Artistic Process: some new "machine-free" tattooing

I've been catching up on some larger machine projects since the market season, but here are a few hand tattoos done at the studio and conventions in the last month or so.

Enjoy!

Well, we finally got the new T-shirts printed. I must say I was a little surprised at the overwhelming response they have received. What started as a funny idea to poke fun at machine tattooists has turned into a real phenomenon... or perhaps it is just Loki's pretty face that sells :-)

I just wanted to thank Henrik Lund Mikkelsen at hlms.dk for bringing our vision to life and to Boff Konkerz for coining the phrase "machine-free tattooing"

We will soon be taking orders for these and will also have stickers of the design if you drop by the studio.

Deyr fé,

deyja frændr,

deyr sjalfr it sama,

ek veit einn,

at aldrei deyr:

dómr um dauðan hvern.

The client originally wanted this phrase in one line around his forearm... well, we kept it to "one line", however it ended up wrapping 4 times around the forearm. Much better and stronger composition

Added a Couger and Wolf to each side of a Haida tree I did earlier this year. Just have to add some tails under the bicep and we are done

Finally got a healed photo of these two calf pieces. 

The Thor's Hammer with Midgaards Serpent was done a few years back at a Viking Market.

The Yggdrasil with Odin's 2 ravens Hugin & Munin in the branches was done earlier this Spring.

Day 1 at the Stockholm Ink Bash.

Custom Thor's Hammer with Grylemask over 7 hours

Day 2 at Stockholm Ink Bash

Custom "Tooth & Nail" Dragon with round Carp scales and lots of spirals to keep it feminine.

Done over 9 hours

Day 3 at Stockholm Ink Bash

Some more feminine tattooing in the form of Inuit sewing

Some inspiration for the design

 Did the fingers below some previous sewing on the wrists the other year 

And finally... not my usual thing design wise, 

but solid lines and dots are. 

Z-Tattoo: Interview with guest artist Dmitry Babakhin

While attending the Berlin Tattoo Convention this year Zsa Zsa Mattsson, editor and chief of Z-Tattoo Magazine, met my friend Dmitry Babakhin and was so impressed with his work she asked if he would be interested in doing an interview. Because of Dmitry and my friendship Zsa Zsa asked if I would be willing to do the interview. To forgo problems with written English we merely waited until Dmitry came to Copenhagen with his family and we could sit down one evening and talk. So it is with great pride that I introduce one of our favourite guest artists to the Scandinavian public.

Enjoy!

Cover of the new issue of Z-Tattoo Issue #22 2014

  Dmitry (Dmitrij in Swedish) sitting in a house constructed of Karl Von Den Steinen's book "Die Marquesaner Und Inre Kunst" of which Dmitry owns a first edition.
Photo montage by Michael Tonsberg.

Arms and calfs

aside from arm and leg sleeves Dmitry is qute well known for his larger pieces on women

Another example with address

Through my years of travel I've met and befriended many traditional Polynesian artists from Samoa, Tahiti, Hawaií and New Zealand. Dmitry Babakhin is "Not" one of these :-) Dmitri comes from St Petersburg Russia... which is as far away from French Polynesia as you can get. Despite this "handicap" Dmitry had a burning desire to specialize in the Polynesian style. As the Polynesian style has blossomed over the years, Dmitry has been at the forefront... and by specializing where there are no others, Dmitry has acquired more experience at large scale Polynesian tattooing than most native tattooists have.

   When asked about designing a good tattoo, Dmitry says that the best tattoos are firstly “Anatomical”, secondly “Cultural” and finally “Personal”. 

   Just as Dmitry is an Ambassador for the Polynesian style within Russia he has also become an Ambassador for Russian tattooing in Europe by travelling to many conventions, doing guest spots in Germany, Holland and Denmark, and then inviting European artists to Russia as his guest to attend conventions and work there as a cultural exchange.

   When asked about Russian tattoo culture Dmitry says that the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions Russian tattooing is the prison and mafia tattoos. But this is fine as even the Japanese and Chicano tattoos have this clouded past. It is part of our culture… we don’t need to forget it, there is no shame in it. It sort of adds to the mystery and danger of tattooing… something that is lost today.

   Dmitry began tattooing himself at the age of 14 with a homemade machine he constructed from a cassette player and a guitar string. He later plied his trade aboard ship in the navy for several years where he was educated as a navigator before being given a chance in a street shop in 2000. However life at sea left its mark on Dmitry, not just in his lust for travel but also in the romanticism of the early seafaring explorers.  As a boy he used to read the novels of Jules Verne, James Fenimore Cooper and Daniel Defoe and this as much as anything led him to sea and eventually tattooing in the style of the Pacific islanders. 

   However the path chosen wasn’t a simple one as information at this time, especially in Russia, was very scarce. Dmitry would scour museums, antique stores and books shops for any bits of information he could find. The Hermitage and Kunst Kamera in St Petersburg were a wealth of information and when abroad he would continue his search. Despite barely speaking a word of English he began attending tattoo conventions and doing guest spots in Europe with other tribal specialists who recognized his talent and passion. This passion has finally paid off as now he is recognized as one of the top artists in his field.   

   So if you have always dreamed of a Polynesian tattoo but couldn't afford the ticket to Tahiti, here is your chance to see something from a Master and Ambassador of this style.

Artistic Process: some new machine work in progress

Been home for a couple weeks and trying to catch up on a few machine projects I'm working on. Thought it was time to post something before I head out on the road again.

Enjoy!

Added some more freehand dragons on Claus to compliment his forearm and half back piece
Claus' back was featured in the book Black Tattoo Art several years ago and for his birthday he promised himself some more.

Ravens or Crows on another old client who is getting quite a bit of work recently after a 12 year pause

Started a Tetra Dragon sleeve on Yann from France. Good start, but a ways to go.

And finally finished Nikolas' Negative Dragon 3/4 sleeve. I previously had done a 1/2 sleeve of negative petroglyphs surrounded by geometric patterns on his right arm... this time he wanted some of my dragons but we opted to keep it in the same negative style.

An older "Tooth & Nail" Dragon from over a decade ago. You can see the NeoTribal influence from the time. I was really proud of these type of dragons as they fit well with the body and were able to cover a large area in a limited time. They were also one of the first designs that I had people start requesting specifically from me. The designs were good, however at the time I was only working with 3 liners and Pelican ink... so it was a nice opportunity to go over this piece and freshen it up with thicker lines and darker dots.

Round 2

Sköl & Hati the offspring of the Fenris Wolf (or Geri & Freki Odin's 2 wolves) around a Thor's Hammer

I really hurt this client the first time by outlining the whole piece in one shot (or so I thought... but he didn't complain once). However we have made good progress and I'm hoping we can finish the wolves next visit.

Start on Finn's Sutton Hoo Grylemask.

Future plans include Ravens around on the ribs on each side, framing in the Helmet/Mask.
(the previous work above is not mine)

Continued Thor's battle with the Midgaards Serpent from the "Blood Gods" series.

The client is a soldier and needed a piece that could be covered by normal clothing (in this case a pair of shorts) Technically this looks finished... but we still have a few hours on the nasty bits on the inner thigh.

A old friend of mine has been wanting a tattoo since she was a teenager. Styles were different then, however after her own 2 sons have gotten tattoos she decided to follow her dream.

Y sheep cant sleep.

The Y Ddraig Goch is the symbol of Wales and an impressive addition to this Belgian client's collection of travelling  tattoos. I love heraldry animals and would love to do more.

Round 2

  

And finally a one shot Custom Gylemask to balance a Freehand Dragon we did on the client's other arm a few years back.

Thor's Fishing Trip

Today is the Opening of "The Body Electric" an exhibition of art by tattooists 

being held at the Ricco/Mareska Gallery in New York.

I was contacted by the guest curator Margot Mifflin about exhibiting a few works in the show and was very honoured to do so... especially after seeing the quality of the artists list.

I presented two original pieces, both representing the saga of Thor's Fishing Trip.

Thor's encounters with his nemesis are legend, but perhaps the most popular of them is when he goes out on a fishing trip wth the giant Hymir. Hymir is described as being a bit reluctant to go fishing with Thor. When Hymir refuses to provide Thor with bait, Thor strikes the head off of Hymir's largest ox as bait. 

 They row to a point where Hymir often sat and caught flat fish, where they drew up two whales, but Thor demands to go further out to sea, and does so despite Hymir's warnings.

Thor then prepares a strong line and a large hook and baits it with the ox head, which JörmungandR/The Midgaards Serpent bites. Thor pulls the serpent from the water, so hard that his foot goes through the bottom of the boat. The two face one another, Jörmungandr dribbling poison and blood. Hymir goes pale with fear, and as Thor grabs his hammer to kill the serpent, the giant cuts the line, leaving the serpent to sink beneath the waves.

An 18th Century Icelandic manuscript illustrating the story

A Runestone/Picturestone from Sweden

One of my hand coloured prints of the original drawing and inspired by the runestone

(Temporarily out of stock)

The Midgaards Serpent tattooed on Jesper below some previous work

A new freehand piece showing Thor about to smite the Serpent with his hammer Mjolner

Burn & Pillage Tour 2014: National Museum Viking Market

The Vikings are Coming!

Large Viking Market with horse whisperers, music and meat, battle shows, mead and "TATTOOING"

 I'm really proud (and a little surprised) that we got top billing on state funded museum event when you consider how conservative minded these institutions tend to be. It's gradifying to get recognition from the National Museum as it shows that they actually realise the historic and archaeological significance of tattooing throughout the ages,

Thank you :-)

The Vikings take Copenhagen led by Loki "Blue Tooth", King of Loki's Freemen

Street music 

 Outside the beer tent

 Just because it's not a find, doesn't mean they didn't have it :-)

 Hand spun and dyed wool lights up the street

 Loki's girlfriend Salma checking out the wares

 The Carpenters

A petroglyph design from Italy was inspiration for a new tattoo on Inge Mette who has been to the site and attended some lectures on these birds of prey

I reversed the design so that it faced forward on her leg and did it in pointillism to give it a lighter feel and more three dimensional look. Although all the remains of prehistoric tattooing have been rendered in solid black I like using this technique with petroglyphs as it emulates the pecking technique the original artist would have used when chipping these designs into stone.

 Here is another petroglyph from the same site which was used as the inspiration for an earlier piece on Inge Mette

  

Inge Mette has been collecting a fine flock on her left leg.

The newly finished tattoo... above that an earlier petroglyph from the same site done by our guest artist Cy Wilson a few years back, who is known for solid graphic work. Poking out from the top is the head of a phoenix hand tattooed by Tebori master Horimyo from Japan while guesting at Skin&Bone. Finally, Inge also has a Hornbill hand tapped on her foot by Jeremy from Monkey Tattoo in Borneo also while guesting at our studio. 

 Sack and Burn Charlotteborg!

The pyre for firing the pottery

 Heathen devil music

 

 Got to tattoo an Reid rune using a more caligraphic style to imitate brush strokes

 A brass band passed us in the nearby canal... Nanna's uncropped photo says it all :-)

 Early morning meditation of our "Ølsmed", Kristian.

Hard to remain zen like while sitting in the middle of the road in downtown Copenhagen on a Saturday morning

 Sifting through the charred remains of the pottery burning

Some of the finished results of earlier work for sale

 Our home away from home

 A woman's work is never done.

Brigitte gathering wood for heating the cauldron used to dye wool and faberics

 Cirkeline enjoys the view of Charlotteborg from our tent.

Cirkeline's market stand.

Probably two thirds of the comments were about our "Sabertooth Tiger Skull"

 Day two:

Tattooing Katinka, the daughter of two archaeologists. I was very excited to get to do this design, for although it isn't very Viking, the actual piece resides in the Prehistoric collection of the National Museum

The aurochs bone from Ryemarksgård has some of the earliest representations of humans carved into it.

There is much speculation as to the meaning of these symbols... some say shamen, others dancers, however they are more popularly known as pregnant women. As to the jagged lines on the right... no one knows. 

Close up of the process.

We placed the figures from the center of her sternum going around the side until the center of her ribs. A tender spot for a first tattoo

Lascaux cave painting of Aurochs

Auroch from Vig skeleton now residing at the National Museum in the same room as the carved bone

. The circles indicate where flint arrow heads were found... as the auroch was discover whole it must have lived with these marks from previous attempts on its life.

 The completed piece... nice simple linework,

my speciality.

And the wearer of the art work