Spotlight on artist Albrecht Durer

In 2008 I took two art classes, figure drawing and art history. For my final paper for art history, I choose to study a German artist that I took a liking too. Maybe it was his long hair... Maybe it was his darkness...Here is my report in short on a work of art that I have been intrigued by for many years and continue to be each time I look at it...

Way back in the 5th century, a Greek named,  Polyklietos came up with a canon of human proportions for marble statues. In the renaissance period, it was Da Vinci who furthered this canon with his famous Vitruvian man. It was then later adapted by Albrecht Durer.  

Albrecht Durer was an extremely skilled draughtsman. He completed an apprenticeship in goldworking as well as stain glass and woodcuts, but it was his drawings that made him renowned. Durer studied and practiced geometry obsessively. He became obsessed with measurements- this is how he elevated German painting and drawing- his painstaking precision for nailing the human figures and proportions- they were so convincing and dynamic, he would set the tone and bar for other artists to follow.

Here is a close up of the four horsemen. Each horse meant something different. The white horse is for conquest, the red horse is for war, with the rider wielding a sword and the black horse is for famine and plague and the pale horse is for death. This image is a depiction from the book of revelation in the bible...the riders trampling over the helpless is quiet evoking of a mood. I believe only stellar art done by a hand that is truly involved emotionally in a piece conveys such emotion. Although Albrecht clearly has a strong hand in superior drawing skills. I could only practice for my life time to be exemplary like Durer in the matter of what he figured out in a mere few months.

 

In Valkyrie we trust...

As usual, I mean to write more often but I just don't make the time for it. I really do enjoy writing and it is nice to put pieces together for this blog but I also do keep journals, to let the thoughts flow from my mind and I do prefer writing with a pen on paper. Old school. I am definetly a low tech personality. That is what drew me to tattooing in the first place. An art form that is executed with raw materials- my hands and a live body. Doesn't get any more natural than that. With that being said, it leads me to what I think is a shift that is happening in the tattoo industry. I think the demand for tattooing is higher than what it has been in the past, there is no mistake about that but I am noticing that there are people that are being drawn to tattooing that are not "meant" to be tattooed. I know I have mentioned this before but what that means is the types of people that think they want one, get one after thinking about it for a certain amount of time whether it be short or long term, get the tattoo and then pick it to death and are unhappy by the way it turned out- the lines are not clean enough, the coloring/shading is not good enough, etc. I often explain to people that art on the skin changes over time, normally. That's part of the commitment. Not knowing what it may look like in the future. Even when you go to the best tattoo guy! I recently had someone come in and get a tattoo by one of us here and she was happy with how it healed, so I offered to go over it again and touch it up for her since she was comfortable working with me. So I made her an appointment which she never showed up for and then called a month later to do it again. I had her come in and consult about it, I set her another appointment to do the tattoo and what do you know, she doesn't show up to the second appointment! I do touch ups for free, no charge but this is a perfect example of standing by your work and being available and the client turns it, into something else...Oh well, you can only do so much and then let go...


Some of you may know our lovely manager, Anabell. Here is an action shot I took of her. She is English and has some cool lingo, but most importantly, we love and adore her so much and would be so lost with out her. She works as hard as the rest of us her and totally honors the world of tattooing and knows how to keep it Sacred. We love you Anabell!


We got some new shirts in stock, they are the Valkyrie head below with the epic, Icelandic Vegvisir symbol on helmet.

 Here is a piece of flash I did recently on my pal Tom. He is one of my oldest clients and is a dear friend of mine at this point. He sits like a rock and never complains and always compliments me on the work that we do together. I love being supported this way and I feel like my true artist self can come out unobstructed when I am so encouraged. Thank you Tom, it is always my pleasure.

My apron get's a lot of action and I think it looks like the cosmos!

Thank you everyone who trusts us at this shop and really supports us!

Keeping flash alive!

I recently have set the goal for myself to draw one page of flash a week. For those of you who do not know what flash is- flash is the art that is drawn by tattooers that decorate tattoo shops walls. Flash is set up so you can choose a pre drawn image and have it tattooed on you in a quickly enough manor. For many years this was the way people received tattoos. This was just the way it was. When I first started tattooing I did a lot of flash but then it quickly moved to a different approach in the way clients asked for the tattoos they wanted. As the word "custom tattoo" grew and became more desirable and the way-about-getting a tattoo- has changed the tattoo scene and industry a lot.
I try to draw as much flash as I can through out my career and have years where I don't even have a full set- which is usually 4-6 pages. 
Here is some samples through the years where I have experimented, taught myself techniques, and just hoped that someone would want to get one of my pieces.
Unfortunatly, some people think that getting a piece of flash means that you are not getting a unique piece. That many others may have that tattoo, down playing individualism. I believe that is on the contrary. Flash designs are awesome. They are specifically built to make a perfect tattoo on skin, that will hold up over time, keeping their shape better than some other "custom" designs. Flash is a huge part of tattoo history and should keep on being celebrated as a special part of the tattoo culture. At most shops the resident artists have flash that they have drawn themselves that you could choose from, thus supporting the artist even further more by getting one of their pieces. There is also flash that is drawn by artists from all over the world that the shop has collected over time. So, you really can't go wrong by picking a piece of flash off the wall.
Lastly, there is no difference from choosing an image off of google or pinterest. Hundreds of people are getting the same images of the internet. If you really want something one of a kind, you need to speak to your artist and get their opinion of what tattoo is best for you. Some images that are traditional, like roses will be done forever because they are simply tried and true. Don't be too quick to say "everyone else has that". Get what you want if you think it looks cool and leave it at that.