Brooklyn Ink Spot Welcomes Afro Punks and Out-of-the box Thinkers!

Free spirits, afro punks, hippies and hipsters drop by the Brooklyn Ink Spot at 717 Franklin Ave. Brooklyn, NY for your custom tattoo. To make an appointment with Dammien call 225-588-4907 or with Eddie Stabz call 347-217-1350.

Cats at Sea

Concept Sketch for a back piece. The costumer wanted a serious piece involving house cats and a leopard on a sail boat. After doing tons of other drawings and going back and forth between the client, I settled on this one and I'm now working on the final line drawing. The piece is meant to go on her back to cover another 3x 3 in tattoo which is all in bold black. I added the moon and clouds into the composition to provide dark space for the cover up. This is my most challenging assignment yet, but my illustration background sure helps! Communicating with the costumer is very much like dealing with an art director, I have worked through a series of sketches to help develop the concept for both the client and I.

Check out this great blog I love Franklin Ave. from another Brooklyn resident Nick, It's a blog all about our neighborhood in Brooklyn. He came by the shop yesterday and took pictures of me working on the piece above "Cats at Sea"and today wrote a wonderful post. Thanks Nick! :)

Pheonix Tattoo

Sweet tattoo by Dammian, with the help of my stencil :)

Sculls and Roses

Practicing drawing common tattoo imagery. Dammian gave me this exercise so I know what to expect from clients. I am getting more comfortable with my line and my use of black to show depth.

The scull is flat and super simple, it is something to try because it would be simple to do with a tattoo gun.

Flapper Girls Tattoos

Drawing of a 20's flapper girl who looks strangely like my friend Gabriella.
Drawing based on Hot Sauce, who is often found chillen with us at the shop.

baby dragon

I started working with a bamboo pen and ink. It is similar to the type of line you can make with a tattoo gun, and you must hold in a similar fashion to get the ink to flow. I had a great day at the shop today, just drawing and watching people get tattoos I was very inspired and created many sweet tatts.
Russian doll. Ed did a scary zombie version, it came out really nice. Mine is just a traditional Russian doll with a sweet friendly face.

Moi

Color Effects

Flower tattoo designs exploring color effects. These flowers would look like a watercolor birthmark on light skin.
Variation of the same flower, but with darker shadows and more color contrast for darker skin.

Tattoo Gun!

First time with a tattoo gun! I love the sound it makes...i love everything about it! I did my best on this first try, the lines came out really inconsistent at some parts and it was difficult to get the fire effect to flow. But I did learn that the main thing I need to practice is pacing, because unlike drawing with a pencil the gun runs at a consistent speed. I found myself changing speed as I moved up the piece, I started on the bottom right and by the time I moved up I was trying to use the gun like a sharpie marker. I have to have more patience, and slow down if I want sweet lines like Damien and Ed. (damn their good!) The back of the melon was mostly freestyle...I do love my melon <3 and there will be plenty more to come!

Elixir of Spiritual Life

Tattoo I'm getting, because you never know when you will need to use an Elixir of Spiritual Life.

Drawing Dragons

Practicing drawing with just the outline, as you can see my style of drawing has changed to more resolved solid lines. I have been practicing a lot of tracing to develop a steady hand, sometimes I trace on the subway to practice line when the train is moving. I have transferred these drawing on a honeydew melon and will go over the lines with a real tattoo gun on Monday. I am so excited! When working on my melon, Damian taught me the importance of shape and edges. Creating an overall shape of the tattoo gives movement and identity to a part of the body, so it is important to make the drawings flow cohesively. I added fire and flames, and placed the dragons one behind another to create space.

dragons

fire breathing dragons i will tattoo tomorrow, stay tuned......

Brooklyn Ink Spot

Come by the shop at 717 Franklin Ave. Brooklyn, NY for your custom tattoo!

Drawings...

Drawing of an angel I did for the guys at the shop using the principles of line I learned last week. It's a tracing of an old drawing I did a year ago... with some modifications. I like the way it came out.
Flowers with a banner, I don't know what it will say yet. I'm still working on it...

It's a beautiful day in Brooklyn

Dame at work, using a colorful palette for color effect.

L I N E Lesson

Today, I finally got what Damein was saying about line drawing! There are limitations to the line you can make with a tattoo gun, it is quite different from drawing with a normal pencil. Today I practiced drawing with a tattoo gun but using a pencil instead of needle. Feeling the weight of the gun, made my lines stiff and made it difficult to trace. It also made me change my style of line, as you can see it is more precise and the lines are flat and fully resolved. Tracing is a very important component in making a good tattoo because it allows you to map out how to make the lines on skin. It is important to trace from LEFT to RIGHT because going the other way with the neddle will tear the flesh and produce an unconsistant line. Other limitations are the gun itself, which is attached with a wire to a power supply. All this can be worked out on paper, now that I understand the difference between line and L I N E that Damein talked about.

Week 2 @ Brooklyn Ink Spot.

Brooklyn Ink Spot is located 717 Franklin Ave, that is where I am getting my current training. Soon this place will feel like home, but for right now I will admit that I feel intimidated and out of place. Getting comfortable drawing in front of people is a challenge for me because of my own insecurities...I get to work with the friendliest, most laid back people in the world, and yet I'm still insecure. Arg! I will do my best...

Lettering 101

Lettering is important because it's high in demand.

Coy fish in a pond

Practicing color, and working with curvy shapes to create a dynamic composition.

Brooklyn Ink Spot Week 2

I have been looking at countless tattoo magazines in the past week, waiting for them to reveal their secrets. Making a good drawing with perfect shading is not what I am after. I want my drawings and tattoos to be personal and alive. This drawing was inspired by our cat's first encounter with Meg's kitty after a recent move to a new appartment. They still don't get along....

Brooklyn Ink Spot Week 1

I am apprenticing at the Brooklyn Ink Spot under two amazing tattoo artists Damein and Ed. Learning to do designs on paper that make an impact and translate on to skin is quite a challenge. This first design is a combination of Aries and Taurus, because I am a half aries half taurus creature in constant conflict. This drawing however, is too angular to make into a great tattoo, it seems to me the more curvature the line in the drawing has, the better it wraps on the skin. I love this stuff, lets see what else comes out..