Art Tattoo Design

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Not THAT snobby, apparently.

TattooSnob is back!
I'm stoked.
It was (and now is, again) such a good tattoo blog,
run by such good people.
They've always been very kind to me,
and I have gotten lots of attention over the years from them having posted my work.
So when they told me that they were coming back,
and were looking for a few people to do art for a rotating banner at the top of the page,
I, of course, said 'yes'.

But, also, of course, I waited till the last minute to do it,
and found myself the day it was due in Massachusetts,
doing a guest spot at Off the Map,
and staying with the ever accommodating Amy and Jaime.
I borrowed some watercolor paints from Jaime,
and didn't go to bed until 3 or 4am.

Go visit them,
and click the refresh button till it pops up.
I'm honored they asked me,
and happy to help in any tiny way I can.
Thanks to TattooSnob for getting em to do a painting,
and thanks to Amy and Jaime for always being such big helps.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Flying foxes.

I am becoming obsessed with vegetarian monsters.

(in fact, i just stopped working on this blog post and bought the domain name violentvegetarians.com.

but, like most of my other 22 domain names,

i have no idea what i'll do with it)

I have a Kirin (Qilin) tabori tattoo from Japan,

I love hippos, and every other angry vegetarian out there.

Fruit bats are so dope.

They have creepy wings made of skin,

sharp teeth,

and some are the biggest bats in the world.

Ben had some time,

an open calf,

and no idea what he wanted.

I was stoked to do this fruit bat hanging in an orange tree.

Just a little bit.

I don't change my mind very often.

I usually react poorly to change.

I have habits and schedules and comfort zones,

and they only get more ingrained as I get older.

But here's a flip-flop I can admit to.

I used to be so opposed to adding touches of color to black and grey tattoos,

but at some point I changed my mind,

and now I love it.

Not for every tattoo,

(and not ever "just some blue in the eye"),

but for all the pieces that show just how much I tattoo like a girl,

a couple flowers or a ribbon or something in color

adds an extra little bit that I'm pretty into.

I was happy to do some finishing touches on this today.

Most of it is healed.

Thursday, August 29, 2013

No waves 'cept heatwaves.

I've been given a lot of freedom lately,

and I am very grateful.

The drawing for this hare tattoo was meant for someone else,

but they didn't end up getting tattooed,

so a very talented local tattoo artist claimed it instead.

That made it a little more stressful, of course,

but it went really well

and I'm happy it all worked out.

It's so hot in Minneapolis this week

that I even went swimming last night.

In a lake.

On purpose.

Meryl told me we were doing it,

and I was too hot to resist.

So in Lake Nokomis,

during a beautiful sunset with my beautiful wife,

I switched back and forth from doggy paddling to floating on my back

while she swam around me

and watched me take gulps of gross lake water.

I can't wait for autumn.

I can't wait for chilly nights and backyard fires.

There's a very comfortable temperature somewhere between -30 and 98,

it just can't be found in Minnesota most of the year.

Luckily the shop has air conditioning, kinda,

and I spend all my time there.

I hope someone out there is enjoying their summer,

and they come get tattooed and tell me all about it.

Monday, August 26, 2013

Healed and all nice-like.

Thanks to Amber for sending healed photos of her backpiece.

I started the tattoo a year ago,

and did some final touches last month when I was at Off the Map.

Foxes and poppies?

I could do stuff like this every day.

Every. Day.

(the celtic knotwork was already there)

She also sent a photo of her healed panda tattoo.

So then... I got greedy,

and asked Amanda for a healed photo of her corresponding cat portrait.

And she, too, delivered.

Thanks guys, you're the best.

Cute animals, framed:

Mmmmm, shopping...!

I am really excited to announce that we finally have a proper web shop where you can see, and purchase, prints, flash and other exciting products done by the artists of Conspiracy Inc!

It's still in the early stages, so lots more will be added soon, but we already have a bunch of limited and never before seen stuff for you to drool over, so please do that (although not too much, cause that can severely damage your keyboard... just some friendly advice).

conspiracyinctattoo.bigcartel.com

Enjoy, and shop away!

We still have a merch page on this blog where you can see additional photos, so check that too!

Ps. We ship out orders once a week.

October Scapegoat Takeover!

Hey, i'm back with more guest artist news!
I know, so soon, it might be a little too exciting for y'all to deal with on a Monday, but you're just gonna have to, ok?
Here we go!

In October Brian Thomas Wilson and Aron Dubois from Scapegoat Tattoo in Portland will be guesting at the studio!
They're here from the 7th to the 10th and you should totally get tattooed by one of them.
Or both!

To book with Brian, send him an email at this address: btwilsontattoos@gmail.com
And to book with Aron, use this email: aronjohndubois@gmail.com
(And for general shop related questions, you can, as always, email me here: conspiracyinctattoo@gmail.com)

Scroll down to see examples of their work, and check out even more on Brian's blog here, and Aron's blog here.

Enjoy!

Tattoo by Brian Thomas Wilson

Tattoo by Aron Dubois