2011 London Convention

Just a quick announcement about the London Convention, since i'm starting to get a lot of mail on that subject:

Yes, Uncle Allan will be working there, but no, you can't book an appointment.
Allan will show up with a bunch of line drawings ready to tattoo, and if you like on of them, and there are no other people in front of you, you can get tattooed.
So if this sounds like something you'd be interested in, get to his booth early.
If you want a custom design, please sign up for the waiting list to get tattooed in Copenhagen.

Eckel will be at the convention, but he'll be there as a visitor only.
If he chooses to do a guest spot while in the UK, i will put the dates in the "Travel and Guests" section.

Questions? Post a comment here.

THANKS SAHRA...

"A

s a "client" and not a tattooist, your blog is tops! I found it had really useful info for what to be aware of when getting tattooed.. I've passed your blog addy onto some younger, less "adorned" friends, who, coming from a freaking small place like Tassie may not know what to expect or what to demand, more importantly.. anyway, tattooing is rad and just because I can only get them, and can't make them myself, I still want to know everything about them and the machinisms (?) behind them. yay. That's all."

--

Sahra Gulbis

See that!! This attitude should be contagious!! THANKS SAHRA!

Ladies for sale... wait, what?!

I'm not really in a blogging mood today... or an anything mood really.
We're actually off for our summer vacation (ha!) but as in most of Europe, the weather in Copenhagen is crap.

But when summer depression (it's a thing now) is getting me down, so far down i don't even feel like blogging over here, that's when i'm happy i started this blog.
Cause when it comes to the shop, and our little shop family, there's always something good and positive to be said.

Right now, Nick just posted some brand new sketches and some new originals for sale on his pickturebox blog.
I know, exciting stuff, right? But wait, that's not all!
No, he's even offering free shipping from August 1st till October 1st!
So, get an EP original for as little as 128 USD and get free shipping worldwide.
Yeah, you're welcome, internet!

The Great Outdoors

A Tomahawk In Your Pants (a personal favorite of mine...)

Yellow Sneakers

Lilly Apacheee

Oh, and while you're there, don't forget to check the older 2010 originals too!

tattoo

SH*T FROM SHINOLA!!!

TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT THESE MACHINES. We repair machines, we tune machines, we modify machines. These machines have been abused and mistreated. The rust on the armature bars shows a total disregard for the main tool of their trade. How do we know there aren't pathogens all over these machines? if this artist uses these, how does he / she know that there aren't pathogens, ready to infect the client? Obviously, this artist sprays down their machines with a virucide which corrodes and oxidizes steel. The handling of these machines will be done with GLOVES ON!! And guaranteed, the screws will be very difficult to get out.

This type of carelessness in artists is what we're attacking. So many artists are so wrapped up in brand name, hype, attitudes and egos, into their images and grooming their "tattoo artist" uniforms that they forget that knowledge is KEY!! In the process of becoming recognized as "tattoo artist", they have forgotten about the most important ingredient in their rock star world - THE CLIENT! THE GUY WHO PAYS THE BILLS, THE GUY WHO INNOCENTLY COMES INTO THE SHOP LOOKING FOR A TATTOO FOR WHATEVER REASON, AND EXPECTS IT TO GET DONE. Not all are educated enough to look the place over and see that there is barrier film over EVERYTHING the artist could touch with his / her dirty gloves!!! This includes bags on machines, clip cords, counter, bottles... this is up to us - to regulate ourselves.

Another issue we have is confidence in suppliers. We have had artists send back machines for repairs - even our own machines occasionally need a tune up. Some suppliers have told us that their clients have wanted to return certain brand machines because they are not performing... and some ACTUALLY HAVE TAKEN THE MACHINES BACK AND REPLACED THEM WITH ANOTHER!!! SO WHAT'S THE ISSUE?

1 - THAT MACHINE WAS USED!! IT HAS WORKED ON CLIENTS' SKIN!! THERE IS A GREAT CHANCE THAT THAT ARTIST HANDLED THE MACHINE WITH HIS / HER BLOODY GLOVES! PUTTING PATHOGENS ALL OVER THAT MACHINE. DID THE SUPPLIER TAKE THE RETURNED MACHINE AND RE-SELL IT, AND IN EFFECT RE DISTRIBUTE A PATHOGEN COVERED MACHINE?

- THIS IS SUCH AN UNPROFESSIONAL PRACTICE!!! BECAUSE OF IGNORANCE!

The supplier doesn't know the machine, it's function... how to fix it, he cannot even give tips to the ignorant artist on how to improve that machine's function!!

THIS BUSINESS HAS NO STANDARDS. REALIZE IT. IF YOU REMAIN IGNORANT, YOU HURT THE REST OF US AS WELL AS YOURSELF.

THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THESE MACHINES TO BE TREATED THIS BADLY, AND JUST THE SHEER MISTREATMENT SPEAKS VOLUMES ABOUT THEIR OWNER.

2E Tattoo Machine by Godoy Machines.

This model machine was built especially for 2 Evolve from Cape Town, South Africa. This is the first time we have built a complete machine for another company. 2 Evolve are great friends of ours and do so much for the industry in their part of the world that they DESERVE a high quality product with their name on it.

The details of this superior machine will be posted once the are made available.

These are starting production and will be available soon. If you read this blog and want to order from them, see our link on the right. If you are in North America or if you choose to order from us, we estimate that these will be available in the next 3-4 weeks.

GODOY MACHINES CUSTOMER SERVICE REVIEW

For those of you who have never done business with Steve Godoy, this is my personal experience:

Communication was excellent. From the first reply, to a follow up that he did while on his personal vacation (to insure my machines had arrived in good order), communications were professional, immediate and effective.

Repairs were done on two machines which were manufactured by two very high profile tattoo machine builders (who shall remain nameless). I immediately noticed the quality of replacement parts used, and, the care in replacing. These machines have never run better.

Pricing was more than fair for the quality and service provided.

In my opinion, unless you are exceptionally apt at tattoo machine tuning, there is no reason to go through trial and error and ordering expensive, sub quality tattoo machine parts that look good in catalog and internet pictures. I would highly recommend using Steve Godoys services. He is professional, honest, trustworthy and knows his business.

Thanks Again Steve! A Mickey Sharpz liner will be mailed to you for tuning soon!

Bobby Stag

Brooklyn NYC

Spider man

What mean this tattoo i don't know.

DEREK BAKER - METAL MACHINE TATTOO - SOUTH AFRICA

IN SOUTH AFRICA, DEREK BAKER IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST RECOGNIZED AND RESPECTED TATTOO ARTISTS. HIS EXPERIENCE IN THIS BUSINESS GOES WAY BACK. HE IS A VETERAN OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN AND EUROPEAN TATTOO CONVENTION SCENE WITH HIS ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION AT MORE CONVENTIONS THAN MOST OF TODAY'S ARTIST HAVE IN YEARS TATTOOING! HIS POINT OF VIEW ON MACHINE KNOWLEDGE IS BASED ON HIS DECADES OF TATTOOING, MACHINE BUILDING AND WITNESSING GLOBAL CHANGES IN OUR INDUSTRY.

"I am Derek Baker from Metal Machine Tattoo and Piercing in Cape Town, South Africa. I was asked by Art and Steve to give you a pre and post seminar write up from my point of view as a South African Tattooist with 20 years of experience and participation at many European conventions.

The problem that South Africa had for so many years is that we were blocked from the world and no decent info was coming in about machines, inks or anything else to do with tattooing, that is why I started doing Germany conventions back in 1997 so I could start meeting other artists and learn as much as I could. Even with participation at the conventions you were closed off if you did not know the right artist. Thankfully many top guys started to do seminars which opened the door to so many great learning experiences to improve what we chose to do for a living.

What I liked about Art and Steve’s seminar was that they weren’t out only out to punt their machines, it was about making the machines that you own work without working hard. What I mean by this is everyone thinks that the machine must run fast and hard, the old school way which fucks up the skin and scars it so the blind can read it like brail, your client is in pain and you eventually go deaf.

A Tattoo machine is your bread and butter so it needs to be treated with respect. Art and Steve understand that when you set up your machine to work to at its best it will hum and not over heat. Your client will sit far longer and in less pain so you can give them the tattoo they deserve and not some scared piece of crap that will blow out.

I do believe that we should do any decent seminars available as we do not know everything; if you walk out of a seminar and have learnt just one thing then you are better off than you were before you went in and that is what it is all about for me.

If you think you know it all do us a favour and pack it in as you are not doing your clients justice and will carry on fucking them up.

So for the post seminar - The seminar is about knowing what your machine is saying to you while using it. Without this information your machine could be screaming at you and you’ll never understand what it's saying or be listening. I expect to see less tattoo machines land up in the “fuck that machine it does not work” drawer and instead finds itself on the work bench for a little TLC so it can keep on working for you and not you for it.

Thanks to art and Steve for coming over to South Africa and giving their time and knowledge over and helping the artists that want to learn more...

Ps: please remember to bag your machine - you wouldn’t have unsafe sex so don’t force unsafe tattooing on our clients."

Thanks

Derek

www.mmtattoo.com

THANKS!!! - WE APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENTS!

"Your book came in the mail today... the most expensive book I've ever bought and YOU DESERVE EVERY PENNY! 30 minutes and my whole view of machines has changed! It all makes sense! Fuck everyone who bootlegged it, you guys are geniuses! Thank you for sharing your knowledge."

- Christopher Lamy

new tattoos by Paul

THE INDUSTRY FROM A REPUTABLE SUPPLIER'S PERSPECTIVE

BRETT FISCHER IS THE HEAD FIGURE AT 2 EVOLVE TATTOO SUPPLIES IN CAPE TOWN SOUTH AFRICA. 2 EVOLVE IS THE PREMIER SUPPLIER THERE... FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE, THE ONLY SUPPLIER THERE WHO REALLY CARES TO MAKE POSITIVE CHANGES BY SUPPORTING THE ADVANCEMENT OF OUR ART. THIS PERSPECTIVE ON OUR INDUSTRY COMES FROM A SUPPLIER'S POINT OF VIEW. THE REST OF THE OSTRICHES WITH THEIR HEADS IN THE SAND NEED TO REALIZE WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON TODAY.

"Do you want to be a part of the solution? or would you choose to be part of the problem? do you even realize that there is a problem? By not choosing, you are part of the problem." - Godoys

"It’s a pertinent question everyone in the industry needs to ask themselves… If as suppliers we are part of a value chain, what is that value really measured in right now? Is it a brand name, a cheap selection of supplies, service or our affiliations? As suppliers we need to relook our position of value and the sustainability of our businesses in an industry drowning in artists, suppliers, supply options, product advancements and hype.

Recently we were privileged to host Steve and Art Godoy in South Africa at two Machine Seminars. The turnout of artists at the Johannesburg and Cape Town seminars stems not from a lack of ability but rather a desire to progress, to advance tattooing skills and to move forward rather than stagnate or move backwards.

Part 2 of the seminars are hands on - artists will fully understand their machines after this!

Artists who attended are relooking their thinking on machine set up, purchasing and value. Every day we receive requests for Feeler Gauges, 100uF Capacitors and components.. The confident and contagious desire to rebuild, experiment and better understand the tools of the trade has been awesome to watch. Our ability to understand these requirements has led us on a path to a complete rethink on our supply range and future purchasing.

The Godoy Twins have solidified our understanding that it is time to redefine our position as suppliers and our part in future progression or simply be left to continue down the path set by US supply houses advertising in the newspaper classifieds 100 years ago.

As a supplier do your part and host a Godoy Seminar.. Help unify artists who are progressive and help yourself better understand the value we as suppliers can contribute to Tattooing."

- Brett Fischer - CEO of 2 Evolve.

Egos, bullshit and the way forward.. Tamar Thorn

TAMAR THORN IS SOUTH AFRICAN TATTOO ARTIST WE MET AT OUR CAPE TOWN MACHINE SEMINAR. THOUGH SHE MAY HAVE BEEN TATTOOING FOR WHAT SOME PEOPLE CONSIDER A "SHORT TIME" - JUST OVER 3 YEARS, HER WORK IS PROOF THAT ADVANCEMENT COMES FASTER WHEN YOU APPLY YOURSELF.

"I was late falling in love with tattooing.. I started out looking for an apprenticeship when I turned 29 and even though I could draw well, had good business sense and didn't have a "tough girl" attitude I was surprised how few people in the industry in South Africa would give me the time of day. After going through a less than adequate apprenticeship and working in ego-driven street shops trying to figure everything out on my own I opened my own shop http://www.thebodyarchitects.com/studio.html . I still to this day don't know how I had the balls to do it given I'd only been tattooing for just under 3 years but hell, the shop exploded and we thrived our first year.

I always had this underlying feeling however that I wasnt in full control of my work. My machines confounded and frustrated me and I must have gone through ten new machines in that year, throwing each one into the drawer of death when they inevitably disappointed me with inconsistency and never ending problems. Who the hell do you turn to when no one wants to talk? Does everyone go through this and if so WHY?? There are so many of us.. all throwing our toys when our machines fail us, knowing that if we had full control we would be able to pull off such great work.. which is after all the reason we should all be doing this. To create beautiful, lasting tattoos with minimal discomfort and maximum enjoyment for our customers. No inflated ego, tough talk or hardcore image is gonna hide the fact that your tattoos suck ass.

Looking for answers online and asking other artists who also learned by trial and error never helped, until the Godoy's shone a lil light on the subject! The seminar helped me to change my whole attitude towards my machines. They don't control my work anymore and I can do a better job with less stress for me and the person I'm tattooing.

The seminar did something else too.. for one day everyone in that room was equal. We were all tattooers, looking for answers and everyone talked and shared their stories. It's amazing what can happen when egos are left at the door and the passion for the art of tattooing is once again the only thing that matters.

Art and Steve have a "no bullshit" approach in everything they do. They know what they are talking about because they've been through everything already. Listening to them talk was truly inspiring and being at the seminar was possibly one of the highlights of my carreer thus far. I know I can always carry that knowledge with me and where I can, pass it along.

The industry is changing, even since I started I can see how it's grown and shifted. I used to have people stare and scowl at me on the street, pull their kids away.. but now tattooing is on the TV and everyone and their kids are getting tattooed cos they saw it on Miami Ink. There isn't any stopping that. People want drama and tattooing is flavour of the month. The only thing we can do to ensure the bubble doesn't burst is be responsible, be informed and keep our heads out of our own asses. We aren't rockstars, we are artists who put their work on human skin. It's a practice to be respected and it's up to all of us to stay true to that."

Tattoo The Eye of RA

Tattoo The Eye of RA

Tattoo The Eye of RA

Apple iPad 2 MC769LL/A Tablet (16GB, Wifi, Black) NEWEST MODEL

Repents

SKILLS AND SHIT... Jory Helmes - Bully Boy Tattoo, Duncan, BC

By Jory Helmes

Art Godoy, asked me to write about, and I quote, “skills, and shit... and

moving forward... Advancing…” I’m going to try and avoid taking this TOO literally; the “shit” part anyway.

Tattoo by Jory Helmes

Skills happen when you pay attention and do the time. How many times do I hear, “I can’t even draw a stick man!”… Those assholes are hard as hell to draw, are you kidding me!? Leave the stick men to the traditional tattooers.Try drawing something else! You have to put in the time for anything worthwhile, really.

When I was a kid, my dad told me, “As soon as you think you know everything,youdon’t know anything.” You’ll never be the best. Ever. A lot of people have a real problem with this idea, (myself included). It’s irritating and comforting at the same time.

Tattoo by Steve Godoy

When I first started tattooing, about 8-9 years ago, I remember looking at tattoos in magazines and thinking, “Alright, one day when I can tattoo like THIS guy, I’ll have made it.” I’m sure everyone’s been there at some point. It wasn’t very long before I was there. What the hell? The industry had moved ahead as well; quite quickly in fact. Now there are more magazines and websites showcasing amazing tattooers, rubbing my own artistic inadequacies in my face. Fuckers. What an amazing time to tattoo, and yet so frustrating. It just feels like I can never keep up. It’s all perspective I guess. There’s someone starting out somewhere, right?

Tattoo by Art Godoy

Skills, and shit, and moving forward. Moving forward is all we can do, and the skills happen in their own time. If you can’t move forward and improve, well… you’re that “shit” part. Paying homage to the old way doesn’t help you get better. Understanding how they did it and moving on does. Treating something as an absolute only prevents you from accepting new ideas later on.

Tattoo by Mark Lankin

In conclusion, the future of tattooing is some exciting shit, and the present is where it’s at!

Jory Helmes

Tiger style

On Friday Allan did this sweet tiger on our very old client Peter.
Old as in "got tattooed by Allan 10 years ago", not as in "whoa, that's an old dude!".
I'm tired.
Anyway, expect to see a nicer photo of this one, or at least one that's taken with a real camera and not my phone, some day in the future, if and when Allan decides to blog about tattoos again!

Grrrr!

2011 - STATE OF THE ART... STATE OF THE INDUSTRY. CHECK YOURSELF

HELLO READERS.

Do you want to be a part of the solution? or would you choose to be part of the problem? do you even realize that there is a problem? By not choosing, you are part of the problem.

What is the problem?

The problem is NOT that the Chinese are making our industry cheap by manufacturing cheap machines.

The problem is NOT the stupid TV shows that paint tattooing in such a lame and inaccurate way.

The problem is not the suppliers selling substandard products - spring gauges that you will never use such as .015 - .016 and .020 and higher... and the blue springs... which are a low grade tempered and stiffer than the gauge that they are labeled...

THE PROBLEM is the ignorant artist who does not realize that even a Chinese machine can be made good - the specs are the same, there is little difference between Chinese 1010 steel and American 1010 steel... 24g copper magnet wire and Chinese 24g copper magnet wire, which is mined in South Africa!! So, country is irrelevant... it's the specs that count, and the hands that that machine are in.

TO BE A TRUE PROFESSIONAL, ONE MUST BE ABLE TO DIAGNOSE AND REPAIR HIS / HER MACHINE. IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND YOUR MACHINE, THEN YOU DO NOT TRULY UNDERSTAND WHAT GOES ON WHEN THE NEEDLE GOES IN. THIS WILL HAVE AN AFFECT ON THE FINAL RESULT.

There are a lot of artists who are who expect the machine to do it all for them. If you deny it, then look at the facts:

- Pre made needles - made for you, are all the needles in that grouping the same taper? doubtful... in many cases, made in china - some short tapers and some long in the same 9 mag grouping.

RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU MAKE YOUR OWN NEEDLE GROUPINGS? WE DO, EVERYDAY.

- Pre packaged disposable tubes... made to order...

Most artists are too SCARED TO LEARN that:

- Buying by brand is a JOKE. How many 'reputable' manufacturers actually tattoo?

-By saying a MACHINE IS BAD you are showing you ignorance and inexperience in this TRADE...if a machine has a set of coils mounted on a frame with a capacitor, has a connector post wether it be RCA or clip cord, an upper binding post with a contact screw, a set of springs attached to an armature bar... then how bad is it????

An email from an inexperienced unqualified artist prompted this blog...the poor guy is looking for answers and doesn't even trust himself to learn how to diagnose, tune, rebuild and modify his machines, he rattles off name brands as if they mean anything or as if they will give him some kind of authority... all he can do is blame...

He is blaming because he actually has NO CLUE on machine function: the most important tool of this trade!!! I cant even imagine what his tattoo work looks like!!!

- Godoy seminar Italy - 2004, 140 people!

SO.... in a nutshell...BE A PART OF THE SOLUTION! YOU WONT FIND ANSWERS BY BLAMING, THREATENING OR BEING INCOMPETENT ... UNDERSTAND YOUR MACHINE, UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE DOING WHEN YOU ARE TATTOOING PEOPLE , UNDERSTAND WHAT YOUR CLIENT FEELS AND HOW EASY YOUR TATTOO GOES IN WITH PRECISION AND FINESSE WHEN THE MACHINE IS TUNED PERFECTLY, UNDERSTAND THAT YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO TROUBLE SHOOT ISSUES AND THAT HOW MACHINE FUNCTIONS IS UP TO YOU.

BLAMING SHOWS INCOMPETENCE AND INEXPERIENCE...WOULD YOU TAKE A CAR TO A MECHANIC WHO DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO USE A WRENCH???

OK...GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER, STEP OUT OF YOUR EGO DRIVEN TATTOO UNIFORM AND BE A PART OF THE SOLUTION.

THIS GUY IS A PROFESSIONAL IN HIS OWN WAY- FINDING SOLUTIONS... RESPECTFULLY.

Hello

My name is Chris Toler. I am a tattoo artist at Ancient Art for Time Machines Danny Fowler. I purchased one of the V2 machines during the hellcity convention in Columbus about 2 years ago from Steve. It is an amazing machine and i used the hell out of it over the course of the past few years however over time it has lost a bit of its punch and the throw is different. I'm honestly not that inclined in the mechanics of tattoo machines..and even if I was i would doubt i could mess with the setup of the Godoy machines. So i guess what im getting to is that im wondering how I would go about sending in my machine to have it retuned and get it back to running like when I first got it. I would really appreciate a response whenever you get a chance. Thank you

Chris

HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE BOUGHT A MACHINE AND BEEN DISAPPOINTED? AND NOT HAD THE WORDS TO DESCRIBE SPECIFICALLY WHY?

HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE WANTED TO TAKE THE MACHINE APART WITH THE GOAL OF FINDING THE ANSWER BUT WERE TOO SCARED THAT YOU WOULD RE ASSEMBLE IT AND HAVE IT RUN WORSE THAN IT WAS BEFORE?

HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE WANTED TO RETURN YOUR MACHINE TO THE SUPPLIER BECAUSE YOU FELT THAT IT WAS A PIECE OF SHIT, AND ALL THE Y COULD DO FOR YOU WAS EXCHANGE IT FOR ONE THAT WAS WORSE?

IT IS UP TO YOU TO EDUCATE YOURSELVES. TO LEARN THIS INFORMATION, STOP THE BLAMING & START LEARNING!

WE WILL BE DOING A SEMINAR OCT. 17 AT PAINFUL PLEASURES IN HANOVER MARYLAND. CONTACT THEM TO REGISTER.

THE ONLY WAY TO BEAT THIS WAVE OF IGNORANCE IS TO BE BETTER. BE A PART OF THE SOLUTION.

full sleeve by budha in progress

foot tattoo by Joshua

tattoo by Paul

Hail Satan... and birthday cake!

As promised in the last post: costume pictures (or a sort)!

For Allan's birthday last month Eckel got the great idea to surprise him with a black metal themed barbecue.
Allan and our friends had thrown me a surprise party, my first ever, a few days earlier, and because of that, it all of a sudden seemed kinda lame to just have a barbeque like he'd asked for.
So, he already knew of the barbeque part, but i (cleverly i must say) got him to stay home a little longer while we "decorated the shop", while in fact, as you can see, we where decorating our faces with some sick-ass corpse paint... and cow paint... and pentagrams... and skulls... and Peter Kriss...!?
Anyway, when he arrived we were barbequing in the street outside the shop, all dressed up, and yes, he was surprised!

Me, Anne, Corey and Thomas

Corey, Rasmus and Eckel

 

You'd think Eckel had previous experience with this, right? He claims no, but i'm not convinced...

 As soon as Allan arrived, we got him working on his face

 Done!

A few instagram pictures of Allan, me and a very un-metal birthday cake (what? I like them sugary and cheerful!)
The Wookie and the Eckel

Young and Rabu looking gloomy as hell

Hotdog... of DOOOM!

Mille was a cow... a very viscous one!

A present (i didn't get pictures of all of them, but they were all great)

 

Another one... bubbles!!

 

Happy birthday for life, yo!

Allan had a great birthday, and he enjoyed the corpse paint so much that he even kept it on for the bike ride home (ok, i did too... it's super fun!)

I don't think we've even used the Dancook 7200 since this wonderful night, but in our defense, we've been out of town on the sunny days, and the rest of the time, the weather has been shit.

Like it is today.

Come back, summer... please?