Victor Tattoos

Black and Blue has won best of the bay for 6 or more SF Gaurdian’s “best of the bay” awards. I went into this shop while it was in its 3rd or 4th consecutive year. I guess it is time for me to make my own name out there in this big city. The tattoo shop that I will be moving to(Cicatrix 17th and market) is less well known and has more of a private atmosphere. I plan on honing my skills there. I will be able to concentrate on the art of tattooing, getting back to using reference books as opposed to google, and having more time devoted to drawing. The next stage in becoming the best tattooer I can possibly be.

Some people dream of success… while others wake up and work hard at it.

~Author Unknown

Got to do some more work on Miguel’s chest piece, during the last days at Black and Blue(best of the bay 2011). Soon I will be at the new shop in the Castro, tattooing some new and familiar faces.

AMOEBA.COM

follow the link and scroll down. this Blog featured a picture of my Clients new “World Champions” tattoo, pretty cool:)

sf tattoo 15, world champions 2010, san francisco color tattoo,giants

I received a lot of good questions about this process.

Q: what do I bring? A:your ideas and printed pictures. NO pics of other peoples tattoos, unless they are tattoos done by the artist you are consulting with(if you like someone else’s work it would be wise to go to them:). Also when you reference a tattoo to do another tattoo, your tattoo will not be as original and you won’t get the best possible results. It’s okay to bring in drawings and other art as reference.

Q:how much is the consult? A: I personally don’t charge for a consult and find that  most other artists don’t either. But remember that everyone is different. The only fee would be a deposit to set up an appointment to get the tattoo and some artists charge a drawing fee. The deposit goes towards the final price of the tattoo. If it is a multiple session tattoo then the deposit is credited at the final sitting.

After 4 wonderful years at Black and Blue Tattoo, I will be leaving. My new place is called Cicatrix at 17th and Market in the Castro. I feel that it is time for a change.  The new place will be set up differently. I will get to buy all my own supply’s which I look forward to, because I hate shopping for clothes but love shopping for tattoo supplies. Cicatrix is located at the cable car stop where 17th, Market, and Castro st intersect. I will be at the new place as of February 1st.

One very long sitting, with no complaints from my client. We made sure to put the pupils in last so that the dragon wouldn’t come alive and eat us(i read that could happen somewhere:)

A lot of first time tattoo-ees come in with a bunch of unanswered questions, even after scouring the Internet for advice and answers. To save me (and other tattooers) some time, I would like to dedicate this portion of my blog to First Timers. So every week or so I will gather the questions I get from clients and answer them the best that I can,  so that you can be better prepared for your first or next tattoo.

The most commonly asked question, in recent months, would have to be “where does it hurt the most?”….(answer- “your wallet”:). Any ways, the answer I usually tell people is the ribs, or the feet, or their eyelids. The truth is that it is different for each person.  The most common place, for people to have a hard time, is the ribs but mostly during longer sessions. For short sessions 10min to 1hour, I would have to say the underside of the wrist. It may be different for you. My most painful area, to get tattooed, is the triceps.

The least painful area, also varies, but I have found that the deltoids(shoulder) and outer forearm seem to hurt people the least. For me, the chest hurt the least, and for you it may be different. Remember to choose the area you want to be tattooed based on where you want it and not where you think it will hurt the least…because it hurts everywhere…if it didn’t hurt it wouldn’t be cool:)

“We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.”  ~Kenji Miyazawa

In life I have always been good at most things, a jack of all trades for lack of better words. It wasn’t until I found tattooing that my focus narrowed, my frustration rose, and a perfectionist was born. The art of tattooing engulfs a person in it’s mystery. You can never do the perfect tattoo, It may be perfect for that client.  But for an artist there is always room for improvement with every piece that walks out the door. There are so many variables involved in doing the best tattoo you can, inks, needles, tubes, machines, power sources, artistic ability, and to top it off you have to be a great photographer.

One variable that has affected me lately is health. I have been living on burritos and Giordano Bro.’s sandwiches(best sandwiches in the world). I get to the Gym about twice a week, which has helped some. In order to be the best tattoo artist in San Francisco, or Cleveland, or wherever(in my own head), your body must also be functioning at optimum levels. There is a level of consistency that you must apply evenly throughout the tattoo process in order to get the best results. If you go into the tattoo high on a cupcake and soda and out of shape, you may find your energy fizzling out after about a half hour. This leaves your client with a nice outline and a spotty coloring job, because your brain was depleted of energy and couldn’t remember whether you were doing big circles or little brush strokes,(none of which are tattooing techniques:)or whatever you do.

Of course this applies to most trades, its why carpenters take about 3 meal breaks per day, you wouldn’t want a hungry guy with low blood sugar, building your roof. I guess what I am trying to get at is that if you wanna be the best at what you do, you have to be in the best physical condition possible. That is why 2012 is the year of Victor not having any cupcakes, or cigarettes, or beer…because I want to give myself the clearest shot at being… the best tattoo artist I can be and to give my clients the best tattoo I can give them.

“The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d rather not”.
Mark Twain

Just finished up a guest spot at Cicatrix in the Castro(SF). Really nice folks over there, they let me sit in while Black and Blue tattoo was being remodeled. It was fun tattooing in a new spot for a little while, and getting to see how another shop works. Also that area is pretty cool, there is a park with a cable car stop right in front and Orphan Andy’s(best breakfast in town) next door. The naked guy that sits in the park wasn’t there either day, lucky for all.

Check out the gallery for some new work and some progress on the  “Super Duper Black Panther Back Piece”.

I tattooed this without access to a computer or printer, so I had to draw it from a picture on an iphone. I think it came out better than if I would have done it portrait style, by tracing the original art work, and it may be the new way in which I will be tattooing this kind of art. There is still work to do on it but I just wanted to show the progress so far. I did this on my buddy while his wife was in Cleveland, won’t she be surprised when she gets back:)