Every once in a while, someone comes up to me and says Dude, I want you to do my tattoo. I’ve got the walkman motor and guitar string rig already. You’re the guy I want to do the job.
I don’t do tattoos, I leave that up to the professionals. Tattooing doesn’t just require artistic skill. Tattooing requires control of a very delicate instrument that shakes and rattles over a very fragile medium. On the other hand, I have done flash art for two studios, and designed tattoos for friends and peers.
So, it’s 1993. I’ve dropped out of my efforts to obtain a bachelor’s degree, and burned out. Stoked by my ego and a constant need for an art fix, I was convinced that I would be an A-List artist in no time. It was a bad combination.
How my parents didn’t throw me out of the house in Livermore, I don’t know. My life is a major contrast to what I was like back then. I was hitting new lows at being a bum and I thank God I was not on drugs, or things would have been much worse.
A friend from high school recognized me on my bicycle one day. She was in a similar boat, but looking for work, and straightening out. She said Rob’s Tattoos was looking for a flash artist. She said he was really cool and I should talk to him.
Thus began a great friendship and a good introduction into tattoo flash. Rob not only paid me for my work, but allowed me to hang out, draw, rant, and get ideas. Sometimes, as an artist, working space is everything. A tattoo studio is a compost heap of inspiration for growing art.
I don’t have many copies of the flash art I did for Rob, but I do have the poster I whipped up for his shop. It was a great gig, and would help me get involved with Kenny’s House of Pain in Santa Clara, but that is another story that comes with more art down the road.
In the poster, up top you can not only see the BDSM influence, but inspiration from Robert Williams, and mixing different visuals. This is something that tattoo studios often have to work with. Tattoo work can range from the obscene, to the wacky, to the subtle. The poster has all those elements.
Dungeon Net
Hogspy
