Pat Patterson of Lucky 7 Tattoos

Hello, it’s me again. This is an interview with Pat Patterson of Lucky 7 Tattoos, 2120 Okeechobee Blvd Wpd Fl 33409. The number is 561-721-0595. The websites is L7tattoos.com. Open from 12-9 Monday-Saturday. 2-7 Sundays. Walk-ins welcome and appointments preferred.

He has always been interested in tattoos since he was a kid, he remembers covering him in fake tattoos (I love fake tattoos also.) Pat’s mom knew that he would have his hands full. Pat wasn’t trying to make tattooing his job it just kind of fell in his lap, and Pat took the advantage of it.

Pat learned to tattoo through an apprenticeship under his friend and now Co-Owner of Lucky 7 Tattoos, Trevor Wilson. Trevor showed Pat the ropes.

Most of his clients are getting new school pieces from him, different objects, animals and so on. What’s popular with him right now is painting. It is what he does pretty much when he’s not tattooing now days. He’s most known for new school tattoos.

He tries to stick with solid lines in his tattoos thick ones, thin ones, and try to be original. He just tries not let his mind get to far outside of his clients design choice.

He’s trying to use different color techniques right now. He’s kind of toning his color pallet down, so not everything is so super bright. And lots of different line techniques.

The tattoos that he won’t do are: Gang related and racist.

He’s had work done by: Trevor Wilson, Ackermon, Timmy B, John Montalvo, Steve Martin, Tanane Whitfield, Travis Brown, and Josh Grable. Pat looks up to so many different artists like Gunnar, Timmy B, Jimi Litwalk, Crayola, Nikko are just a few.

He likes that he has freedom to pretty much do as he likes like travel, conventions ( I love traveling and conventions too) and just tattoo where ever and be able to make money. What he doesn’t like is that people with no tattoos come in and argue with him about what the guy down the street said. So they expect him to do it their way for cheaper.

His “dream” client is someone with a great idea that can be done in one sitting. They don’t complain about price or it hurting (Because it is going to hurt anyways.) They just relax and cracks some jokes and let him do his job.

He likes to work with acrylic paint and prisma color pencils. He hasn’t had any formal art training but he’s still awesome.

He likes to play Call Of Duty (my mom says that’s a adult video game), go to a bar with some of his friends, Also, he likes to hang out with his lady.

Make sure to Check out more of Pat’s work and add him on facebook to follow him, his career and travels!!!!!

Mike Valentin from Red Dragon Tattoo

Take a seat and grab yourself a drink because you will enjoy this interview with Mike Valentin.

He currently works at Red Dragon Tattoo Studio 390 East Fordham Rd, Bronx, NY (718) 220-6787 is the shop’s number, and their website is www.reddragontat.com but his facebook.com is updated frequently so make sure to add him. They are open Monday through Saturday from 11-9 and on Sundays from 12-7. Walk-ins are always welcome, but appointments are always available.

Mike has been tattooing about 3 years now and he actually started off piercing and managing the shop. He was always surrounded by artists, he became fascinated and never looked back. Once, he realized that he could make people happy with something he created he was hooked. The minute he saw his first tattoo and how happy it made his friend feel Mike stopped wanting to do anything else. He has covered that tattoo with something a little nicer, but the feeling never changed.

He didn’t have traditional apprenticeship by any means, but he wouldn’t change a thing. The guys at the shop that he was working for at the time always saw Mike doodling and sketching and they told Mike that he wasn’t going to pierce anymore and they took him under their wing. Mike learned all that he could from anyone that was willing to help, he got really lucky and had a lot of people that believed in him, and were open books. He owes them everything and loves each of those people for caring about him and his future.

He works at a pretty busy street shop so he does tons of the normal, like names, stars, butterflies, and flash. But lately a lot of people have been looking for him to do color pieces on them. Mike really enjoys doing color, he thinks that is really early to say that he has a crazy style or do this or that awesome. He just wants to make sure that everyone knows that everyone gets the best piece that he can possibly create and if it’s color than that’s cool too. He just wants to do nice work that people can be proud to have on them. But, if he can throw a crazy bright pink in there somewhere than he’s going too.

More recently Mike has been doing more things grounded in traditional. He wants things to hold up well over time and things with outlines and clean bright colors and blends seem to be working for him so he’s going to try sticking to that for now but hey things change too. He always tries to be respectful of what his clients want. They run the show, he will always give his opinion and if something might not work or look to good in the long run then he will tell you but what the customer wants they get. He’s no one to judge their ideas or give them what he wants,they have to wear everyday.

He really loves the look of all the realism that’s going on right now and he wants to be able to work some aspects of that into his tattoos. It’s extremely difficult but anything worth doing isn’t easy. He really doesn’t ever want to stop learning or finding out new techniques, learning can only make you better so he wants to soak up as much knowledge as he can. He’s also been curious about all the new types of tattoo machines neuma, hawk, etc.. everyone he surrounded by works with coils and he would love to try something new but with some helpful eyes around.

He will NOT do that he won’t show on his mom. Like racist and no gang tattoos.

He’s also a big collector he’s been tattooed by a lot of different people, recently he’s gotten work by Christian Perez and Stefano Alcantara of Last Rites. He’s admired tons of artist and try to pick up things from them all but the first names that come up are Jeff Ensminger, Nick Baxter, Russ Abbott, Gunnar, Stefano, Christian Perez. He could fill a page with all of the people that he admires and respect old school and new, but his close friends “The Cholada” are his hugest inspiration. They show Mike something new everyday and pushes him to go for it.

His favorite thing about tattooing is that he can wake and do something that he loves everyday. He can travel, and meet people that he would never thought of encountering (I love traveling with my mom and getting to meet artists and other people at conventions). He learns something new everyday and that’s pretty cool. The least favorite would have to be the people that do what they do and take it for granted. He says that we are definitely not all rock stars and unfortunately some people just play into the stereotype.

His “dream” client would be someone with an idea that’s open to interpretation. He doesn’t like being told to do whatever he wants, he finds it super stressful. He enjoys being given an idea to work with his client to create something pretty amazing. But in all just someone cool that can sit well and take care of that tattoo properly.

He recently took his first art class. He’s not formally trained in art but he tries his hardest and he loves to draw. He’s always open to new forms of art and trying to improve on his own artwork. If it can me him a better artist then he’s with it.

When he’s not tattooing then he says that he’s a big dork. He watches tons of movies and sports center. But he loves being home with his family and his girls, they’re his biggest support and he wants to impress them everyday. He keeps it really low key and relaxed. If he  can do it in sweats or PJ’s then he’s happy.

Make sure to follow Mike on facebook.com and watch him continue doing awesome tattoos.

I’m in Tattoo Revue issue #151

Awesome! Also here’s my new bumper stickers available at Crimson Anchor or send a self addressed envelope to the shop and we will send you one Crimson Anchor 2628 us hwy 19 Holiday Fl 34691!!!

Rhi Wallace in the Spotlight!!!

This interview is about Rhi Wallace. Now, it’s her turn to be in the spot light.

Her husband, Chris and her own the tattoo shop A Psychic Unicorn and fine arts gallery.

107 Gateway shopping center Edwardsville PA. They both do walk-ins and appointments. No flash studio. The number is 570-238-1199. You can visit them at www.facobook.com/apsychicunicorn.

Rhi started tattooing because she loves art. (I love art too.)

She went to college for animation at first and then graphic design. She graduated and worked a ton of “art” jobs (Graphic design, web design/advertising and printmaking) and she didn’t enjoy the monotony. What was appealing about tattooing was getting to draw and do something everyday. (I LOVE to draw.)

She got an apprenticeship and learned her basics. She was fortunate to have the help of a great artist who showed her the way.

People go to her for bright, surreal colors. Her favorite pieces are when she gets to work with the customer  and draw. She is not into recreating the same pieces off the same pictures.

Rhi loves traditional style tattoos. Simplifying an image, tattooing it with tight lines and bold colors is what she wants to do. It’s fun grappling with clients she says.(I have no idea what grappling means.) When you find that middle point sometimes it challenges you to go outside your comfort zone. She likes that.

She’s rather happy with her technique but she is always working on something. She’s been trying to hone her overall style. She’s been pushing her color pallet. An artist should always try to evolve and get better.

The list seems long of the tattoos that she will not do. She will not do hate related tattoos, neck, hand/finger, face tattoo. Baby Momma/Boy friend names, and bad designs. Tattoos are serious not a fad she says.

Currently Mr. Tony Mancia does most of her tattoos. He’s a great friend and Rhi trusts Mr. Tony Mancia entirely. Rhi has been going to get laser removal and has trumped getting new tattoos. Rhi likes artists who have original style. Something Rhi’s never seen before. She likes allot of Belgium and German artists. They seem to push the norm. Rhi is a big fan of POP/Street Art. She collects Sheppard Fairy Prints

Rhi loves the process of getting and assignment, drawing it and bringing it to life. She loves tattooing. She loves the array of people she gets to meet on a daily basis. She hates the stereotype of a “tattoo artist.”

Rhi’s perfect “dream” client is the best clients give you freedom.

She graduated college with a bachelor’s degree in Media Art, so she learned everything she wanted to know(oil painting, drawing, printmaking, pottery, jewelry..). Then she worked different art jobs and they paid well but they were torture. Without college or the training in these jobs she would stink at this.

She likes traveling and playing with the dogs. Adventures.

 

Ending 2010 with the Amazing Jason Stephan

My mom told me about Jason Stephan of Ghostprints Gallery, So I will be ending 2010 with a interview from a great artist.

Jason got interested in tattoos by: Heavy Metal music.  When, he was  younger, he was a tech person in his group of  friends that could draw, and his buddies all started getting his artwork tattooed on them.  The tattoo artists that they were getting tattooed by at the time complimented Jason’s artwork, and that’s what gave Jason the confidence to pursue tattooing as a career. ( My teacher LOVES my drawings of cartoons, and so do my parents and, Lucca.  I want to be a cartoonist when I grow up.It’s nice to be able to look up to artists like Jason who followed their dreams.)

He learned how to tattoo during a apprenticeship.  He started hanging out and begging when he was 18 or 19, but it took him a couple of years before someone took him in.  Jason moved back in with his parents, and worked at the shop 7 days a week for FREE.  After a year and a half of learning the basics.  They set Jason loose on the world to do kanjis and cursive names.

Jason is blessed that he gets to do the exact kind of work that he is into.  He doesn’t have any image or idea that he is personally  trying to get across.  He is trying to give the costumer what they want, but in a more eye pleasing way.  It’s more of a collaboration of ideas with the costumer and himself.  Jason draws in a more animated style, so the costumer has to be into that style.

Jason thinks we’re all living in the same world, so a lot of ideas are redone over and over.  Jason is okay with that though.  The biggest thing Jason tries and does is at least come at the idea from a new angle.

The biggest thing that Jason has changed is that in recent years he has started using Swashdrive Tattoo Machines.  Jason has been happy with them.  There’s nothing wrong with the coil machine, Jason just had some inconsistency problems with his, and wanted to try something different.  He knows that using a rotary machine is sacrilegious to some tattooers, but the most important thing for him is the tattoo and the artwork, not what puts it in the skin.

Things that Jason feels is negative is what he will NOT tattoo.  There’s not one particular thing, it’s just an overall feeling.  Some of it would be stuff that Jason doesn’t agree with personally, and sometimes Jason gets the feeling that a person is getting tattooed as a reaction to something  negative, and it’s something that they won’t want to live with down the road.( I am totally with you on that, Jason.)  Jason knows that it sounds goofy, but when people look at tattoos that he has done he wants them to smile or laugh.

Jason has got tattooed by a lot of tattoo artists, but his favorite ones are Chris Garcia and Jesse Smith.  ( I Defiantly love  Jesse Smith’s stuff.)  He admires many different styles of tattooing, and they all have artists that are great at them, but as far as taking his own style of art to the next level, he has to say Jesse Smith.  Jason and Jesse Smith met and worked together briefly about seven years ago.  Neither one of them was doing anything all that special at the time.  They  became the best of friends.  Over the years Jason really began to step up his game as an artist.  Jason felt like he brought something else to a style of tattooing that had been mostly just bright colors and bent angles.  Jason was creating  more of a world around the characters.  Anyway he keeps this in mind when he is creating a tattoo or any other art.  Jason tries to bring in his characters and scenes to life.  To make someone feel like they can connect with the idea or character.  As far as other mediums, Jason likes illustrative work the most.  People like Jim Phillips, Alex Pardee, Pushead, and Dan Mumford.  Jason thinks their bold ideas across in a very powerful way.

The things that bug him, and what he likes about being a tattoo artist is the people he has met.

His perfect “dream” client is someone who knows what they want, but kind of a loose idea.  Someone that loves the way that Jason draws.  Someone that can sit still.  Most importantly, someone with a lot of $!!!!!

Jason always took art class in school, but he learned most of what he knows through trial and error and tattoo artist friends.  He tried to do as much painting as he could over the last couple of years.  Jason would love to do more, but Jason put so much time into his tattooing that it’s hard sometimes to want to do more.  Tattooing will always come first for him.

Jason loves family very much, and when he isn’t working he likes to be with them doing anything.

Make sure you check out some pictures below out of his portfolio and more on his site  www.jasonstephan.com

His contact information is: 

Ghostprints Gallery 220 W. Broad Street, Richmond, VA. 23220  The number is 321-626-2889 

Make sure to check back for more interviews in 2011 and I am going to be in a upcoming issue of Tattoo Revue Magazine, so go out and buy it!

Tim Pangburn of Philly

My mom told me about a awesome tattoo artist name Tim Pangburn.

I emailed him and he did a awesome interview with me.

His studio is called Art Machine Productions. It’s a private studio in Philadelphia, PA.  He works by appointment, and he can be contacted through his website, www.timpangburn.com, or by phone. 267-239-2724.

His great grandfather had a bunch of tattoos, so Tim was around them since he was a kid. (Just like me.)  When, Tim got his first tattoo, he knew that he had to do that.  He was instantly hooked and didn’t want anything else.

He did an apprenticeship with a friend of his brother’s.  It lasted a year and a half, and it was mostly scrubbing tubes (my mom uses disposable tubes,but I just learned to tare down, she said that’s close enough to scrubbing tubes for me and watching other people tattoo. (I like watching people tattoo because you get to see their style better than looking in a magazine.  Which I think is really cool because my mom is an amazing tattoo artist and I also get to meet all these other great artists at conventions.)

He has a lot of different types of clients.  He has some who tend to come to him for fun, new skool stuff.  Cartoon animals and that sort of thing.  Then, he has groups who come to him for black & gray.  He does much different work that it’s hard to say.  He always has people coming to him for cover ups, lol, my mom says the same thing.

He focuses on solid design. A nice flow, strong contrast, and readability.  He likes to know that a tattoo can be seen from across and will still look good in 15 years (Awesome).  He really holds himself to very high standards and try to keep his work paying homage to its roots.(I try to do thing at school. I just got straight A’s!)

He has been getting back to basics, and doing more traditional work.  It has been around this long for a reason, and he thinks the principles behind it apply to all styles of tattooing.

He doesn’t do facial tattoos. He just doesn’t feel comfortable with it. (I would be the same way with facial tattoos).  He only tattoos people’s hands and necks who are already heavily tattooed and have career security. ( I would think that getting a tattoo on your neck would be PAINFUL!!!)  He said that he thinks that they have a responsibility to clients to look out for their best interests (My mom says that sentence alone puts Tim in a higher standard).  He also won’t do hateful tattoos for obvious reasons.  (I would not do hateful tattoos because I think someone shouldn’t really have hateful tattoos.)

He has been tattooed by a lot of people.  Most recently, Joey Knuckles, Timmy B., Evan Lovett, and Josh Ruff.  He has a lot of other plans too.  He says that your’re never done!!  (He is right just look at me with this blog!!)  He really loves Steve Byrne’s work, ( I bet that Steve Byrne’s work is good, I must look him up.) and Tim is completely enthralled and blown away with Lu’s Lips.  There’s dozens of others, but those two are the ones that Tim is on today.  It’ll change again in a few months.

Tim lives, eat, breathes, and sleeps tattooing.  (My mom is getting her next tattoo from Tim.  Also, she eats, lives, breathes, and sleeps tattooing just like Tim does.  It’s her life which makes it me and my brother’s life too, but I love it.)  There’s a few things that bother him though.  Bad attitudes.  Tattooers who think they’re ”rock stars” and tattooers who disrespect their clients.  Me personally, just thinks that disrespecting their clients is just wrong.

Tim’s ”dream” client would give him their ideas and let him run with it.  No limit on space or price.  Not that he won’t take all of their money!!  It would just be cool if somebody gave him a theme and said and I quote ”go crazy”.

He paints in acrylic, and he also does a lot of mixed media/collage.  He tries to stay busy with other mediums.  He thinks that it keeps your brain sharp and allows you to approach your tattooing in other ways you wouldn’t normally think of.

Tim cooks and spends time with time with his family.  He likes to talk to philosophy, and Tim doesn’t be quiet apparently once you get him started. He can’t tell me his plans for world domination because then someone could steal his evil scheme (he’s so smart!).  Tim posts semi-regularly notes in his facebook pages about tattooing and his thoughts on the state of the art, so if anyone ever wants to check them out and chime in, you are more than welcome.

Make sure to Add his fan page!!!!
www.facebook.com/timpangburnart

Also Buy one of is Penguin Shirts, My brother has one and it’s his favorite shirt EVER!

Jes Strickler of Blackwater Tattoo

I interviewed with Jes Strickler of Blackwater Tattoo located at 750 Grand Ave, Schofield, Wisconsin, 54476. His new website is www.tattoosbyjes.com or www,facebook.com/tattoosbyjes.  They are open Monday-Friday 12-8 and Saturday by appointment only.  He is usually booked out 2-3 weeks, so he rarely will do walk-ins.

He got interested in tattoos when he was working in a warehouse, when he was 12 years old(under the table, and thanks to his dad!!). Anyways there was this guy named named Kevin who worked in shipping, and Jes thought he was the coolest dude that he ever met. He had a huge bright orange mo-hawk with a skull tattoo on the side of his head, full sleeves, and total punk rock!! Well, Jes went home one night and told his mom that he was gonna have tattoos all over his body. “The heck you are young man!”,his mom said (My mom says I have to wait until I am 18).  Needless to say she believes him now! He finally decided to do it for a living after him and a friend had been throwing around the idea of learning to tattoo, he had done a few already (He said they were badly done, hahaha) they both had a bunch and both had some talent in the drawing department so they went for it.  A friend of theirs hooked them up with this scratch-er (aka someone who tattoos out of their house) who opened a shop, they got jobs there, he was an apprentice for a couple of weeks. Then they gave him a machine and said pull straight lines and color in circles.  He knew this was not a good way to learn, but it got his foot in the door.  After about 9 months of working a full-time job, and at the tattoo shop he made the jump and haven’t looked back since.

Well, he didn’t learn any good techniques until he got tattooed by Jime’ Litwalk. Jes told him that he wanted a picture of his daughter and Jime’ looked at him like he crazy, like Jes was asking for a portrait.  Jes picked his brain the whole time Jime’ tattooed him. He really changed the way that he looked at his own career.  When he got back to town from the convention in Florida, Jes went over to the best artist in town and told him that he wasn’t learning stuff were he was, and could he sit down and watch him tattoo. He was still currently working with this man (who said Yes). His name is Jim Stevens, he is probably who Jes learned the most from.

He lives in Northern Wisconsin, so people still think it’s cool to get tribal and barbwire. Well pretty much he’s town is still suck in the 90′s.  The best part is he has a ton of cool clients who listen to his input and really good friends who let him do what he wants with their ideas.  He would say the stuff he likes doing most is Neo-Traditional or whatever they are calling it these days, Old skool ideas with new skool design and color.

He says to don’t start using big words on him now.
(I didn’t think I put any in the questions)

He would have to say a lot of other tattoo artists, everybody in the business is pushing themselves to new levels and he wants to be a part of that awesomeness that is going around.

He just recently switched to using a liner tattoo machine (Neo-Tat), he really likes the low maintenance and consistency that it has.  He also, just did his first color portrait, which turned out amazing.  As far as techniques or supplies, he is always trying new stuff to see what works the best.

The only tattoo that he won’t do is if someone brings him some horrible drawing and wants exactly that, he always tries to put his own style on things, so unless its some realism from a photograph, please let him redraw your awesome sketch.

He has a lot of work from tattoo artists.  The guys he works with do a lot of them. The whole reason why he got into this was because he loves to get them.  He probably gets tattooed at least once a month.  Actually he just got 4 in the last 2 weeks.  He has been tattooed by Joe Capobianco, Jime’ Litwalk, Josh Woods, Sean Herman, Taylor Cort, Brandon Bond, Justin Weatherholz, Big AL, Cool-aid, Mark Van Ness, Bunny, Kevin Starai, Jim Stevens, Jon Lafave, his daughter (AWESOME!), and a few others.  He is running out of room fast and still wants to get tattooed by a whole bunch of other people.

He would have to say what he likes most is making cool new friends, wither it would be clients or other tattoo artists.  What he hates is the arrogance, he is sure that I have met a couple of the guys, who either aren’t good and think they’re awesome or are awesome and won’t even talk to me (I have, my mom said they are just Haters!).  Mainly because all the hype that people make them out to be. (My Mom and Joe always tell me to stay Humble, maybe these people should try it.)

He has some already, good friends who get cool tattoos and let him do them however he wants, but he prefers some pale white skin if he/she has it.  Quit tanning ladies he says!!!

He really only draws the tattoos he is gonna do and maybe some for a convention, he just picked up some oil paints, and some water color stuff, so he is gonna try some new stuff soon.  He never really has any formal art training, he wishes he would have though. There are some people out there who has such a grasp on how to go about a painting or light sources, contrast etc., he really looks up to those people who know their stuff.

He actually does a lot, he has a 6 year old daughter named Kaiden who he hangs out with all the time.  They both like being outdoors and being active.  She plays soccer and takes karate, he plays softball, volleyball, and loves going mountain biking. They both love music so he is always going to show,he just saw Social D for the first time last weekend.  They both love being in or out of the water, too.

I had the chance to meet Jes in Miami at a Convention, Not only is he super nice (not a hater) he is a good dad, he had a Justin Beavers shirt on he bought with his daughter!!

Please check out his stuff and get tattooed!!!!

Duffy Fortner – One Cool Chick!

I did an interview with Duffy Fortner. She works at Red Octopus Tattoos, 1654 Solomons Island Road. Prince Frederick, Md. 20678. Studio number 410-535-9095. Walk-ins are welcome but for her, personally, appointments only.

Her parents actually started the business in 1992. When she was growing up in the tattoo world (like me ). She kind of knew she wanted to tattoo when he was growing up, but when she was getting close to graduating high school was when she realized that she wanted it to be her career.

She tattooed around the age of 8 (I tattooed my mom at 6 and 8). She hooked up all of her barbie and baby dolls with some pretty rad tattoos. At the age of 16 was when she started to learn for real, and she tattooed a lot of her friends. They didn’t care that she was learning, they were just happy to get free tattoos.  Between  her mom, Cousin Andi, and some other artists at the shop helping her out, was well on her way.

Right now her costumers are going big. Sleeves, rib pieces, whole backs and all type of designs. Flowers are super popular for her right now. She LOVES to do them. She is kind of known  for a lot of different things. She has learned a little bit of every type of style. So, she can make sure she can please everybody. Mostly, big, bubbly, and colorful is what she is super into. ( Just like MY mom is into!!!!)

The things that influence her work the most is the need to make everything look perfect. She thinks the most important part of tattooing is doing the best job every time, no matter what. Someone might come in and want to get a tattoo  that maybe she is not really into or crazy about, but is is not her tattoo, and that person came to her because  they trust her that she will do the best possible job. (Awesome!)

She is constantly learning things everyday. Whether she teaches herself or learn from other artists. She thinks it is important that no matter how long you have been tattooing, you should still be willing, and open to learn. She is also fortunate to travel and work with other artists from all over, and it’s from them she picks up most of her techniques.

She will NOT do gang related or racial/prejudice tattoos. She does NOT promote it so she won’t definitely doesn’t feel comfortable doing them. She also doesn’t do tattoo in the ear.( Personally to me I think that MUST be hurtful in the EAR!!!!!!!!!) She is not a fan, they never look that good once they have aged a little bit, and she does  definitely wants her work to look good over time. There are some other things that she personally like, but she will keep those to herself because after all, it’s not her tattoo, she is just the artist that is going to make it look good.

She gets most of her stuff done in her shop. She works with these people everyday, so she trusts them the most. But like she said before, she does travel around working shows, so it’s hard to resist getting by some of these people that she has admired through magazines for so long. The very first influence she ever discovered was Jime’ Litwalk. His style made her want to work as hard as she can to be that awesome too. This time in her career one of her biggest influences is Jeff Ensminger. She can’t wrap her head around his tattoos. The smooth, clean work. The overall design. They’re absolutely so ridiculously amazing it makes her sick.

She loves being able to create and original everyday. She loves making people happy. ( So does my mom!! Hey, would you take a look at that. My mom and Duffy have a lot in common. That must be why my mom raves about Duffy so much!) Duffy loves meeting new people all the time. Not everybody gets to make their hobby into their career. What annoys her the most about this business is that just anyone thinks they can be a tattoo artist. There are so many people just tattooing out of their house and messing people up. She just sits back, watches them come and go, and she’ll be there to fix their messed up tattoos when they’re gone.

Her ”dream” client is someone who sits and relaxes and lets her do her job with no issues. Someone who comes in with an idea and pretty much gives her free range from there. She said that she is lucky to have clients like that everyday.

She has never worked in any other art media, as a job. She does all other types of things involving art, mostly for charity events and things like that. There are other types of art training that she would love to have. She said that she is very interested in photography and graphic design.

For fun she said and I quote, ”What’s that??” ( She is just kidding, would you guys calm down because she does know what I mean by that.) She has business hours everyday. She has a boyfriend and a big family that she loves to spend time with them. Usually you can find her outside, when she isn’t working. She loves the outdoors.

World domination would be good for her but she said that being a tattoo artist is good enough for her. Well it might not be world domination but I think you Rule and so does my mom!!

Make sure you check out more of Duffy’s work at the link below!!! www.redoctopustattoos.com

Add her on Facebook :     www.facebook.com/#/profile.php?id=1302133052

Jesse Smith

I did an interview with Jesse Smith. He works at Ghostsprint Gallery. It’s at 220 W. Broad St. Richmond, VA 23220. Phone number is 804-344-1557. The website is WWW.JESSESMITHTATTOOS.COM. The hours are Tues-Sat from 12-10. They work by appointment only.

He met this fella who was tattooing out of his house in Newport News, VA. They used to hang out and draw a lot together. Jesse eventually asked him if he could teach Jesse how to make a ghetto gun, that he could do a tattoo. He said he wasn’t really on planning on becoming a tattoo artist, which I really don’t believe that but it’s the truth. He just thought it would be cool to put a piece of his artwork on somebody that would last for the rest of their life. After his first piece, he had people lined up at his front door waiting to get tattooed by me. Not because it was good, but because it was free. About a month later, he purchased his first professional machine. He spent about a year trying to put together a decent portfolio, and soon made his rounds to all the local tattoo shops to see if he could get a job as a professional. Initially, he got rejected by all them. But six months later, he tried again and eventually got scooped up.

He learned how to tattoo by spending a year and a half tattooing out of his house. During that first year and a half a lot of what he learned came from trial and error, but it wasn’t until he landed his first job in a professional studio that he really picked up solid knowledge. He learned more in 2 months working out of a professional studio, then he did in the whole year and a half working out of his house.

Lately, he has been lucky enough to attract some really motivated collectors. A lot of them are really open to letting him do pretty much whatever he’d like which makes his job a lot more fun. Most people tend to group with him in with the ”New School” style, however he really thinks a lot of artists who are grouped into that particular style have passed the stigma that, that particular style encompass’. He likes to think that he would be grouped into the Low-Brow movement.

When he first started tattooing, he was mostly influenced by the ”New School” movement. The artist who he most influenced by earlier in his career were Tim Biedron, Jime’ Litwalk, Chucho, Cleen Rock, and Gunnar.

He has been using a lot of rotary machines lately. He just picked up his Swashdrive about 3 months ago and he loves it. This past month, he was newly exposed to Neo Tat Machines and he honestly think that between them the Swashdrives he’ll probably never use a coil machine again.

He tries to stay away from Japanese theme tattoos, tribal, black and gray, traditional tattoos, and anything that require any sort Of reference. There are already a ton of artists out there who are awesome at these styles.

The tattoo artists who do his work are done by his good friend Jason Stephen and Greg Agner. As far as artists that he admires he has got a ton of them listed under his links section of his Website. But if he were to narrow it down to 10 then they would be:
1) Greg “Crayola” Simkins : Not only for paving the way for us character driven artists, but for also being such a great guy. Greg has opened my mind up a bit more and allowed me to feel confident in decisions I make in my art.

2) Gunnar: The way he captivates a, not so cute, situation in a cute way.

3) Tim Biedron: His bent perspectives on his characters as well as his original color combinations have really made me feel comfortable with the fact that I like to place eyes in places where they don’t belong.

4) Joe Sorren: There are no boundaries with Joe. If he feels like stretching one arm out longer then the other or squishing a face in the middle of a big head, he’ll do it. All while capturing a rather innocent feel. All his creatures/characters seemed deformed, but they carry themselves with confidence as if they aren’t concerned about how people view them.

5) Jason Stephan: Aside from being one of my best friends, Jason’s attention to detail and overall precision are unmatched. Not only is he an inspirational artist, but he’s also one of the realest people I know. Whenever I have questioned myself as an artist/tattoo artist Jason has been there to encourage me and keep my head straight. All of his goofy characters reflect his personality and he is one of the most solid artists that I know.

6) Jime Litwalk: Ultra clean artist with an uber cute style. I’ve always been sucker for simplicity.

7) Tony Ciavarro: Tony inspires me on many levels. Of course his art is precise and super clean, but his work ethic and business sense is impeccable. And to top it all off he is probably one of the most humble artists I know.

8) Michael Hussar: A super talented individual who captures the true essence of evil in all of his paintings. His stylized realism is something that I aspire to add to my art.

9) Scribe: Scribe creates these imaginary worlds/scenarios that at first glance seem to be kind of meaningless to the viewer, but as you look deeper, you see that the characters are extremely consumed by their situation. It’s kind of like a simple version of your everyday battles. His simplistic style, along with his ambitious ideas, have inspired the direction in which I have gone with my art.

10) Toast: Ever since I first started following his work, back in ’95, this guys kept me in awe. Everything he does is just mind blowing. His attention to light source and his ability to tweak just about anything, have truly laid a foundation in my mind on how to create an innovative character.

The best thing of being a tattoo artist is that it’s pretty laid back and you’re pretty much your own boss. The worst thing of being a tattoo artist (to him) is that it’s hard to draw a line between your business life and your personal life. He pretty much works all day everday.

His perfect ”dream” client is someone who comes in with super high ambitions and is willing to go as big as they can. He also enjoys clients who come in with concepts and cool ways to illutrate those concepts.

He said that he tried to get a little painting in a little last week. He mostly works in oil, but sometimes dabble in other mediums (spray paint, color pencils, and acrylic). As far as ”formal” art training, he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts, with an emphasis in illustration, at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Free time is definitely difficult to come by however he really tries and make time for sports. He plays on a couple soccer teams and dabble in a little Jui Jitsu. He also likes to watch a bunch of movies and really loves to travel. I think he means to plays in the movies because I know that I do like to travel through time in.

Last but not least he would like to have world domination because it is at the forefront of his mind. He’s got a ton of art projects on the horizon. He said that if you’d like to stay up to date on that stuff you can do so by subscribing to his blog on his Website.( WWW.JESSESMITHTATTOOS.COM). He only has plans to work one conventions right now and that’s TattooLapalooza in June of net year. He is really trying to cut down on the amount of conventions that he is doing, so he can stay home and tighten up the business a little.

Jesse Smith is AWESOME and super nice! I love his stuff! Take a minute and Check him out!!!!

Hell City Arizona

I went to Hell City in Phoenix, Arizona for 6 days. The first day which was Friday, there was such a long line to get in at noon. My Nana named Fran Oreto got her very first tattoo!!! She didn’t even have a beer, ONLY a diet COKE for the pain she was in.She got a fleur de lis with 2 peacock feathers on her right leg. She said that it hurt and I bet it would hurt. During Hell City there was Heck City for little devils. There was face painting, a coloring contest for kids, and temporary tattoos for anyone who couldn’t get a tattoo or who didn’t want a real tattoo. I saw Kelly Doty there and hung out with her for a few minutes a day through out the convention. I did 40 mini-interviews with people and got a bracelet with crosses and red beads, Hell City t-shirt, and a Black 13 coloring book. A few people came up to me and said they were fans of my blog which was great, I also got to meet some new artists, that hopefully I will be doing interviews with soon.I got a free t-shirt from my parent’s friend, Ryan, it had chinese writing on it an a design as well ( http://samuryanclothing.blogspot.com/ ). A tattoo artist named Mike Chambers gave me a print of a painting on his card and I thanked him a lot because that was like a one-in-a-million thing that happened there. I also got interviewed with my parents. The guy who did the interview with us his name is Adam,he does a blog too, it’s called, www.tv.bodymod.org . He has a interview up right now with Me, my mom and Joe. He said that I am the greatest bloger EVER!!!! When heard that there was a new blog out he went to the blog and scrolled all the way down and when he saw my picture he thought it was a joke. So, he called one of his friends and asked if it was a joke because of how well written and how well typed the blog was. He was shocked for a 10 year old to be doing a blog this well. But I only have like about 100 fans that like my blog already. When we were at the hotel we saw a chess and checkers game that was in the grass as the checker and chess board game. There was a croquet game there too, but they were HUGE!!!! There was like 7 maybe 8 different pools and a few different hot tubs. I got thrown in to the hot tub by Joe and it was very hot but then it just felt fine after a few minutes in there. Then when I went back into the other pool it was freezing and I mean FREEZING in there, but then it was just fine after a few minutes like in the hot tub. We were the last ones to be in the pool that last night before we came back to Florida. There was a water slide that twisted twice and then went straight down into the 3 foot deep water, it was AWESOME. Joe, my mom, and I went onto the water slide but I went the water slide a lot of time there. Joe went on it like ten times and my mom went on it only one time because of her dreads which I totally understand that. We went to the Phoenix Zoo and my mom got me a stuffed animal that was a leopard and it was pink with leopard spots that were pink as well. We went to the Cheesecake Factory for one night then skipped a night and got room service, and then went the other night after that, MAN that place is GOOD. When we were there I tried the Shrimp Tempera for an appetizer there, I loved it. At the tattoo convention I saw a Steve Ercal’s portrait that said ”Did I do that?” underneath the portrait, it was great. There was a side show that had 3 people in it and the 3 people did all these sorts of wild things. There were a lot of people in the booths and there were a lot of people getting tattooed of course. There were contests for people to enter there tattoos and there was an announcer named Jeff and his wife Sarah was doing the registration and she helped me with my 40 mini-interviews,and Lucious from the Suicide Girls. The subjects were Owls, Celebrites, and Animals or Creatures (keep a eye out for stories on them soon). The subjects for the contests were large and small black & grey, best overall female & male, small color, full back pieces, sleeves and more. During the Judging Jeff asked questions about random facts, did you know there’s 18 different animal shapes in animal crackers! My step dad judged with Chris Longo and a few other people. I had so much fun at Hell City Phoenix, Arizona.