Anthony works in the oil fields of Florida. He always wanted something to represent that, but not so much a whole tattoo about it. So we incorporated it in another tattoo he wanted, a sugar skull. I used my standard skull template and redrew the innards to reflect his occupation. Steel plates, cables, a derrick, and a pipe wrench are all essential oilman's tools. And I think they fit well here.

John's grandma was a cool lady.

So one of the guys at work wanted to get a tattoo in memory of his grandma who lost her battle with cancer. He was close to her and told me about this one thing she used to say all the time, "you can't win for losing." He wanted that translated into a tattoo somehow and this is what we came up with. He said it had to be purple, her favorite color and the ribbon should be crocheted, since that's what she did to take her mind off things when it got bad. He originally wanted the lettering to be a cursive or script, but I broke out the old Rope font and it worked as a perfect yarn substitute. I will give myself some latitude regarding the linework on the knitting needles; it was his first tattoo and hard to keep him in one place. Not an excuse, but I still feel weird about restraining someone while doing linework. I need to get over that. Regardless, everyone liked it and I think his grandma would be happy with it.

I had the honor of doing what might be considered a memorial tattoo a few days ago. My sister came to me with the idea and I really thought it would be fitting and fun to do.A while back her house was burglarized and they let the dog run away. Or stole it. Or someone else stole it. Or something. So poor Maggie Mae was never seen again. Either way, it's sad. It's been some time since that happened and she decided to immortalize her beloved pet's memory.

And here it is:

Some updates on the Bobcat arm, et al.

Forgot to post these up earlier in the week for those 3 people that follow this blog. I had the opportunity to get some more work added to my brother's lower traditional patchwork sleeve. I'm excited to get the entire arm done, tied together with random things, traditional filler, and floating words here and there. So far it's coming together pretty well. I'll shoot the three most recent ones up now and keep everyone (yes, all three of you who read this, maybe) apprised of the progress over the next weeks and months until it's all the way done.

First is the "Winning Hand", ace of spades over queen of hearts.

Then a roll of "13" escaping.

And finally a pretty classic shark-faced bomb.

That's it for now. Looking at doing some more exciting stuff next week. Stay tuned.

How to represent and NOT get shot...

So my boy Nano wanted to rep the 210. Not a big deal except he's not a G. He's an H (hipster). He came up with a really cool idea for showing his San Anto pride in the most innocuous way possible via a cool bluebird from this N.A.S.A. video. We doctored it a bit to reflect the "210" status and everyone was happy with the results. It was fun to do something a little different.

Finally get to do something cool....

So I finally got to throw something down that I was pretty excited about: a bobcat. For some reason my brother is convinced that bobcats are the actual rulers of the universe and one day they will take their rightful place as such and enslave or eat all humans. I can't disagree with him. So instead we tattooed a bobcat on his forearm so when it happens, he'll be first in line to be saved as a pet or some such other menial (but alive) job in the new bobcat-centric world. But I digress. I also got to do a GIANT tribal (I know, I know) shoulder/arm piece on a dude for his first tattoo. Regardless of the subject, anyone who sits for that long that well deserves to be at least mentioned, even if I'm not posting a pic because all the ones I got sucked. So without further ado; Bobcat:

Getting Started.....Again.

So I decided to sneak in a back-dated post and throw these pictures up even though I wasn't happy with how they came out. The lily is fine, the tribal is the best pic I could get. I took a bunch of pics with my fancy-ass camera, but they insisted on being shiny and making the solid black look really patchy. Which, I assure you, it is not. That black is in there like a tick on a dog; in it to win it. Tribal tattoos were never my milieu; I have a hard time drawing them and they don't hold my attention well. But this one was this guys first tattoo and he sat like a pimp for it. Six and a half hours later we were done and he got exactly what he wanted. Which is the ultimate goal. The flower is on his girlfriend, my wife's cousin, who just found out recently her grandma is a little sick. Grandma isn't going to approve of the tattoo, but that's not really the point. I like how it turned out and was glad to get the opportunity to do it.

Back in Action

So I've decided to get back in the tattoo game. I've really missed it, but with the family expanding and my joining the team at The Monterey, it's been hard to find the time. I'm available now Sunday nights, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (all day) so let me know your ideas and we'll figure something out. I love weird artsy tattoos, traditional American, and black and grey. I need to update this a little and will try to do so over the next week. Until then, take a look and be in contact.

DR