A month Unfinished

(Dont forget you can click on the photos to enlarge them)

So I’ve been slow to update lately. No specific reason beyond lack of time. When I have found myself with that precious few moments of time to myself, I have avoided the computer completely. That said, there are a few photos to post on here. Most of them are a testament to the fact I have an ungodly amount of unfinished/work in progress tattoos floating around out there. To add to to that, Holly and I took a trip to New Hampshire to visit friends (Hobo’s Tattoo Shop in Portsmouth)… and start even more works in progress. I am honestly not that slow, there is just a ton of work wrapped up in these pieces…. And maybe a little slow to boot. Haha

Anyhow here are the photos from the past little bit…

This concept to this Thigh tattoo is the girl is sleeping, her dream self is being attacked by the demon, and there will be a Shoki on his ribs going after the demon. Thats about as condensed as i can make the explanation.


This is a color sitting on the "Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner" rib tattoo.

This is a section of a leg sleeve I've been working on. We are finally nearing completion on it, and I can't wait to be able to get photos of the finished product. It has been every bit of two years in the making. Wow it is strange to think it has been that long.


This one is the start of a sleeve representing Lourdes in France. This part is St. Bernadette doing as she was instructed by bringing a candle, and she presents her rosary. The upper arm will be Mary in the stones with the healing spring flowing down. We finished the lower part on the last sitting, and I’m looking forward to starting the next section.


This was done in Portsmouth on a good friend Kim. She and her husband Jason Scott own Hobo's Tattoo Shop. It was nice to actually start and finish a tattoo in one sitting for a change.


This was started on Cody, the apprentice at Hobo's. He liked a series of my paintings and wanted to apply several of the elements into his tattoo. It's hard to tell in this photo, but he got it on the back of his knee. He sat like a rock. I can't wait to color the rest of it... tho I'm sure Cody may be just as happy to wait a bit. The real hard part to doing this was the fact that it is surrounded by some pretty damned amazing tattoos. No pressure like looking at a Jeff Whitehead piece that was technically perfect Just above this one. I wish i took a photo of that one just to show you what a good tattoo looks like.

Ok well thats all the photos it looks like i can upload. Lucky you.

Thanks for taking the time to look at this stuff.
Take care of yourselves, and by all means, let me know what you think.
-Scott

Hobo's final artwork, and more on sleeve

This week I finished the illustration for Hobo's anniversary party. The sketches and concept art were posted in a previous post here. The final line work was scanned and made as a giclee print on watercolor paper. Then i stained the paper with tea and coffee, and its good to go.
It will be part of:

Hobo’s Anniversary Party/Art Show featuring Micah Blue Smaldone
Date/Time:	Saturday May 30, 2009
Time:	8:00pm - 12:00am
Entry Type:	Anniversary
Location:	Loaf and Ladle
Street Adr:	106 Penhallow
City:	Portsmouth
State:	New Hampshire
Zip:	03801
Notes:	Celebrating over 25 years in Portsmouth! Come celebrate with us. No cover charge, free food, and an art show and music

As for the tattoo...
This is the 3rd sitting on this sleeve. The overall concept is to have ghost pirates being pulled into the underworld through a gateway. Today's sitting was this ghost. There is a swirling pattern to continue from one ghost to the other, with a flame pattern whirling throughout as well. It was about 2 1/2 hours worth of line and shading. The entire thing will be colored in a later sitting. I've been really lucky to have the chance to work on some pretty damn fun tattoos lately. The fella that is getting this one drives up from Baltimore for each appointment. With dedication like that to his tattoo, it really makes it easy to put my all into it as well.

More zombie stunts... Hells yeah

Today i got to add on to a zombie themed forearm 1/2 sleeve i started a few weeks ago. It all started with the guy in the suit. That was the only specific character the fella wanted to work in to the scene. He described it as a Zombie in a suit, reaching out... so that's what he got. That one still needs color in the face and hands. He was happy enough with that part so far, that he is letting me finish out the rest however i see fit. Awesome!

The game plan is to have a full street scene. Ill post photos of the layout for all of that when it gets fully figured out. As for today's sitting, I drew up the girl that got her arm pulled off by the feeding redneck in the background. We got the line work and most of the color on that section today. All in all its a challenge, but fun as hell trying to make all of it into a coherent scene. I drew it all on to be sure things would fit together, and read well... but i lost the photos to a camera problem. Ah well.
Heres what i have for now...




Thanks for checking this stuff out. The whole goal to this blog is to motivate, myself and anyone that happens to check out the page. By all means let me know what you think.
Be well
scott

Workin' on a shirt and painting

So the plan is for a Tshirt design and a painting of the same graphic to be sent up to a dear friend for his shop's anniversary. I'll get to that, but first check out my buddy's deal...

Hobo's Tattoo Shop in Portsmouth New Hampshire will be celebrating their 27th year in business, and it's 10th owned by my good friend Jason Scott. Jason is a hell of a tattooer, and a badass painter as well. He has been busy as hell working on the shop, painting, putting on shows, and oh yeah, tattooing full time as well. somewhere he found the time to paint all of these in the past few months... click on the photo to check out Hobo's myspace page...


As for the artwork I'm putting together for their show, it's in the works. So far here is what ive got rolling. The idea is to go with the New Hampshire state motto of "Live Free or Die" the rest of the toast that became the motto is "Death is not the Worst of Evils" Pretty much the most badass saying ever. So the main part is pretty obvious, the Zombie revolutionary soldier is going inside the frame. It all works in theory, ill post more photos when its finished.

The days events..

Today was a fair mix of prep and drawing time, with some on the fly i forgot i had to draw action.

First was the prepared drawing. This one I'm really stoked for. The fella came in and asked for a "Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner" rib tattoo. A pretty good size to work with, and a bad as hell idea. It was fun getting to show him the sheet of flash with the same theme I had recently started painting. Pretty crazy.
The first part of the artwork was drawn to fit on his hip, but i wanted to see how that fit before i add the top half for his ribs. It fit great, and there is plenty of room to fit death, ice, and the ghost ship. The design is based slightly on the artwork of Dore, but he allowed me the freedom to do it my own way.


As for the forgotten drawing, it was for a fellas hand. He wanted the date of his upcoming wedding, and his upcoming wife's name a little smaller. A tad risky for the tattoo to come before the wedding bells, but who am I to judge. He was willing to let me fancy it up a bit with some roses and banners, so here it is.

The Decisive Moment

This tattoo was a trip to put together. The fella that got it is a pretty damned great photographer. The photos below are some of his work.(Click on the photos to go to his site) His idea for the tattoo was to represent the decisive moment as it was established by photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. Then we decided to blend that image with other photos that he liked. The ghosted hand and black and white photo are to show the idea of stealing or capturing the moment(s) throughout the tattoo. To take Dan's ideas and work them into a tattoo was without a doubt a challenge, but I'm really glad he gave me the oportunity to work this out.



If you have the chance, check out Dan's website. As of now his portfolio part is in the works, but if you click on the "recent" button it will take you to a collection of his photos. Damn fine work!

Mission Statement

I'm gonna just get this rolling with a mission statement. Both for myself, and for anyone taking the time to read and view what I have to say and show. My main goal with this is all about inspiration. Mainly in the artistic sense, but occasionally in the more pseudo spiritual/intellectual manner as well.

When I can, I hope to show artwork I have been working on for tattoos and otherwise. Also to show some of the things that inspire me. Photography, other artists work, whatever seems to be hitting me that day.

If possible I would like to make it a semi regular exercise. I’m doing this primarily for me, but in this format it will force me to keep things more thought out, clear and concise.

I’m sure there will also be a bit more of a journal vibe to things. More venting and bitching than just inspiration. So lets see how this plays out, and hopefully ill make upcoming posts more interesting than a damned mission statement. As I said, this was more for me to establish what the hell I’m doing.