BLARGH!

Both my appointments for today sent me emails to cancel.. and one appointment i had on tuesday never showed up. C'mon people! Its free! >.<

3/30/11

Pretty quiet day at the shop. Did some drawing, working on light sources and such, and using different colors for highlights other than just white.

also -- Its fucking snowing. >.<


Till tomorrow!

3/26/11

Today was a good day! I did two tattoo's today, spur of the moment. :) My long time best friend dana, came in with her dad today, and i got to work on them! Dana has some kinda not so great tattoos on her feet, so i got to rework one of them today. She wasn't able to sit for all the recolor -- but we were able to work on the outline and get it all straightened out. Following that, i tattooed her father, The infamous Denny, and gave him the angry monkey from Family guy :) My lines are getting better, which made me super happy. I left work in a fantastic mood today, finally a little bit proud of myself. Here's the pictures!

3/26/11

Haven't posted in awhile. I just continue to manage to forget about this thing, haha. It'll eventually catch onto my daily routine. anywho --


I got to tattoo my friend jon yesterday. He has this horrible fear of needles, but I was able to getting him nice and relaxed, especially when i showed him the tattoo needles themselves, and how deep they actually go, which isnt much. He was pretty relieved after seeing that, haha. He wanted one of those melt tattoos, so I drew one up for him. It was a character grilled cheese, with a "im a rockstar" face, playing a guitar. I was so proud of myself by how my lines looked. They were clean, and not shakey, it was awesome. The shading on the other hand was a bit aggravating. I had this whole game plan in my head of what i was going to do with it in color, as that's what he had originally asked for. Well, once i finished the outline, he decided he wanted to go black and gray. I thought for a few minutes i how i would do this, got a mental picture, and went to work. The guitar and the grilled cheese itself ended up being around the same shade, and i wasn't sure how to fix that without going any darker, as it was already a bit darker than i would of liked it to be. Then my saving grace walks in my office (The bossman, Ron :) ) and took a look at it, told me where to put some white highlights on the guitar itself, to break the two apart. It looked so much better after that was done. Thanks Ron! <3

I grilled the guys some burgers and such yesterday in my downtime. Ron has a grill up here, and he buys steak, chicken, and burgers for us all the time, which is really really nice of him. I wish he felt more appreciated sometimes, less taken advantage of. Anywho, getting off subject here. So I'm the shop cook :) I love getting to cook for these guys, as its a huge passion of mine. I don't get to cook much at home anymore, minus sundays and mondays, so it's nice getting to do it up here, especially that they always compliment the food i make.  If we had a stove up here...good lord. These guys would be so fat... hahaha. I would constantly be making breakfast and such.

Might get to tattoo my best friend dana today. I'll have to ask the bossman when he comes in if that's alright. Im really excited for him to meet her, as i talk about her quite a bit.

Well, think I'm going to go draw for a few hours before the guys get here and the shop opens. Have a nice day!

3/21/11

I haven't posted in awhile! Still trying to get used to posting in this thing everyday -- or at least every other day. Last week was a good week. I got the chance to tattoo Ray. (he's the kid that works our lobby) Which was really exciting for me, as this guy is practically covered in tattoos, and i thought that by the time i was good enough where he'd let me tattoo him, all he would have left would be a finger. haha.

So I tattooed a banana on his back calf. Just a small one. Sadly at the moment I don't have a picture to show you :( we weren't able to finish the background behind it, as we were under a bit of a time crunch. So as soon as he's all healed up, and I finish the background, I'll post a picture! It was tons of fun, and I can't wait to finish that thing.

This week kind of stinks appointment wise, I've emailed out sketches to people, but haven't heard back. Emailed them again asking if they had a chance to take a look at them, but still haven't heard anything :(

This weekend with the husband and kids was nice. We went on sunday to get some professional pictures taken of the girls, and for Olivia's one year picture. They turned out really nice :) Maybe I'll post one when they come in.

Well, I've got some house cleaning and drawing and such to do before the day is over. Till tomorrow!

3/17/11

Happy Saint Patricks day!

So my starfish lady cancelled :( She sent me a big long email apologising up and down, worried about an allergic reaction to the red pigmented ink. (her son is heavily tattooed, and raised concern about her allergies) so no starfish tattoo :( Totally understandable though, i'd prefer she not take that risk, and i'd rather not take that risk either. Im going to repost my craigslist ad again today, and do it as many times as i have to (Someone keeps flagging it and it gets removed..it hasn't been lasting even 10 minutes at a time anymore) in order to try and fill up all next week. I think these big long gaps of not getting to practice is definately hindering my progress.

I think maybe i'll tattoo myself today to try and get some practice. Im not a big fan of tattooing myself..but hey, do what you have to do right? Ive got this unfinished lily flower on my ankle anyway thats been bugging the shit out of me, haha. Hopefully i can get more people in...or I'm going to end up with full leg sleeves! haha.

Here's to a good day! Hope you all have a nice one as well!

3/15/11

My last post was fairly depressing. I beat myself up waaaayy too much, and I appreciate all of the reassuring comments..you guys are great. :)

Today was a fairly quiet day. The past few weeks in the shop, things have been awesome. Everyone's been in a great mood. Laughing, joking around, and just flat out having fun. Its like all the winter blue's have lifted, and everyone's just...happy. Today I watched my boss do this black and grey reaper tattoo. Watching him work is pretty amazing, seeing how much he enjoy's it, and how passionate he is about it. He left fairly early, so I set to work on some drawing and shop related things. Toran (an artist here) said that he would cover up this god awful tattoo I have smack dab in the middle of my chest (piss poor mistake at 17 years old..) if I were to get creative and draw up something i'd like. I spent a few hours trying to figure out what might look good there, and would work well as a cover up. Shit's harder than i thought it would be, haha. I guess its different when its going to be permanent on MY body.

I have an appointment tomorrow to do this little starfish tattoo. She wants it to look sort of like a henna tattoo, so im going to fiddle around with it tonight at home and see what I can do with it. Going to make sure i wake up with a positive outlook tomorrow, and everything else will just fall into place. Im going to relax, breathe, and just go with it. No freaking out, no beating myself up, none of that crap.

...Jim is totally rocking out to Duran Duran "come undone" in the back room. Earlier it was Belinda Carlisle (or however its spelled) "Heaven is a place on earth". lol, I love this place. hahaha

3/11/11

I finally had an appointment today, a whole week without a single one. I was totally excited to do this though, i spent a good part of last night shading this tattoo in multiple ways to see what i could do with it. Origionally this tattoo was going to be solid black (as the client wanted it this way) but i wanted to try and convince her out of it, and show her how cool and different this could look. I wanted to play with this, and have fun with it. Sadly she wasn't into doing any color, or any cool swirly smoke like backgrounds which i had drawn up as an option. I started to do my usual "beating myself up" and then thought about a movie that my boss had me watch last night, which was all about positive thinking. So i perked up, and went into it with a smile and high hopes. I was going to make this tattoo as cool as i could possibly do with what she would allow me to do.

I was able to convince her into shading it out a bit with black and grey, with some white highlights. I stood her up, and put the stencil on. Once i got the machines and inks all set up, i went to work. My first line was shaky as hell. I started to get a little bit frustraited with myself, and then my next line was shaky as hell and didn't become a one pass solid line. I stopped for a second, pretending as if i was adjusting my machine, just to try and get myself in that positive mindset. I started again, the next few lines went in fairly easily. I was struggling a bit with her skin, as she was older and had little elasticity to her skin. One of my biggest flaws is getting a good stretch.

I was determined to show my boss that i am capable of being put on the floor for small things come spring. I think i failed. I think once again i overthought it, and beat myself up. Why do i keep doing this? I was so excited about this, i was in such a good mood, and wanted to have fun with it. Maybe im just beating myself up too much right now with this. This is a learning experience. I am learning. I will get this. I can do this.

Tomorrow is a new day, and once again i'll welcome it with a smiling face, and positive thinking.

3/10/11

Today was a pretty good day. Although I had kind of a crappy week appointment wise, Ive had the chance to do a few other things. Been working on some drawings of certain styles i am unfamiliar and uncomfortable with, to try and expand my horizons artistic wise. I want to be able to do almost anything a client might ask for -- and have my own spin on it. I don't want to  be confined to flowers..and pretty girly things, haha. My boss has a huge arsenal of books for reference, and educational dvd's, which is totally awesome.

Alsooooooo! I got my machines today! Thanks to my wonderful boss Ron :) Im so excited... i walked into my room and put them on my counter, then just stood in my room for a few minutes looking around. It finally struck me..im really, really doing this. I have my own inks..my own machines..my own office.. i mean, i still need to finish putting my own touches in there decoration wise, but man..Its an awesome feeling. My name is going to be on that door some day. I'll have my own buisness card some day.. I'll be getting to do what I've always wanted to do. It's almost hard to believe sometimes. haha. Thanks Ron..really. Thank you for everything, thank you for giving me this opportunity, and showing me everything you know. Thank you for being so patient with me, and inspiring me to become more than just average. You're an amazing person, never let anyone make you feel otherwise :)

Anywho -- I need to get ready to close the shop for the night. I've got an appointment tomorrow, and this time, im not going to hold myself back. Im just going to relax and have fun with it.

Till tomorrow!

3/4/11

I got to meet this lovely couple today, and tattoo the husband. (I'll be tattooing the wife next week)
During my apprenticeship tattoo's from me are free of charge, but there are many stipulations that go along with it, such as being very simple in detail, and about 2inches by 2inches in size, thus im a little bit limited when it comes to certain things. Which is exactly what i need at this stage, as i need to learn to crawl before i walk.

The origional idea for this, was that the helm was supposed to be solid black. Its eventually going to be a larger tattoo, this is just part of it. I convinced him into shading it like an actual helmet in black and grey, instead of the solid black, as i personally thought it would look much better, and i need to work on my shading and blending.

Looking at it now i can see all the flaws. My lines definately need more work. I could of done much more with this than i ended up doing. In the end i was nervous about it looking stupid, so i played it safe, which i should not have done. I need to take more risks. I know this could of looked so much cooler than it ended up being. I need to quit holding myself back and settling with something normal and dull, and try to do something with each and every tattoo to make it different, and interesting. I know im capable of this, and i know its frustrating for my boss to look at each and every tattoo ive done, and see that i've just played it safe. He knows what im capable of, and ive just been holding myself back. well...Here's the tattoo.

Tattoo Apprenticeship.

Hrm..blogging. I can't say that i've ever done this before, but my boss see's it as a good way to document my progress through my Tattoo apprenticeship, and through my tattoo career. I think it's a pretty good idea, and am willing to give it a shot. This Blog will be something i can look back on to mistakes, progress, and watch myself become more and more experienced in the tattoo field.  Kind of exciting. :) First i'll tell you a little bit about myself.

My name is Melanie, and I am a first year tattoo apprentice. Ive been at this shop going on six months now, and am surrounded by very talented artists. This is the most exciting, yet frustraiting thing I have ever done. It's almost like drawing all over again, and factoring in so many other things than just drawing on paper. I am married, and a mother of two. I am 25 years old (going on 26 next month...oh boy. closer to 30!) and can be a bit shy when first meeting me, but i warm up quickly. Other than that, im pretty easy going, and love art. Some of my favorite artists consist of John Dyer Baizley, Mucha, Boris Valejo, Dali, just to name a few. Im a big fan of anything fantasy.

Ive been drawing for the better part of my life. I remember hiding inside my closet, and drawing on the wall when i was 5 years old, so that my mother wouldn't find it. Everyone always pushed me to do something great with my artwork, and in my eyes, this is it.

Here we go :)