Enter the Turkey....

So San Francisco has been strange this past month. The Giants won the world series, and throughout that process, the shop was a bit slower than usual. I only did one Halloween tattoo, but it was fun.

It was also the first Halloween that my son could actually understand and appreciate it, so it was nice to get to relive the excitement through him. It was always my favorite holiday.

My buddy JD moved back to The City, and we started this hairy lady on him. I think it turned out well, and got to mess around with a few new tricks, courtesy of Chris Conn's seminar I took a couple weeks ago at the State of Grace convention. Chris was at the shop the other day and so I was fortunate enough to be able to show him it in person to hear his opinion about it. Thanks JD. Always a pleasure.

.....and lastly, here is the sheet of flash I am sending in for the Read Street Flash Trade 2010. I hope whoever gets it likes it.

Sugar!

I tattooed this sugarskull over a really bad scar the other day. He was born and raised in Mexico, where apparently arm wrestling is a very big sport amonst teenagers. The scar came from getting his arm broke in one of those matches, where the bone popped straight out of it. Ouch!

I love tattooing sugarskulls, and really enjoyed doing this one.

Changes....

So, big changes, my friends.

Last month I was asked to join the crew over at Body Manipulations (3234 16th Street @ Dolores
San Francisco, CA 94103), so last week I made the move. I've only worked a few days so far, but I am enjoying it thoroughly. New neighborhood, new coworkers.... it's nice to change it up some.

I've spent the majority of the past 5 years in the Haight/Ashbury neighborhood, and as much as it helped me become who I am, the time had come. Cold Steel was great, I made lots of friends that are now family, and I thank Paul for giving me that opportunity years ago more than he will ever know.

Here are a few photos of some things I did the last month there.

Pizza Time!

So, thank you to San Francisco for being as good as it has been for me this week. I finshed up some flowers on a hip the other day. I can never say enough how much I love tattooing flowers. Easily one of the best tattoo compositions to play with.

Also, I did Nefertiti on a thigh as well, this week. I did her on one of my favortite clients, ever. Patrisha is 72 years old and has live around the corner from the shop for the past 30 years. I did her first tattoo last summer, and she decided to get her next one, and I was all about doing it. It is about 5 inches tall, and she is a trooper. Not a single complaint through the whole thing. SHe says nothing is worse than getting dental work done without novacaine, which I am very glad to not be old enogh to have ever had that done.

And for the finally..............

So, Jake popped in today wanting to get something ridiculous tattooed. We talked for a few minutes about recent drawings I've done as I showed them to him, and he was really into it. Randomly, kind of like a blurting out, he said "how about a slice of pizza riding a surf board, with a shark about to attack it". Well, naturally, as being a child from the 80's, anytime someone even says the words SHARK ATTACK I think of the commercial for the game. Look it up on youtube. Best commercial song ever.

Well, as soon as he said those words, I obviously muttered "FUCK YEAH". So I sketched a rough up for him, and he loved it. So, this is what I came up with for him. We went the Jaws direction with it.

Life is looking up. I feel a storm a brewin'.

Monkeying around......

So today I had a very good day. I tattooed a monkey on the back of a calf, and it was easily one of the most fun tattoos I have done in a while. He works on haight street, so if you are up there walking around, keep you eyes peeled for it walking around. This is done on the back of the same leg I did the open mouthed goblin a couple months ago. I made a painting of this to give to a coworker last week, and he saw it and was stoked on it enough to want me to put it on him. I love it when things happen like that. Needless to say, I have been excited for today since then. So thank you Adam, for making my week. There's no business, like Monkey Business.

Savior of the universe!

So this week I painted two new sheets of flash. I'm having a ton of fun painting, and can"t even stop myself. If you like any of these, and are interested in getting one tattooed, please let me know. I create these to let people know the type of work I like to do.

oh, and......

I also got to do the frankenstein from some flash i made a couple years ago. Always fun to have a walk-in that is really excited to do something on them, and then they find out i painted it also. This was his first tattoo, and he sat like a champ.

The second one is a girl from Portland, Maine. She was great, and so was her daughter, Patience. This tattoo was really fun as well.

Productivity.

So I have been watercolor painting alot as of recently. I got lazy 4 years ago and started using markers instead. Last week I did my first one since then(peonies and water), and it turned out alright, I like to think. The next day I started on the Cold Steel painting. Its taking a little time to readjust, but I am in love with painting again. here they are, I hope you like. Although, I think I am the only one who sees this page, so let me know if you know how to increase traffic on blogs, because technology has hated me since day one. Thanks.

Enter summer.....

So, I started this tattoo a month or two ago, and got to finish up this section of it. We will be adding some more to it in the next few months, but as it stand, he wanted me to do a "bitchin goblin with its mouth wide open all the way to his ankle region". I think we pulled that off successfully.

The second photo is on a very good friend/fellow tattooer from Orange County. I have done a few tattoos on him already, and he gives me a good bit of creative freedom. This particular time, he ended up coming to SF on a whim and popped into the shop, probably not expecting to get anything done, and before he knew it, I was drawing a strange creature on his forearm to fill in a gap left from the previous work I had done on him. Not the best photo, but I'm a tattooer, not a photographer. Maybe when I see him in August I will post a better one.

Oh yeah, its my birthday.....

When seamonsters attack......

So, I draw constantly, and from that, I put together numerous flash sheets. Sometimes I make tons, and other times, I slow down a bit. Well for the past few months, I have been banging them out more consistantly than usual. Here is one of my favorites from the past month. I will probably do an entire set of seamonsters, but this is the first and only of it, so far.

A taxing week.

This week can be stressful for everyone, especially if you like to put things off until the last moment. Usually, I am not a procrastinator, but for this type of thing, I am. Made it through it though.
So, this first image is a tattoo I did on a client of mine I have had for a few years now. A nice fellow named Josh. He is turning 21 next weekend, and this is a gift to him from me as a token of appreciation for loyalty. Thanks, Josh. And happy birthday.
As for the moth, I have been drawing these for a while now, but I can't say I have gotten to do many. It was extremely fun.
I haven't been too busy tattooing lately, but I have definetely been churning out artwork constantly. I'll try to get some photos up here soon.

Holy Grout

So, as I was cleaning the floor in my room at the shop the other day........... I came across this. I decided to snap a quick photo before he went scurrying off. Man, or myth?

Some more.....

Here are a few more tattoos that I got to do recently that I had alot of fun with. The snake/skull and the lady on the ribs are healed. The Sacred Heart is brand spanking new. Enjoy!

first things first...........

So here is my first post. I've never been much for technology, but i guess I'll have to get used to it. Quite honestly, I'd be surprised if anyone stumbles upon this site.

This is a tattoo I did on a friend of mine who works next to the shop at the pizzeria. I did this a last month, and I am happy with how it turned out. A few things I would like to tweak on the next session, though. She has very strange skin, and doesn't normally heal very well, but this is healed after two weeks, and I think this is the best her skin has done with a tattoo.

I hope that you like it as much as she does.