Richmond tattoo arts festival.....

[suburbanxcore]

Forgive me in advance if these pictures are huge or upside down or something. I tend to mess up picture uploads, but I figured I'd post up some of what I have.

Two friends and I left Philly around 9:30 Friday, made it to RVA for a late lunch, hotel check in, and a trip to the convention shortly after it opened. I had an appointment with @Scott Sylvia, but we had some time mix ups, so he asked me to find him Friday and we'd straighten it out. So I went over to the Blackheart booth and he told me he'd get me in second or third Friday night depending on whether or not everyone showed up. Long story short, they did, and I finally got into the chair at 9:30. He drew an insane rose and dagger on in about 20 minutes, then absolutely knocked it out in just about an hour and a half. By 11:35 I was done and beyond excited. I can't say enough great things about getting tattooed by Scott. He was funny, pleasant, easy to talk to, and all around fantastic. I was glad he was able to change up the schedule and get me in so easily, and I can't wait to get tattooed by him again.

While that was going on, a friend of mine popped around to a few booths debating a walk up in addition to his Saturday appointment with Mario Desa. He ended up getting a nice little bowling pin eagle from Mike Fite and having a blast in the process.

Before we left on Friday, my other friend left his number with Mike Adams (from Hold It Down in Richmond) about a walk up on Saturday. That morning we got some breakfast and lunch, and while we were waiting to head over for my friend's 3PM with Mario, Mike called. I drove them both back to the convention. Mike Adams knocked out one of his shadow Lucifer's on my friend, and the other got a nice folk bird from Mario Desa.

Along the way, I saw a handful of other awesome tattoos. Seeing Blackheart, Rock of Ages, and Great Lakes Tattoo all in a row was pretty insane, and I saw all of the guys at those booths crank out awesome tattoo after awesome tattoo. Some of them are below. I'd never been to a convention, but all in all I had a great time. There were plenty of solid artists to get work from, it was never too crowded, and Richmond is a killer city. I hadn't been there in a few years, but I had a blast. My friends and I will likely head back to that convention, regardless of whether or not we get tattooed. Edit: I should also mention that another friend got tattooed by Danny Reed at Absolute Art (not their booth) on Friday afternoon. I kinda regret not getting over to their actual shop, and next time I'm in RVA I intend to do that.

Tony Hundahl working on a set of hands and a friend's stomach.

Murder's row. Scott Sylvia, Cody Miller, Steve Byrne, Tony Hundahl, Frank William, Mario Desa:

Civ working on a backpiece (can be found on IG):

Mike Wilson doing a panther rose, which I believe he put on IG:

[Iwar]

Thanks for sharing that with us @suburbanxcore! Your shin dagger turned out fantastic!!

[Graeme]

@suburbanxcore Thanks for the report and pictures and that rose and dagger is a perfect tattoo!

[suburbanxcore]

No problem, folks. Glad you're enjoying everything. Forgot to post my friend's folk bird.