Leaderboard

Dammit! It's impossible not to be trendy, just got an outline on my solar plexus/bottom ribs. Guess I should've kept with my original idea, microscopic text in the shape of a robot behind my ear.

I was just curious as to how much time other tattooers spend drawing for tattoos outside the shop. On average for me, I can spend an hour or two doing research and/ or looking at reference before I actually start drawing. And an additional 2 to 4 hours ( depending on subject matter ) on drawing something about the size of a foot ball or say half sleeve. Part 2 of this thread: I was also curious about how much time tattooers spend painting or creating additional art not directly for a tattoo, IE: prints, flash,tshirt designs,etc. And how important is that aspect of being a tattooer? Thanks everyone - Dan Martin

Hi there, been lurking a while and thought I would sign up! Name's John, I've been getting tattooed for about 16 years. I don't tattoo, but I like to respectfully consider myself a student of the art and the history of the biz. Here's a couple of my more recent pieces- <--done by Timmytatts <--courtesy of Dustin Golden <-- Zach Stuka Thanks for having me, this is a great site :)

thanks heh, 16 years is enough time to accumulate some good and bad work Dral thanks, what shop are you at? I figure I will be out for the next convention Here's one more pic before I stop spamming myself- my smallest and my favorite, by an old friend Andrew Conner: Its my daily affirmation :D

Yeah one of the most inspiring influences in my tattoo life is Henry Lewis. He reintroduced the idea to me ( I had learned this in art school but let it fall by the wayside) after starting at Skull and Sword. Those guys are on some tattoo warrior shit. Henry has been open to starting over and taking instruction to better his tattooing and the tiny drawing thing is big over there. Seeing a wall sized cork board full of tiny drawings of back pieces and sleeves was pretty mindblowing.

I have thought long and hard about this and have changed my approach from time to time. I tend to be a workaholic, and I have made a general rule to keep work at work and spend my days off doing things other then tattoo related drawing. I try and clear the visual tattoo clutter out of my head by spending time with family, going to a museum, seeing a movie or show, or just going for a walk/hike or getting out on my bike. I feel like this approach has recharged my intentions and inspiration more then when i use to spend every waking moment searching for reference and thinking about my clients for the upcoming week. I try and have one day out of a work week (Wednesday for me, which is my Monday) where i sit down and knock out as many drawings for clients as I can. If that means coming in to the shop at 9am I'll do that. No music, no clients, no one else there yet. I just get out my references and start knocking out appointment drawings in order of priority. I find my brain and hand really respond to that kind of intention to just sit down and draw rather then trying to cram drawing time in between appointments and walk ins. And for those kind of appointments I try and have it all work out and ok'd so when appointment time comes i can just sit down and tattoo. I also got a really good tip from one of my other tattoo buddies to draw tiny. Like with a mechanical pencil to start with. Really little...like 1" x 2" no matter how big the tattoo is. Just to rough out a thumbnail of how i want everything to fit compositionally. and then once i like it in mini form I'll blow up that thumbnail and start working that way. It saves me so much time and energy. I'm not fully rendering things out that the client wants me to completely change. I show them the little guy and explain it to them and if they are into the idea i render it out. Also I started having a day once a week were me and 4 other tattooers meet up and draw and paint for ourselves. No talking about tattoos, or work and the images can be whatever we want. We all just bring a bunch of supplies and see what happens. It's been great for inspiration and productivity. Mario I think redrawing is okay if you don't drive it into the ground. I think artists need to tap into their intuition and go with what feels natural. I can always see it in my head and just try and get it down on paper. But i also always ask the imput of my co-workers "what looks weird? what doesn't work? how would you approach this?" okay i feel like i'm rambling now........

1.) Dead hooker from night before. 2.) Boiling cauldron used to bring back Madonna. 3.) Finger from a man who lost a bet. 4.) Gun used to fuck with bellhop. 5.) Bottle of "Fucking Cristal" because everything else is piss.

Fortunately or unfortunately I draw for every single tattoo that I do--- whether it's just redrawing a photo of someone elses tattoo that a customer brings in or designing the tattoo for someone based on their concept. I used to devote at least a full day a week, gathering reference and drawing. It's so hard to say but I agree with nico , I spend just as much time drawing as tattooing

you guys rule.

1) tiny lettering upside down on the wrist 2) paragraphs of tiny lettering on the ribs and inner bicep 3) even smaller tiny lettering behind the ear.

Just saw this on the LST Reddit Account:

baked potatoes are so awesome...i love to rub them with olive oil and kosher salt so the skin is tasty.i used to have to go to outback steakhouse with coworkers and i would not eat the steaks becuase the quality wasn't great but instead would order a baked potato for lunch. it was like $2.50 and so good.