little alice in wonderland

this tattoo has been booked in for over a month now as im sure youve seen me pattling on about it.
it was such good fun heather is lovely and has a great sense of fun about her so this theme was really fitting to her.
she was midered to death by ellis while she sat through it but didnt seem to mind lol
it took a while but was worth it in the end.
thanks heather xxxx

rescue me

this is the beginning of one, young lad called Jordan wanted david to do it for him, its was his first one and he sat really well for it but david never did it, a little too long out of practice i think and didnt feel very confidant maybe ill get another one and get him back into the swing of things. Jordan will be back at a later date to get it coloured in xx

a slightly better picture

seen this one before but the lad was round the other day and let me get another piccy to show you all xxxxxxx

the pheonix has finally f*****d off

well you may recognise this one from a while back, for now thats us finished at long last. it was a long hard slog but i think it worked out quite well.
hopefully he will look after it this time too, plenty of cream instead of letting it dry out and pulling the scab off by scratching it all the time.
the piccy again isnt a great one because im still using my phone as my camera is still out of battery so unfortunately its probabl not shown in the best way on here.
i was quite disheartened at first when i found out i was needing to recolour it, its taken me a long time to work up the enthusiam but it is done now and allan is happy enough.
i think in the future he wants some writing put under it but until then ...........................

angels

had a suprise visit today from a friend and her brother, annette brought scott round for a tat of rangers five stars on his neck. that was easy enough and was over and done with within seconds, (you can just see two of the stars in the piccy though there are five of them), so he decided while he still had some time left he would get another one.
he had a picture in mind on a card his dad had sent him for his birthday of a male angel carrying a female angel, weather they are in the throws of passion or something a little more tragic than that is for you to decide but they are both butt naked draped in cloth.
it didnt take long to do really and i was pleased with the result, all done in shading except for the cloth which is in colour the man is draped in blue and the girl is draped in purple. although in the picture it looks like they are both wearing red they arent its just blood, apparently scott had a lot to drink last night and his blood/alcohol levels are all messed up.
hes already planning another one for his other shoulder, an angel again but one thats a bit more butch it has a sword and stuff, and to be honest im really looking forward to it.
thanks annette for introducing me to your brother and ill see you very soon for your scorpion xxx

no pics cause its stinky celtic

well i had a tattoo booked in today a customer from way back when i first started over twelve months ago, ryan! his first one was his name on his arm and the one he got today was the celtic football club crest. now i did my best with it and it turned out well but my other half would kill me if he saw a picture on my computer of the celtic crest so no pics for you im afraid x
wile i was there ryans mum mary got her mum amd dad on her wrists. there was another lad there wanted his name done too but not knowing he was gonna be there i didnt take my full kit out with me, i did offer to go back tomorrow but he said he will have spent the money by then lol
a good day really though ryans arm is stinging a bit.
next one booked for the 16th ill keep you posted.

bye donald it was nice knowing you?

hi again everyone, sorry its been so long, its not that i havent been busy but tattoos have had to take a backburner for a little while thanks to unavoidable family problems, ive still been doing the odd little one here and there but nothing huge. the pheonix guy hasnt been back yet to get his finished though really i should be charging him again because he never looked after it at all and its his own fault it now looks a little faded, allan see me promptly please lol.
anyway one that did come along that i enjoyed doing was this cover up for a girl called rachael, she had split up with her boyf and wanted the name covered with a bow. and i will admit the photo is pretty crappy but the tattoo turned out quite well, drawn free hand of course it took two sittings. the outline was first, it didnt take long but rachael was on some new medication that caused a few problems so we had to wait a wee while before we coloured it all in.




anyway i think she was quite pleased and has said that i will see her again soon so it cant be that bad really lol. ive another couple booked in, jane, who just had a baby and wants the little girls name on her wrist and heather who is wanting the design i did a while ago for her alice in wonderland theme. im really looking forward to that one.
so ill keep you posted as best as i can xxxxxxxxx

another new customer

well annette came back and this time she brought her man with her to get a new tattoo, he plays the drums in a band in glasgow and wanted something to symbolise that, so he sent me a photo from the lower shankhill road in belfast of a mural on the side of a house.

it had to be slightly adjusted to fit on his leg but the end result worked quite well. the B.L.F.B. is the title of his band, though i cannot remembre what the letters stand for im sorry.

quis separabit means they will never be separated i think.

the guy was a good laugh and annette is back on monday night to get a red hand of ulster on her shoulder so they are very good customers.

it took me a while to get it on here as for some reason picasa web albums has decided its not gonna upload my pictures so i do apologise for that xxxxx see you tomorrow xxx

3yr old tattooist

ellis first shot at doing a tattoo on his dad he started out wanting a smiley face but it turned out to be something else however he was very brave and calm and im talking about ellis here not david. they both sahred a great experience and im glad i was there to help xxxxxx

my dad is my hero

this is davids latest addition to his collection, a tribute to his dad in thai.
it translates as "speed demon just like my dad".
they both enjoy a love for speed and david wanted to mark this with a tattoo xxxx

star gazing

this one was a complete nightmare to do not because it was difficult especially but the guy couldnt make a decision on what he wanted.
it was a cover up hiding the name of an ex girlfriend which was written in chinese symbols.
a difficult one to cover considering the complexity of the chinese writing and their size.
but i think it worked out well really.
i think in all honesty the guy wasnt too chuffed at me doing the tattoo as he has a friend that normally does them for free, but he isnt very well at the moment so he was stuck with me doing an emergency job so his current girlfriend didnt remove it with a kitchen knife.
hopefully when his pal recovers from his illness he will be able to blend it in with the sleeve that lee is wanting done and it will become another part of HIStory.

mum

this was another new customer today, the sister of an old one this time.
a pretty design for her mum. oulined with the black then another line around the inside of it in pink so as not to make it look to heavy.
lovely girl and lovely family xxx

little angel

this one was gonna be hard right from the off not just for me who had to draw it but for maggie too. this is a tribute to the babies that maggies has lost and a beautiful one it is too.
underneath it it says "when they walk beside me i hear their beating wings".
originally we were going to keep just to the black and grey shading but we discussed it a bit and decided to try adding a little bit of colour and i think it looks much better for it.
the blue in the wings and the blonde in his hair seem to give an impression of innocence and although we had a wobbly moment maggie did really well and worked through it.
shes under strict instructions to look after it well.
though she has told me she never ever wants anymore they hurt far too much xxx

bye jay

first one of the day. a cover up although maggies was nervous so i didnt take piccies before i started i just got to it straight away. this once upon a time said Jay a tribute to a man who turned out to be an idiot so needed covered over with something pretty.
maggie chose some lovely flowers which as you can see were pink and blue, and a scrolly/tribal design pulling it all together. we had a bit of trouble getting going but once we settled down and got into it it worked out really well and maggie likes it so thats good enough for me xxxx

thats ****ed it

well there will be a longer wait for the final results of rising from the ashes as allan got into a little scuffle at the weekend and now has a three inch cut on his back where he hit the bar and its kind of right above the eye socket on the skull and it looks quite painful so we wont be able to finish it for a while xx sorry about that folks but it will be posted asap xx

rising from the ashes (part four)

well another section finished, just the flames tonight as my back has been playing up cause im so old now, i think i manged the effect i was aiming for quite well the flames fading from yellow to black. favoured the red for the musical notes so as to blend them in with the flames.
definately agree with dad and david that the bird will need a little more work once its healed just to give it some definition really as now the flames are in its looking a little bit pale.
so booked in for the skull to be done in a couple of days and also the get the words "novus vita" underneath which in case you cant figure it out means new life. the perfect title for a pheonix tat.
xxxxx

rising from the ashes (part three)

well a little further on yet still no wiser haha, this was a little battle of wills with myself and allans horrid back. he was quite happy to sit all night where as i was losing the will to live behind him pushing the pedal and drilling the holes.
the body isnt quite finished yet i need to wait until its healed a bit now and add some detail of feathers and shadows etc.
the darker section is where the body and tail continue down through and behind the flames this also will need a little more definition when the tattoo is nearly complete.
its a bit of a race against time now actually as im a way on holiday on the 20th of october and im not wanting to leave it unfinished.
so keep your eyes peeled for part four folks lol

rising from the ashes (part deux)

well here we are part two, this was a lot more work than i had anticipated actually the head and both wings took me from 9pm until 12midnight. i was ready to commit murder by the end of the three hours the concentration had pickled my brain. needless to say im having the night off tonight as i have no kitchen roll left haha.
im really pleased though with the way the colours have turned out and i actually cant wait until its finished so i can see what it looks like altogether.
dont get paid until weds though so it will need to wait.
xxx

rising from the ashes

this is my first full back piece attempt. in case you cant make out the picture very well, its a skull at the bottom cracked and broken with flames erupting from it and a pheonix in the flames.
allan who got leckey on his tummy a wee while ago, (and who is also no longer with sharleen by the way), has had a rough time of it since he moved over from island but he has finally started to pick himself up now, hes got his own house, hes got some good friends and has met the woman he wants to love til his dying day. so he felt it was time to get some representation of this and after many notes and scribbles trying to explain what he was looking for we settled on a pheonix.
i did the whole outline tonight and it took a good hour or so because of all the feathers, and we are looking forward to another couple of sessions i think to get the colour in there too.
ill keep you posted xxxx

dolphin number one

this is another first today, my friend eilidh is moving down south next month and wanted a tattoo to not only make a memory of her daughters sasha and sophie, but to mark the big change in her life.
it was good fun doing this one eilidh is such a brilliant laugh and im glad i got to give her a going away present that will last forever.
were all gonna miss you eilidh but we wish you good luck for your future xxxxx

ghost rider

another not very good photo here but its actually a skeleton on a motorbike, a wee tribute to davids brother as he had something similar david has been trying to think of something to get and this is the end result. dont know if it was just the mood i was in or the fact that ive worn a hole through my top spring but this one although it only took an hour and a bit felt like forever.
but this morning it looks a lot better than i was expecting it to, this shading malarky is very misleading lol xx

my first shading attempt

well two photos of the same tattoo, my first attempt ever with the shading and i have to say im really quite pleased with it on the whole.
it now belongs to sharleen who has been on here before with several different pieces, it is an impression taken from a tattoo book and the picture was called "the lady of hell".
its quite a simple design that relys on the shading for detail so i had free reign to practice.
it only took a couple of hours but next time ill know how the different shades work so it will be a bit quicker, its about five inches from top to bottom and three inches across its widest point so its not too small either.
it was good fun playing about with a new technique an davids got one booked in for tomorrow lol
xxx

a couple closer to home

these are a couple of tattoos that david and i did for each other, the top one is on davids leg and is a take on the rememberance tattoos we saw on miami ink. often in battle if someone dies they stab the gun into the ground hang the dog tags on it and the hat and place the boots at the bottom, if only to mark the losses though im sure there is a deeper story behind it. david however being the big softie he is wanted something to remember the innocent people that are lost to wars and violence so this piece was named "toy soldiers".
its a kids baseball cap on a toy gun with the dog tag and boots and a handful of toy soldiers on the ground.
it turned out quite well though it really needs a close look to see the detail.

this is the next installment of what could be a huge tattoo, it started with davids first ever tat, the butterflies around the ankle bone which im sure i blogged such a long time ago, it travels round a piece that my daddy did many moons back when i was about 18, thats the little chinese symbol and butterfly. the latest bit is then the flowers and the bumble bee with the music notes. it took a little longer than anticipated but im really pleased with the result, again under close inspection the colours really blend together and hes done a great job of it.

it hurt like hell i wont lie and im slowly but surely changing my mind about it going all the way up my leg but hopefully the finished piece will look the way i want it to xxxx