August 24th, 2010 4 Gratefully received comments
So I saw in the news recently that the government plans to clamp down on eBay and other Internet sites selling tattoo equipment. This is a step in the right direction.
Its actually quite shocking how easily available this stuff is to kids, the amount of underage kids that come into the studio with terrible tattoos they have done themselves is rising. I’d say we get one or two every week at least here in London. These are 15-16 year olds who managed to get this stuff off eBay and scar up their body’s and their friends.
Its easy to blame this increase on Miami/la/London ink shows on TV, however tattoos are on the increase in popular culture. Movie and pop stars, fashion models and TV presenters are now sporting an array of tattoos for impressionable kids to see.
Its not just the fact that they are doing bad work they may regret that bothers me, but the fact that they are not properly sterilizing their equipment, this risks spreading blood borne diseases such as hepatitis c, hiv, and tetanus.
This has been a problem for a long time, “scratchers” working from home are nothing new. Its not just in the UK either, they have them in pretty much every country, in Australia they call the “backyarders”. I think the most alarming thing of all is not that it is still going on but the age of these kids now getting hold of equipment.
All this stuff was available when I started out in the industry, yeah I was tempted to buy an eBay machine so I could practice on fake skin, but I decided to do things the right way and apprentice at a studio, where I would learn things the correct way and not pick up bad habits.
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August 13th, 2010 - leave a comment
So quite often while reading tattoo magazines and forums or occasionally while working in the studio I come across an argument about tattoo artists that don’t have tattoos. Now everyone has a different view on this and it will probably be a conversation that will go on as long as there are tattoo artists and tattoo studios.
Now my view on this is having lots of tattoos does not make you a good artist, I have seen some shocking work on people coming into the shop from other studios and the customer says “well they had lots of tattoos and looked the part” well all I can say to this is what I always say to people going to a new studio, check portfolios people!
I can see where they are coming from I wouldn’t trust a dentist with no teeth!
To me a tattooist with no tattoos is disrespectful on a few different levels, firstly having tattoos helps you understand what your customer is going through, you know how it feels and you can sympathise with them, also if you are taking from an industry and making money from it you should give back to the industry, go seek out artists you like an get work by them, you will learn a hell of a lot from watching and talking to them! This is more of a lifestyle then a job.
So you don’t need to have loads of tattoos to be a good tattoo artist, if you work hard you will be successful and put out good tattoos. But if your life and blood is tattooing and you love it so much why don’t you have any tattoos?
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July 21st, 2010 2 Gratefully received comments
So I must say I was a bit shocked today when I logged into the site and saw 49 comments waiting for me on my blogs, when I started the site it was a new platform for me to show my art and what I do, I thought that most people reading it would be my fiends and family and some of my customers, so it was a pleasant surprise to read all your comments and I am extremely happy that people are finding this useful in some way!
Hopefully this post will be informative and useful to you, I think it is important for all artists to share knowledge and how they approach things as every artist works in a different way, by working and talking with other artists we can all improve and learn.
In the past few weeks I have been painting a lot, I have just moved from tube watercolours to ecoline watercolour ink, which is a great medium to paint in, very smooth to blend and the colours are really bright!
I have been using 300gsm cotton paper with the inks and have found the results to be the best I have ever produced.
I normally line all my watercolour paintings with fine liner or brush pens, you definitely need waterproof ink so they don’t bleed when you add colour, I use faber-castell pens, they are waterproof Indian ink.
I use my own saliva to first wet the area I am working, you can buy pre made fluids for this, you don’t want to use water as saliva and fluid is a lot thicker and will make the ink and watercolour spread slower so you have far more control over it.
Similar to tattooing I always work dark to light, when painting. I normally do the whole painting in black and grey first then go over with colour, working dark colours through to light colours last. So for example, blues and purples first yellow last.
Once I have finished I used coffee to stain the background, I use a light coffee wash over the whole background, then I use a second darker one over some areas, freeze dried coffee it perfect.
This is not THE way to paint in watercolour, many artists will do it very diffentley, but this is the way I do it, this is not the only way but it works for me!
craigy
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July 6th, 2010 - leave a comment
so,
been quite a creative week for me this week, and here is the result!
I just watched ‘stoney knows how’ a short documentary about old school tattoo master Stoney st Clair, filmed just before he passed away in 1980. Stoney was an incredible man and i suggest you go check it out, its available to stream free (and legally) from folkstreams.net and there are some short clips on the youtube which you can check out.
I was very inspired after watching it and decided to do a set of very very traditional flash, 6 pages of old school roses inspired by stoney st clair and of course sailor jerry, very thick outlines and only 3 colours, with an ink brush pen and watercolour.
If you are an artists and want to trade/swap a set contact me!
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July 1st, 2010 - leave a comment
So it seems i never settle for long at least not yet anyway,
Lots of my friends seem to be buying houses, getting married, having kids an settling down and quite frankly this scares the crap out of me, when you settle down into a routine and get comfortable you get lazy, your art and mind stop growing and you become apathetic, jaded and dull.
Tattooing is an art in which you are a lifelong apprentice, there is always something to learn and share with other artists, things to try experience and develope and travelling keeps you fresh. New places, studios and artists keep you as keen and eager as when you were an apprentice with fire in your belly and goodness in your heart.
In the two years i have worked at Ouch i have grown as an artist and person considerably, i have shared good and bad times with the team there and become a better person for it, so it is with great sadness and lot of thought that i have decided to leave, thankfully with the support and blessing of the ouch team.
I never leave any chapter of my life with a closed door, and i would like to thank andrew, tim, miguel, paulo, darek, chris, alex, natalia and kelly for being such a great group of individuals.
I look forward to the next chapter in my life, as myself and my partner india have both been granted working visa for australia. It is quite literally the other side of the world from london and i look forward to learning and sharing as much as i can with new artists there.
So if you fancy getting tattooed by me before i leave hit me up on here or by facebook! heres to the future!!
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June 23rd, 2010 - leave a comment
So the conventions this year are in full swing and there are more then ever in the uk this year somewhere in the region of 25 which is crazy, the idustry is growing as is peoples interest in tattooing.
So far this year i worked two conventions and one bike show, the tattoo i did at bournemouth on the sunday got through to the handful of finalists for best of day, which was a huge compliment considering the caliber of artists working the show.
I very much enjoyed attending reading convention, there were a lot of younger artists working which was great to see, i also got to meet Ian of reading who is probably the most normal and down to earth tattoo artists i have ever met, considering the mans reputation an the fact that he has been working in the industry for around 30 years. I have met many less experienced artists with much larger egos and terrible attitudes, who could learn a thing or too from Ian.
so get out to your local show, support other artists and studios, get tattooed buy or trade flash or a sketchbook and support the industry, talk to other artists learn and share knowledge with them and who knows what kind of art will be produced in 5 years from now!
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May 31st, 2010 107 Gratefully received comments
so im being lazy, my friend elliott did this interview for his degree, it was done a while ago but i thought it may be interesting.
Missing the point; Stereotyping the tattooist.
Finlo Rohrer’s’ article So why do ‘normal’ people get tattoos? Published by the BBC in 2007[1], identifies a change in attitude towards tattooing through recent decades. Rohrer says tattoos were “[…] once the mark of the outcast, of the rocker and the rebel […] (yet) it’s now just an everyday thing.” Since the articles publication, tattooing can it seems, be seen more frequently on mainstream television, on programs such as La Ink, Miami Ink, and London Ink, as well as on the body’s’ of well know celebrities in the media.
This interview will aim to portray the change in attitude towards tattooing through the eyes of a tattooist, once an agent of dissent, now the ‘en vogue’ artist.
I am Sitting here with Craigy Lee at Ouch Tattoos’ flagship branch on Ealing high street, in the sterile glass walled enclosure at the back of the Hippie Heaven ‘head’ store; it’s easy to imagine yourself as an attraction for customers of the shop, peering in to the tiled space where the artists work.
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May 7th, 2010 - leave a comment
There is something very special about London, Working in London has a great vibe, it’s the city full of promises that promises nothing, but where if you work hard to be top of your game you can get somewhere.
when I worked as a tour manager the London date of any tour I worked on was always the most looked forward too. I went to see the king blues in town last week, and I think it’s the atmosphere and crowd that make London so great for bands, and this mentality in the people that make it so great to work in.
when I started my tattoo career I knew London was the place to be, the art, museums and culture are some of the greatest on the planet. There’s always somewhere to go, and something to do. Sure you can kick back and get comfortable in a small town but getting into that comfort zones stops challenging you. when you stop being challenged you stop improving and if you stop improving you will not get any further. Keep your mind open keep learning and pushing yourself!!
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April 30th, 2010 - leave a comment
I don’t know if anyone watched the new series of Battlestar Galactica but I just finished watching the last season and it left me thinking about a lot of things, mainly about a higher being or presence that intervenes and guides us in the right direction. Everything happens for a reason!
During many times in my life I have made bad decisions, decisions that people warned me against and told me not to do but I did them, and a lot of those times it went wrong and people could say “I told you so” but all those small fuck ups were a chain of events that lead me towards being where I am today, and more importantly becoming a tattoo artist and finding the career I love.
Now I have always believed in karma, doing good things for people and getting it back in return, treating others how you wish to be treated yourself. Maybe this is karma hitting me up, or maybe this was suppose to happen and that was all part of the journey! Food for thought I think!
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April 21st, 2010 - leave a comment
so this is my first ever blog! this is whats on my mind at the moment!
life art and tattooing are a journey, we are all apprentices and never stop learning! there are times i wish i had listened more, or watched more closely, but when opportunities arise again watch and learn. we may take something away from every artist we work with even the worst ones, and by sharing knowledge the industry will move forward and become better. be humble continue to listen and learn and you will blossom.
And to all those thinking of buying cheap equipment from ebay, don’t waste your money, do it the proper way, if your determined and good enough doors will open for you.
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