metalmancpa

Yeah he did. I think all good tattoo artists enjoy artistic freedom.

Cassette monster coming to life (I'm 59 - loved cassettes). The artist put my favorite bands logo (Opeth) on the shirt after I had decided no logos.

3 sessions on the thigh - finished Mar 2019. I go to my tattoo artist (Gunnar Gaylord now in OH) and tell him this......I had a childhood nightmare which I remember to this day. I was looking down the laundry shoot in the hallway and saw Rocky standing there looking in horror as Bullwinkle got eaten by the oil burner in the basement. This is what he came up with.

No regrets, no sadness or despair after getting my work done. But as many have stated, there was a short period post tattoo where my emotions were floating due to the permanency of a tattoo. In the same breath I was smiling at the work I considered top quality (thankfully so), I also understood that I was "altered" for life, and have no idea if I'd face a crossroad in the future where the tattoos might get in the way (which is stupid because they never should).

He showed me his sketch book when I got there, so I snapped pics. Then just the normal look in the mirror during a break picture :-). He gave me the last sketch on the right, and it's hanging up on the wall in a custom frame.

Credit cards = fees = less net $ to the artist. Some cards charge 2%-4%, and that's a lot. Why add that overhead?

I had these pictures, so I put them together to see how Gunnar progressed from my idea to the final product. I nixed the boombox monster so he went back to the drawing board (he had misread a few of my emails). The only 3 pics I took during the tattooing was after outlining, after black shading, and then the final product. I really liked his doodles as he began to think out what he wanted to do.

I was a cardio junkie for 25 years - 1 hour per day 5-7 days per week doing either the Elliptical or Spinning. Weight wise I was fine - 5'10.5", 162lbs pretty much for the past decade. Then in Apr 2012 I won a Facebook contest - got the Beachbody (makers of P90X and Insanity) program RevAbs signed by Brett Hoebel (was a Biggest Loser trainer for a year) and a Skype session with Brett. Totally changed me. In 90 days of RevAbs I took off 10+ lbs and 1.5" off the waist, and really got some good lean muscle. My core is strong. Since then, I've stuck with Beachbody programs, doing Les Mills Pump, then another round of RevAbs (different calendar), and currently doing Les Mills Combat. On deck is P90X. At 52 years old I'm in the best shape of my life, and back in Oct 2012 I kind of got proof of the benefits of my fitness. I ran a Spartan Sprint (obstacle course) race inside Fenway Park in Boston. Did obstacles like carrying a 60lb sandbag on my shoulders climbing up and down the bleachers, raised a 150lb cement block to the rafters, plenty of burpees, carry (2) 30lb water jugs down and up a long flight of stairs in the stadium, etc. Out of 3,060 competitors, mostly in the 20's to lower 30's age group, I placed 348th overall, and 4th in my age group (50-54), and without event specific training. I get a good mix of lean muscle strength training (lower weight, higher reps) and HIIT cardio with the Beachbody programs, and they work for me. Plus, once a day I have a meal replacement shake (Shakeology) mixed with fruit, peanut butter, etc, and that aids me in keeping constant with weight and overall fitness. In a way it's too bad, because I have some really nice home gym equipment that cost a lot of money that isn't getting much use these days. A Hoist V5 single stack weight machine, a Nordic Trac x-country skier, and Trimline treadmill, a spin bike, and a Life Fitness Elliptical. Now I use the DVD programs along with various dumbbell weights. Works for me.

There are some very good shops close to me (Boston). Off The Map is very well known. So is Redemption Tattoo. But based on initial recommendation and research, twice (Oct & Dec) I travelled 1,550 miles roundtrip to Ohio to have Gunnar do my work. The shop he works at, Red Tree Tattoo Gallery, is owned by Durb Morrison who runs the Hell City conventions. But Gunnar is humble, and he could be much more prominent if he chose to. His work is well known in the tattoo community as well as art, and for me he just "fit".

As stated in another thread, babysat our grandson for 12 days that just ended 2 days ago - that counts as awesome to me. In the past two years (I think that counts as recent), other than getting my first 2 tattoos, I went skydiving in San Antonio, zip lining in Jamaica, hiked the knifes edge of Mt Katahdin in ME, went to Hawaii to visit my daughter who is a nurse in the Army, raised almost $8,000 for pancreatic cancer research in memory of my wifes mother and sister who both died from the disease, purchased a sweet 12' travel trailer and started camping with my wife (something we both did growing up). That's my short list of recent awesome things I've done (at least awesome to me :) )

This is a short (well maybe not so short) list of some my my favorite bands represented in the 50,000+ songs I have, 90%+ metal. Since I'm 52 I've beenb listening to metal since I heard the Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin in 1969 and have never looked back since, so my list spans decades: Opeth (my favorite band) Led Zeppelin (was my favorite until I heard Opeth in 2001 for the 1st time) Dimmu Borgir Exodus Slayer Heathen Finntroll Bloodbath Jelonek The Tea Party (not really metal, but excllent nonetheless) Grip Inc Symphony X Testament Celtic Frost Dark Angel Gojira Annihilator Flotsam & Jetsam Vader Sepultura Borknager Crisis Meshuggah Cavalera Conspiracy Mastadon The Project Hate Hermh Candlemass Suicidal Tendencies Megadeth Hypocrisy Darkane Machine Head Old Mans Child Zimmers Hole Nightwish Biohazard Drain STH Death Angel Lacuna Coil Strapping Young Lad Otep Luca Turilli Nevermore Epica Susperia The Haunted Death Metal Church Naglfar Soulfly Hollenthon Enslaved Fates Warning Metallica Mortal Sin Dark Tranquility Mercyful Fate Sorry the list is so long. I think between my age and the people I know, no one likes metal so I never get to share or discuss metal with anyone. Too much pop and country lovers out there for my liking.

Just felt like sharing. Our 12-day babysitting stint is almost up (son & daughter-in-law visiting our daughter in Hawaii who's stationed there as an Army nurse). It was awesome having him for almost two weeks 24/7. Took days off of working as a 3+ year-old needs your undivided attention.

The one I did in October was right up his alley, as per Gunnar himself. It was the eagle rework that wasn't, and honestly when I asked I didn't expect him to say yes. We had some good discussions, and although his cute and creepy style is what he's known for, he said himself sometimes the art world can pigeon-hole you into a corner. As an artist, he can do more than that. I've seen it in his art and he's told me so himself. Portraits are something he really does not enjoy, but given artistic freedom, he likes branching out. If I get an idea for #3 (if I ever get #3), I'd probably throw it at him unless I knew without a shadow of a doubt another artist would nail the idea. It's his choice to say yes or no, not mine. I look at Gunnar as an artist known for a style, but not necessarily stuck in it.

I never gave the "bigger picture" a thought when I got my first tattoo at a street shop in Hawaii. When I got my 2nd from Gunnar, after almost a year of searching, that changed my perspective as I was so happy with Gunnar's outcome, I went back to have him rework the first. Now with my only tattoos technically being Gunnar's work, I'm a one artist person at this point. Now as I think about the "what ifs" of getting a 3rd, at this point my gut says go back to Gunnar. My reasoning isn't necessarily about conformity. My gut tells me that Gunnar, the artist, could make each tattoo look different enough that it may not be that easy to tell all my work was from the same artist. Now, if I ever got another tattoo that incorporated human hands, I know Gunnar's signature is four fingers and not five. Would I ever ask him to sway from his signature and do five fingers which would make the piece less recognizable as his work? Artistically I think he can pull a lot off, like doing portraits or even traditional. Of course I would have to find out if he was even interested (50/50 shot). I was quite surprised he took on my rework (not his cup of tea), and he said it was because I was a good client. Now I guess I'm even better, so if I went back to him again he may just want to continue to ink me regardless of what I ask (unless he feels really strongly he couldn't pull something off).

So far my home shop is 765 miles from home. Took 2 long road trips in less than two months to get work done. Totally worth it.