so it’s that time again… time for another huge update because i never keep up with the weekly updates like i always say i will. but hey, i’m a busy man dammit! i had a pretty big month in march…
i got engaged! that’s obviously the biggest news! after a few years of on again off again bullshit (my fault) she finally made an honest woman out of me, hahaha… i wanted to make sure that’s the first part of this post since it is the most important thing i have to report… the most important thing in my life.
what happened in scotland!?!?
remember a few posts back when i mentioned going to the scottish tattoo convention? well here’s the thing about that… apparently some other american artist came through and got busted at customs for one thing or another (too hard to explain it all without exposing a few secrets about conventions) but basically this american artist screwed everyone else coming to the show. long story short, i was detained, photographed, fingerprinted, and had my passport confiscated. initially they weren’t going to allow us to enter at all but my old lady turned on the water-works and brought up that our hotel was already paid for and that we were planning on being in scotland for 8 days… we offered to let them keep my equipment as insurance that i would not work and violate their laws but they didn’t need to do all that. i guess they showed a little compassion and allowed us to stay for 72 hours but they kept my passport to ensure that i would be back on time otherwise i would not be able to leave without being arrested. anyway, the trip was awesome, for three days… visited the grand lodge of scotland… a few museums… edinburgh castle… ate haggis… scotch scotch scotch… it was alright by me!
i visited the convention on one of the days and everyone that i thought wasn’t gonna be there totally was… apparently i am the only one who took the orders from customs seriously, hahaha. honestly though, i feel like i did the right thing. had i disobeyed customs and been arrested i would have had quite a fiasco coming home and that could jeopardize my future travel plans to all the other conventions i go to. with that in mind, it just wasn’t worth it, really.
anyway, here’s a few pics from scotland and then off to the tattoos…
a shot from the graveyard looking up at edinburgh castle…
the chapel in the graveyard…
a masons grave…
beauty and the beast…
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now for the tattoos…
this tattoo isn’t as old as some of the ones on this update but they’re all in weird order and i grabbed this one first, so whatever… this is a thigh piece i started on my assistant Rachel… if you ever become one of my clients you will have the pleasure of meeting her and having her call you ahead of time to remind you of your upcoming appointments… this one was originally an entirely different flapper girl design that was intended for an entirely different client that pulled a 180 with her design idea so i told her to beat it… Rachel loved the design and decided to get it as long as we made a few changes… but i redrew the entire piece and came up with this beauty instead… it was really a great change from the original and a great way to replace all the negativity that was attached to the original artwork via that looney client…
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a rad owl i did on an old friend/client… only black yellow and purple… all in one shot on the inside arm… he sat like a champ!
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this one is a rad tribute to a fallen kitty “zero” that apparently used to go outside and poop then go running like hell and climb his favorite tree… this is a black and gray vignette (with green eyes like the kitty had) and a perfect tribute to an awesome kitty!
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this is another tribute tattoo. this time for the clients parents, luckily they are still around to enjoy it… the father, a carpenter… the mother, an artist… so naturally the components are self explanatory… and the “eternally grateful” says it all…
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here’s a tree frog and venus fly-traps tattoo we started a little bit ago… it’s all filling in between an existing tattoo that we will be working on as well and trying to tie it all together into a sleeve… this was one session and so far it’s looking good!
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how about another tribute?? hahaha… this time a tribute to our great country! this is a one shot, black and gray flag and feathers tattoo we did with the old-school 13 star flag… this tattoo was not at all easy… all the stripes… making sure they’re all there and in line with the others and keeping the flow right… man… it looks so simple… but this one was really hard! i’m happy with it though! and she couldn’t be happier with it, and that’s all that matters!
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are you tired of day of the dead “skulls”? well could i interest you in a day of the dead fucking ELEPHANT!? yeah that’s right, i said elephant… how awesome is that!? all these day of the dead women and skulls… but elephant? call it a first! that’s right, you saw it here first and it blew your mind!!! hope you were ready for that…
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more progress on the samurai backpiece… it’s only our 4th session and we’re trucking right along… 2 more and i’d say the shading will be done and we’ll move right into color…
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that’s what i’m talking about… more fucking zombies!!! here we have a zombie elvis in front of a rotting Welcome to Vegas sign… just two sessions so far but it will be a whole lower sleeve connecting to an upper half-sleeve he already has started.. behind elvis will be a decrepit and run down vegas featuring the Glitter Gulch Gal and some other old signage and poker chips and cards and etc… so far so good!
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a close up cross section of a HUGE lower half-sleeve i lined out the other day… we’ll be adding more to the upper part pf the arm to make it a full sleeve, but i thought just showing you a teaser would be way more fun… plus, it’s all just lines… so it would be tough to see it all if i showed you the whole thing… so for know, you get only a section of the angel defending…
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here’s a sweet one i did on my buddy and fellow tattooer Tim Shelton… we started it a while back and finally got a chance to finish it and i am stoked! two kids playing ouija in a graveyard and they conjure up a ghost!!! i’ll post some healed pics when i get a chance… oh and go check out Tim’s work by clicking HERE…
a close up of the calla lilies on the sides of Tim’s piece… you can’t really see them on the other photo…
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here’s a sweet one and done we did on Friday the 13th of an ink bottle with the No.13 written on the label in honor of Friday the 13th, feather quill pen, and letter with a subtle “goodbye” written on the paper… the paper erodes away into a scribbled heart… it fits in with the other piece we did on the other side and next time we’ll be tying them both together… sorry the pics are so washed out but i promise to post healed pics when she comes back in…
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this is the other Friday the 13th piece i did that day… we didn’t get a chance to finish the whole thing due to time restrictions but we got all the lines in and shaded the whole thing and we’ll color it in soon i am sure… i love the design! it’s an old victorian style hand delivering a death tarot card with the number XIII on it… in honor of Friday the 13th… can’t wait to finish this one!
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so that pretty much wraps it up… sorry it took so long but like i said, there’s been a ton going on… there will be a new facelift to the website in the coming month that will be 100% viewable by smartphones and way better galleries with bigger photos and all that… my facebook is gonna be a personal page only now and i will be getting a “page” thing that i guess allows me to accept more than the 5k limit that i am already at… i’m working on a few new art projects and paintings… gonna be working on some machines possibly in the near future… new shirts and stickers and swag… i’m about to be a busy busy man…
oh, and Tattoo Energy #70 has a killer interview with yours truly… they really did a great job with it and had some great questions that i had a fun time answering! look for it on the shelves!
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oh and there’s a painting of mine in the CRANIAL VISIONS book by MIKE DEVRIES… some of the worlds top artists and tattooists (and me, i guess) come together to share their interpretation of all things “skull”… i highly recommend you get a copy of this book, i think it is one of the best compilations of artists i have seen in a long time! plus, it’s skulls! how can you go wrong?
YOU CAN’T!
so click the links up there, or HERE if you’re lazy, and get a copy today!
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that’s it for me, guys.
off to bed…
thanks for looking, and check back soon for the new LHBLK!
TURK
