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Tattoo by: Carlos Rojas at Black Anchor Collective in Hisperia, CA

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!

Carlos needed only one word to sum up the tattoo below and frankly, I think that’s as much of an intro as this tattoo needs.

Tattoo by: Carlos Rojas at Black Anchor Collective in Hisperia, CA

Kevin was supposed to write an entry introducing Deer Day… except all he did was accuse me of watching Bambi and getting teary-eyed. So:

DEER KEVIN:

I hate you. I hope you get really drunk at Hell City Phoenix (without me) and someone tattoos your forehead, with a pink tribal butterfly no less.

Also, Bambi is great & you better not take the name of Disney movies in vain. I’m jealous enough that you’re kicking it by some obscene number of swimming pools with hot babes and “sick tatts” without you making fun of my obsession with classic animated movies.

Hugs & Hooves,

Julene

(Seriously if someone tattoos his forehead because of this he’s going to kill me–use Sharpies instead.)

Tattoo by: Carlos Rojas at Black Anchor Collective in 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!

Sullen Clothing went out to film and celebrate the grand opening of Lowrider Tattoo. They interviewed Estevan Oriol, showed off the amazing artwork at the shop, and shot some footage of people just having a good time.

The heavily tattooed blonde girl interviewing Estevan Oriol was my personal favorite part. Anyone know who she is?

The guys at Lowrider Tattoo had this to say:

We want to thank everybody for coming out and supporting us…ESTEVAN ORIOL KARI BARBA. CARLOS ROJAS. NIKKO HURTADO. STEVE SOTO. SID STANKOVICH. TRINA CENTOLA. KORE FLATMO. FONZY. FRANCO VESCOVI. BIG GUS. LINDSAY CARMICHAEL. TONY OLIVAS. BRIAN EVERETT. PINT. THOMAS KYNST. ESTEVAN ORIOL. BLOOD AND OIL CAM RACKAM. ROBERT ATKINSON. TIM SHELTON. KYLE CROWELL. LAURA SANTANA. TATTOO ANGELS. MISTER LUCKY, SICK JACKEN, OG ABEL, BOBBY TRIBAL, BOO YAA TRIBE…. and everybody in between…all the helpers and Lowrider Family members that gave it their all to make this possible…THANK YOU a million times…also a special thanks to the SULLEN team, Ryan and Bernadette, for the wonderful footage above…

The Sullen Clothing crew has posted their latest issue of Sullen TV. They spent the day at the Carlos Rojas art show, to help raise money for some unexpected medical bills that Carlos encountered. The host of the video is Big Gus owner of Demented Image Tattoos, which happens to be the same shop that Carlos works at.

I’ll refrain from getting on the soap box and discussing our health care system, but this is a great example that something does need to change. $45,000 for one surgery is ludicrous, and thankfully Carlos has the guys at Demented Image Tattoo and Sullen Clothing to help him out.

Saturday night at Pins and Needles Underground is the 5 x 7 Show featuring 57 amazing artists. Artist include Jeff Ensminger, Mike Devries, Nikko Hurtado, Aaron Cain, Bob Tyrrell, Joe Capobianco, Joshua Carlton . . . . . the list keeps going on and on (check the flyer for all 57, and details of the event.)

Carlos Rojas talks about the event, and how it all came about in the latest Sullen Clothing video:

I was totally blown away when I first stumbled upon Sullen Clothing. In a time where I often cringe at the idea of a tattoo related t-shirt company, Sullen Clothing is a breath of fresh air. The roster of artists they have is absolutely ridiculous – and it continues to grow.

I shot the Sullen crew a couple questions about the brand, and what the future had in store. Jim was nice enough to answer them, and even nicer for tossing in a discount code for you!

Tattoo Snob: How did Sullen first get started? Who was involved at square one?

Jim: Sullen trademarked in 1999. In March of 2001 we sold clothes off our couch in an apartment in Downtown Huntington Beach. Ryan Smith and Jeremy Hanna were the primary partners in the beginning, an investor came along around year 5 to help make the ship run smooth.

TS: How many are involved in the daily business now?

Jim: Currently we have 9 full timers and a few outside sales reps.

Sullen Clothing Stone Virgin

TS: The Sullen family is an array of artists, musicians, and extreme sport athletes. Is the family a representation of what are interested and involved in?

Jim: We sponsor professional athletes like TJ Ellis who is a Freestyle BMX rider, who finished 3rd overall at the Dew Tour. Destin Cantrell is our FMX rider, who was nominated for best new rider at the Transworld Motocross awards show. Chad Knight skates for us, and we have a hand full of fighters who call Sullen home.

Sullen Clothing Live Life (Shawn Barber)

Sullen is a family for sure we work with tattooers such as Jeff Gogue, Nikko Hurtado, Carlos Torres, Big Gus, Bob Tyrrell, Jack Rudy, Corey Miller, Tom Berg, Jack Mosher, Hunter Spanks, Jason Butcher, Carlos Rojas, Norm, Jay Langer, Preston Chambers, Steve Soto, Christian Nguyen, and Shawn Barber to name a few. Most of these guys paint and draw with us, but we have a personal realtionship with all of them. Being a small company without big money, we focus our efforts on building friendships and hope to grow them lifelong.

TS: That’s an impressive list. I know several of them have their work featured on various products, who’s in the Fall ’09 line?

Jim: For Fall 09 we have Corey Miller, Preston Chambers, Shawn Barber, Big Gus, Carlos Rojas, Carlos Torres, Jack Mosher, Hunter Spanks and Jeff Gogue.

TS: Can you tell us if any of them are going to be in the next line of clothing?

Jim: Our next offering will be Holiday where we are dropping a Collaboration T with Carey Hart’s Hart & Huntington Brand. We started a design and emailed it to there creative team and went back and forth till the piece was finished.

Spring’s our next big season with Franco Vescovi from OC Inkhouse coming on board, also Paolo Acuna, Flaks, an amazing apprentice from Europe named Vicky Morgan adding to the line. Kim Saigh also has a piece in our womens line.

Hart & Hunnington and Sullen Collab

TS: Have any of these artists tattooed any employees or other family members of Sullen?

Jim: A bunch of the guys here have been tattooed by the artist we work with including the owner, Ryan Smith, who still tattoo’s people on a regular basis.

TS: Where can people find Sullen clothing at?

Jim: Sullen can be bought online or you can check the store locator to find a location close to you!

TS: Any chance we could get a discount code for Tattoo Snob readers?

Jim: We will make a code called “Snob” for your readers 15%

TS: Any last minute plugs?

Jim: We would like to say thanks to all the artists that we’ve worked with – without them, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

Check out Sullen Clothing for additional information.

Sullen Clothing Dead Mary (Hunter Spanks)Sullen Clothing Simon