The original piece was done for her daughter some 20 years ago and the new piece it is was done for her daughter today. Same daughter new tattoo. Thanks for sitting still as the Buddha.
Bubbles
Recently I was asked to provide some updated portfolio pieces for 27’s internet outlets. More specifically, myself and the other artists were all asked to find pieces that we felt were representative of our strengths and what we would like to do more of in the future. I hated this task. I am definitely guilty of being overly self critical and obsessive to a fault. My preferred modus operandi would to take around 90 photos at the finale of a tattoo project, obsess over all the reasons I have to doubt my photography skills and eventually not post any photos til about 6 months later when I realize I’m getting way too many questions like “Hey, do you still tattoo?”
Fortunately for my own sake, once the assignment was pressed upon me by an external source I was able to find a few photos of recent work that I feel are solid representations of what I’d like to do more of. I have more thoughts on the matter that I intend to express here at some point soon but my son has grown tired of The Incredibles 2 and I’ll have to leave it here to go play with bubbles as requested. Thanks for looking.
Smooth not Crunchy
Today was a good day. All the friends were in the shop and we got to cruise through a well framed and mostly healed piece past the finish line. All that and I had two bagels for breakfast. It was a good day.
I would like to do more of this and offer a definition of what “this” is. Yes bears are rad but more broadly what I love about making a piece like this is the opportunity to focus on wild gesture and gritty over-done detail all within the same piece. The bears fur and the closer perspective of the wood/tree bits coming up and around the entire structure give us the opportunity to focus in on some dense textural elements that be manipulated into any shape necessary to create any interesting flow and structure to complement and move with the anatomy of the wearer. The use of the bear as well as any quadrupedal, bipedal, or centipedal character offers the us the chance to create wild gestures in the focal points of the available space creating more interesting shadows and structure within the piece.
Long story short, I like tattooing figures like animals, bugs, humans and more as well as organic structures like trees and plants and stuff. If you’re interested, I would like to do that stuff.
Bears
Baphomet
Still pretty early in the coverup but I am very excited with the scale and commitment to harsh contrasts we have planned for this piece. The wings in back are going to be pretty much completely black to aid in the coverup and sell the impressive boldness of the concept as a whole.
Thanks
I’d like to put this piece out there offering one free session to the person willing to take it. It is designed specifically for a female bone/muscle structure. I may in the future do the same for a male specific piece but for now we have this. Please contact me via email at KOLOUNGA@gmail.com if you’d like to take this piece.
Thanks.
Dope Stuff
While there are several different approaches to the preparation of artwork I do for tattoo clients, this method is possibly my most preferred and the most unhealthy. This is the result of the DOOM soundtrack at 1am and frantically scratching in borderline unintelligible textures while throwing out weird ominous light sources to justify jarring temperature shifts. It is the product of fighting sleep to scribble one more claw, horn, or fin to muddle together the feeling that there is no escape from the beast of the depth as it emerges from the chasm it intends to pull you back into. Maybe I should go to bed. Maybe I should keep drawing.
Commitment
Finally. Thank you Christian for staying with this one. It is a great sacrifice of real estate to demand so much space for pure blackout but if you ask me it was worth it. There is still more to this sleeve but I am so happy that this section is complete.
Limited Color
We still have a lot of work to do but I am thrilled with the way this color palette is coming together. I’ve had a natural predilection for producing black and grey or monochromatic work but have spent the last 3 years putting more concentrated efforts toward understanding color. I still tend to lean toward a limited color palette but I am pleased with what has come of the last few years.
Filtered or Unfilitered
The left photo has some saturation and glare taken down and the right is presented as shot in-camera. I like to take down the saturation in some photos to downplay the redness and irritation caused by tattooing. That redness eventually goes away so I feel that this is not a misleading representation of the work. I do think there is a fine line between cleaning up photos for presentation and completely deluding myself and others to what my ability actually is. So for my own edification here is an unfiltered depiction of my work.
New
I thoroughly enjoyed the start of this. It will be a long time before l have any photos of completed work as we wrap up and around this entire leg but I cannot wait for more.
More Please
Negative space in a blackout. This is what I’d like to do more of. Unfortunately I don’t think we’ll have a finished photo on Christian until the fall but I am impatient. Whether it’s a bird, a wizard or some wild amalgam of the two I want to make more in this style.
Almighty
If you tell me to do whatever I want you are walking out with a fistful of lightening. Long Live Crom.
Healed
And not so hairy.
Tabby Cats of Unusual Size
I like what came of this piece. I tried to employ a few thing I learned from the spinosaurus I made a few months ago and I am quite pleased. Thanks for taking this one off my hands Ryan.
Not All Dogs Go to Heaven
I don’t have much to say today. I loved the way this session added to this piece and I think I’ll lobby for more pieces to match this process of black and grey layered underneath a bold singular temperature color palette. We still have more to go on the rest of this back piece but I thoroughly enjoyed the outcome of this most recent session.
My upstairs neighbors have the dumbest piece of garbage ankle biting dachshund. He’s whining right now and I want to pelt his stupid crap face with with old baby food. He is not a good boy and I hate the sound of his terrible shit feet pattering across my ceiling all damn day. He is the product of poor evolution and should be left to fall into extinction. I have news for my neighbors: Not all dogs go to heaven.
Color and Light
The scope of my abilities and knowledge of color and light were perilously narrow before I came to 27. Putting in the hours to learn from trial and error was no foreign concept to me but I had not yet experienced the benefits of working so closely with such a dense collection of educated and curious people. I have Vic Back, Moroni Gonzalez and Annelisa Ochoa to thank for the acute upturn in my application of color and light in all mediums.
This piece is not yet done and has been a massive experiment for me but I am very happy with the progress thus far.
Blastasaurus
A fun style.
I can easily get lost in the tiny grit and texture if you tell me to bust out the hella-tite three and go to town with a basket full of dreams but Kayla asked for anything but. She wanted bold texture, deep blacks, high contrast, and a gnarly snarl on this partial water beast a.k.a The Blastadon of Antioch.
It was a task to tell myself not to do what has become instinctual and I am pleased with the result.
Medusa
How many times have you, the tattooer, been asked to execute a Medusa’s head? Not nearly as often as it has been requested have I been given the freedom to break away from the typical wet lethargy that so many Medusa pieces convey and arrange a woman that I would welcomely turn to stone for.
I don’t know what that was supposed to mean at all. The first sentence seemed provocative enough to get something of a ball rolling but ended up going nowhere. I had hoped that I would have some lengthy explanation as to why I loved this tattoo so much but I don’t think I really care to convert thoughts into clear sentences today. I love this tattoo. That’s all I got.
27
Working within the walls of 27 has made me smarter and better at my job. Had I stayed where I was I don’t think I could have accomplished a piece like this in the same time frame. I’m sure I’ve beaten their ears to death with my constant inquiries of color and light and approach to composition but I owe much of my capability now to the current and former northwest corner of our studio. Norf Side Forever.
