pathosda

Soo, it's been a minute. Lots of stuff going on, lots of changes in the works.

The shop was broken into about a month ago. They smashed up the glass door, a window, the display case and some other stuff. That sucked. This area of town just keeps going down hill, but there was some insinuation that it was done by others who were not happy to hear that we were moving shop closer to where they are established.

We're moving shop and I am so looking forward to it. We'll be in a bigger place and will hopefully be making some changes that will help things run smoother. I'll be giving more "shop manager" responsibilities in addition to my apprenticeship because I come from a business background and am decent at keeping up with stuff like that. I'm happy to do it, but am worried that the focus will begin to shift from actually completing my apprenticeship if I get too tied into the business end of things.
The shop will be offering other services besides tattooing, including screen printing, custom framing, airbrushing, henna and hosting art shows. I'll be doing the henna, which I'm looking forward to. I use to do it for myself and my friends back in the day, so I think it will be fun to get into in a professional way. We get at least a couple requests a month for it here at the current shop.

Between all the planning, cleaning, prepping, and the day job I've been offline a good chunk of the time. Hopefully I'll have some new stuff to post up here soon, though I'm thinking of opening a new account and deleting this one to bring my online handles into alignment. Just a quick post to say sorry I've been MIA. Hope everyone is doing well!

I won't be posting too many new pieces for awhile, for a few reasons.

Major reason is that I hurt my hand a little over a week ago. I managed to strain the tendon that runs across the top of the thumb. If you've never done this, please take my word for it that it sucks. My thumb got very swollen and immobile. It really sucks because it was my dominate hand. It's been in a wrap for the past week and a half. I wasn't able to draw or play xbox for a week, and can only do so now on a very limited basis. Gripping anything is still dicey. I did figure out this weekend that a paint brush isn't as taxing to hold, so I've been playing with acrylics and watercolours. Maybe I'll have something to post from those, but only if they don't come out total crap.

Second reason is that we're now in busy season at the tattoo shop. Most days are booked solid. Pretty much any free time I have is spent at the shop to help keep up with the work flow. I've also been reading up on the mechanics and tunings of a machine and have been given one to take apart, clean and put back together, if I can ever find a quiet moment to do so, and more line/shading work once my hand is better. Atleast my day job is semi quiet this time of year. I can multitask and get some of the appointment booking done during the day.

So if I don't post for awhile, it's just that I'm slowly working my way to a mental breakdown while having the time of my life.    It's energizing to see the shop so active and full of energy, and some really great work is getting done. Hey, maybe I'll post pics of what some of the artist do.

If you want any of the random updates from the life of a tattoo apprentice, i usually post a few tidbits a week on twitter. twitter.com/#!/pixxillatted

Have fun everyone!

The shop I apprentice at is needing another artist, for atleast a couple weeks to help keep up with demand. You must be licensed for 3 years, you will need a TN license. We are located about 15 mins from Nashville. If you know an artist or are an artist and would like a guest spot please call/email/or stop by.
Saintsandsinnersnashville.com  615-891-3552
Please spread the word!!!

I've decided to use my scrapbook here on DA. I'll be posting sketches, some times even pictures of the same sketch in difference stages of the work. Anything in this folder I would appreciate any feedback, pointers, commentary, oppinions, suggestions, heck even redlines if you feel that strongly about it. I take critism well as long as it's constructive, so please do NOT worry about hurting my feelings!I'm wanting to do art for a living! On people's skin! It needs to be the best I can make it. I'd rather be told honestly where you see a fault so I can correct it instead of continuing to mess something up unaware. I've learned that it's easier to improve your skill with lots of feedback, and I really really want to improve!
I figured DA would be a likely place to get some open constructive critism.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

There always comes a time when you look at your work and say, "ok, perhaps we need to move to the next level." I did this recently and began to draw more intricate line art to stiple. Now I'm a bit hesitant to start. :/ Hopefully I'll be able to get a good start on it during this holiday break, but if I don't post for a while it's probably because I'm slowly filling in the dots. Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!