TattooSnob.com

An entire leg sleeve of skulls is no laughing matter – and not an easy one to blog about, either. I’ll just let the bearer do the talkin’:

Kind of funny looking at my leg now compared with the original concept of what it was going to be. It started about 3 ½ years ago with the announcement that I was going to be a father. At that time I had a few tattoos, but not a major collector in any way. When I found out my son was going to be born a Leo, the search was on for an artist to do a realistic lion cub. I did tons of research, finally stumbled across Mike Devries‘ work and was totally sold–I contacted him right away to set up an appointment.

Luckily, he was booked out almost a year. I say that because if I had jumped the gun on the lion tattoo, it would have been a major mistake–my son wound up being a Virgo instead.

Since I already had the sitting lined up, I started thinking about what else to do and then it hit me, a skull! I have always loved skulls as far back as I can remember. I wasn’t sure if DeVries would be into it since all the work of his I had seen involved people and animal portraits. I contacted him about the change of plans and the rest, as they say, is history.

Since doing so much research initially, I had compiled a “tattoo dream team list.” I talked with my wife about the idea of continuing the skull theme. She was completely supportive and told me to go for it. I immediately started contacting the artists on my list. Many of them not only were interested in the project, but actually moved me up in line on their waiting lists just to be part of it.

The following, in order, are all the artists who contributed: Mike DeVries, Carlos Torres, Jeff Gogue, Nikko Hurtado, Robert Hernandez, Bugs, Jason Butcher, Joshua Carlton, Carlos Rojas, Aric Taylor, Shawn Barber, Bob Tyrrell, Stefano Alcantara, and FAT.

Each artist was given complete freedom to tattoo anything they wanted as long as it was a skull. It was so much fun to see what the guys would come up with. Some did exactly what you’d expect based on their respective styles, and others took it in totally different directions than anticipated.

After having such a wonderful experience with this project, I have  started an arm sleeve with the same concept. So far the contributing artists are Phil Garcia, Goethe and Jeff Ensminger. Time to get that “tattoo dream team list” out and start making some calls!

I’m not sure what caused this, but Art Junkies recently had a number of openings become available. If you’re interested in getting tattooed in the next couple of weeks, now’s the time to squeeze in and avoid the waiting list.

Tattoo by: Mario Rosena at Art Junkies in Hesperia, CA

The Pint Size Painting canvas was the talk of the tattoo convention in Detroit on Sunday. As the 2″x3″ canvases were being handed out, some artists gazed at the tiny canvas in amazement, as others didn’t hesitate to get their masterpiece started.

The following week I was fortunate enough to see the paintings in person, and I was blown away. Just when I thought I found my favorite one, it was quickly replaced by another moments later. The amount of detail and time put into these paintings was indescribable.

As we sat around talking about the different paintings, I was able to ask Durb and Tony some questions about the project and their future plans. Read below for the exclusive interview.

Tattoo Snob: What exactly is a ‘pint sized painting’?

Pint Sized Paintings: A Pint Size Painting is a unique miniature masterpiece, art done on a very small scale. All the paintings are on a 2”x3” canvas board, and each one has a huge visual impact.

TS: How many of the paintings were handed out?

PSP: So far we have shipped out almost 1000 canvasses, and received more than 400 back.

TS: With that many handed out, I’m sure you won’t be able to recite everyone that participated. Is there an official list online?

PSP: Yes, you can go to our website, PintSizePaintings.com, and see the list of artists who have submitted art work.

TS: Will we be able to see them live in person?

PSP: We will debut the entire Pint Size Collection at the Hell City Tattoo Festival, May 21-23 at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Killumbus. Following that, the show will go to Sacred Gallery NYC in July. From there we will display it at Hell City Phoenix at the Biltmore, August 27-29. Then it will travel to Coil Tattoo Gallery in L.A.

TS: All of the paintings are going to be featured in a book, right?

PSP: Not all paintings received are printed in this first book from Pint Size Publishing. The book is a 224-page hardcover collection of these miniature masterpieces, with 208 of the paintings displayed in full color and printed to actual size.

TS: Will the book’s pages be 2″x3″ as well?

PSP: The book is 6”x9” landscape, and there are two paintings per page to give the focus to the amazing artwork. The book is printed in an art gallery format with bright, white pages and a very clean and simple view so as to not take away from the small paintings.

TS: Where can people pick the book up at?

PSP: You can of course pre-order the book from Pint Size Publishing on our website, Hellcity.com, and they will be available with a limited edition ruler/magnifying glass at Hell City Killumbus, available with the first 200 books purchased.

TS: I hear you’re already working on volume two? Is this true?

PSP: It is true, with the amount of Pint Size Packages we have already sent out, each submission received now is for Volume 2. Submissions pour in on a daily basis. There are hundreds of artists who have not yet sent in their Pint Size Paintings, and more want to be involved every day. Numerous artists have heard of this project heard through the grapevine, plus with the excitement for the release of Volume 1, Pint Size Paintings will most likely have quite a number of editions.

TS: If an artist is interested in being a part of volume two, who can they contact?

PSP: They can simply send us their mailing address to info@hellcity.com and let us know they want to be a part of Pint Size Paintings. We will ship them out a Pint Size Package containing two of our boards (required to use) and a release form, along with some promotional material. We encourage artists from all genres to participate, not just tattoo artists. Spread the word!

I don’t think I could have found a quote to better fit this tattoo…

“To see with one’s own eyes, to feel and judge without succumbing to the suggestive power of the fashion of the day, to be able to express what one has seen and felt in a trim sentence or even in a cunningly wrought word- is that not glorious? It is not a proper subject for congratulation?”
-Albert Einstein

Tattoo by: Aric Taylor

Last month, I decided to treat myself to a new laptop. With the amount of time I spend on a computer writing entries, and generally wasting time, I easily justified the purchase. I don’t need anything fancy, so I just bought myself a basic Macbook.Between traveling and tossing it around, I figured I could use a cover for it as well. I might as well put one on now, as the computer was brand new and all. I’ve seen a number of tattoo artists mention they did designs for Ding, so I took the plunge and checked out the site.

The site has a separate section for tattoo artists, and they fill it up nicely. They have designs from a number of artists, and several tattoo related companies. Each design comes in a version to fit your cell phone, laptop, iPod, or gaming device. They even make covers for your Guitar Hero controller.

The laptop cover costs around $30, but coupons aren’t hard to find (check their Twitter.) I think when everything was said and done, I ended paying around $27 for the cover. After ordering it, it took about fourteen days to come in with standard shipping. Once it was here, it only took a few seconds to apply. It doesn’t use glue or anything that’ll ruin your device, but yet it doesn’t easily come off either. Don’t ask me that works – it just does.

Overall, it’s a decent way to protect your device and support a tattoo artist at the same time. It beats the gem encrusted alternative for sure.