Worlds apart

So i designed this piece a while back in Hong Kong, and it got snapped up by Jon over here, so it's be a long time coming! Anyways, filled up his inner arm with this pagoda, bird and peony combo. Will be finishing it up in a few weeks.

When we've done the colour hopefully all this grey will have settled down nicely, so hope to get a good photo! Sorry bout the stencil round the top, but i wasn't feeling mean enough to rub alcohol into a fresh tattoo!

Movember

So the last box of my stuff from Hong Kong arrived today. It was full of cd's, and whilst sorting through them.... i found a jem. Basically, long story short, after Ross got his finger tash we kinda made an epic effort to take photos of everyone we encountered to be on a gallery on the studio website. This awesome "best idea ever" lasted all of 1 night. But what a night, and here's the proof. Now keep in mind, most these people are strangers we stopped in the street/club.... so i think 10 points for effort. My favorite is the last pic, some homeless guy we found on the street who didn't speak any English. Genius.... and i'm pretty sure i gave him enough spare coinage to make it worth his while in return!

Ladies and Gentlemen.... may i present..... just another night out in Hong Kong 2007. Enjoy.

We're no solution, we're the problem

So, last night I went to see the U.S Bombs play at the Underworld. To say i've been looking forward to it is a gross understatement. Got off the plane, picked up dog, dropped off suitcases, went to buy U.S Bombs tickets. true story.

Awesome show, Duane was on form. Ross got his board signed too which was pretty sweet....

This is the only half decent photo from the gig i got..... but he's mid drunk uncle at wedding dance, so it gains bonus points, no?

Tomorrow we are going to see Las Pistolas play at the Gaff (Vince Ray headlining). Howie (drummer) came to Hong Kong with the misunderstanding that there might be a half decent music scene... disappointed is an understatement. So long story short, we met in H.K and now, in London we keep running into each other. Super nice guy, so if any of y'all have no plans, come down the Gaff tomorrow for some good ol' Rockabilly. 

Til next time.... Happy Thanksgiving.
I'll leave ya with a squirrel.....

(why not)

dif-tor heh smusma

For any of you wondering what the title means, well it means what i just got tattooed .....

"live long & prosper"

here's a pic of harry tattooing me

i'm really hoping this stays in well. i'm not keen on the idea of having it re-done!

in other news, the shop has all been revamped, the outside is looking pretty kick ass with new signage and everything.....

i don't think that kid was really there when this photo was taken. i think it's one of those "two men and a baby" deals.

*all photos on this post courtesy of Kirsty*

Blind Faith

quick post of a sketch i just did......

I'm getting super lax with lining anything now, and i'm not sure how i feel about that! this is gonna go 1 of 2 ways, i'm either never gonna get round to lining anything ever again, needless to say i'll never get round to colour too OR i'm gonna go back to lining everything before i post it, and if i get round to it, colour too. 

i think the fact that all my art supplies were being shipped kinda got me off track, but they are here, finally, and now i got no excuses i guess.

In other news, i went to go meet my new niece yesterday. Nice day out of london, and Milo enjoyed the trip too. Unfortunately, i didn't get up to my usual 8 million photo taking, so instead, here's a pic of my niece, Faith I ripped off facebook.

pretty cute, eh?

So looks like Harry might be inflicting some serious pain on me later today, so i'll be sure to share either later today or wednesday with y'all (tomorrow i aint at work and i still got no internet at home)

til next time.....

sketch

exactly what it says on the tin.....

thanks for looking!

Hello Arthur!

so here it is, as promised for Arthur back in Hong Kong......

From Jeff. (he even signed it, click to enlarge!)

To the rest of you wondering what the hell is going on, well, Arthur likes Bomb the music industry.... a lot, and i went to go see them play last week. Seeing as Arthur lives in Hong Kong, i find it fully understandable and fairly acceptable that he couldn't make it. 

Still doesn't mean he should totally miss out though, right?!

Anyways, while pulling these pics of my spare camera, i found photo documentation of Milo's first piss on this side of the Atlantic. Thought i'd share....

eye of the tiger vs. the thrill of the fight....

"I put all my books in a box
to put them in a concrete cube and
underneath more boxes and hidden behind boxes
I’ll get in one too." - Bomb the music industry!

OK, i haven't had much luck getting on the computer for the last few days, so FINALLY, i blog.

The Bomb the music industry gig was awesome. Really nice guys too, and Arthur.... if ur reading this..... get excited coz i got something special for you.... but it'll have to wait til my next post coz i left my other camera at home. I know, i suck.... but it'll be worth the wait.

Anyways, enough Arthur, this is for the rest of y'all......

Got to finish the rib piece i kept promising i'd post linework photos of and didn't.....  so now u get to see it spangly and finished! woop woop.

poor guy really suffered. i don't know how he sat through all the colour in 1 shot, but 10 points. well earned.

sorry for the 2 separate pics not magically woven together by photoshop, but i still don't know how to do that, and without Ross on hand, looks like my photos will stay separated (don't worry kids, just because they are separated doesn't mean they don't love you just as much)

So in other news, ALL MY STUFF FROM HONG KONG HAS ARRIVED! my living room is now FULL of boxes. the only person who seems to be enjoying this predicament is Milo, who seems to think we've made our flat into a fun maze to run around. Poor guys gonna be gutted when we finally unpack and throw out said boxes/maze.

Anyways, gotta get back to work, but before i do..... here's a sketch i did the other day. i'm trying to teach myself the wonders of photoshop, hence the kinda computery-ness of it now.

It's a very fancy owl skull. why yes indeed.

fat wreck

so went to Swingin Utters last week, didn't get a chance to blog about it coz my back went, but it was an awesome show. I've been listening to those boys since i was about 13, and it was the 1st time i got to see them live, so big smiles all round.

Here's a not so great photo...

and here's a photo of Ross and a monstrosity i spotted outside....

Tonight i'm off to see Bomb the Music Industry! which i'm super excited about, but looks like i'll be going on my own which is a bit of a bummer. I really doubt any of my friends will be there.... in fact, i'll be amazed if anyone else is there full stop! Can't say i've met many BTMI fans other than Arthur, and he's in Hong Kong.

Updates soon i'm sure! and maybe some more photos....

Dreadful & Divine

So, as promised, a quick post about the exhibition i went to see at the Hunterian Museum. 

I initially read about the exhibition titled "The Dreadful and the Divine" on a blog i follow, and thought it sounded worth a visit. Little did i know that the museums permanent collection is fucking incredible. Skulls from pretty much every creature, lots of stuff in formaldehyde, lots of old pieces from John Hunter's collections (totally didn't click for me with the museums name coz i'm a retard), and a bunch of stuff from Frederik Ruysch too.

*there's a lot of links up in that paragraph, so check 'em if you r interested!*

I am definitely going back, armed with pencils n sketchbooks, coz there was so much awesome stuff, and of course, no photography.

I did buy some postcards though.... so here ya go.....

For all o' y'all living in London, i would most definitely recommend going for a gander. 

grin n bear it

ok, so quick post between customers.

just finished this one off, for a sweet customer who brought me PINK MONKEY CUPCAKES! hell yeah!

so anyways, back to work..... this is for his son....

had a blast doing it, was looking forward to this for a while!

it's his 1st tattoo and he sat really well. Booked in for another on Saturday! 

anyways, i've had a rough past 2 days, totally put my back out, went to an Osteopath but i'm still feeling really tender. Spent yesterday icing my back every hour which is no barrel of laughs. Todays my first day back at work since i got crippled, and i'm having a hard time. thank god i got tomorrow off. 

Lastly, i went to an INCREDIBLE exhibition on Tues, don't have time to blog about it right now..... but soon. very soon......

sketch

Figured i'd post a sketch i just did..... been a pretty boring day. 2 small tattoos but most definitely nothing blog worthy.

 Hence.....

Woulda lined it but my 8 liner pen is screwy and i couldn't be bothered to use anything smaller. I never really post stuff like this, i normally always line it and erase all the pencil.... but i kinda like this, so maybe i'll post more.

By the way it's just HB pencil on white paper. Came out looking sepia from the scan, but again, i like that too!

Fuck art, lets eat.

So i'm not even going to attempt some sort of review for the exhibition we went to yesterday.... coz i found one HERE!

So yeah, that's what i did yesterday, among other things.....

Started off walking through Spittalfields market which i haven't been to in forever (really..... well, forever minus some maybe). Kinda felt like a kid in a candy store.... so much to take in..... gonna have to go back another day when i'm not holding up a the crowd.

I'm fucking loving being back in London. Honestly... couldn't be happier right now. For those who know me well, i'm sure you know how miserable i ended up being in Hong Kong. Don't get me wrong, it's an awesome city.... but everyone's different and i most definitely prefer it  over here.  The art, the music, the culture, the food, the people..... pretty much everything.... except the fact it's fucking cold and i smoke like a chimney so wearing fingerless gloves makes you realise how cold it really is. No , I tell a lie. The fact the only part of my body i can't feel is the tips of my fingers makes me realise how cold it is.

So, back to yesterdays doings......

no photography inside, although some twat kept taking photos on his iphone.

we actually went to 3 exhibitions, this doorway was next to the 3rd gallery we went to. i picked up leaflets, and thought i was gonna post a very comprehensive blog, but the leaflets are at home and i'm at work..... more importantly, the transporter is undergoing repair..... so no leaflets y'all. 

The 3rd exhibition was a friend of a friend of Harry.... really awesome paintings. i'll definitely try to get that exhibitions details and post it coz it's worth a gander.

shiny stuff makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

as you can see, stopping to take photos of shiny stuff almost gets you left behind. Although i was pleased to see Jonathan taking almost the exact same photo a few seconds later! Check his blog HERE

So after soaking in some culture, we headed to SoHo for some meat...

the only thing this place was lacking was some fat hillbilly missing his teeth playing a serenade on a banjo to a rabid armadillo. Awesome food, cool decor, can't complain (except for the fact Miss Brooke found a hair in my burger..... but lets not go there)

Ross stayed in coz his parent had come up to help out with stuff at the flat. Got some bookshelves now, new grouting round the bath which is always a bonus, some "cats arseholes" on the wall (don't ask) and a brand spanking new coat rack. How awesome does Milo's little leather jacket look up there?! 

ok, this blog has dragged on enough.... but one last photo i just found on my camera from a drunk night bus ride home....

i think Harry should live here.

yup.