I have been working on this back piece since august. It is definitely my biggest piece so far. We started this one at the Bodyart Expo at the Cow Palace in SF. there is still work to be done but I wanted to show the progress.
Q: should I eat before getting tattooed? A:Yes, you should eat a normal breakfast, lunch, and dinner(if your tattoo is after dinner:). Getting a tattoo requires energy on your part and your body needs nourishment to get through the stress of getting tattooed. Don’t eat or drink anything that you don’t normally ingest and make sure not to deprive yourself of the things you do on a daily basis. For example a lot of people tell me that they have heard somewhere that coffee is bad to drink before a tattoo…whats worse is adding a caffeine headache and sleepiness to the pain of a tattoo. I guess the point is to come in to the tattoo as comfortable and clear headed as possible.
The belly rules the mind. ~Spanish Proverb
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.
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black and grey,lotus
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black and grey,lotus,jesus
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.
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
