Just thought I would share a website that I have been working on for a little while now. You can visit it at www.bwitattoo.com

While the site is not complete, it is moving forward. I am trying to create some sort of identity that is constant throughout the website, the shop, and advertising, as I am a firm believer in that being recognizable by people who may never even be in the market to use your service can recognize who and what you are.

Anyways, take a gander…

The Tattoo Pen is the only pen made specifically for drawing directly onto the skin for pre-tattoo purposes. It was researched and developed by Tim Hendricks and tested by some of the best tattooers in the world before it was available for the Tattoo Industry. Each brass refill is sold at a low enough price to be single use and disposable for sterility purposes. I think the fact that someone puts that much effort into something that people are of the mentality that it is “just a pen” says something about Hendricks dedication to the art of tattooing

A quick montage giving some insight on how artist David Tevenal does his tattoo flash.

Roman Abrego” of Artistic Element Tattoo in Yucaipa and Hollywood CA. He is tattooing an Indian on John Bayles of SullenTV, an addition to a sleeve they’ve been working on together.

Tattoo Timelapse with Mike DeVries”, of MD Tattoo Studio in Northridge, CA. . Born and raised in Southern California’s San Fernando Valley. I recieved my first tattoo when I was 16 years old. That event opened the window to a whole new world for me. I’ve always been into art, I’ve loved everything about it! I always had a fondness for the realism style and would explore tattoo magazines during my early years, amazed at the portraiture work done by some of the great black and grey artists.

I started tattooing professionally in 2003. As I progressed as a tattoo artist I soon realized that I found my niche with color realism. Constantly refining and polishing this craft keeps me extremely busy and motivated to climb to the next level. A glimpse through my portfolio reveals my preference for wildlife and portrait tattoos. Although realism is the style I’m technically “known for,” I do enjoy tattooing other styles and incorporating different aspects in my work to keep things fresh and interesting.

In addition to owning and operating MD Tattoo Studio in Northridge, California, and Memento Publishing, where we market, publish and sell books that encompass a passion for the artistic lifestyle. I also keep busy as co-owner of Stencil Stuff, which is a company that offers Stencil Stuff and Spray Stuff, products that aid artists in achieving better tattoo results. The solutions are used by thousands of tattoo artists every day and I hope are a positive attribute to the tattoo industry. I am honored to be an award-winning artist, garnering approximately 130 awards in the first seven years that I have been tattooing. And the accomplishment I am most proud of is being happily married to my beautiful wife Serena, and a father to our awesome son, Kyle.

A great video of Christy Mack getting the side of her head tattooed by Justin Hendrick at Players Club Tattoo Parlor in Huntington Beach,CA. Despite the claim it is like torture, the girl sits like a rock!

Another legend in tattooing has passed. The following post was found on Tom Spaulding’s (Huck’s son) tattoo studio page:

“We are all deeply saddened to let you know of the death of Tom’s dad, Huck Spaulding. He was a pioneer in the tattoo industry. His innovations brought tattooing out of the back alleys, and into mainstream America, as well as around the world. He was the first worldwide distributor of quality tattoo equipment. He was at the forefront of tattoo safety, with disposable needles and autoclavable machine parts.

He was a big man who lived a big life. He was a trapper, a stock car racer, a big game hunter, and a classic car enthusiast. He was a husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather. He was so proud of his wonderful family. He will be sorely missed by his family and friends.

During this difficult time, Tom will be spending time with his family and may not be available. We appreciate your understanding.”

RIP Huck.

A video of a child getting their arm tattooed, has created quite a stir on youtube, and is making it rounds on both twitter and facebook. There are two video the first was published by “Live Leak”, the other is embedded here. Same child getting tattooed on different arms, which I am assuming in the same sitting.

People are speaking out and quite upset about seeing what transpires, but very little information is out there in regards to the video.

After some digging I found that it has been reported that, the tattoo drawn on the kid’s arm is the symbol of three sixes identified with the “Growing In Grace” cult, whose founder is Puerto Rican Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda.

The video seen on youtube was shot in Havana, Cuba, where the child was marked with the emblematic tattoo. A practice that is encouraged with the followers of the cult.

In a broadcast on “Sevcec a Fondo,” one of the cult members said the group tattoos their bodies as recognition of that they are “identified as God’s people and with God.”

Children in the past have been tattooed usually by indigenous or tribal groups to whom it is a cultural staple; however, the modern setting makes one question the appropriateness of such a practice, especially since the cult is a newer phenomenon. If it was a traditionally executed tattoo in the context of tradition would the uproar be the same? Especially the cries for prosecution (which should happen as it does break the law in Puerto Rico.

Personally I would never tattoo a child. Heck I won’t tattoo anyone under 18 without parental consent.

I get a lot of emails. That is, beyond the 1686 emails that I have currently sitting in my junk mail for the day. They cover a wide range of subject matter. There are letters from family members with photos from abroad, there are emails for advice on how to paint a goalie mask, there are emails inquiring on availability from projects ranging from film work to airbrushing. Then there are emails that catch my attention.

I read this morning, “Subject: Your Inquiry to Airbrush.com”. I am pleased. Albeit temporarily.

Airbrush.com was the first and ultimately the only airbrush forum that I frequented on a regular basis. Let’s face it, when you have the best domain, regardless of shortcomings, you’re going to attract a crowd. Airbrush.com’s worst offence was that the software used to support that forum was a little dated and the topic organization simply a giant melting pot of topics.
So, I was excited to see that there were some changes in the works, when they had posted that they were updating the site. Maybe it was updated forum software, or a more functional artist gallery. Who knew? I was excited! There is so much potential for a fresh start.

Intrigued, I started reading. The first thing that I noticed was the statement, “By submitting artwork you are giving Airbrush.com the right to use said artwork in any promotional activity generated by the website.”

That statement concerned me. First; the wording is ambiguous.

While Airbrush.com may not have intended it, that phrase could easily be interpreted this way: That one’s submitted works could be used for magazine ads to promote either their website or associated programs or classes. Likewise, the impression created is that one’s work might be printed on flyers and distributed for any and all. All this without any credit to the artist. Or so it seemed as I first read it.

As an example, the Airbrush.com features some of Vince Goodeve’s work. But his name isn’t prominent and appears to be absent, altogether.

I just happen to be familiar with his work. But most might not be. To them, it’s cool art. Anonymous art. Hardly seemed fair to me. But, I thought to myself, maybe I’m being a little harsh. It might not be the intent.

So I read on and found this; “All reviews are submitted at no charge to Airbrush.com and become the property of Airbrush.com.”

Really?

Property?

Hello, Mr. Hyde. (That would be me undergoing my triggered transformation)

So. Property. I appeal to all artists to give this last notion some serious thought.

At this point you’re essentially giving everything away. If you were to sign this in a contract you wouldn’t even have the rights to republish your own work without permission. You might even have to pay Airbrush.com (ironic) to publish your own work anywhere else in the electronic or brick and mortar world. This same bitter fate would include any images associated with said article. This is simply using an artist as a tool to make profit without any consideration.

I stress that the most that should ever be asked for here is ‘Web Rights’, not ‘First Electronic Rights’, not ‘One-Time Rights’, but essentially Airbrush.com has taken all of the ‘rights’ to your article.

At least the Devil only owns my soul.

Any of you who’ve written a review or a how-to article, are aware of the amount work involved. First you’re documenting a project that took several hours to complete from start to finish. Then you edited the photos, wrote the article, edited that and quite possibly even created a layout. That is a lot of work.

It’s a lot of work to do for free. And to have placed on a website now in full control of the rights, a site owned by an airbrush supplier who ultimately uses the site to promote their own business.

Now promoting your own business by creating a community of sorts is not necessarily a crime, not necessarily unethical. But the following statement, also in the Airbrush.com email needs critical review:

“If you enjoy the features of Airbrush.com and would like to see us continue to add valuable content, it takes time and money. If you found the information here helpful or if you would like to have something specific added to the website, please feel free to click on the donate button below and we will prioritize (sic) the content based on the donation received.”

So let me get this straight…
Airbrush.com doesn’t want to pay people to contribute meaningful content to the site, but they want people to donate because creating content take time and money?

Let’s be fair; it takes a website administrator a couple minutes to post an article that has been delivered in a neat package. So where is the time beyond the work of the uncompensated artist? A likely argument could be that it takes money to run a site; server space and bandwidth have their costs. And so on.

But. I’d suggest that with a pointer as helpful and handy like Airbrush.com, if they can’t be self-sufficient and can’t cover their costs (including paying for content) they’re doing something wrong.

The icing on the cake is the blog where Steve Bear (owner of Airbrush.com and Bear Air) calls out Cliff Stieglitz, the publisher of rival Airbrush Action with an article titled, “Your Airbrushing Sucks…….Really Cliff, Really?”, and then follows with: “Why would the man who makes a living off of airbrush artists not understand our passion and be sensitive to our struggles? The statement and the ad campaign is an insult to anyone who ever picked up an airbrush.” “Let’s resolve to not get sucked into the morass of negativity that some of our industry leaders are leading up to. Let’s all take the high road and work to lift each other up. There is no room for negativity in our passionate airbrush world.” The full article is here: http://www.airbrush.com/blog.php?s=your-airbrushing-sucksreally-cliff-really

While there’s some truth to the statement, the approach is wrong, in my opinion. Bear in a sense starts looking for a fight when stating, “The statement and the ad campaign is an insult to anyone who ever picked up an airbrush,” and then speaks of the need for less negativity. It appears to me that Bear is trying to point out a greater evil to his readers, so they might overlook the evil brew he has created in his own lair.

The whole approach of the new Airbrush.com is just wrong.

Maybe the industry leaders should look at adding value to the community versus adding profits. Instead of exploiting artist’s rights and have them work for free to maximize their profit, work with them and pay them to enable them to do more a greater works. Artists need to look at the business side of things, and protect their rights. Understand the difference between exposure and exploitation. The bottom line is that if someone is going to make money off using your work, whether it is for advertising or content, you should be paid. Trust me, they wouldn’t go a second themselves without being paid for their work. If artists and writers want to work for free I suggest an artist collective that has nothing to do with the exploitation of your craft.

Edward longs to be Henry.

This video features the work of NYC based tattoo artist Anil Gupta. This is a fantastic video which is just over an hour in length. I love watching this guy work, I am amazed at how he work with a single needle to some incredible artwork. Take the time and enjoy a great video that shows the creation of a neck piece.