The Return of Fine Art Friday

Sorry I missed Fine Art Friday last week, but I am back on track. This weeks fare showcases the work of one Bawidamann, Andrew Bawidamann. I have been a fan of his work for years. The cool thing about his work is it looks a bit like it was done on the computer. It has those clean lines and blocks of great color that almost look like they were created in Adobe Illustrator. But they are all painted by hand. The strength of his art lies in it's simplicity also. If he only needs two lines he only uses two lines. Good lesson.

Bawidamann's unique style of Pin-ups are usually clad in WWII and military style gear, so I dug this piece for it's Southern California vibe. Check out his stuff, his store is always stocked to the top with T-shirts and print. The_Art_of_Bawidamann

Yet another great sketch from Greg "Craola" Simkins. This was from his show entitled, "Don't Sleep". This idea of having his characters in an amusement style ride is a reoccurring theme for Greg. Let's hope that one day Greg gets popular enough that someone makes a CRAOLA LAND. We will be able to ride on these wonderful inventions. Greg has also opened a new store and anything there would make a great give for the holidays The_art_of_Craola

BONUS: Because I missed last week I wanted to add a bonus piece. This awesome heart sculpture piece comes from the multi-talented Eric Merrill. This dude can do anything. This piece rocks in real life because of it's 3D element. Great stuff Hope_Gallery_Tattoo

Sons of Anarchy / Pulse Tattoo

Here at Pulse we have been fans of the "Sons of Anarchy" show since it started. We got a phone call last week letting us know that next week on the season finally our machines and equipment will be featured in one of the scenes. Henry Rollin's character A.J. Weston is going to get tattooed with a Pulse machine in a tattoo shop scene. We have worked with this prop company before and our stuff has been featured on "Nip/Tuck" and "Prison Break". It's pretty cool to see your stuff on T.V., so tune in and check it out.

Robert Tyrrell New Prints

Just in time for the holiday season are new prints from Robert Tyrrell Sr. Robert is tattoo artist Bob Tyrrell's dad. He has created a new Wolf man print as well as a Zombie that looks suspiciously like some one we all know. If you already own the Dracula and Frankenstein Monster you are going to want to add these to the set. Available-Here-Click_It

Friday's Fine Art

This weeks selection comes from an artist by the name of Raphael, I mistakenly thought our friend Krystof created it, but he is just the main scientist character. He created this version of Pulse in the lab via water color markers. I always like the piece due to it's comic book layout. It's a bit askew, almost as if someone is looking in on the operation, but maybe staying hidden out of view. Hmmm. Upon placing the detail of the piece into the blog I noticed the top of the scientist's paperwork is the title John 3:16 which quotes the bible -"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life". Is the message that the Pulse scientists are trying to create another messiah in giant test tube. Are their machines savior like? By using their equipment will your tattoo's live on forever? Deep waters. I am not sure where Raphael is working now, but Krystof recently relocated to sunny Las Vegas Nevada. He now plies his work at Club Tattoo in the Planet Hollywood Hotel. Nice work if you can get it http://www.clubtattoo.com/

Another cool piece comes from another old school pal of ours the illustrious Gunnar. This is an older piece of his. It was definitely a forerunner to his current style, and that is why I dig it. I also felt the piece had a lot of emotion. Why the tears sweet geisha? Happiness or sorrow? I always felt she looked a little ambiguous. Like perhaps she has just gotten word that her master has been slain on the battle field. She must shed tears because it is expected of her, yet she is joyful inside that she may be gaining her freedom? Did I look into it too far, perhaps... Hey Gunnar still rocks...http://www.myspace.com/artofgunnar

Bloodwork Has Arrived!

It has arrived, and it is fantastic. I have been lucky enough to have a pre-release copy of the book sent to me by adrian lee, the mastermind behind the project. I have looked though this book everyday for last week. There is a lot to absorb and is easily the most deluxe book ever produced of tattoos.

Bloodwork gives a whole new meaning to oversize coffee table book, weighing in at 12 pounds and 16" tall by 9.5" wide the book is huge. It comes nestled in the most unique slipcase I have ever seen. It's a two piece slipcase with a die cut that shows the lenticular cover detail. The lenticular picture on the cover shows motion. It is set off nicely by a circular foil stamp. It is very impressive.The book is 350 pages, and each feature folds out to an amazing 30" print. Each sleeve was photographed by Max Dolberg, from every conceivable angle. The layouts are really fantastic. Look how big this book is, damn.

The Kolectiv has been extended to include some of the best artists working today. Featuring sleeves from Guy Aitchinson, Aaron Cain, adrain lee, GRIME, Filip Leu, Juan Puente, Chris Trevino and tons more. The lineup is a real who's who.

The quality of this book is unparalleled and really unprecedented . I can't say enough good things about all the books that have been launched from this core collection of California tattoo artists. From "Suits Made to Fit" to "Full Coverage" and now "Bloodwork: Sleeves" these are amazing books that make you feel good to be a part of this art form. It is limited to only 1500 copies and I am sure that a good portion of these are already overseas. Don't wait on this one, we have it available in store now. Enjoy! Bloodwork:Sleeves_Available_Now

Fine Art Friday

This weeks work is from a power duo. Direct from Philly wonder twin powers activated on this one. Dave Fox did this painting with Josh Hoffman. They created a set of prints and I was lucky enough to snag this piece. I do believe they were going to start a set of flash and it morphed into a series of paintings. Both these dudes have great styles and they work really well together. Love the pirate imagery - this is a power house of a piece.

Keep up with the crew -Dave_Fox_Studio_One

Also this week is a great painting from artist Jamie Cross. Jamie and I worked together for years at a couple different studios. I have always enjoyed watching Jamie grow through the years with both his tattooing and painting skills. Jamie has always had a tremendous enthusiasm for tattooing that still survives to this day. He has developed a great following for this monochromatic work. I have always like this piece. Look him up Jamie_Cross_Tattoo.

Machine Heads - Prepare to Lose Your Minds - I Did

Once you have been in this business for a minute you can sometimes feel like you have "seen it all" and then someone like Larry Ross comes along and blows you away. I met Larry last year at a convention and he wanted to show me some of his custom machines. He opened his machine case up and all the sudden it was like someone opened a treasure chest. A crowd gathers instantly around him and his machines. Larry has thought of every crazy idea you have ever had about building a machine then some. He has 4 coil machines, wood machines, over the top rigs, tube through the front coil machines! Yes you read that right.

This year we ran into him and once again he did not disappoint. He had some crazy machines. The night before we ran into Larry, I was talking to Soba about machine design and he sketched an idea he had out on a napkin. The machine would have no rear spring, just a pivot point and the spring would be provided on the front coil. He wanted to use a coil spring that could be swapped out for different compressions.

The very next day as we talked with Larry, he pulled it out of his case. He had the same idea, oh and he also turned the coil sideways and created a crazy side bar loop front binder stay. He is awesome. Everything he makes is a one off, hand made by him in his workshop in Vermont. He doesn't create production machines so to speak. But he does sell some of these machines. Everything Larry builds is beautiful, he mixes materials, he mixes different finishes, he has created whole new ideas about machines. It is so exciting to see his work, you just get overwhelmed. (at least I do)

Yes this machine has 4 coils, it runs, and he wired them as two pairs not a sequence. I always wondered...

I loved this idea of a shape on the end of a spring. Look close at the amount of handwork involved. You can still see the marker lines on his hand cut spring and the jack he cut down to make his contact point out of, I also think that is a lamp switch that he is using to hold it all together. It is all about the details with these machine, Larry is a true artist!No this is not an illusion. I have had some crazy ideas in the past, in fact I have a sketchbook full of them, but not in my wildest drawings did I ever have this idea. Ever. Look close. Yes he made a machine where the tube goes right up through the coils. The a-bar is notched out like a horseshoe with a nipple in the center.

I know what your thinking....cause I was thinking it too.....

It can't possibly run...can it? IT DOES, it runs alright. I don't think you are going to shade a 13 mag for two hours with it, but you could line with it. A-mazing.

He really has some gems, the craftsmanship is only eclipsed by the creativity. This machine was coated with a hard grey coating I had never seen. Larry said it was parkerizing, some process the military uses. Crazy.

Yeah, wrap the old melon around this rig.

Great concept. Fully functional. Another pivot rig with compression spring front. Unreal. Tim Brewer was geeked, Soba was geeked. Larry will share any information he has. He answers every question you have and provide answers about the details, super gracious.

As for me, well you can see my face. I get over excited, a bit. And unfortunately for Larry I have a thousand questions.

Really the most impressive thing is that all the machines run, crazy ideas, mixed metals, weird parts, antique pieces, they all run. Larry is true craftsman and a total inspiration to me and I hope to everyone who meets him. He really cares about tattoo machines and what he builds. That is very rare in this business and he should be applauded. You won't meet a nicer a guy, with such a high level of commitment to see his ideas through to a finished product. Thank you Larry Ross, you rule. You must now go check out some of his other machines in full color. http://www.bodyblendstudio.com/

Fine Art Friday

Direct from the King of Seattle comes this beautiful demon painting. Our long time friend Aaron Bell from Slave to the Needle painted is especially for us. What a great gift.

He even included the Pulse logo. Along with being a tattoo staple in Pacific Northwest Aaron has created a ton of great flash that we sold the wheels off for years. I would bet you could stop in to almost any street shop in America and find Aaron's designs on the wall. He has a great eye for creating what the customer wants.I also seem to remember that I spend a bunch time riding Aaron about parting with the above sailor girl painting. It was a Skin & Ink magazine cover as well as a best selling print. I love that painting (I only own a print of it) and hope he will tire of it on his wall one day and part with it. One can always hope. Still going strong -Slave_to_the_Needle_Here

Also this week comes a strong painting from artist Mike Shea. I always liked the way the classic style and tattoo elements were twisted just a bit. Mike is always doing nice work up in Boston. http://www.redemptiontattoo.com/

The New Specialist, I Think We Got It

Over the last year we have been revamping our entire line of tattoo machine frames to incorporate out new vise. It works so well that we wanted all our frames to get the treatment. When it came time to add the new vice to the Specialist a bunch of questions came flooding into my mind about some of our design choices. The Specialist was our first frame and I felt it could use a little updating. The first thing on my wish list was to do away with the back tab and the channel that we created to slip the solder lug into. It made it very easy to put the back binder onto the machine and wire it, but it also made us cut binders down just for this frame for years. It also feels a bit lopsided, I also saw an opportunity to create a window in the rear stay like the Corsair. Which I love. I also felt the side plate of the machine could go on a diet and become bit more streamlined. We have taken it in, in a bunch of places.

The new rear tab is way more aesthetically pleasing, I love the new radius and the fact we can now use a regular binder for the rear, no more shorties! All in all I am really happy with the re-design. The machine also has the new vise, is a bit lighter, and still runs those 3's and 5's like the devil. It's a whole new Specialist, and it's ready to come live with you. Check it out AllNewSpecialistHere

Fine Art Flowers

This set of paintings was created by tattooist / painter Jay Langer. Jay had done a beautiful series of paintings that interspersed bones with flowers. It was a nice mix of morbid beauty, I loved the concept and the pieces were great to mount together with the ribs up top and the hip in the lower position.

Jay is a very talented guy, along with holding down full time duties at his studio he paints, plays in a band, builds bikes, designs for a T Shirt Co., makes flash...yeah Jay is one of those guys. Super energy, super productivity -great combo. Check him out -http://www.myspace.com/jaylanger.

Another great painting that hangs at Pulse with a beautiful traditional flower comes from Grez DNA. If you are familiar with Grez then you know how clean and strong his tattoo work is. His paintings stand up to that same visual test. He has a great eye for structure and a great grasp of those classic images that define western traditional tattooing.

Is that not the perfect tattoo rose? I also remember eyeing this pieces for half a day as I cruised through a convention. I came back to buy it right before I left and was really happy. As I was thanking Grez and walking away from the table CIV had walked up and was asking Grez about this painting, it seems he also wanted to purchase it. I am sorry about that CIV, but I love the piece. Grez has been tearing it up over at Mike Rubendall's Kings Avenue Tattoo. http://kingsavenuetattoo.com/

"Knock Yerself Out" - Out Now

"Knock Yerself Out" is the sequel to the best selling Joe Capobianco sketchbook. Joe has returned with this brand new collection of sketches, drawings, and color studies. Line work to fully rendered, the "Capo Gal" never looked so good. Doll after doll is lined up and ready to be inked! Joe created this book to be used like flash and as always it's packed front to back with a bevy of beautys. Full color -Hard Cover- 120 pages - A knockout of a collection and a must for reference, with an amazing price tag -TWENTY FIVE CLAMS!!KnockYerselfOut-AvailableNow

Friday, Art Time

This week brings a great pen and ink from the one and only Greg "Craola" Simkins, and yes we do have a bunch of Craola art. One - because we love it and Two- he is most talented guy working today. I love how he blends ideas and his style is instantly recognizable. That is not an easy thing to achieve, to create and right upon sight everyone knows who did it. I think that is the holy grail for an artist. He's is getting there and trust me he is going to keep pushing himself forward into that rare league of artists working today. Take a minute and check his bio, he has done art for everyone from Kid Robot to Disney to Vans to well...Us. The kid is the bomb, don't believe me, -http://www.imscared.com/

This cool little piece was a gift and I can't remember the artist name I think it was Eric and it's signed CHUNG so I assume it's a great piece from Eric Chung the painter of people inside animals. Also if I was any animal I would be an octopus or a squid, so I made a personal connection with this piece. -Oh, and the painting wasn't a gift from the artist, that would suck if he had given me the painting and I forgot his name. -BONUS- This weeks bonus piece was also a gift from our friend and artist Kore Flatmo. Kore scripted up our name in true tattoo fashion. We always meant to do T-shirts but never quite did. We did however take to using this piece as a laser burned logo for our Archer machine box. I would still like to see it make it's way to a shirt. Flatmo rocks-http://www.plurabella.com/

"Build Your Own" Was a Great Time!

The Pulse "Build Your Own" Workshop at this years Paradise Tattoo Gathering was a blast. We set up the workshop for a dozen folks to come in and build any of our machines from scratch. We were lucky to have so much interest and actually sold out the event weeks in advance (thanks!).

We broke things down into two groups of six and Soba and I ran an open forum where we discussed a dozen different styles of machines. We looked at everything from the materials used to make the frame to the process and the geometry. I was even tired of hearing myself talk after a couple of hours.

The other team of Alex, Joe and Tim ran a hands on step by step assembling of a coil setup along with tutorials on capacitors, resistance, electricity and materials.

Then everyone assembled their machines and we switched groups. Happily all machines started right up and that sounded great. Everyone who attended had great questions. This is always a learning experience for me also. When people make you stop and think about things that can be taken for granted, it always make me think about our process.

I think it's always really helpful and healthful to examine how you do things, there is always something new to discover. The thing that blew me away the most about the workshop came at the end. As I was thanking everyone for coming I started to ask people where they were from. The artists had come from all over the country, Arkansas, Tennessee, San Francisco, New York, Michigan, Connecticut and Massachusetts. That felt really good, I didn't expect people to travel from all over and that was a nice surprise. As always SOBA from Workhorse straightened me out on a few things, and we swapped some cool ideas, it was great have Tim in the session, and I think it was good for Alex and Joe to get to be able to share their knowledge. All in all it was a really fantastic time. I think we were scheduled from 12 to 3pm but we ran until almost 5pm, and we could have gone longer! We are now kicking around the idea of offering an in house workshop a couple times a year where you would be able to come to Pulse take a tour and then we would sit down and build a rig. Next year we are going to try to put that together so keep it in mind. Thanks to everyone who came down.

Fine Art Friday

This Friday brings a great piece from artist Eric Merrill. This piece was created with pastels which are some of the best pieces I own. The thing about pastels is they have to primarily be worked and blended with your fingers. So the artist really has to get their hands dirty (literally) I also feel doing pastels takes a toll on the artist, the substance is very drying to skin so the artist fingers get cracked and dry, couple that with tattooing in latex gloves all day and you can imagine how tough it is to spend hours each day working pastels. So that means a lot when you know what goes into each piece.

The best part of this pastel is that it was a gift. I had attended a gallery opening at Hope Gallery and was going piece to piece checking out the info on each piece in the price sheet. When I got to this piece on the wall it was listed NFS (not for sale) private collection -Brett Bryan. What a great way to get a gift, it is one of the most special pieces I own and admit it that is a sexy pose. It's also quite big 24" x 36", no joke. Talented by the pound -Eric Merrill -check out the video of the new studio http://www.hopegallerytattoo.com/

...and speaking of Hope Gallery another great story is how I acquired this piece from Joe Capo. This Hope -Lost -Hope Mother painting was a give away painting at an opening. They sold a bunch of raffle tickets with the money going to a cancer charity. I bought a large handful of tickets and guess what...I won....I felt bad for a minute, I own so many paintings from Joe, but I got over that quickly because I loved the painting and it hangs in my office to this day.http://www.joecapobianco.com/

New Easy Glow Shirt, You Can Only Get it For FREE

Artist Jime Litwalk has drawn up this nifty piece of artwork for the new Easy Glow T-shirt. The best thing about the blue on blue shirt is that it's FREE! That's right just buy any set of Easy Glow pigments and get this limited edition shirt, while supplies last. Bombs away.

10 Reasons the Paradise Tattoo Gathering is Great

The Paradise Tattoo Gathering this year was fantastic. It is a unique show due to the fact it's only 1/3 show combined with 1/3 learning annex with 1/3 relaxing weekend. I don't believe there to be another show like this. Plus we had a good time making our sign for the booth. But here in no particular order are 10 reasons the Gathering is great...

#10 -The location is the Berkshire mountains in New England in Fall, the surroundings are unreal. The air is clean the location tucked away into a mountain and nature is in full effect. You can clear your head, not easy to do at most shows.

It's also like a miniature village , so you have to travel from building to building to see and do everything. One building has the convention floor, one building has the art gallery, one building has the forums, you get the idea. #9 -The people. Everyone comes to learn and share ideas. I also feel the show is mostly artists. I mean everyone, really high level talented artists were taking other people's seminars. That is very telling right there - when you know someones work is amazing and they have an international reputation but they still come out to learn. Well that right there is a lesson, you are never to good to learn and grow. It is a very positive energy -again unique to this show.

#8- There is a very dangerous, very unpredictable alpine slide. So if you feel the weekend is too laid back, strap in and loose some skin.

#7- One word "SOBA". He knows a ton about machine building, and metal smithing, and jewelry making, and raising koi, and bonzi trees, and jet boats, and lasers, beer making...is there an AA for people addicted to hobbies. I'm just saying, he knows a lot of stuff...

#6- Because you are in the woods you can totally wear plaid lumberjack shirts the whole time. It's cool, people expect it. Plus weird stuff happens like I found out that Obie Hughes and I were born in the same hospital.

#7- The accommodations are great. The suites are huge with fireplaces and full kitchens. Plus when you wake up to realize someone decided to rebuild someones tattoo machine where you were about to eat breakfast- well you can just leave after the weekend. Also there are plenty of other places to eat. #6- Everyone gets along. At the Pulse booth we were selling our machines right along side machines from SOBA, and Joe Capo. When you get like minded people together it is a good thing, you feel things moving forward and when you get home you don't feel like your stuck in the mud . Hearing fresh things and meeting new people with unique ideas is a great motivator.

#5- Bob Tyrrell tattooed this beautiful portrait of Dolly Parton on this nice girls thigh. Dolly and I share the same Birthday so I feel a connection. Great tattoo work was wall to wall. #4-The food is good, they have a turkey wrap made with real turkey. Like they cooked a turkey and then slice off the meat to make the wrap. Like the day after thanksgiving. Oh yeah it's also nice to share a meal with old friends. Also- not for nothing but Joe Capo might have an interesting opinion to share at the table. But damn that turkey wrap was good.

#3- I love the forums. I love the idea of a panel of artists talking about a topic. I like a discussion and I like a disagreement, I like the audience to participate, cause you guessed it, I like to think. An intelligent discussion always gets you to think. The topics were good this year ranging from the state of tattooing to how to work healthier, how to bring up an apprentice. I was lucky enough to moderate a forum on business of tattooing outside of tattooing that explored all the opportunities that exist -from T-shirt lines, to commercials, to gallery shows, to tattoo conventions, to television. My panel included Shawn Barber, Russ Abbott, Durb Morrison, and Guy Aitchison. They were all great and had some really good stories. Thanks to them for making the panel great.

#2- The Toy Baroness from Kidrobot spent some time in the Pulse booth, and quite frankly that rules. She was with the Carlos half of the Beast Bros. -not too shabby. #1- Kim Saigh was there tattooing. I know your are wondering, yes she looks as good in real life as she does on T.V. All in all a real good time, a good motivator, good connections, good people, good venue. I believe the show is going to become an every other year event so keep it in mind for 2011.

New Pulse Shirt Is On

The new Pulse T is on the site and available in Small to XXX Large. Pulse"Machine"T-shirt. Thanks to our friend F. Sean Martin for the modeling. Yes that F.SeanMartin

Fine Sketch Friday

Interspersed with our fine collection of paintings is some really great original sketches. My favorite is from comic artist J. Scott Campbell. He had created this Princess from G-Force drawing for a "Battle Of The Planets" trading card set. Campbell's art is traditionally colored on the computer (sidebar: isn't it funny to hear the word traditional with the word computer) so with him this is as close as you get to his original art. Most comic artists are really sketch artist because they will turn over their pencils to be outlined and colored by someone else.For my money Campbell draws just about the best girls in comics, hands down. I only wished he did a monthly title like he did with Gen13 or Danger Girl. Never lose sight of the fact comics are great place to look to be inspired. They always have inventive ideas for layouts and creating action with a flat picture. I love em. (I think I just outed myself as a geek). http://www.myspace.com/j_scott_campbell

Another great sketch we have is from artist Andrew Bawidamann. Andrew does those really graphic Pin-Ups you see on shirts and poster. He actually does some tattoo shows with his art. He mostly creates in 1-Shot auto paint, even though his stuff looks like he did it in Illustrator, he still keeps it old school. Great web store - http://www.bawidamann.com/home.html BONUS -The bonus sketch this week comes from comic artist Joe Linsner. Linsner is the creator of the infamous "Cry For Dawn" comics. Joe's Dawn character has taken on a life of her own and has the merchandising pedigree to prove it from calendars to statues to contests of look a like Dawns. She's big time. Joe Linsner wrote the foreword to Joe Capo's art book. They grew up together airbrushing in Long Island. What's in the water out there? http://www.linsner.com/

Jime Litwalk Strikes Again

Our good friend Jime Litwalk was just in town for the Paradise Tattoo Gathering (coverage coming soon) and he hung out with us here at Pulse for a couple days. Our own Katie got herself all kind of tattooed up by Jime. The piece was based on Tim Burton Poem called "Voodoo Girl", and I think they cooked up a great interpretation.

"Her skin is white cloth,

and she's all sewn apart

and she has many colored pins

sticking out of her heart.
She has many different zombies

who are deeply in her trance.

She even has a zombie

who was originally from France.

But she knows she has a curse on her,

a curse she cannot win.

For if someone gets

too close to her,
the pins stick farther in."

Easy Glow, Now in 4 Ounce.

It is finally here, it is in stock and ready to ship. We have every color ready to go in 4 ounce bottles. ( We still don't have Flesh) But we do have all the other great colors. If you have tried the 1 oz and like the colors now is a good time to splurge on 4oz. It is also great to break up some 4oz grab a white and yellow and mix up some of your own tints. Give us a call or check out the site. If you have been waiting for us to stock we will be calling everyone tomorrow and the next day, thanks for your patience.

Fine Art Returns

We were away last Friday at the Paradise Tattoo Gathering and missed the update, but we are back. Josh Hoffman did this awesome "Rock of Ages" painting for us. He substituted the traditional stone cross for our gear logo. Josh's work has a special touch to it, he is a great composer and constructor of both paintings and tattoos. Clean lines and great layouts!

Over the years I had built three or four machines for Josh, but they never seemed to hit hard enough for him. I did just about everything I could think of to make a hard hitting machine, in fact the last rig I did hurt my thumb as I tested it without a needle set up. Trust me it hit, but I still don't think it was hard enough. I guess Josh Hoffman is like L.L. Cool J "Hard as hell".

The piece also made it's way to a Pulse T. We are very happy with it.

We are also the proud owners of Josh Hoffman's Abrasions skate deck. Josh painted the piece on paper then cut it out and shellacked it to the board. That is some serious scissor control. JoshHoffman

Back to School Books

Just in is the new issue of Tattoo Artist Magazine with some great articles. We are also stocking a new book from Incognito Press entitled Lost Art that features some vintage flash. Both are available now. TAM 16 & LostArt . Get ready because this is just the start of a great fall season of books. In the next couple weeks we expect new books from Joe Capobianco, Bloodworks (Sleeve Book) from adrian lee and company, as well as the new book from Martin LaCasse.

Friday, Art Time

Yet another great painting from Shawn Barber. I have been a fan since Shawn begin using the art of tattooing as his subject matter. The energy and point of view that he captures is truly unique. No one has ever put this particular spin on the process. He also has a great way with portraits. He grasps something that no one else does, I love his art and hope he keeps creating painting using tattooing as his subject matter. Always eye opening http://www.sdbarber.com/

This piece comes from an unknown artist and was a gift from my good friend Thug Josh. He was recently in Vietnam and bought this piece for me outside of a temple. It is silk screened on a burbur type of fabric. I think they silk screened right there while he waited. No big machine or special printer. BY HAND! Each screen.

Check out the details, just incredible. Craftsmanship comes in all mediums, I think here in the U.S. we take silkscreening for granted. It is how they make concert T-shirts and posters, but it can be elevated to a great artform. I am going to keep my eye out to add some more quality silk screen pieces to our collection here at Pulse.

You Must Represent. If you want.

Our new Pulse Machine T shirts are in and they came out sweet. The shirts are black with black and grey art and the sizes range from Small to 2XX. They drop next weekend at the Paradise Tattoo Gathering and should be up on the site right after. We will be sure to clue you in. I also did the photo setup in sepia the way I usually do and now that I see the shirt in sepia we might just mix up a batch in sepia on brown shirts perhaps. Perhaps.

The actual art looks like this.

Oh Joe. Brand New BOOK!

It's already at the printers. Presto Art and Joe Capobianco are set to do it again, a brand new sketchbook entitled "Knock Yerself Out"! Packed front to back with brand new Capo Babes that Joe created just for this brand new hardcover volume. We should have more details in the next two weeks. Stay tuned.