Saturday, May 8, 2010

Friday, May 7, 2010

No Pain No Gain

all tattoo artists know that no matter how much work you would LIKE to do/get done, it all really depends on how well your client can sit. There are some clients that can sit for as long as you can sit to do the work -- I had a client who do could 5/6 hours in one shot no problem, and then you have the clients that can barely sit thru one line being blasted.

a client of mine wanted to give herself a well-deserved birthday present - a nice shoulder piece. she was able to make it thru just the linework itself:



!!!happy birthday!!!

to be continued...

In addition... phoenix + phlowers

an existing client of mine wanted to add-onto what she already has - the phoenix is obviously because we're in bird city (phoenix, az), but she also wanted to build upon it so it would become a piece that represents her family + her tribe, and of course remain delicate and feminine.

this is what we came up with:




stay tuned for the finished piece...

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Portrait - Owl

owls rock. so do hand pieces that are done well. the tops of hands are so damn hard cuz they're chock-full of wrinkles/veins/movement/etc. add a portrait-style piece on top of that and you get some serious work to put in.

i was happy to do so for my friend + client, Whodini:



whooooooooooooootie whoooooooo....

FiXiES + COVER-UP$: fear no man...

worked a lil' magic on this piece, reshaped an old tattoo to give it new life:

In addition... Blue Carnations

i guess word has gotten round that i'm a cover-up/addition specialist :X

she came in with the verse and wanted to add carnations behind it. 2 reasons why this piece kicks ass:

1) a first time for carnations

2) BLUE carnations?! hell yeah

Friday, April 30, 2010

FREEHAND - $KULL$

workin' + re-workin' a sleeve top-to-bottom. fixing some stuff on the arm, but adding brand new elements as well:



Monday, April 26, 2010

Phoenix + Las Vegas

Phoenix + Vegas, ahhhhhhhhhh, two very hot desert cities to say the least. In this case though, Phoenix + Vegas happen to be the names of two little boys, each one named for the city he was born in. Dad recently came in for a sleeve, wanting to wear his family + history on his arm. Of course, I was more than happy to oblige...



Can't wait to see how the finished product will look!

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Almost There...

Any artist out there working on a large piece knows the agony of waiting. The particular pain tolerance of the client, their ability to SiT, how their skin heals out, their schedule to even come in, etc., etc., the list is endless... it's like bart + lisa in the backseat chanting, "Are we there yet? Are we there yet??"

I don't know if it's all those episodes of Miami Ink & LA Ink, but people, most large pieces are not done in one sitting - let alone 10 minutes. come on now. :P

Here are two wonderful, consistent, committed clients - just 1/2 sessions away from being complete...





both of these pieces were started a few months ago and are finally on the homestretch of being DONE --- can't wait to finish them up and then hurry up and wait for them to heal out. ;)

Friday, April 23, 2010

FREEHAND - DRAGON & PHOENiX

i apprenticed under a tattooer who was a master at the traditional asian style of tattooing -- til this day traditional asian tattoos remain some of my favorite pieces/styles to do. and of course, anyone who knows anything about asian art knows that dragons + phoenixes go HAND in HAND.

here are a few examples of my recent freehand asian work.

first up, DRAGON:



as you can see this is our 2nd session. during our first session i created the dragon head with some finger waves around it. he then came back for the background/surrounding elements.



next up i was asked to create a phoenix backpiece, so here's what i came up with:



FLASH-FREE & STENCiL-FREE.



look ma! no hands!!!!!

FiXiES + COVER-UP$ - flaming skull

what tattoo artist doesn't like doing skulls???



another piece fLiPPeD to the darkside!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

FREEHAND RaWWWWRRRRRR

tigers have long been popular in tattoos across eastern + western culture;

"Tigers are associated with power, ferocity, passion and sensuality, beauty and speed, cruelty and wrath. The appearance of a tiger in a dream may signal that new power or passion may awaken within you."

you know i was more than happy when a client asked for me to take the reigns and be free in the form of a tiger. :D

FLA$H-FREE & $TENCiL-FREE:

Monday, April 19, 2010

FiXiES + COVER-UPS -- slappin' GOLD on that A$$


alright, so as a tattoo artist one of the things i really studied is the art of covering-up a bad tattoo --- and let's be honest, i think about 85% of the people i've met out there have a tattoo they'd like to change/morph/cover-up/fix/etc.

here's the latest doosy i was able to help out:
(if you'd like to see of my cover-up + fix work, feel free to take a peek @ www.myspace.com/goldentouchtattoo OR www.facebook.com/goldentouchtattoo)

...it used to be a set of headphones w/the guy's last name in-between, but as you can see it really fanned out and bled into each other. hahahahahaha, he said that people were constantly asking him "wth is that thing supposed to be???", so i gave it a little revival and made it a piece he could be proud to show off once again.


ahoy mateys!!!

woooooooohoooooooo!!!!
~kickin' OFF the new BLOG in $TYLE~
i'm gonna extend a big "Welcome" to .... ME!

of course the shop already has it's own website + facebook + twitter + myspace in this day and age, but this is my first time venturing into the BLOGESPHERE.... gotta say i'm pretty damn excited people.


*ROCK ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!*