Long awaited

Thank you all our awesome clients who have been patiently waiting for pictures of the new shop renovations. I am so happy with the new look I could cry! Finally Mandrake Tattoo has a look all of its own after  years of scrimping and saving. Again thank you all for your support through the years. 

Here is a cute little cherub I did recently. I used the lineless technique on this one so it is all soft shading.I am going to try to move in this direction with more of my newer work.

Stevie Ray

Here is a version of the late, great Stevie Ray Vaughan's guitar.
Not many people know that guitars are difficult to render as a tattoo because there is so much tiny detail that the guitar tattoo would have to be huge in order to render all the detail. So, an artist must "edit" the piece in order to capture as much detail as possible while keeping in mind how the tattoo will age so that it will stand up over time.

Not Absent!

I really have not meant to be absent, the finishing of our shop renovations and end of the year taxes, w2's, 1099's and the like have kept me pretty busy! Its hard balancing the business side and the artistic side of my work. Sometime I truly feel like I need to have a split personality to run this business....But that being said I wouldn't change it for the world.  So, in light of this, I feel that this Alice in wonderland piece was a good way to kick off the new year with the appropriate quote "we are all mad in here" on the top of the piece. I love that the client decided to take a unique "Gothic" view of the classic tale.

Phew!

As you all know today is our re-opening after our renovations have been done. Last week sure was a crazy week, The blizzard held up a few items we had ordered for the store, and we are still waiting for them to arrive BUT despite that I'd say we are 95% done with all the renovations! And, if I do say myself the shop looks amazing! If you are in the area come in and check it out.
My concentration for the day is to get the shop back in working order and settle back into Mandrakes normal routine. Our hours go back to normal which is 7 days a week from noon until 8pm.
I hope everybody out there had an AMAZING holiday and I wish that 2011 brings luck to us all!

Happy Holidays!

I just wanted to wish everyone happy holidays! I cant believe how fast this year has gone by. Also don't forget we have some strange hours over the next week due to renovations to the shop. The holiday schedule will be as follows:
Friday Dec 24th, Open 12-4
Saturday Dec 25th, CLOSED
Sunday Dec 26th, CLOSED
Monday Dec 27th, CLOSED
Tuesday Dec 28th, CLOSED
Wednesday Dec 29th, CLOSED
Thursday Dec 30th, Open 12-8
Friday Dec 31st, CLOSED
Saturday Jan 1st, CLOSED
Sunday Jan 2nd, reopen 12-8
Please be safe everyone!

Crows

I'm sure all those who get tattooed by me have noticed my crow obsession, They are all over my room here at mandrake. Keeping this in mind, I wanted to post this cool tribalized crow piece. It was difficult to photograph because it wrapped around the forearm but I captured the majority of the piece in this shot.