattooing experience! Schooley his GF came with him, a super exciting surprise because I secretly think she is a genius mastermind. Ralph talked to everyone the whole time, occasionally looking over at me to proclaim very boldy:

"OUCH."

Then he went back to befriending everyone. One of our new tattooists Sean Arnold, even made him a badass flyer.

I was diligently focusing while this was all going on. Honestly, I was pumped with adrenaline and nervous as hell. My left arm wouldn't stop shaking. The results of this shindig were pleasing. I learned some lessons from doing it, I have some things I'm excited to try again and improve on, I didn't cut off his arms somehow in a horrible tattoo tragedy, and best of all - the tattoo, while not perfect, will heal healthy! Any small mistakes can be fixed without repercussions! I call that a success!

Here are a couple pics from the session that Schooley took with my camera:

Bloody teefs!

Why so Sirius?

2011-01-16T23:02:00.001-06:00

Legitimate tattoo done on myself by myself today!!! :D   It is a symbol for the Dog Star recorded in Heinrich Cornelius Agrippe's "Three Books of Occult Philosophy" circa 1533. aka. 14 year-old Witchcraft stuff!!!!111!!!! XD His books are free to Download!: http://www.holybooks.com/three-books-of-occult-philosophy-or-of-magick/

Those aren't mistakes! Those are success starting points!

It Breaks You Before It Makes You.

2011-01-11T17:59:00.002-06:00

This is a drawing for Jesse. I owed him a drawing of a kitty.

A Fitting First Post of 2011.

2011-01-06T22:50:00.000-06:00

RIP Jace 1983 - 2010

2010-12-31T00:36:00.000-06:00

RIP Jace 1983 - 2010
Thank you for being a part of our lives.

"The artist is not a person endowed with free will who seeks his own ends, but one who allows art to realize its purposes through him."

- Modern Man in Search of a Soul, by Carl Gustav Jung. Page 173.

TB Face

2010-12-23T22:25:00.000-06:00

TOS

2010-12-21T02:35:00.008-06:00

Ping! +1

I Can Has Tiger? - Colors Sketch

2010-12-09T17:53:00.000-06:00

Today in Photoshop I did a sketch layout of the colors for my I Can Has Tiger? fake skin tattoo.

I Can Has Tiger?

2010-12-06T20:36:00.001-06:00


Work in progress . . .

Tattoo on fake skin. Tiger with hamburgers. This took a couple hours today.

Rerun

2010-12-01T00:48:00.002-06:00

Rerun script today with roses. I am Rerun's human. He came to me in the Spring of 2003 and we've had quite a life together. Rerun is getting old now and suffers from common ferret illnesses such as hypoglycemia and adrenal gland failure. It is sometimes difficult to watch him age and see his health decline, but it was fun to take these photos with him today. He's my buddy and I'll love him forever. What can I say?

Stay True

2010-11-29T20:45:00.003-06:00

Practiced script today. There was a profound moment while tattooing where I realized I need to draw my lines MUCH MUCH SLOWER. That moment came when I was almost done. Vince helped tune my liner & shader and they both ran even better!!! I'm anxious for my next chance tomorrow. Tattoo started 6:15pm. Ended 8:00pm.

Lone Wolf

2010-11-27T23:48:00.001-06:00

Keen senses but no empathy.
Honed by my ancestors.
Sensing weakness I am wary. Will you invite harm?
Smelling potential mates I am curious. Will you watch my flank?
I scavenge what I can. I am resourceful. I survive.
Where is my wolf pack?
I would pick the least appetizing bits of meat off the carcass if it meant I had a family.
To hunt with.
To chase with.
To sleep on.
To kill with.
But for now these voles are all that feed me.
And these grubs give their lives to sustain me.
My tail keeps me warm.
Who is my wolf pack?
For now I am alone.

Jesse Sucks

2010-11-23T19:14:00.000-06:00

Sketched a tattoo design on the way to work. Cleaned it up at work. Scanned design in Photoshop, added doves. Made stencil. Tattooed fake skin. I'll say it again - I love my new machines!

The scanner always washes out the color.

Oh, and no matter how hard you try at something, someone will walk up and inconsiderately write "Caitlin Sucks" on it in marker that doesn't wash off. Jesse should probably watch his back, his food, his pockets, the deepest recesses of his mind, and shouldn't sleep for fear that someone might get him for many many many months. That is all.

Machines!

2010-11-22T22:52:00.001-06:00

Machines done & tuned today. This photo is pre-tuning.
Tried them on a very quick 45 minute fake skin rose just to try them out and tune them. I love them.

The World is Doomed. Copyright Law Through the Eyes of Our Future Generation

2010-11-20T16:49:00.003-06:00

At Chicago Comics today I spoke with two 17/18 year old male prep school seniors from the suburbs. One had an "I love Calculus" shirt on, and the other wanted to go to college for astrophysics. In the same breath astrophysics assured me that he does not try in school or get great grades, but he is "the smartest in his class". He also had an uncanny fascination with my chest tattoo. I assured him that his grades would limit his college and life choices but he didn't believe me. In fact he assured ME that it would not affect him. I told him he should probably listen to the girl who is 27 and works at a comic book store. They were applying to UofC, Carnegie Mellon, and a bunch of other high end mathy schools. They both hated Macs with a passion, went on at great length about OS software limitations, and offered to upgrade the memory on our work computers with stolen memory cards they got from somewhere I will not disclose publicly. I declined.

Curious about their next generation thoughts on the issue, I asked them about online file sharing. They do it all the time they told me. They don't give a crap if they torrent comic works, novels, programs, or anything really - they even described to me a difference between pirating and stealing. Pirating to them is very romanticized, and means that you have no intention to pay for anything and therefore get everything for free. Stealing is when you want to buy something, but don't have the money to, so you take it. Fascinating! They kept accusing me of being a materialist - in fact, multiple times in the conversation they said, "You are a part of the materialist culture!!"

I asked them if they would change their behavior if in ten years it meant there would not be comics anymore. No more Batman and Spider-Man. They didn't care. They said if comics had original content, people would still pay something for them. I asked them if they cared if it meant that creative class types would always have to have to keep second jobs because they could not make money off their artistic works. That sort of made them think for a second, but they again assured me if it was "good enough" someone would pay for it. Then they listed all the torrent and file sharing sites they still use. I inquired if they thought that if the government legislated that advertisers could not support those sites if it would stop the sites from sharing files. Very simply, no, it is user supported they assured me, and there is no stopping it. Both of them were avid online comic readers and we talked about XKCD (which I really like!) and Hipster Hitler (which I've never heard of before!). I told them I was not interested in always reading comics in short 3-5 panel snippets, to which they had to agree was not ideal.

Conclusion: In the new world order, content that is able to be downloaded will be downloaded and shared. Downloading this content makes you a non-materialist. The manpower to create 2D digitally replicable content has very little to zero monetary value but we will view it on incredibly fast hardware technology made by the privileged amoral class. Onward, onward, towards the new century!

I have to say I am not confident that the internet generation will grow up and suddenly realize that they must compensate others for their work. They (we?) have a grown up in a culture where free digital content is the standard and 2-D art is disposable. It becomes no more significant than the the act of taking its file and dropping it into the trash. Without a physical connection to working artists, writers, video game programmers, musicians, or movie makers, how can we expect culture to value the individual's right to a fair living when their product is accessible by clicking a button. Artists are undervalued because people who do not create do not understand that it takes incredible man hours to make something. If an artist's work is reduced to a file then I fear that people's reverence of work will be comparably reduced as well. I hope I am wrong.

Pups at the Beach!

2010-11-05T18:34:00.000-05:00

A Slice of Happiness! Pups at the Beach!

47th Red Line Stop

2010-10-21T22:41:00.002-05:00

Fall 2010

Summer 2010

Brain Heart Communication

2010-10-13T00:01:00.000-05:00

2007 Notebook Drawing - Inspired by a t-shirt.

Red Mars

2010-10-12T00:01:00.011-05:00

Kim Stanley Robinson's "Red Mars" is available for free download.

Excerpt . . .
At dusk they stopped the car. They had been driving for some forty
hours straight. They stood up and stretched, shuffled around, and then sat
back down and ate a microwaved meal together. Maya, Simon, Michel
and Kasei were in good spirits, cheerful to have gotten through the Gate;
Sax was the same as always; Nadia and Frank a bit less grim than usual.
The surface of the flood was frozen over for the moment, and it was
possible to speak without hurting one's throat, and still be heard. And so
they ate, concentrating on the small portions of food, talking in a desultory
manner.

Late in this quiet meal Ann looked around curiously at her
companions, suddenly awed by the spectacle of human adaptability. Here
they were eating their dinner, talking over the low boom from the north, in
a perfect illusion of dining room conviviality; it might have been anywhere
anytime, and their tired faces bright with some collective success, or
merely with the pleasure of eating together—while just outside their
chamber the broken world roared, and rockfall could annihilate them at any
instant. And it came to her that the pleasure and stability of dining rooms
had always occurred against such a backdrop, against the catastrophic
background of universal chaos; such moments of calm were things as
fragile and transitory as soap bubbles, destined to burst almost as soon as
they blew into existence. Groups of friends, rooms, streets, years, none of
them would last. The illusion of stability was created by a concerted effort
to ignore the chaos they were imbedded in. And so they ate, and talked,
and enjoyed each other's company; this was the way it had been in the
caves, on the savannah, in the tenements and the trenches and the cities
huddling under bombardment.

And so, in this moment of the storm, Ann Clayborne exerted herself.
She stood up, she went to the table. She picked up Sax's plate, Sax who
had first drawn her out; and then Nadia's and Simon's. She carried the
plates over to their little magnesium sink. And as she cleaned the dishes,
she felt her stiff throat move; she croaked out her part of the conversation,
and helped, with her little strand, to weave the human illusion. "A stormy
night!" Michel said to her as he stood beside her drying plates, smiling. "A
stormy night indeed!"

The next morning she woke before the rest, and looked at the faces of
her sleeping companions, now revealed in the daylight to be utterly
disheveled—grimy, puffy, black with frostnip, open-mouthed in the total
sleep of exhaustion. They looked dead. And she had been no help to
them—on the contrary! She had been a drag on the group; every time they
had come back in the car they had had to step by the madwoman on the
floor, lying there refusing to speak, often crying, clearly in the throes of
severe depression. Just what they had needed!

Ashamed, she got up and quietly finished cleaning up the main room
and the drivers' area. And later that day she took her turn driving the rover,
doing a six hour shift, and and ending up exhausted. But she got them well
east of the Dover Gate.

###

My Review!!!
SPOILER ALERT!!!
4 out of 5 stars. High-tech, highly informed sci-fi with a plot that delivers. I blew through the whole book incredibly fast. Can't commend the writer enough for his involved descriptive narrative. At times reading, my body physically reacted when things in the novel got dicey. It is required reading for any speculative science fiction writer. With incredible technical knowledge, Robinson accurately touches on the future of space colonization, terraforming, the impact of humans on untouched worlds, and the unfortunate reality of earth bringing its problems along for the ride. There are numerous compelling and sympathetic conversations between Frank Chalmers, one of the main protagonists, and the Arab culture that has colonized on Mars. They are very relevant to our current 2010 political climate despite the book being published in 1993. There is a beautiful chapter of melodically poignant pages describing a space elevator falling out of orbit. It is top-notch writing the whole way through.

The only thing that really bothered me in the whole book was a character named, "The Coyote", who is a sci-fi version of a magical negro. His character is the most obvious of a few subtle ethnic stereotypes that occur in this novel. You'd think in a future where we were capable of colonizing other planets with nearly infinite technological capability, where earth is so overpopulated that certainly different skin colors are unavoidably bumping into one another and making babies, that we would have also confronted and overcome some of our ethnic stereotyping. But the future earth of Red Mars is ethnically, economically, and nationally divided. This book is about abandoning Eurocentric western beliefs, greed, and capitalist terrain hierarchical thinking. Its major point being that we could live in a better world if we left those ingrained programs behind, and that history will only repeat itself on other planets unless we abandon those beliefs and become truly Martian. It argues fervently and convincingly on that topic. It does not do so without Robinson writing in his own unfortunate cliché steroytpes, and that to me is a striking weakness - but also an incongruous aspect that further enforces the point of his novel. I can't recommend this book enough, it was an honor to read such a fine work of science fiction.

Happy Fun Fest 2004

2010-10-11T20:00:00.000-05:00

Top image is the original art - I scanned it in and 'shopped it for the final. Bottom two images are scans of a copy I found on the floor after the insane party. DJ Amazing Larry Superstar is my Mac G4 Tower, but DJ Arpad came and spun some slabs at this one as well.

What Can Paul and I Give Back Instead of Lusting for the Satiation of our Desire?

2010-10-10T20:23:00.001-05:00

Collaborative M@@!K drawing from 2007 - Paul K., and C. Drake McKay

Musta Krakish, I call upon the ancient lords of the underworld to bring forth this beast and awaken awaken awaken!!!

2010-10-09T14:52:00.001-05:00

A rose is a rose is a rose. . . .

2010-10-08T00:57:00.004-05:00

Today at the tattoo shop Vince instructed me to do something "simple," "like a rose or something." I intended on drawing one but it was so much faster to copy one, a good one...so this is not my design, and I'll cite it later. Today's priority was keeping 100% sterile surface, the most important part. There were a few mishaps with my uncertainty with the machine, but these were discussed and remedied.

For most of this tattoo, including the shading, I was using a "hockey puck" as Vince called it, a crappy machine that was included free with an order from the tattoo supply distributor. The poor line quality forced me to switch to one of Jesse's liners. Despite that, I was running tubes meant for 9 needles with a grouping of 7 needles so the needle kicked around a bit. You can see it on the leaves. Somehow, if it were controlled, this might be a cute effect. Whatever.

I had to tear down when a client came in, so it isn't finished, without further adieu. . .

Sheri's Chickens

2010-10-03T18:38:00.000-05:00

Photo by Dave Olsen. This is a photo of a chickens sketch Dave hired me to draw for his wife, Sheri,
while we were at the Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo.

She liked it so much she framed it. Yay! The Olsens also have a super cute kitteh!

Flashing Pumpkins - A Royal Flesh Art Show

2010-09-30T18:55:00.002-05:00

We're having an art opening at the tattoo shop on October 16th from 6pm to Midnight!!! Featuring horror themed artwork from the artists of Royal Flesh! We'll also have refreshments and tattooing will be happenin!! Stop in and view some seasonal artwork in our great gallery space! The work will be up for a month and a half after the event to peruse and purchase!

Tattooing: More Fake Skin Practice

2010-09-16T01:03:00.002-05:00

More practice on fake skin. This is my original design. Dimensions of the fake skin were about 8.5 x 11 inches. Jolly did the weird ear-like thing in the corner while instructing me. Personally, I see a marked improvement over the last time I did this, but clearly am far from perfect. I have learned a lot. Unexpectedly, my tattooing hand got very numb halfway through the shading and admittedly I somewhat rushed the left side of the ferret's body. I can't wait till next try!!!

Chained to the Bento!

2010-09-15T01:26:00.001-05:00

Last year I purchased a blue bento box at Mitsuwa Marketplace. Nutty purchased his grumpy guy double decker one off the internet. Since then I pack the occasional bento lunch for myself and The Nut. The last couple of days I have been using my new bear and flower onigiri press, and while pressing some leftover jerk salmon in between firm white sushi rice, I thought how I should really take more pictures of these if I'm going to spend so much time making them instead of spending my time drawing or making:

"Art" <--DO NOT TOUCH.

2009:

2010:

O-H-I-O: Always Gangster Pt. 2

2010-09-11T23:47:00.000-05:00

Daddy.

O-H-I-O: Always Gangster

2010-09-10T23:44:00.004-05:00

The Nut and My Mom.

Can you spot the differences?

2010-09-07T01:31:00.002-05:00

Today I practiced tattooing on fake skin. The girl with the umbrella is not my design. I originally wanted to practice with the, "DONT TREAD ON ME" snake and text, but this one had a boob in it. You humans like boobs, right?

Yard Spider

2010-09-01T17:02:00.002-05:00

Yard spider. Spider has been living in this fence leaf connected to its web for the last couple of days.

Roses are Red.

2010-08-25T15:05:00.002-05:00

My website now includes tattoo design. Any tattoo ideas? ^___^

Black lines - White contrast - Horror!

2010-08-20T23:13:00.001-05:00

Junji Ito's style of suspenseful psychological horror elevates the art form and opens the genre to wider yet traditionally reverent possibilities! His drawings can be both scary and technically tidy. Not only do they fill us with wide views and intricate detail, they also are succinct and proficiently focused on the development of plot. Junji Ito is fully involved while creating his comic environment. The Enigma of Amigara Fault incorporates karmic rebirth into the story arc - something westerners couldn't use effectively - and it works quite well as a subtle plot device to drive the characters to their demise. Check it out! Then chuck some money his way, Chuck! Uzumaki and Tomie come both highly recommended to get hooked on his style. Move on to his other short stories for the full dose!

But first, to wet the palette, click the pic to read, "THE ENIGMA OF AMIGARA FAULT" by Junji Ito!

Oh when oh when will my website be done?

2010-08-19T00:47:00.001-05:00

No time right now to build a new "tattoo design" section on the main website right now - here is a piece done this week.

Bear & Human Skeletons

Pencils, India Ink, Gouache. 11 x 14" 400pd Bristol Board

Instead of a flower, be like a vine.

2010-08-12T03:13:00.000-05:00

We all can't be flowers. Some of us are destined to be other things. We are sometimes taught that we are special, unique, and beautiful like a flower. Is this a realistic expectation? Flowers are lovely to look at - yet they represent only one stage of an entire life cycle. After the flower blooms - what then?

By judging "good" and "bad" as opposites we begin to undervalue large portions of our life. If we are having a good day we say that it is a good day for the many reasons that were beneficial to us and the uplifting events we experienced. We feel the immediate gratification of happiness and judge other moments in relation to these positive feelings. When we are having a bad day - we lament our "bad luck" and wish that the experiences were good ones instead. We seek to eliminate the experiences whose intrinsic value is not immediately clear to us. Achieving happiness by eliminating suffering is not very wise. Without suffering we wouldn't have the perspective to create illusions of happiness at all! It turns out that we are the only ones responsible for creating our perspectives of good and bad!

To begin to be whole we must see that there is no good luck or bad luck- only our perspective changing in relation to both concepts. That is why, when experiencing day to day life, we can try to be the vine. Like the vine, we can learn to adapt to changes in our environment - not label them as good or bad changes. To be like the vine is to "go with the flow." This is not to say that you should disregard your feelings - but instead, understand that you are creating your experiences as you go, and be more aware of yourself making these decisions.

aka. A circle upside down is still a circle.
aka. "It's the Circle of Life / And it moves us all / Through despair and hope / Through faith and love / Till we find our place / On the path unwinding / In the Circle / The Circle of Life" - Elton John

Ultimately, we will see the illusion of the vine as well. . . but for now. . . a parable:
----
The Strawberry - A Buddhist Sutra

A man was walking across a field when he heard a rustling in the tall grass beside him, and turned to see the hungry eyes of a large tiger staring at him. The man began to run, fear giving him greater speed and stamina than he knew he possessed. But always, just behind him, he could hear the easy breathing of the hungry tiger. Finally, the man stopped, not because his strength had failed but because he had come to the edge of a high cliff and could go no further. "I can let the tiger eat me, or take my life in my own hands and jump." The man turned and saw the tiger slowly walking toward him, licking its mouth in anticipation. Resolved to take his own life, the man stepped to the edge of the cliff and bent his legs to jump, when he suddenly noticed a thick vine growing out of the side of the cliff, several feet from the top. Carefully, he let himself drop down the cliff face, catching hold of the vine as he slid past, and thanked God when it was strong enough to support his weight. Hanging now, the man looked up and saw the tiger's eyes peering over the edge of the cliff. It roared down at him, then began to pace back and forth along the top of the cliff. For the first time, the man looked at the vine that had saved his life. It was thick enough for him to wrap his legs around, resting his arms, and long enough that he might be able to let himself far enough down to jump safely to the ground below. And the moment he had this thought was the same moment that he saw the second tiger, pacing back and forth at the foot of the cliff, licking its mouth, and looking hungrily up at him. Well, thought the man, if my strength and the strength of the vine are great enough, perhaps I can out wait the tigers. Surely, they'll go someplace else to eat when they're hungry enough. And the man prepared to settle in for a long wait. His preparations halted quickly, however, when he heard a scurrying, scratching sound close to his own face. Glancing upwards, he saw two mice, one white and one black, emerge from a small hole in the cliff. They made their way swiftly to the base of the vine, and began to gnaw through it with their small sharp teeth. There was nothing else he could do, a tiger above, a tiger below, and the vine that kept him from their jaws about to break. The man was closing his eyes to begin his prayers, when he noticed, a little to his right, a tiny patch of red color on the face of the cliff. He reached toward it precariously, pulled, and brought his hand back beneath his eyes. There, in his palm, was a luscious, red strawberry. The man swiftly pressed the strawberry between his lips, onto his tongue, and hanging between those still visible tigers, he enjoyed the finest, juiciest, sweetest meal of his life.

Do not ignore.

2010-08-04T13:53:00.001-05:00

**NOT MY WORK**

Located on bridge just south of the N. Halsted St. & W. Hubbard St. intersection.

Panel 1: Hey, how do you decide

Panel 2: Which parts of your experience to ignore?

Panel 3: Hey.

May You Never Thirst

2010-07-24T14:11:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Water Brother Paul for inspiring this post.
View his blog:

http://depthofthesea.blogspot.com/

Fuck off and PIE!

2010-07-23T00:00:00.001-05:00

Today I was all STRESSED STRESSED STRESSED WORK WORK WORK OI OI OI all day. I made some money, told some people off who I should have told off a long time ago, brushed the dirt off my shoulda, just said, "FRAK IT! Life is too short!!" and baked a blueberry pie! Currently, it is cooling on the stove. Usually one cools pie on the windowsill, but in my house that means your pie will be eaten by a jerk dog. This is my 2nd exploration in pie arts. Hopefully, it will taste like delicious pie. Taste tests pending procurement of vanilla ice cream.

It is not burnt, the delicious blueberry filling is bubbling out from within!!!

Dream from Morning of 7-17-2010

2010-07-22T02:18:00.000-05:00

click these pics!

Music is playing back in my life again and in my dreams.

I had a dream about "The Gay Parade" which is a whole album by Of Montreal. A band I enjoy, but by no means one that has had profound meaning in my life, nor one I was listening to this week. My unconscious left me clues to finding synchronicity in this album. Here is the first song on the album, the lyrics to that song, and a link to where you can buy the whole album!

Of Montreal - "Old Familiar Way"
Neither the flowers on the hill
Or the moonlight on the sea
Have ever looked so blue
And everything looks new again
In that old familiar way

The view from my room
Of the ships on the bay
Had come to bore me through and through
But they suddenly seem new again
In that old familiar way

The delicate ballet of blossoms falling off a tree
Had long gone unnoticed by me
I'm stunned by what now I finally see
It's amazing the wonders you can find
Just by stepping outside

There's a skip in my step a divine state of joy
In everything I do
Cause I am feeling new again
In that old familiar way

When I'm awoken from my dreams
By a cuckoo on the roof
I always join in too
And every sound sounds new again
In that old familiar way

The life I used to know
When I was busy always on the go
Left me with nothing to show
Now I feel that I can honestly say
I'm living a suitable life
I'm glad I finally got it right

Welcome to the Gay Parade!!!

Album Information:
http://www.ofmontreal.net/discography...

Don't sue me! Purchase their work!:
http://www.polyvinylrecords.com/store...

Notes on Alan Watts "The Meaning of Happiness" aka. Related thoughts to today's earlier post.

2010-07-14T17:00:00.000-05:00

The theme of today's posts are: The self exploring false isolation through the eye windows of the flesh beast.

I'm reading Alan Watts, "The Meaning of Happiness". While the information is not new to me, Watts always presents things in an eloquent and meaningful way, hand-holding me through his ideas in a much more organized fashion then I could ever present them to my self. Here are my notes on the first 25 pages. Much of it is straight from the book, and I wish to take no credit for any of Watts own, more poignant points.

Pleasingly enough, the themes remind me of my comic interpretation of Kierkegaard, enlightening me to my own inner conflict between being who I am, and the user created shame and isolation I feel creating that delusion.

I went to a friend's house last night and they were, appropriately, watching Waking Life. One commented at the end that, "So, we're all just in a daydream?" To which I laughed and replied, "I think calling it a 'daydream' is a watered down way of saying it. Maybe this movie wants to say it that way." This spun into discussion about separate individuals being figments of one's imagination. I commented, "I respect you all more than to simply say you are illusions of my mind, but maybe that is the delusion I tell myself." Thank Maya that Alan Watts is around to straighten it out and enlighten us to a less ego-as-creator perspective. Accepting that sub-conscious is fact, I leave you with this excerpt from pages 23 - 24 in "The Meaning of Happiness":

You can buy this book from here: http://www.abebooks.com.

I am a Rock, but No Man is an Island!

2010-07-14T15:39:00.000-05:00

Simon and Garfunkel's "I am a Rock" vs. Warp 9's "No Man is an Island"

vs.

MODOK LOVES CUDDLES!

2010-07-10T13:35:00.000-05:00

MODOK (acronym for Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing)
WHY NOT CUDDLE AN EVIL VILLAIN WHEN YOU FACE IMMINENT DOOM!? 

 MODOK LOVES CUDDLES.

MODOK is a Marvel villain, and this plush was made by:

http://handmadestuffs.com/

Panorama of the Studio

2010-07-07T01:26:00.000-05:00

Photo courtesy of Tron!