A walk in the cemetary

Turk and I walked to the most amazing cemetary todAy. Sandro had work to do writing music (he's in a band I'll get into more at another time) so the two of us geeked out for a few hours. The cemetary is so massive, we spent a few hours there and still missed a good portion of it.

We are planning to head out for dinner and a bunch of drinks in a bit, so To conserve time I will just post photos. These were all taken on my phone. I took a ton with my camera that came out way better, but they will have to wait until I can upload them to my computer. These still came out well, but they don't really show the sheer scale of the place. Anyhow, here they are...

Location:Via Legnano,Milan,Italy

1st day in Milan

After being driven to the airport by a dear friend, (thanks Jim) We flew out of JFK. We got out about an hour before they grounded flights due to the snowstorm hitting the east coast yet again. It sounds like it was a good one. The storm last week started a roof leak in the shop that did a fair bit of damage to the walls and floor. I can only hope this storm doesn't make things much worse as all the new snow melts.

As for the flight, it was uneventful beyond the woman sleeping on the floor next to us. She was spread out in the center exit row. Turk and I tried to get some photos of her, but didn't want to use the flash and scare the other sleeping folks.

Upon arrival at around 8am local, the customs folks were great. I only wish all border crossings were as uneventful as that one. We took the train from the airport to downtown Milan where we met an old friend of Turk's (and a new friend of mine) named Sandro. He and his girlfriend Elodie are kind enough to let us stay the week with them in their amazing apartment.

After settling in at the apartment and recovering from the long flight, sandro took us for a walk around the city. It was a grey chilly day, but fine for a long walk. We made our way through the park directly across from their apartment. Walked through a castle where Holly and I spend a good bit of time going through Two years ago. It brought a sense of familiarity that I didn't expect. Form there we made our way to the Duomo Cathedral. Again this was a place Holly and I spent a bunch of time on the last trip to Milan. Having said that, this visit was no less impressive. I took a ton of photos that I will post here, but will have another post when I get the other shots from my camera. The photos will have to work in place of description because there are no words for the feeling brought on by this place. Both turk and Sandro are not fond of heights, but we still went to the rooftop of the cathedral. Again photos will have to do it justice where words cannot.

After leaving the Duomo, we walked around the city visiting a few galleries and antique shops. We also came across a pretty amazing art supply shop. We each picked up some pencils and sketchbooks in hopes of making the time to do some life drawing around the city.

Upon returning to the apartment Sandro started cooking dinner and we relaxed until Edodie got home from work. We ate, drank lots of wine, and talked politics late into the night.

All in all a pretty amazing first day in town.

Location:Via Legnano,Milan,Italy

less whine more substance...

So my last post was a bit on the negative side. Im sure I will get back on that topic again, but for now I’ll get back to the usually scheduled subject matter…

My head has been all over the place lately so it has been hard to focus long enough on any one thing to accomplish as much as I would like. I keep giving myself extra homework on top of my drawing for tattoos for each day. Some days, my focus is unwavering, and others I can’t even get a line on a page. Creativity is definitely something that comes and goes for me. I’m sure most folks reading this can relate. To a degree that is why I have been keeping this blog, to motivate myself as much as hopefully some other folks as well.

The Milan convention is coming up mid month, so I have been trying to get a new painting done for that. I have the concept drawing/layout figured out, the hotpress is stained and ready to go, I just need to transfer it and get to painting. Hell, there was even a point of going out to take some photos for reference. It feels good to go find the settings myself, instead of just finding photos from flickr or some other photo database. The photos that are going to be used are all from the creek just down from my home. Passing it every day, it will be fun to interpret it within the scene. One of these Sundays, I will just have to get my act together and set up a box to paint from life rather than photos. I’m pretty excited with the concept so the drawing came together pretty quick. I will post the storyline for the illustration once it is finished, for now I’ll just put up a blurry photo of the pencil drawing. (this was also posted on twitter earlier, I just wanted to explain it a bit more here.)

As for the Milan convention, I cant wait to get back there. Turk will be joining me again on this trip, and I look forward to seeing the other cast of folks when we get there. Sure it sounds obvious, but I really look forward to these shows and the folks I get to see while there. I don’t do too many conventions, so it stays fresh for me. I can’t imagine being the sort of fella that goes to show after show. I just don’t think I like people enough for that, at least the crowds of people anyhow. I will of course post photos from the show and from around Milan. It’s a beautiful city, with some amazing artwork. It gets overshadowed by other grand cities in Italy, but should not be missed!

There are some tattoo photos in this posting as well (go figure) I have continued pretty lucky with my customers. They have really been giving me some great ideas, and then the freedom to run with them. I have had quite a few consultations with folks regarding upcoming appointments, and I cant get them started soon enough. Time management has become a constant battle. I need to just commit to a specific span of time to draw each day. easier said than done. The hour commute has its drawbacks for sure!

I have had some ideas for other blog posts, but I will need to just focus on one topic at a time. These epic update posts are fun, but I cannot get into anything too deeply. Watch for some slightly more focused themes in future posts. Until then here are a batch of photos to roll through…
Be well
Scott
here are some ref and layout photos of the new painting in the works...

 

 next are some tattoos and concept art. 

1st is a pair of drawings for the start of what will be a sleeve. these designs are intended to border an existing tattoo so it works with the rest of the sleeve. i'll post updated images as it goes along. it will be a pretty crazy tattoo when its all done. 

 

next up is a drawing and start of a hula girl. it was tricky placing this one as he wants to keep the web. we already did an aircraft carrier with an f-18 on the backside of the same arm. that was posted in a previous blog. this section will tie in with the other when all is said and done.

 

next up is a pretty deep concept piece. this is the start of what will fill from his knee down. it is to be tree people (think ents from lotr)  carrying children away from a ruined polluting city. this will be the largest closeup of one of them, the rest will zom out as it wraps around his leg. whenever i do a full wrapping image, it helps to use a large image that breaks up the vertical view. the idea is to break up the scene vertically so the perspective still works, even though it wraps around and meets itself.

 

the last tattoo is the first sitting from a burne hogarth illustration. i dont often copy someone elses artwork, but in this case, it was the perfect design. we will indeed be changing the design in the next sitting where i will be adding something to the open section of his head. so far the thought is a fetus in there, but it isnt 100% just yet. the guy that is getting this tattoo is another tattooer named frank rudy. he is a genuinely good fella, with some pretty damn cool paintings and tattoos of his own. he works out of timeless tattoos in bordentown nj.

the last photos are just some scenery shots from out and about. the snowy ones were a fluke day. i had no idea it was supposed to snow, and woke to about an inch and a half. nothing crazy, but it was all fresh out there, and i didnt want to pass a chance to go roaming around the property with hoss (our badass brussles griffon) the very last shot was one that one of my customers sent. it came out pretty rad and my mom likes to see pics of her little kid at work.

 

3 steps to a better tattoo community

So today at the shop we had a nice talk about the state of tattooing. More specifically, we discussed the fact that the whole trade seems to be going into the shitter. Yeah I know that is sort of a wide range statement so I’ll try to specify as much as possible without getting too down on everything. Honestly it was a pretty upsetting conversation.

The whole lovely conversation started when Joy pointed out a statement “Inked” magazine had made in their recent issue. Apparently they plan to open 400 tattoo studios in malls across America. Now I would have figured that statement alone would be enough to strike fear into the hearts of every tattooer. It seems I was wrong. I tried to find more info online and found a bunch of people in a forum trying to defend the move. Many of those arguments were from either folks that worked in malls already, or defended the decision as a brilliant business move. It all actually made me sick to my stomach. Talking about that bit started an afternoon’s conversation that covered all, but not only the rant below…

One of the main things that got me interested in tattooing in the first place was the idea that it was still a craft and not a business. It is steeped in tradition and a sense of integrity that gets lost in mainstream art. It has done that by staying, as a business, extremely small. Amazing really, considering it has been around for as long as it has. That small size has kept it manageable and able to be policed by the few individuals that paid their dues to the craft. It was inevitable that tattooing would grow to the gross proportions it has today. Within that growth there has been progress undoubtedly… but I fear it has grown too far past its ability to self govern. There are magazines that publish darn near anything sent their way (or so it seems… id hate to see what they turn down), there are conventions that seem to only have a criteria of affording the booth fee, and there are shops being opened left and right as “business ventures” where the owner has never even held a tattoo machine or if they do indeed tattoo they are green as hell (can you say blind leading the blind). It seems every time you turn around mediocrity is being rewarded and recognized as greatness. If you add that to the overblown sense of entitlement that has swept the nation, you’ve got a perfect storm of bullsh*t.

I don’t think its possible to ever get the good old days back, but if we are going to still have a hand in our own industry we need to take some steps to keep it ours. Simply complaining isn’t worth the time to write, so here are a few ways to start getting a grip on the industry we have built:

As tattooers we need to take responsibility for our trade, our art, and the service we provide.
1. If you are new to the trade, it is important for you to keep yourself in check. Unfortunately as pointed out, you will be told how awesome you are by magazines, show promoters, and customers. Don’t be fooled. You still shouldn’t be attempting that color portrait as a tattoo. If you cant draw it, you cant tattoo it. Self govern.

2. If you HAVE been tattooing for years, HAVE paid your dues, and can tattoo better than everyone on your block… good for you. Now accept the responsibility for your work. Stop with the how to videos, the online step by step tutorials, and for all our sake stop trying to ride this wave till it crashes. You are killing your own industry. Self govern.
lastly (for now)

3. If you don’t tattoo at all… stay the fu*k out of my business. I have worked too hard to watch you run my passion into the ground. You have no right owning a tattoo shop just because you have the money to open one. (let alone 400) I cannot stress enough the damage done by you and your kind. Leach.

I do apologize for the complaining, I usually try to keep this blog positive. Next time will be more pictures and good feelings I promise. Now I gotta get some sleep so I can get up early and draw my ass off. Long day tomorrow.
-Scott