Making a connection with your tattoo artist...

ok , ok, we've all made fun of those tattoo artist shows on tv where the client tells their story and it's accompanied by an over the top dramatic re-enactment, but seriously....  There IS some truth to be told about the magic that happens when a client and artist make a true emotional connection or bond of friendship.  It makes it possible for us (the artist) to really dig deep and draw from personal experience and desires to give you (the client) a truly intense personalized experience, and not just a tattoo.  You will always remember us and it will make it more difficult for you to get tattooed by someone else who you don't have that connection with... heh heh heh see how we get our velvet claws in you? They go in sooooo smooth, you don't even know they're there!

Most of my clients are repeats, whether we're working on a big project like a sleeve or backpiece or just filling up their body with artfully placed memories... We definitely form a bond, I get to know them, their families, their ups and downs... and I'd like to think that they get to know me, too :)

I'm excited about some upcoming projects... one is on a long time client named Cheryl, whose upper back piece, "Truth Fears No Trials",  is in my Girly Tattoos section of my Art Gallery.  We are adding on to her 1/2 sleeve and taking it down to a 3/4 sleeve.  This project was started ages ago, Cheryl came to me with a fairy on her arm that wasn't quite what she wanted... it didn't have the right "feeling" to it.  The fairy was shaded in black, almost like a stone statue and she had tiny color wings.  I reworked it for her by softening up the shading and adding larger, more colorful & much more majestic wings and later we added a sugar skull, flowers, stars, and butterflies with light grey shading to give it just the right amount of balance between heavy and light.  To continue down her arm we are going to add some traditional Mexican "milagros" imagery.  Bright, colorful, whimsical trinkets will cap off her arm perfectly!  When she told me she wanted to add on but wasn't sure what would look right, I immediately thought of the milagros~ sacred hearts, fluttering eyes, mystical moons~ I'll post some pics once we get started on it!

I've got an appointment scheduled next week to do more work on Mary Kate's Victorian themed half sleeve.  The main focus of that piece is a lacey gloved hand holding a posey of flowers symbolic to the wearer.  Next week we are adding a luna moth flying towards a crescent moon on her inner arm.  Someone remind me to take pics! Hmmm maybe I need to get that tattooed on ME ? A fancy heart that says "Never forget... to take pictures!" ;) 

  I'm also looking forward to finishing up Michael's Japanese sleeve.  You can see the tiger from the lower half of his arm in my Beasts section of the Art Gallery.  He already has a dragon on his upper arm that we did years ago and since then we've added tons of stuff like a Kitsune fox goddess, a fox chasing a cunning little rabbit, and lots and lots of traditional background imagery like wind, fire, cherry blossoms, and craggy rocks.  Our goal is to have it finished by the Baltimore Tattoo Convention this year so he can enter it in one of the contests, yay!

Oh! And speaking of cherry blossoms, here is a pic of those watercolor style cherry blossoms I did at the Austin convention...