Inky's blog: "Down Time"

Let me get straight to the point of this post: I find it difficult when people come with an image, obviously pulled from the internet, and want an exact tattoo of it. I almost feel weird admitting this: I download music and TV shows from the internet for free - thank you usenet - but I balk when somebody wants an image recreated. Here's the thing, I have less of an issue with turning a photograph or series of photographs into a custom piece. That's no problem. But when somebody comes in with a piece of art that has been pulled directly from, say, DeviantArt, I sort of feel bad. Then I get over it and go about my business. *Often I'll make a point to contact the original creator of the piece. I don't ask for permission though, I just tell them about the finished product.

I work in a street shop. A lovely street shop! Two of the guys have been tattooing together for years and years. Both are amazing tattoo artists, and both have built up a clientele. So they remain steadily booked in advance, minus cancellations or bad weather. Then this is Big G and myself. We are working our butts off trying to build the foundations of such. But for now, we're hit or miss. We'll have insane weeks (sporadically) followed by mediocre ones. It's pretty random and I've learned to sway with the tide. The past two weeks I've been busy as ever. But then the temperature dropped today and I knew things would slow down. So what do tattoo artists do when there's nothing to do? Well, sometimes we catch up on drawings, clean and organize; you know, tighten up that ship. But usually we do something else... 1. Song lyrics are much better when the content is dumbed down to eighth grade level. 2. YouTube, as vast as it is, only holds our attention for about ten minutes. 3. Recall a stupid story. Cry laughing. Go over the good bits again. Then somebody farts. 4. Tattoo lottery. (whatever you draw from a hat of random images gets tattooed on you) 5. Create new words for the Urban Dictionary. 6. Recall another stupid story. Then laugh for twenty minutes. 7. Quote Dr. Rockso. 8. Google amputees. 9. Try to convince Chris that ice cream from McDonald's isn't made from potatoes. 10. Darren Brown mind tricks. 11. Whistle the theme song to Welcome Back, Kotter. 12. Make fun of men who drive scooters. 13. Think of ways to recreate Chili's Awesome Blossom in the autoclave. 14. Imitate Joey Lawrence from the TV show, Blossom. 15. Follow other tangents. 16. Listen to Tenacious D. 17. DDR in drag. 18. Convince Chris that giraffes are kosher.