deeperthanwar

OK, so this is a few days late, really, but I just wanted to give a quick round-up of my recent trip to the UK.
I had the honour of playing the part of Best Man to my old roommate at his wedding in July (photo by Hubert Hung), so I hopped on a plane and made my way back to the motherland for a week.  This was a bit of a strange experience in itself, because I went without Beth and Addie.  One advantage of this, however, was that I was free to do a lot of work while I was there.

I was there for 7 days, and only took one day off.  I ended up doing some really interesting pieces, and tattooing some even more interesting people.  I finished off pieces that I started over a year ago, and started work on others.  I did everything from small bits of lettering to full colour sleeve work.  I'll be posting pictures on the gallery page when people send them to me.
I tattooed police officers, nightclub managers, Ultimate Frisbee Internationals and Illustrators.  I had a great time, to be honest.

The problem is, I came back more tired than when I left.  I'm taking another trip over in October, this time with Beth and Addie.  I'm not taking my stuff with me though - think it's time for a bit of a break.

Some really interesting pieces coming up before that though.  Expect another post in the next few days about my links with the Coptic tattoo tradition.  Exciting stuff!

We have now officially opened the Deeper Than War studio.  This space is dedicated to the design and creation of excellent tattoos and artwork.

Deeper Than War is a registered with the government of Ontario.
The studio meets all health requirements: non-porous floor, all washable surfaces (for tuberculocidal cleansing).  We only use disposable, pre-sterilized single-use needles and tubes.
We also proudly follow all waste-management guidelines.

Welcome to the DEEPER THAN WAR STUDIO. It has a calm, friendly and relaxed atmosphere.

Consultations and tattoos are by appointment only.  Drop me a line to set up an appointment.

Thanks to everyone who has supported this venture, be it financially, spiritually, relationally, by getting their hands dirty, or cheering us on during the renovation.  We love you all a lot.  Glory to God!

I've been listening to a lot of Elvis and Cash recently.  A lot.  I particularly like playing it while tattooing.  I think that it has something to do with rockabilly being so linked to Americana and the slightly romanticised image that I have of tattooing in the 1950s.

Anyway, with the new studio nearly ready for action, I've been inspired to ask people what they would ideally be listening to when they get tattooed.  You know, a bit of research to see what the punters are after.  I posted this question on Facebook and Twitter a few days ago, and got an interesting set of results.  So, without further ado, here's a pick of the bunch:

Neil Young - The Needle and the Damage Done
T-Rex - Bang a Gong or Get it On
Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter
Johnny Cash - Man in Black
Albert Hammond Junior - Yours to Keep
Elton John - Tiny Dancer (I prefer the Ben Folds version)

Some people just suggested artists:

Viv Murrell (bit of shameless self promotion there, I think...
Rise Against
The Ramones
John Mayer
Foo Fighters
Guns N Roses

Another person suggested something slow and soft to calm you down.  Not a bad thought.  In fact, I have thought something similar before.
Interestingly, at least two people named things that they had actually listened to whilst I tattooed them.  I think that goes some way to showing how important music is to the tattoo process.

And of course, James Bower would like me to sing him a sea shanty.  James, if you ever get a tattoo, I would love to sing nautical songs to you.

Anyone else have any thoughts on this?  Perhaps I'll put together a compilation album or something...

For the last year or so, Beth and I have become more and more involved with the deaf community here in Toronto.  We both work with a boy who is profoundly deaf, and recently, Beth has started working with another boy with a severe hearing impairment.
Not to mention that for the last eight months or so, we have lived with our friend Sallyanne.  Sallyanne has a slight hearing impairment, but both of her parents are profoundly deaf, so her first language is, in fact, American Sign Language (ASL).

I learned a short while ago that names in ASL are usually assigned to a person by another signing person.  Often, the name assigned is the first letter of the person's first name.  This letter is then signed in a particular place, to distinguish that person from any other people with the same name.  When Beth and I learned this, we decided to ask Sallyanne's mom to give us sign names.
Having taken a few days to think about it, she got back to us.  She had decided that my name should be signed by tapping the letter M twice on the inside of my forearm, because I am a tattoo artist.  Beth and Addie have their initials signed in the same place, as that is standard practice for people of the same family.

I'd planned to blog about this a while ago, when we were given our names, but it works out well that I waited, because I had my first deaf client yesterday.  She brought two friends with her, who were also deaf. 
My knowledge of ASL is still very limited, so I wasn't able to communicate as effectively as I had wanted.  The experience has encouraged me to work harder at signing, as I think it will be an invaluable resource, particularly in my line of work.

On another related note, Beth and I have been thinking of getting sign tattoos.  We're not sure exactly what form they would take, but would almost certainly be a series of pictograms of signs, either spelling out a word, or using the signs for words that make up a phrase.  The jury is still out as to what they would say.  I'll post more on this when we have a better idea.

Do you know of any deaf people with tattoos?  Do you know anyone with an ASL tattoo?  Drop me a line and let me know!

I hadn't heard that Beckham got a new tattoo.  It was seen for the first time in January, when he took off his shirt at a football match. 

It's a picture of Jesus, of all things.  Thoughts?

The upcoming World Cup in South Africa will probably be a great opportunity to see some really nice work from around the world.  Keep an eye out!

Good point, Jerry.  But what do you think is reasonable to charge for a tattoo?
It's been a philosophy of mine (and Beth's) for a long time to make art accessible and affordable.  We don't think it's right to charge a huge amount just because you can, so we don't do it. 

Then again, when I tattoo someone, I put my all into it.  I've usually spent hours working on drawings, preparing things and setting up the studio.  I will often take hours to tattoo a piece onto somebody.  And when I'm done, they will walk away with something that they keep for the rest of their life. 

I was looking at Scott Campbell's website the other day.  No doubt he is a great artist.  But is he really worth the $300 an hour that he charges?  To be honest, I don't think he is.  What frustrates me, is that a lot of people go to him, and pay his huge fees, just because of his name.  Many of them are getting tattoos that most artists could accomplish just as well. 

The other end of the scale, and this is something that I was discussing with Jen the other day, is that you can price yourself too low, and put people off that way.  Many people expect to pay more than bargain basement prices, otherwise they suspect that the service or product you are offering is sub-standard.  Not only that, but in our experiences, it often leads to people assuming that they can take you for a ride.

I don't, by any means, want to price people out of the market, but at the same time, I want people to value the work that I'm doing for them.

Any thoughts on this?  Good/bad experiences?

I've been out the shop for more than a month now.  It's been good to take a little break after everything that happened, and to take stock of where I'm at, and where my family is at.

This past week, I've done a couple of pieces for friends at home.  The sun room that I'm using isn't purpose built, but it is certainly doing the job for now.  It is bright, clean, and calm. I've not been advertising myself as an artist, but the work keeps coming in anyway.  It's that time of year again, I guess.  My classy new tattoo bed should arrive in the next few days, and that will make it easier.

This summer, we're transforming our spare room into an awesome, professional private studio.  We have done our research and you can expect it to be pretty cool.

In the meantime, I'm thinking about finishing off my sleeve.  The upper arm is in desperate need of more work, and I've just about done the drawing now.  My good friend, Kevin Smith is going to work on it, when he returns from some crazy extreme sports in Arizona.  I can't wait to see the finished product.

Maybe that's where I'm at with my career in tattooing at the moment.  I just can't wait to see the finished product.  I don't know exactly how everything's going to shape up yet down the road. I've enjoyed the last few weeks, taking a break from tattooing, because It's given me a chance to learn a little patience.  Everything is going to come together, but for now, I think I just need to let God work it out.

It's Easter Sunday today, a day to remember that Jesus is not dead, but that he rose again from the dead so that we can have eternal life.  Hindsight is a wonderful thing - we can look at what He did on the cross, and recognise it as the ultimate sacrifice.  Jesus died to defeat death.  But we only know that he was victorious, because he was resurrected.  To be one of his disciples, close friends, family, on the day he died would surely have been torture. 
I suspect that, in their position, even if I'd had faith that He would return from the dead, I would have really struggled through those couple of days having seen him publicly executed.  Watching all that I'd built my life around dying in front of me.  I would almost certainly have felt like I was in the pit of despair.

It's so much easier when we look back after the conclusion of an event to see that it was all going to work out in the end.  Right now, I'm waiting for the time when I can see how it all works out.  But the good thing is, I know that Jesus was raised from the dead.  The situation now is infinitely better than it was before He died; before it seemed there was no hope.  And that's what I'm looking forward to.

Peace.

I'm in a time of transition again.
I've been noticing for a while that the shop I was working in is a little slow on walk in business.  This is partly deliberate - the owners wanted the shop in a more residential area, with a different feel to many of the tattoo shops you see downtown. 

It's also become clear that there is a clash of values between myself and my boss.  I've mentioned on here before that I'm a Christian, and many of my clients are too.  As a result, we often talk our faith and political outlooks. 

While it's certainly not been my intention to offend anyone, some of these conversations seem to have had that effect.  It's important to me to provide a place for my clients to speak freely, regardless of what's going on in their lives.  So, now, I find myself making the decision to leave the environment I was in, where that wasn't possible.

Right now, I'm looking for potential shops to work in.  I had an interview on Monday at a successful studio that's just moved to Mississauga.  I'm waiting to hear back from them, and I have an interview on Friday at another Queen Street studio.

I'm not really sure where this is going to end up, but I know it's going to be good.  I have been holding off on appointments for the first couple weeks of March just so we can get a better idea of what's going on.  What's for sure is that by the end of the month I will be established

I'll keep you up to date.

So, winter is always a slow time for tattooing.  At Christmas, everyone's spending money on other people instead of themselves.  In January, everyone's spent their money.  Plus, no-one is really thinking of getting a tattoo when it's so cold out that they can't go show it off.
But winter is an excellent time to get a tattoo. You don't have to worry about the sun while it's healing.  Unless you're really into swimming, you can more easily avoid the pool during the cold winter months.

Maybe that's why February starts to speed up. 

While I've been in the shop one or two days a week over the last couple of months, this week I'm in four days, most of them with more than one appointment.  It's nice to be getting lots of work again.  I'll post pictures when I get a minute's break from actually tattooing.  In the meantime, check out the gallery.  I've added some pictures from the last couple months that I didn't put up yet. 

And don't forget to drop me a line if you want to get something yourself...

Lettering is a HUGE part of tattooing; it always has been.  At least 50% of my clients want some lettering in their tattoos, and many choose to have lettering as the sole element in their design.

Recently, I've found that I'm wanting to move away from using computer based typefaces so much.  They're perfect for smaller pieces, where legibility is the key, but they can be a little limiting, and if you're not careful, you might choose a typeface that ends up as the next Comic Sans or (possibly worse) the next Papyrus.

BJ Betts is a legend in the industry.  Most custom artists will have one if not all of his Lettering Guides 1-3.  So when I was wanting to work on my custom lettering, I had no question as to where I would look.
Betts looks at the art of custom tattoo lettering in a whole new way.  Here's what he has to say on the matter in the introduction to his second Guide:

 “I think, looking at a name or a character that you'll be tattooing, you should approach it as an illustration, versus a typefont. “Draw” the name, instead of “writing” it, if that makes sense. Draw the lettering as if you're drawing a heart, panther, eagle, whatever.

People say their handwriting absolutely sucks. I say draw that name, don't write it if your writing sucks.”

It's a whole different approach, and it makes for great results.  I drew the piece above for a friend's scrapbook.  I feel much more confident now in my custom lettering, which is invaluable when you work in the way I do.

Do you have a piece that you want me to create with custom lettering?  Drop me a line!