New tattoos: a fix up, Paradise and a first timer!

"I need a method for coming up with titles that are relevant and interesting cause this vague shit isn't working for me anymore." -That was almost the title for this blog post. seriously. I need to come up with a method, where I'm not begging some mystic muse for a clever title to these trivial blog posts every single time. And just a date may seem cool, but I just don't feel it.

Just a quick little thing.

A few updates on some ongoing projects, and a couple pics of new stuff too. We'll kick things off with the Island Paradise shoulder piece. This is a recent recurring piece that will soon demand a Collector Spotlight. You can see from earlier posts, we've got the sky worked in and various highlights. a lot of yellow and orange with a bit of purple, pink, and the blues framing out the sky. I've been working on a couple sunsets lately, and I really like how they have been turning out. A tricky thing tattooing a sunset, they can very easily go awry. To me it's like an abstract painting, that isnt... yeah, I know that probably doesn't make sense, but whatever. ha! So all we have left really is some fine tuning and bringing the yin yang element more into the piece by making it representative of the moon, sort of...

and the red beach chair looks inviting too.

 Then we have this new project, reworking a Japanese theme backpiece that needs a lot of love. First task was the tree, fix and finish. From there the plan is to go through and rework the entire piece, add more cherry blossoms, water, wind bars and a koi pond that will connect her lower back piece to the rest of the design. quite a project. This one and a couple of other recent cover up/fix designs I've been faced with have inspired an article post I'm planning actually about cover ups and fix ups. I tend to do a lot of these and developed... opinions, on the matter. but on with the pics.

This is what happens when your tattooist isn't properly trained in the craft.

 This one above is the before, none of this is me, as you may notice I am making that as clear as possible. but it is necessary to to show what I'm starting with. once the entire back is done, I'll use this image to really show how a piece can be modified and rebuilt. I list the artist as "unknown" though I am sure at least the collector knows who who did it, but I feel that's irrelevant info in the case of projects like these.

Ah yes! That's more like it!

So here we have the redone tree. This took about 2 hours altogether. I didn't mess around with any of the other elements of the overall piece, the cherry blossoms I had to resist getting into though, tempting as it was. The Tree was plenty though. Blending off the old color and shading was a trick. I had no way to tell what kinds of ink were previously used, and even if i did, the age of the piece meant they wouldn't just blend together anyway. So color matching and even adjusting the old color to what I had come up with was the only way. Normally I would also prefer to restructure the tree, but in a design like this where so much has already been decided, It was best to just enhance the existing design and keep the changes subtle. Most of what I'll end up doing with the piece is rebuilding the values, so that each element can be seen for what it is.

A close up on the branches and the ends, there was a good bit of cleaning up to do there. What I'm looking forward to for the next session is redoing the blossoms and adding in a TON more.

Finally, a simple anchor. nothing dramatic, but a good clean piece none the less. It's the collector's first tattoo, dedicated to his grandfather, a sailor, and he already has plans to expand it to a 1/3 of his calf.

Thanks for reading! and Happy Halloween! And may help come to the victims of Hurricane Sandy soon and swift! I am astonished at the devastation brought on by this "frankenstorm".

I couldn't help it....

It didn't take long to make this, and it was supremely entertaining. I will likely do more....

I found a Magic Card editor, so I can make all the fantasy cards I can imagine. of course the first one I make is for Minecraft. I have a few other Minecraft card ideas as well, maybe even a whole set!

This is the sort of thing I always wanted to do.... in highschool I made a fake magic card based on The Crow Movie, and Weezer and I have been making up crazy card ideas for more than a decade.

Anyway.... back to work

The new thing.

I've been working on some bigger more elaborate posts. (A collector spotlight, and an extensive essay about my love for the game Magic:The Gathering) however, my time has been pulled away by a particular website that allows artists to compete for design commissions. and I'm kind of addicted. For one; I am getting paid for the designs, another; the commissions are international so my work can spread around the world a bit more, and finally; the competition and interaction between the artists and the contest holders is a lot of fun. I can take on challenging pieces, or easy ones, and there are plenty to choose from.

I hope the folks at createmytattoo.com don't mind I'm using a screenshot of their main page.
I am after all giving them quite an endorsement.

If you are an artist and you're looking for a way to earn some money, I recommend checking this site out. be aware though, competition is fierce, and skill is king. the top rated artists are there for a reason (and though I'm climbing the list, I'm not there, yet.) if you want to get paid, you have to work. and the deadlines can be brutal.

I really feel though that I'm improving faster that I have been in a while. My work is faster, cleaner, and on time for both the site and my appts. cant complain about that.

If I'm not designing tattoos for my own work,or tattooing, I have been designing pieces for this site, and though I've tried to work on the many other projects I have (this blog, the comic strip, my comic, sketchbook #3, finishing my portfolio) this damn site has me locked in more than any video game or diversion ever could. it's also why I haven't been on facebook as much, or my other social media. I'm just drawing... I'd like to show some of the pieces I've sold, but I really can't, they don't belong to me, and I'd rather not put them online in a public way. Some of the designs where I didn't win the commission, I am posting in the marketplace flash section of the website, or will be collecting in the next art book. And like the buddha a few weeks back, i will post some here.

I am also more comfortable accepting general design/drawing commissions so if anyone is interested in getting some custom designs, hit me up.

Once I get more pics of my recent work processed, I  will post them here. also these other posts I have been carefully putting together. I want them to be just right.

Graphic Design: Business Cards

Before getting into tattoos, I did a lot of graphic design, and use those skills everyday when I am designing tattoos fro people, or working on a variety of projects. most of my professional background and official schooling is centered around graphic design (though I was a 3d animation major, that too was design)

I have been doing a lot of design work lately, most of which is commissioned work I can't yet show. I did however wanted to show off some of the most common private design work I do; business card design. and some t-shirt designs I would love to have hung up in my closet. after christmas (the timing is stupid, I know that) I'll work on adding some t-shirt designs to my cafe press store.

I have decided to separate this graphic design segment into a series of posts, spread it out a bit,  and then I can put more commentary into each section. This week will be the business cards, t-shirts next week, and more stuff after that! This may end up being a 4-5  post "mini series" segment. I will also use that time to put together a new tattoo post.

and as a small bonus, an album cover design.

A design for a Viking Folk Metal band, I had a lot of fun with this.

Business Cards - I cannot say how accurate the info is that is shown on these cards.

The Original Jade Monkey Design

The Comic house my friends and I started, the website has been down for some time tho.

Designed for a friend.

Some concrete guy.

Done my brother in law, who was starting an odd job kind of business with a friend of his.

Some of the Card designs I did while working at Artistic tattoo.

I always loved this look.

My first personal tattoo card.

This design was for my Tattoo Teacher.

This is a card design I never really got to use as I left Artistic shortly after finishing this. nice that  it gets a little time in the public view, I really like it (my current card is based of this design)

I really enjoy designing business cards, they are small, but have to communicate so much and are a vital part of anyone's personal marketing. A great challenge for any designer. If you don't have a card you're not very serious about what you do, and if your card looks boring or ill-conceived, then  you will seem that way as well. A business card is very often your first impression, and thus, your only one.

Sketchbooks are now available!

My first sketchbook has been remastered to a mini size book along with the release of my second Sketchbook. Just click on the graphic to be directed to the purchase page. Thank you!

 Skribbles Sketches and Skulls vol.1 

Skribbles Sketches and Skulls vol. 2

New Business Card

My new business card design.