sketchcornwell

Stoked for my next session in 2 days! Booked this one like 8 weeks out. Im adding on to my beer themed sleeve. I dropped off some reference material for hops and Barley and said I am open to mixing in some traditional tattoo subject matter. You can check out what I got going on so far in my Gallery. Artist is Dave Kruseman at Olde Line Tattoo in Hagerstown MD.

I’m not a tattooer, just an enthusiast. But I come from a fine arts background and have always had a lose painterly style. I typically use acrylic with a lot of paint. Not that long ago, I started trying to tighten up my style and learn allot of the techniques used for painting flash. For me the two biggest things were using the right paint and using very little paint on the brush. I’ve been using Dr. PH Martins, which have a very dense amount of pigment. The biggest challenge that I've had is having to be very deliberate and sure of each stroke. I used to just put the paint down more instinctively and if I didn’t like it, I'd just paint over it. That’s very hard to do when you want to leave allot of paper showing through. This is probably a good reason that I wouldn't want to become a tattooer.

Im pretty proud of my last name. It comes from English Heritage and I like the history. Rather than get my actual name tattooed, I got am American Traditional Take on my family crest. It was actually my first tattoo. - - - Updated - - - One of my best friends is heavily tattooed and has alot of great stuff. He travels all over the country and sometimes over seas for work. He has started this new thing where he is collecting what he calls "shitty tattoos" from all over the world. He walks into random shops, doesn't look at any books and hands them a napkin with a line drawing that he did on it. These have all been fairly small, linework only, filler tattoos. A few have ended up pretty cool, but for the most part, I cant figure out his thought process.

My local go to shop does these from time to time and ive gotten a few during these events. They draw up a sheet of flash. All the images are linework, but you get to pick black and grey or color and pick the colors for any of the designs. They usually get pretty busy, but ive never seen them turn anyone away. I dig all of the artists work, so Im cool with whoever is available when it is my turn. Ive seen other people wait around for a specific artist. I pretty much go to a specific artist for my big work, so as long as I like their portfolio, I like getting someone new for this smaller stuff.

Most of the nights Im out drinking with my tattooed friends, we decide that we want to go get impulse tattoos. So far, we have continued to loose track of time and have yet to make it to a shop before they close. This has worked out for the best because "A", getting tattooed while drunk is dumb and "B" most of the ideas I think up while drinking are dumber.

Im working on a sleeve that incorporates a stylized vine of hops with traditional tattoo images. My first few sessions completed a section of hops with 2 swallows and a clipper ship below. My next plan is to go into the inside of my arm with more hops and a traditional dagger. I want to get on my artists books in June after my beach vacation.

Lookin Good! I like the heavy use of yellow. It has a nice form to it. I really like the placement. Fits the body well.

Nice to meet you. Nice Start on your hops tat. Good luck crackin into pro brewing. What state? Are you opening a brewpub or shooting for distribution?

I just had a two session piece finished on the inside of my forearm. It goes from wrist to just below the inside of my elbow. 2 Days after I had my black done on that piece I had what I guess to be a slight allergic reaction. A burning Itching feeling (much different than itching from the normal healing period) and a few tiny red bumps. Its about the size of a 50 cent piece and its only in the area real close to the inside of my elbow, not all over the whole tattoo. I talked to my artist and he said my skin was probably extra sensitive and reacted badly in that small area. The black healed fine and the itchy spot went away after 5 or 6 days. After having the color done a few days ago, I have the exact same thing going on in the exact same spot again. Its sucky

Thanks Man. I love bold, clean, smooth shading, and bright saturated color. Your Tigers are Killer!

Those are indeed hops. Stylized, bright colored, hops. Im a huge craft beer geek and have been into home-brew for a while now.

Ive spent a while lurking the forums and browsing the galleries. Ive also watched all of the interview videos, which I loved. So now I finally got off my but and decided to be an active member. I have a background in fine art and Im a full time Graphic Designer. I have an appreciation for all the visual arts and I have recently developed a bit of an obsession for tattoo Imagery. Ive wanted a tattoo as long as I could remember, but I was always a bit of a wuss and was worried about the pain. Also, I would try to save up money for a tattoo, but would always end up spending those funds on something else. I was in the wedding of a heavily tattooed friend and as groomsmen gifts, we got gift certificates for a tattoo. Now I couldn't use money as an excuse and I couldn't back out. 2 Months later and I had an appointment. I had a great first tattoo experience and the ball got rolling from there. Ive been getting tattooed regularly now for a year and a half and Im proud of the work that I am wearing. My art background has made me picky with who I want to tattoo me. At the same time, my experience with working with design clients allows me the ability to trust my tattoo artist and usually let him do his thing. In addition to getting tattooed, Ive been really interested in the history of tattooing and how the process of tattooing works. I use to do alot of painting and drawing growing up and had to do alot of it in art school. My interest in tattoos has really gotten me motivated to draw and paint more. Ive been trying to learn the techniques tattoo artist use to paint flash. Its usually quite the opposite of the way I learned to paint, but I love the look of a well done painting in a flash art style. My regular artist (Dave Kruseman, Olde Line Tattoo) is really awesome with answering any questions I have. This is probably because he knows that I have no desire to become a tattooer. Thanks for taking the time to learn a little bit about me. Im looking forward to becoming a part of this community. Here are a couple pics