clipped from www.flickr.com
it is the grave of a guy, and his wife commissioned this sculpture for it as an expression of her love for him clipped from docs.google.com clipped from www.users.bigpond.com Artist: clipped from docs.google.com clipped from www.flickr.com
clipped from docs.google.com clipped from www.flickr.com the gravestone by itself. the perspective of this, along with all the other ordinary gravestones is just amazing. the contrast between the feminine curves and the rectangular edges is so stark and stunning clipped from www.users.bigpond.com clipped from www.flickr.com Sad, yet amazingly beautiful. I've never seen anything like this before |
Sabtu, 24 November 2007
No Ordinary Love (with no ordinary images)
Rabu, 17 Oktober 2007
Tattoo Tuesday #2
Style: Black/Grey
Collector: Rudy
Body Area: Ribs
Selasa, 09 Oktober 2007
Tattoo Tuesday The Missing Canvas!
We've all got tattoos like this. Collectors that disappeared, or that we had a falling out with sometime in the middle of a fun piece. This guy was a total "Parrothead" (Jimmy Buffett fan) And his sleeve was designed around the theme. Somewhere, someone has probably finished this tattoo that I began so many years ago. If any of ya'll see it finished somewhere, drop me a link or a pic!
Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday (F. Faerie)
Senin, 08 Oktober 2007
Wordless Wednesday (on Monday) (Everybody Hurts)
Kamis, 04 Oktober 2007
Thursday Thirteen # 3
Thirteen Things about Thorne's Ink
13 Reasons NOT to Get a Tattoo.
1) You are under 18.
2) You are drunk.
3) You are loaded on some other substance.
4) You are hung over or have consumed alot of alcohol during the previous 24 hours. (This will make you bleed more and is a pain in the ass for your tattooist.)
5) Your friend/neighbor/drug dealer says "C'mon, lemme drill on you man. I got this gun for a bag... dude, I'm an awesome artist, I'll just go wild on you, man.... just freehand".
6) Someone says you should.
7) You're overwhelmed with love for your boy/girl-friend and want to show them how much you care with their name permanently inscribed upon your flesh.
8) To show people how "cool" you are.
9) To piss someone off.
10) Because it's cheap/a "good" price. "The bitterness of poor quality remains, long after the sweetness of a low price is fogotten."
11) Because "everybody" else is doing it.
12) You decide to do it, but find yourself uncomfortable in the atmosphere of the shop you've chosen or with the tattooist.
13) The tattooist you've chosen is more interested in his ego than in your vision of your tattoo.
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants on technorati
Senin, 01 Oktober 2007
Comprehensive Tattoo Aftercare According to Thorne
1. Remove covering (if any) after 2 hours.
2.a Wash your hands well, FIRST!!!
2b. Wash your tattoo with luke-warm to cool water and mild soap. Remove all coagulate by scrubbing gently with your hand. (I prefer you use Noxema, or Ivory. Please avoid Antibacterial soaps except on your hands before washing your tattoo, also avoid deodorant or perfumed soaps/cleansers) Do not re-bandage tattoo.*
3. Blot dry with a clean paper towel. (Do not use your bathroom's cloth towel as it contains bacteria).
4. Air dry for 10 to 15 minutes.
5. Apply a thin coat of ointment.** (Thin is the keyword here) Repeat three to four times a day for the first 3 or 4 days, and as needed thereafter.***
NOTE!!! I cannot stress this enough! Although ointment is good to help you heal, in the first few days you must NEVER reapply ointment without washing your tattoo, first. Ointment, although protecting your tattoo also acts as a dirt and germ magnet. If you don’t wash the old stuff off before applying new you are rubbing these contaminants into a fresh wound.
6. Don’t touch or play with your tattoo while it is healing, and don’t let anyone else get their dirty hands on it, either. It needs to stay clean to prevent infection. Only your attention and care can guarantee this. Do not pick at scabs or dried skin while tattoo is healing. Do not scratch or abrade. (If it itches terribly, a quick, stinging slap will alleviate the itch for awhile)
*Rebandaging
In general I do not recommend that you rebandage after this point. There are only a few times when you may need to cover the tattoo. The most critical one being just before bedtime. If your tattoo is still oozing when it comes time for bed, you will want to protect your sheets as well as your tattoo. If feasable, cover the
tattoo with a clean item of clothing before hitting the sheets. If, like me, you just have to sleep naked; change the sheets. Dirty sheets are full of icky old skin, dust mites and bacteria.
While your tattoo is healing you will also need to cover it during any work in which you're in an environment where there is a risk of your tattoo becoming infected. Any dirty work such as construction, auto mechanics, welding, asbestos removal, ditch digging, spray painting, etc. If you’re not sure whether the tattoo should be covered it probably should be. A teflon coated bandage is best here, because clear plastic hold in too much moisture. Loosely bandage and cover with clothing!!
**Regarding Ointments:
Remember that a fresh tattoo is an open wound and the ointment is a medicine. I generally recommend Tattoo Goo for the first 48 to 72 hours, and H2Ocean Foam and/or lotion thereafter. For relief from pain and itching, and for a fast hael for many clients, I recommend Rxeme. This product does contain some lanolin, but the good of this one by far outweighs the bad.
In general avoid products that contain lanolin or petroleum jelly as these two products have been known to leach ink out of the skin as it heals. Do not use NeoSporin, Alo Vera gel or alcohol.
Don't over saturate the skin with ointment. It is not needed and does more damage than good. A thin, conservative coat is all it needs.
If you find you are having a reaction to a particular product, stop using that product immediately and either consult your physician or a knowledgeable pharmacist.
***As the tattoo heals it will form a scab over the surface of the tattoo. It may look like a regular scab as seen on a scraped knee or it may look like flaky white skin. However it looks the tattoo should be kept fairly well moisturized without keeping it wet. What this means is that as the tattoo heals a small amount of ointment should be used that will work into the skin without leaving a greasy or slick feel. The skin on and around the tattoo should be moist, not dry or tight. The scab should also feel moist but avoid it getting soft and wet feeling. This will only prolong the healing process.
Your tattoo should heal in about two weeks, although it will not be fully integrated as part of you for 3-5 months. Different people have different physiology. With this in mind you should understand that you may heal quicker or slower. Some tattoos require a lot more work to be done to the skin. The more damage your skin receives, the longer it may need to heal.
If a deep scab begins to form it is important that you don’t allow it to grow and crack. This will cause loss of color and possibly scarring. I recommend soaking the scab in a solution of hot sea-salt water to soften the scab. At this poin, the concern is not so much loss of ink, but avoidance of scarring. Most shops/artists have a reasonable touch up policy.
Wrapping things up:
Avoid chlorinated water (such as swimming pools or hot tubs) until your tattoo is fully healed. Keep your tattoo out of direct sunlight, and be sure to cover it loosely if you will be doing dirty, dusty or wet work.
If at any time severe redness, swelling, yellow or greenish seepage occurs, or if your new tattoo is very hot or painful when it’s not being touched or irritated, call your artist and/or see your personal physician immediately.
Remember that this tattoo will be with you forever. Don't start off by short cutting the healing process.
Once your tattoo is fully healed, you will want it to remain beautiful forever. Although age and weight can affect your design over time, for the most part your tattoo’s worst enemy is the sun. It hasn’t really been conclusively proven whether or not the sun impacts your tattoo pigment, or just your skin, but either way it’s bad news for your art. Use sunscreen. A 50 SPF stick works well to apply just over the design, to avoid lighter splotches surrounding your ink where you might want a little tan.
Exfoliating, shaving, and hot or cold wax hair removal will not damage your tattoo; in fact, removing dead skin and regular moisturizing will keep your skin healthy, which will keep your tattoo looking bright and beautiful.
These aftercare notes are my professional instructions to my clients, and are offered as general information or in addition to information given you by your tattoo artist. Many artists have different approaches to aftercare, so do follow your tattoo artist's instructions, or talk these over with him/her.
Kamis, 26 Juli 2007
I'm BAAAaack!!!
Monday I lazed and slept all day and never booted the computer.
Tuesday I played with my new addiction all day (The Sims 2).
Wednesday I cleaned house, did laundry and began the process of unpacking-reorganizing.
Okay. Now we're caught up to today. Today I'm babysitting my adorable, happy chubbilishous lil Pharoah, and BBQing with the kids whom I've only seen briefly in weeks, so I'm still running behind with my blogging and show pics and slideshows. I promise I'll be up with something with substance by tomorrow!!!
Rabu, 18 Juli 2007
Thursday Thirteen #2
Thirteen Things about An Artist's Journey
Thirteen Tattoo FAQ's
1) You must be 18 or over to get a tattoo legally.
2) Tattoos are permanent.
3) Tattoos are not just for hookers and sailors anymore.
4) Yes, tattoos hurt.
5) Direct Sunlight fades your tattoo (It isn't known whether it actually affects the pigments, or that the tattoo just shows the effects of the damage to your skin)
6) It's good for your tattoo (skin) to shave, epilate, wax and/or exfoliate once your tattoo is fully healed.
7) A tattoo is usually fully healed in 3-5 weeks.
8) A tattoo has become part of your body in 3-5 months.
9) The most common allergic/sensitivity colors are red and yellow.
10) Many people regret that they didn't put more thought into their first tattoo.
11) The tradition of Tattoo goes back over 6OOO years.
12) You can contract bloodborn diseases (Like Hepatitis, Staff infections, HIV) from home tattooists, (aka: "scratchers) who are ignorant to proper sterilization and cleanliness procedures.
13) You should contact me for a one of a kind custom tattoo!
Wordless Wednesday #2
Jumat, 13 Juli 2007
Thursday Thirteen #1 Things to do for BAE
Thirteen Things about Thorne's World
13 Things I need to do/pack for the Body Art Expo next week on Friday, Sat, Sun, July 20, 21, 22.
I hope I'll see some of ya'll there! That would be very cool!
1)
Make lists:
Grama carecritter carehouse carewatering guideemergency numbers
show furniture & displays
packing/personal
2) Homestuff:
make birdy bread
sterilize
paint boxespay Bills
Do Laundry
3) Reference Books:
fantasy art bookshorticulteral booksanimal bookstribal tattoo history booksceltic designsPinup BooksOld School FlashEvil Flash
4) Clean:
bathroomdisplay cages and joints
rubbermaids (bins and drawers)
all non sterile equipment
brother laser thingy
show furniture & displays
ferret cage
5) Make Slideshows:
a) my ink
b) ink friends
c)ink shows
6) Update Portfolio:
crop prints
layout
7) Sort and Organize:
Make10 setupstubesgrips
grip covers
drapes
needles
caps
antiseptics
salves & lotions
8) Print:
Aftercare Instructions
wavier
9) Make Banner:
Ironsewdesign
paint
seal
10) Blogging:
SaturdayDaily Feature forSCShow notice for An Artist's Journey
Next Week's TT
Next Week's WW
Venusday Love
11) Kristens:
take furniturehelp finish her projectslayout 10' X 10' Booth Space
12) Ask My GirlyBoi for help!!!
13) Get done before Thursday:
EVERYTHING!!
Yikes!!! I forgot what a pain in the ass it is to get ready for a show!!! Oh, well, at least I don't have to design, make and pack a few K $$'s worth of Stained Glass! *whew*!!
Rabu, 11 Juli 2007
Wordless Wednesday
Jumat, 29 Juni 2007
Rabu, 13 Juni 2007
test 2
Koi Sketch Prismacolor
Try typing now. Maybe I should have done a title first. Let's try that.
Test for MarsEdit
Senin, 28 Mei 2007
The tatoo "hat"
clipped from www.swampfoxz.com
|
A Vet Makes a Permanent Statement (with the assistance of an awesome artist!)
clipped from www.nickbaxter.com A sleeve about the brutality of our modern imperialist wars, and a harbinger of things to come if we don't change the destructive, all-consuming course we're on. This is on a former serviceman who's seen some of the horrors firsthand...the same horrors that are packaged into glossy corporate-media soundbytes for naive americans about "freedom" and "democracy" and how we're supposedly saving the world, not helping destroy it. Funny sidenote: Adrian Dominic posed for all the zombie reference pics which were used for this. Which means that Jason has 7 little self-cannibalizing Adrian zombies on him. I, personally, would be psyched. Studio: Transcend Tattoo Gallery web site |
Kamis, 29 Maret 2007
To Ink or Not to Ink
that is the question. And the promised topic of this article.
Okay, we all know we're in this business to make money. And of course we love to create our art. We love the satisfaction of crafting a beautiful piece of Body Art that makes the client happy.
But what about those times when a client wants something that we just know they will be unhappy with in later years?
What do we do with requests that violate our personal values?
What do we do with requests for ink on body areas we just don't care to visit?
Is "the customer always right"?
Do we have a responsibility to save our clients from themselves?
Do we have a responsibility to the Industry?
To our own art?
To our paycheck?
I think that these are important questions for every artist to answer. Not because there is necessarily a right or wrong answer to any of them, but because we owe it to our clients, our art, and the industry to at least examine where each of us stands on these questions.
I'll start off by admitting that as a "by appointment" custom artist I don't face the "walk-ins" that many artists working in busy shop locations have to deal with. Although I do get business from my website, most of my clients are referrals who have already seen my work and are interested in the kinds of work I do.
Still, from time to time I have to face these questions. Nest week I will be doing the second sitting on the client pictured in the previous article entitled Tattooing Darker Skintones.
This client is quite insistent on having color in his tattoo, even though it is not the best choice for his skintone; even though he already has a tattoo in color that he is unhappy with. When he described the older tattoo to me on the phone, I was expecting a mess. He was very unhappy with the tattoo and the artist. When I saw the tattoo I was nonplussed. It may have been a little too fine in detail, but otherwise it was a well executed piece of flash, the colors layed in smoothly with no drop-out. In discussing the tattoo with him, I discovered that the artist had been responsible and knowledgeable about not using midrange colors (he flat refused the client's request for pink and orange in the design), and did his best to dissuade the client and explain the color problem on dark skin. In the end, I believe the artist made a reasonable compromise between what the client wanted and what he believed would work best from an artistic and technical standpoint.
So the question for me this Saturday will be, to "Color or Not to Color"?? I think this would be a beautiful tattoo done only in Black and Grey. I will do my very best to make the client see and accept this. I will try hard to talk him out of adding any color when the Black and Grey is finished and I can show it to him to illustrate my point. In the end, in this case, I will do as the client wishes. If he insists on color, he will get it. Green, some red and blue. I will do this hoping that my bold lines and large spaces will hold up under the addition of color better than his other tattoo, but knowing it would have been a better piece without color. I will do it even knowing that there is a good possibility that in time (perhaps as soon as the piece is fully healed) he will be unhappy with the color.
I'll go with what the client wants within reason, because it's his body and his ink. He's the one who will live with it, and hopefully, he'll come to love it, regardless. Hopefully, he won't talk about it and me the way he did about the previous artist. Hopefully.
Before I do his color however, I will take photos of the Black and Grey design. I'll also take photos of the colored piece, and I suppose they'll go in my little Color on Dark Skin album as one more example.
What about the client that comes to us with artwork by a friend that is unsuitable as a tattoo? If I can't create something that both of us are happy with, I will politely suggest that the client find another artist. For me it is important that I simply don't do work that I wouldn't want in my portfolio; that I wouldn't be happy to claim as my work.
Wellll....maybe not. As for subject matter; I don't do hate. No swastikas, Nazi, or other poison.
Also don't care to tattoo genitalia. Male or female. I'm no prude, I just don't care to have my face that close to a stranger's stuff.
In a multiple artist shop, these things might be a matter of personal but not shop policy, and the artists could just pass around the client that they don't care to do. For a one-artist shop, turning down work means the loss of income. I'd have to say that the two examples above are not common requests for me, so it's not really a big consideration, but in those two cases, money is not the issue. It's where I stand. Period.
Will I do that "cute " little butterfly, that overdone tribal butt-antler design or fairy or armband that a client has his/her heart set on? Will I do some of the great flash that artists are putting out these days? The Biomechanical or skulls and reaper monster stuff that is not my forte?? Yes. I do need to support myself...somebody's gotta bring home the kibble, and I sometimes have to do designs that I may not like, but still have the responsibility to do the best technical job I can.
In my opinion I do have a responsibility to the client, my own artistic integrity and personal values, as well as to the Tattoo Industry as a whole. High quality ink from a clean and professional artist is no less than a client deserves. Ink that I'm proud to call mine to and to represent in my portfolio or other venues is important to me, and reflects well on our growing industry.
Although this is my business, my job, my source of income; I hope my need will never overcome these responsibilities.
Senin, 12 Maret 2007
Tattooing Darker Skintones
Having a light olive complexion myself, and an even darker skinned daughter, I've given alot of thought and had some experience with tattooing color on a reasonable variety of skintones. Lately, as my client base has broadened, I have had the opportunity to work an even larger variety and ethnicity of clients and I believe it is a topic worth covering here. It is an interesting problem for a couple of reasons.
1st, as the artist, we must take into account that we're not painting or drawing. Tattoo pigment does not lay on top of the skin like any colored medium you apply to any other surface. Tattoo pigment is injected into the skin, therefor the colors, (even black) are going to be affected by the natural skin pigment.
2nd, and perhaps the bigger problem, is explaining to/convincing the client that has her heart set on colors if/why her color/style choices are unsuitable.
When considering what colors are suitable for a particular skintone the simplest mental formula to use is the darker the skin, the bolder the color. It is impossible to estimate the variety and range of skintones we might be dealing with, so if we use generalities, we will be dealing with:
Very Light (0% to 10% skin pigment)
Medium-Light
Dark-Light
Light-Medium
Medium-Medium (50% skin pigment)
Dark-Medium
Dark
Dark-Medium
Dark-Dark (90% to 100% skin pigment)
If that sounds difficult, just imagine 3 shades each of Light, Medium and dark skin. Get it?? Of course there is a wide range in between each of those shades, and I doubt that either 0% or 100% skin pigments exist, but the percentage scale seems the best way to approach the problem. Another way to visualize was suggested to me by a wonderful ad for Mom's (Millennium) Inks in a recent trade journal. When considering colors to use imagine that the client's skin is a sheet of tinted semi-transparent plastic in the client's skintone. Imagine that plastic laying on top of your color choice. How does it look?? crisp and clear; unaffected?? (Lighter skintones) Or dark and muddy; muted?? (Darker skintones)
On very light skin a wide variety of colors will show through the healed dermis. It is possible to get crisp, clean colors in every gradient. On very dark skin it will be impossible to have any color at all show up with any reliability. I have found that even the black I use most often (Kuro Sumi) is not always reliable on very dark skin.
On the medium skintones choose golds over yellows; dark oranges,greens and blues over bright oranges, greens and blues; and watch out for magenta, purple, and pink. These colors are pretty much a crap shoot on medium skintones unless you are very accustomed to working with, and adjusting these colors to the particular skintone in question. On medium-dark skin, avoid them like the plague. Stay away from colors that are already kinda "muddy" like olive greens and yellow ochres. And what about white? White will usually show up in this pigment range if you are working with a reliable white (I use Starbrite, Moms opaque whites and Intenze Mixing white), and if you lay it in well. Keep in mind that on the darkest medium skintone, your white will appear less vivid and have less "pop" than you might like, but should still do the job.
On the darker skintones seriously consider black/grey work as a better choice not only for your artwork, but for the client's long term happiness with her piece. Absolutely avoid yellows, oranges, light and bright blues and greens, and white. Midrange colors like the pinks; muddy colors like purple, magenta, olive greens are a no-go, too. Red, green and sometimes blue are the only colors you can reliably use on the darker skintones. Remember that no matter how good color looks right after you do it, once the tattoo has healed and the pigment is fully integrated into the client's skin it will look muddy and dark in this skintone range.
Black/grey work is another area which is affected more than many artist's and clients understand when considering a style of tattoo on darker skintones. It has been my experience that the general rule the darker the skin, the bolder the color, holds true here as well. The darker the skintone, the more detail you will lose doing black/grey work. Consider bolder lines, darker shading but perhaps less shading. Leave more negative space. In the very darkest skin consider hard edge or tribal type work.
Now on to the hard part. A client walks in your door. Immediately you have an understanding of what will work for her in style and color, based on your perception of her skintone. What she wants is absolutely unsuitable for her skintone. What do you do?? How do you handle it?? How do you explain to her why her ideas are unsuitable in a way that she will understand and accept your professional opinion, rather than go find a less experienced or uncaring studio in which to get what she wants?? (And end up dissatisfied, but too late.)
I now use the Mom's Ink ad description (as above) to explain to the client the why and how of the inappropriateness of her original choices. I go on to animatedly describe my interpretation of her design and how perfect it will be and how much better it will look not only immediately, but through the years. Most clients will accede to my experience, as they are referrals from other clients, and have seen my work and come to me with a sort of built in trust. But what if she is still waffling - still has her heart set on her original ideas or something close to them? I show her what her choice will look like. If I have them (and I do; (they are in a small album all to themselves, and not on public display), I show the client some pics of tattoos that I did either before I knew better (admit it...we all have them) or at the insistence of a client. I let the client see how her color choices will look, when healed.
If that doesn't convince the client I have a decision to make. Will I do this tattoo?
But that, my friends and readers, is a topic for another article.
Sabtu, 20 Januari 2007
Another Taste of Ink
I haven't gotten much of writing done, but I've been trying to get this BLOG hooked up with my Homeplace, with My Yahoo and trying to get RSS feeds everywhere, so all of you art and ink enthusiasts (and dare I hope readers of varied interest??), may have easier access to my ramblings.
So I'll be honest. I'm posting another (short) slideshow of pics from Friday at the BAE that I missed in the first one. I'm doing this solely for content. I'll get down to the real stuff soon.
Kamis, 18 Januari 2007
A Quick Look at the Expo
I'm running a new-ish iBook these days, and although it's a lil confusing for we old Classic Mac-users, I'm finally starting to get the hang of it. So finally, dinner's made and the pics are done and I'm kinda wavering....do I really wanna start BLOGGING tonight? Hmmm....wellll.... (Yes, I am indeed a super procrastinator. Even when I want to do something it can take me forever to get started) So I'm thinkin' I'll start writing after I eat..maybe....
Then I notice this icon in my dock that I haven't really payed any attention to, because I haven't needed it. It's iPhoto. I click. Just to see what happens. I figure with all the very cool things that i-whatever programs are doing in Mac OSX, it's a good chance that this iPhoto does something neat besides upload from your camera.
Now when it comes to assembling things from a carton, (like a wagon, or a chainsaw, or an entertainment center), I read directions. I'm no computer wiz (or is that whiz, like cheese?) but Mac, being damned near indestructable has spoiled me and I tend to wander around clicking things until something happens that I like. (Which can really mess me up if I actually wanna do the same thing twice!!!)
I digress. The point is, that I made this very cool little slide show. Sort of a preview of coming attractions. I'll be BLOGGING in more detail here about some of these pics and people at this event, but I thought this might just whet your appetite. Enjoy!
P.S.
Please forgive the misspellings. I haven't been able to click my way to a dictionary, yet!
Rabu, 17 Januari 2007
Black Wave Tattoo Pics...
These are pics of Su'a Sulu'ape Freewind and Kate. He has just finished a small design behind her ear, and is working on an arm design.
Please visit Black Wave Tattoo for more info on this incredible culturally correct tribal and neo-tribal artist.