Podcast: Talking With Tattoo Artists (Part Two of Two)

This week we continue talking with tattoo artists about the culture of tattooing, on-the-job experiences, work/life balance, preconceived notions, and pretty much anything else they felt like talking about. Last week we spoke to two relative new-comers to the industry, this week we talk to Brian Kelly, who's been tattooing for 10 years in Minneapolis, Ireland and Germany, and Nic Skrade, an established tattoo artist with over 22 years of experience and one of the owners of Uptown Tattoo.

Download the MP3 or Subscribe via iTunes!

Talking With Tattoo Artists Part Two of Two
Length: 01:34:46
Synopsis: In the second of a two part series, we talk to international mystery man Brian Kelly and seasoned tattoo artist Nic Skrade about the culture of tattooing, on-the-job experiences, why they love the medium, and anything else they want to talk about. Make sure to check out last week's podcast if you it, in which we talked to aspiring tattoo artist Jared Tuttle and local tattoo artist Katie Kroeck.

Show Notes:

Brian Kelly is a tattoo artist with ten years of experience. He currently works at Loxodrom Tattoo & Piercing in Berlin, Germany. His work can be found at http://www.briankellyarmy.com and on the Brian Kelly Facebook page.


Nic Skrade is a tattoo artist with 22 years of experience. He is one of the owners of Uptown Tattoo in Minneapolis, MN. His work can be found at Uptown Tattoo and his blog, Beasts of the North.

Artist Interview: Katie Sanvick

Katie Sanvick's drawings are absolutely beautiful.  Combine this with her color-saavy application of bright-yet-elegant color, and you can see why her finished works are incredibly rich. She also does a fantastic job documenting her process, which she's shared with us for this interview!

What inspired the work you have in the exhibition? Specifically, why did you choose the subjects you chose?

The idea for the tattoos came when I was watching Dracula. There's a part in the movie where Dracula says "Listen to them, children of the night, what music they make" and it totally inspired me. I think Dracula was actually referring to the wolves, but I think bats are children of the night too! So from there I decided to make them look more like traditional tattoos with heavy line work but with a little spunk. I played a little with juxtaposing ideas of the dark foreboding Dracula and the nature of vampire bats, against the bright colors, and putting the bats on flowers and giving them smiles to make them extra adorable. They are meant to be worn as a trio because I split up the quote, but they stand pretty well on their own. 

Talk about the medium you used to make your piece.

I usually start all my work the same, I draw it out first with pencil on paper, then scan it in and finish up digitally coloring in good ol' Photoshop. I feel like I have more control over the sketch and can visualize much better on paper than on screen. After viewing literally thousands of images of bats and flowers, I picked my favorites, mixed and matched, and threw together some sketches. Once I scanned each final bat in I had to decide weather or not to keep the line work or re-do it. In this case, I ended up re-lining everything in photoshop. from there I messily slapped lots of colors on to get a feel of what palette I wanted. After what seemed like an endless amount of tweaking, I'm done!

Do you listen to anything while you’re working? What have you been listening to lately?

Oh definitely! I always fire up pandora for a few of my go-to stations. It's usually a lot of Fever Ray, M83, The Knife, Tyga and dub step. Depending on my mood, if the drawing is going really well and i'm pumped about it i always listen to some of that music that makes you say hell yeah- the kind you can't help but feel like dancing to, the feel good stuff. When I'm starting out I'll listen to softer stuff. Then, when I'm so engrossed in what I'm doing I don't even notice that pandora has stopped playing for like half an hour and I've totally been drawing in silence.. that's when you know you've got something good.

Do you have any tattoos? Tell us about them!

Yes! When I was 18 I got a small star on my wrist, it's the star preset brush in photoshop..cheesy, i know.

Then when I was a freshman in college, I got a tattoo on my forearm sort of symbolizing my new beginning. It was around the time when I decided without a doubt I would pursue art at any cost.. which was a great decision! There's an Aries symbol in there because I'm really into astrology, and the words "Vita Brevis ars longa" which is Latin for "Art is long, life is short". Funny story with that tattoo, the artist actually inverted the sun-opposite of the design I brought in and I didn't realize it until she started laying on color after line work. What a great mistake, I actually like it better this way!

(AN: Coincidentally, Katie Sanvick and Rodrigo Avilés from last week's interview share a bond in their choice of tattoo wording!)

Whether you have a tattoo or not, it’s *possible* you have considered a tattoo you would like to have. What would that dream tattoo be?

I'm always considering tattoos, I'm in the middle of designing a very sick nautical/marine/sailor sleeve involving an octopus and I'm totally stoked!

For more of Sanvick's work, visit her website  and follow her blog! She also has a Twitter!

Artist Interview: Rodrigo Avilés

Rodrigo Avilés is an incredibly dedicated and talented artist from Melipilla, Chile. We've had the privilege of having his work in a few of our shows, and I'm delighted to present his process–he's been very generous with sharing his work methods–and his Beautiful Forever Interview!

Avilés's first design concept of a tattoo design for Beautiful Forever, "a drawing symbolizing bad luck in love/gambling":

His second concept involved a bird and a Latin phrase. He like this idea, but he wanted to make it more detailed and specific to a particular type of bird. 

He did some research of bird species with the colors used in the second concept and settled on the American Robin. He sketched the new birds based on his research and added a little memento mori design with a bird skull.

The final designs!

His tattoos are available in the Light Grey Shop here.
What inspired the work you have in the exhibition? Specifically, why did you choose the subjects you chose?

I used birds in my images for the exhibition because lately I've been very inspired by ornithology books, those with engravings illustrating the different species (The Birds of America from John James Audubon came to my mind, for example). I like birds for their symbolic meaning, and because of their varied shapes and colors. I like classic Latin phrases because I feel that they have a sort of timeless wisdom–pretty fitting for something inked for the rest of your life.

Talk about the medium you used to make your piece.

I worked digitally on this one. The piece was drawn in a Japanese software called Paint Tool SAI. I like this software for its quality to create line-art and because the menu is pretty simple (compared to Photoshop). The drawing was later colored in Photoshop. Aside from digital, ink on paper is my favorite medium, sadly I didn't have time to make this piece with ink. Usually ink is pretty trial and error for me, so I went the secure route.

Do you listen to anything while you’re working? What have you been listening to lately?

Yeah, I love to listen to music while I work, and I like music from very different styles. Some albums that I've been listening lately: The Lions - This Generation (reggae, 2013); various Bill Evans albums: Portaits of Jazz (1959);  Explorations (1961);  Death From Above 1979 - You're a Woman, I'm a Machine; (rock, dance-punk); Naomi and Goro (a Japanese Bossa Nova duet); many of Doo Wop and Motown 50-60 classics; and a lot of Cumbia, a popular tropical rhythm here in South America. As you can see, I listen to music almost the entire day, hahaha.

Do you have any tattoos? Tell us about them!

I don't have any tattoos! I'm the typical "I want to get a tattoo" guy, hahaha. I tried to design one for myself but I'm very picky with what I want to wear on my skin for the rest of my life. That bring us to the next question:

Whether you have a tattoo or not, it’s *possible* you have considered a tattoo you would like to have. What would that dream tattoo be?

My idea is a tattoo of two images, on opposite sides of my body (arms or chest, not sure): one with a banner that says "ARS LONGA" and an allegory to the virtues of the Art, and the other that says "VITA BREVIS" with a representation of Death, and earthy pleasures. "Ars Longa, Vita Brevis" is a Latin phrase that means mastering a craft takes a lot of time, almost your entire life. Also it can mean that truly, works of art live longer than their creators. I also want to show my dichotomy between the desire to enjoy life, and the discipline and time spent working.

For more of Avilés's work, you can check out his site or follow his blog! He also keeps a sketch Tumblr!

Beautiful Forever is this Friday!

Yes, what could be better than being covered in a bunch of amazing art? Yes, these are photoshopped, but THINK OF THE POSSIBILITIES!

Ok Guys. I could have gone to bed, but instead I photoshopped at least one tattoo from everyone's dozens and dozens of designs onto a vacation photo of me and my friend Atom (Who has NO IDEA that he's been chosen as a model for all of these sweet designs!). Also - here's a bonus challenge! Only one of the tattoos is real! Which one is it!


But! I just wanted to say that I couldn't resist and though I should be getting ready for my tax appointment in the morning with my accountant, this was just calling to me. In fact, I was teaching at MCAD earlier this evening and after I got done with class I walked back across the street to Light Grey to find that Jenny had packaged all of the tattoos to get ready for this Friday and I snapped a couple quick photos! (Artists, don't worry! I'll make sure to take some more clear shots and send them to you before the opening so you can show them off!)

Everyone else, LOOK AT THESE BEAUTIES!


Oooohhhhhh


Aahhhhhhhhhh!

So don't forget! The Beautiful Forever exhibition opening reception is THIS FRIDAY from 7 - 10pm at Light Grey!
We'll have a tattoo-station where you can apply your new ink and show it off in front of the cameras. We'll make sure to get a ton of great photos!

Plus, the guys from Uptown Tattoo (In charge of the Blowout Exhibition, benefit show for Tom Strom) also just let me know that they have secured a custom tattoo gun that will be raffled off on Friday! Crazy!
It should be crazy fun and I'll be there to show off my real tattoos and my temporary ones, too! :)
Please help us spread the word!


Oh myyyyyyyyy!

Hope you guys in the Minneapolis area can join us!
Just in case, here's the official facebook invite just in case you missed it the first time!

Everyone else, we'll keep you guys posted with photos and news from the opening!
Thanks, everyone for help spreading the word!

Find all these beauties on our online shop here as well as the great work from the BLOWOUT show!

:)
---Lindsay

Blowout - Sneak Peek!

Blowout  and Beautiful Forever
March 22nd, 7pm-10pm

I know all you tattoo and art lovers have been patiently waiting for this big reveal, and it is almost here! This March, Light Grey Art Lab is bringing the baddest and best of imagery into the gallery, from skulls, to flowers, to pin up girls, to celebrate artwork made by some of the world's best tattoo artists.

Blowout is about the personal artwork made by tattoo artists, including traditional materials, oil paints, and inks, as these artists explore their interests on paper and canvas.

Curated by Uptown Tattoo, this is a gallery exhibition and benefit show for local tattoo artist Tom Strom. Tom was recently involved in a bad biking accident, and is in need of back surgery. Proceeds from the exhibition will go towards Tom and his recovery.

This show is not just about the artwork, but the unbelievable sense of family and community within the tattoo world. So let's raise our glass, tattoo our arms, and support the cause for the love of Tom and our love of Tattoos!



And on the hard-core side of things, here is a sneak peek of what's to come in the BLOWOUT exhibition!

Artwork from left to right --
Marie by Zack Kinsey
Snake by Jon Sweet
Mucosa by Jed Leiknes
Musky Drangon by Brandon Holt
Could I Create Myself Anew by Chris Dingwell
Terrestrial by Tom Strom

Link to the official Facebook event here!

Here is the official list of artists that are joining us for the exhibition!

Tom Strom, Nic Skade, Jon Sweet, Brandon Holt, Matt Kollig, Zach Kolling, Zack Kinsey, Dan Kvola, Edu Cerro, Paul Bosch, Adam Barton, Klem, Dan Wysuph, Jason Anderson, Chris Dingwell, Shaun Beaudry, Miles Hunsberger, Spencer Hodgson, William Jackman, Worm Rodriguez, Vincent Oquendo, Manuel Trujillo, Sadie Kennedy, Missy Rhising, Levi Posin, Alex Nunez, Kevin McNutt, Durb Morrison, Joe Capobianco, Dan Marshall, Jime Litwalk, Jeff Gogue, Keith Kohrs, Adam Turnman, Christian Perez, Scotty Munster, and Thomas Kynst, Dan Wysuph

CALL FOR ART! - Beautiful Forever!

Celebrating the permanence (or impermanence) of the art on our bodies

EDIT!: Thanks to everyone that submitted links to our temporary tattoo show! We'll be posting the list of artists shortly! Thank you to everyone that got a chance to submit your sites!

Sneak-attack! That's how I'm feeling with this call for art! We have a quick timeline for this call for entries and a quick turn-around!
Why, you ask? Well, we have something awesome planned for our March show!

We have a whole MONTH of celebrating Tattoos and tattoo culture! Yes, just the other day, Chris was joking around (as we were playing Dungeons and Dragons with some awesome friends) about how instead of carrying an enchanted ring or a bottle of poison-- his magical item is his 'sic tat'. We all had a hearty laugh, and Chris maintained his stoic attitude and vowed to use it for good throughout the course of our game.

I know for sure that 3 out of the 5 of us at Light Grey have tattoos, and the other two have a healthy appreciation for them!
How about you? Have any? Like them? Like the idea of them? Well here we go!

***
BEAUTIFUL FOREVER
A tribute to tattoos (of the temporary kind)
March 22 - April 12th
Is being featured in the Adjunct gallery at Light Grey for the month and is running alongside BLOWOUT: The Art of Tattoo Culture, a benefit show for Tom Strom in the main room!
(More details about BLOWOUT soon!)


We're looking for artists interested in creating their very own page of tattoo flash, to be on exhibition in the adjunct gallery as well as seriously awesome, temporary tattoos that will be available online! Yes! We will make them into real temporary tattoos so you can wear them on your face! Or your friends faces! Or anywhere else!

Now is your chance to design the most awesome, epic, hilarious, clever, or otherwise - tattoos and let the universe see what you're made of. More details about the show and the sizes will be sent to our list of participating artists.

Submit your name, email and website / blog below to be considered, and please help us spread the word! BY MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18TH!!
Part of the proceeds for Beautiful Forever will go to raise money for Tom Strom, - in coordination with the Blowout Show.


We will be posting a list of all participating artists on Tuesday, February 19th and will follow up in an email with more details!
Please help us spread the word! Thanks guys!