foureyedbat

Massive Monkees

Posters on the wall of an old grocery store, U District Seattle.

Halloween in Clarion Alley

 On Halloween Day I was introduced to one of the most amazing places I've ever seen. Clarion Alley is an ever evolving corridor of art, angst, secret messages and cries from the subconcious, a technicolor sprawl of mind dust.

My pal 14 put up a few shots on her blog, and here are a bunch more on Flickr.

The Elephant Tattoo, Part 4

Once I'd gotten the design done and approved, I thought my tattoo adventure was over. But it was not to be; I was invited along to witness the engraving!

So we went to Impact Body Art on a grey Sunday afternoon, and met with the tattoo artist. He suggested we lose the fiddly small designs at the bottom, and then it began.

First he smeared Vaseline all over her lower back; then he applied a carbon paper sort of stencil, carefully rubbing the paper so the design would apply. Then she sat down in the chair, leaned over, and the fun began. Blood! Smoke! Tears! Thunder!

But enough about me. My friend was a trooper and didn't squeak once, even when it got a bit ouchy. Yeah, there was a bit of blood, but not as much as I had thought there would be, and the entire process took about 2 hours. In another couple of weeks we'll go back to have the white highlights put in, to really make the drawing pop; when I last saw the ink it was a lovely drawing of softly pink elephants.

The Elephant Tattoo, Part 3

Elephants are a bit tough; unlike a dog or cat, there's not a really defined jaw line, and you can't put a collar on them to contain the graphic. So after getting the basic elephant head put together in Photoshop (3 different photos; one had better ears, one had the trunk at the right angle, one had a nice smile) we started talking about tribal elements to pull it all together.

The Elephant Tattoo, Part 2

The first 3 sketches, so she could get me headed in the right direction.

The Elephant Tattoo, Part 1

Back in May a girl I work with asked me to design a tattoo for her birthday. She's a Gemini who works with a painting elephant, so those are the elements the design needed to include.

I've never designed a tattoo, although my work has been used by tattoo artists, so the request freaked me out a bit. Not only do I not have any tats (fear of pain, fear of deciding I won't like it after 5 years, fear of being hip), it's a huge responsibility to come up with a mark to put on another person.

But this girl is a force of nature, and also she bakes, so what could I do? I started researching and sketching...

fats on an orange wall

University District, Seattle Washington

More Art on Flesh

Another tattoo inspired by my work; this one was sent to me a while back and I apologize to the tattooee, because that email got lost in the mists of time and I have no idea who did it or who had it did.

I like the creepy hands the tattoo artist added to the original ouija board design!

My Art On Your Flesh

But only if you don't mind some pain. Me, I self tattoo with Sharpies, because I have a phobia of needles and a short attention span, but hats off to those brave folks who go the permanent route. This is the beginning stages of a tattoo by Michael Sarao, and the image is from the back of the Halloween Tarot cards illustrated by yours truly. (He's the cool artist I'm referring to in the tag, I'm not that full of myself!)

Here's a set of curtains with the same design. Devilkitty will soon rule the world!

Street Wisdom from Pide Pipper

April 2007, University District, Seattle

KiNgS OF COUNTRYS
LeDDeRS OF NATIONS
Fear us. With GRATe FeAR!
Why?
JAMes JOhnes "KoolLead Killer"
WAS ONe OF US! A BAD ONes. The .001%
We ARe MANNY We ARe STRONG!
We Love you And Need you!
We Help you As Much As We CAN.
We LiVe IN FeAR Of BeiNg FOUNd OUT!
You hAve Killed US SeNce TiMe BegANE!
FeAR US No MoRe!
I AM The ONe ThaT Will NoT Die!
LeT Me SeRVe you!
you could Spell FOR Me.

Love Pide Pipper