A “Thank You” painting

Today I went and got myself tattooed by Chris David at Government Street Tattoo. (I gave the small painting above to Chris, a small token of thanks for the tattoo). I've been wanting to get something by him for awhile after seeing the bold and tidy traditional work he's put on for a couple friends. Throw together super solid linework, nice peppery whip-shading, and a limited number of colours and you've got a recipe for a nice tattoo. The walls at Government Street Tattoo have plenty of eye candy to distract from the pain. Tucked in amongst the tattoo-related stuff is a piece I hadn't noticed before: an old graphic from Consolidated Skateboards. Funny shit. Top to bottom, there is some seriously great tattoo flash adorning their walls, with New York City heavily represented. After hearing from Vince Hemingson about his trip through NYC guided by none other than Mike McCabe (author of New York City Tattoo) the Big Apple has been constant mental static, and definitely slated for upcoming travel. Consequently I've been checking out lots of current New York tattooers, the likes of Bert Krak, Steve Boltz, Eli Quinters, Thomas Hooper, Hunter Spanks, Bailey Hunter Robinson, and many, many more. For a worthwhile overview of several of the characters I mention above check out the mini-documentary True Love. It's a charming and well-shot tattoo pilgrimage made by three Italian tattoo collectors and filmmakers and it's the next best thing to going to New York yourself. I can't really say if it's the East Coast US influencing us over here on the opposite side of the continent waaaay up here in the Great White North but there appears to be a growing number of folks doing work loyal to tattooing's reductively iconic folk roots. Not to say complex illustrations on the skin are a bad thing or somehow a lesser tattoo; I definitely respect folks like Aaron Cain and Jesse Smith that have intricate styles, it's just not something I'd choose to wear myself. Likewise, I'll always prefer the timelessness of a basic brogue to the most technical, day-glo sneaker. The pendulum continues to swing wildly in all directions and tattooing seems to get simultaneously more complex and more simple. One thing is for sure, it's never been a better time to be a tattoo collector with so many visual approaches available, and so many hard-working people out there behind the machines.

30 November 2009