So, over the last two days i have probably gotten more emails than i have gotten in the last 6 months combined. i am still in process of responding to all of them, and am about 90% through the pile. a lot of the emails are for commissions that i am really excited about.So my plan now? finish a commission each day that I am not working, and also while still doing my job. so far (as in today) it has worked fine, but i assume i am going to collapse from exhaustion, or that my hand is going to be permanently deformed by the end of this.One of the reasons i have requested that most of the commissions be in black and white, is my desire to brush up on my drawing skills. I feel that over the last few years my ability to use a pencil has declined greatly, and i am hoping that practicing every other day with these commissions will help me out a lot. A handful of these commissions (both tattoo and wall art) are simply "draw whatever you want", which while at first seems incredibly daunting, have ended up being a lot of fun.
So a question that has come up a lot over the years, is why am i so picky about doing certain tattoo designs? it's not really a matter of being picky i guess. I think a lot of people assume that i am just generally against tattoos, which is pretty funny considering the fact that i myself am rather tattooed. Tattoo art is a huge inspiration to me, and i have the utmost respect for tattoo artists (and half the time wish i was one myself).quite honestly the real reason i usually decline offers, is i don't really think my work is up to par with something you would want on your body for the rest of your life. There are a lot of things to regret, and i can only hope that my work is not one of those things for people....hell, i have the name of my dead brother, Ryan, on my left wrist for the rest of my life, i know a few people would regret that, but I certainly do not. A friend of mine once said that you can never regret a tattoo, because they can only remind you of who you once were. Now i would like to point out that this friend of mine is completely covered in tattoos, and i would bet my right leg that he is regretting it, or some of them, now. I am a firm believer in being able to be ashamed of who you once where.but in reality, i love doing tattoo work. There is something so simplistic and beautiful about it all...i just have to ignore the fact that people actually get them done. I also have come to the realisation that my line work is ridiculously hard to replicate with a tattoo machine. I know of a few people who can do it well, all of which i can count on one hand (though, obviously there are probably a lot more). I hope this kind of explains my trepidation about tattoo designs in the past. but, thats the past. I have done a handful of designs over the last year or so that i am extremely proud that people actually have gotten. My friend Jeff (works at the studio where I get my tattoos) asked me to design a tattoo of a mermaid for him....and after a lot of restarting and deliberation, i did the design above.
Jeff offered to repay me in hours under the needle. Normally i would have been super excited about this, but i basically had 3 days to come up with something i would want on my body for the rest of my life. And after thinking about it for a while, i decided to get a design drawn myself. Now let me tell you, this was by no means an easy decision. I am still a little uneasy about the whole situation. But man, you've gotta love japanese style tattoos.
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