Nothing but pictures (almost)

Remember this post from a few days back? Sure you do, it was an exciting post with lots of words,  interesting information, and very few pictures. You all love those, am i right?
Well, you're gonna be really disappointed cause here's the opposite; a post of many pictures and few words.
See i just wanted to post these pictures that Kiley sent me of his work, cause that other post didn't have any.

So again, if you wanna book with Kiley, send him a mail at thetruesoul@hotmail.co.uk to set something up. Oh, and he'll be at the shop for a week from September 12th.
That's all for text, please scroll and enjoy!

So... you wanna get tattooed or what?

Like i mentioned in the last post, Adam Hays is here tattooing this week, and it looks like he's gonna stay around for a few more days, so there's still appointments to be had!

Send me an email, or come by the shop monday to talk to him in person, and we'll work something out.

Below are examples of the work he's been doing since he got here. 

Good stuff!

Og så på Dansk: 

Vore gæste tatovør, Adam Hays, har besluttet sig for at blive i København et par ekstra dage, og har derfor tid til at lave flere tatoveringer mens han er her.

Så hvis du er interesseret skal du sende os en mail, eller komme forbi butikken mandag med dine bedste idéer, så finder vi us af noget!

Scroll ned for at se eksempler på det fine arbejde han har lavet de sidste par dage.

 Max's greedy Greedo

Ole's oni Dunny

 This is happening right now, so there'll be pictures of that on the blog some other time!

Session 2

Based on Horiyoshi III painting

And we're back

Oh hi, it's been a while, huh!?
We came back from our awesome, amazing, sunny* yearly vacation on monday, and we've spent the last two days working on getting back into, well, working.
Yesterday was rough, too many emails and too much mess, but today it's starting to seem easier, and i'm almost excited to back at the shop. Almost. We'll get there.

Well, i didn't just start writing a blog post just to tell you about my day, although i'm sure you find it thrilling, i do actually have a few announcements and stuff.

Adam just arrived today, like minutes ago, and we're already putting him to work on fixing our thermofax. But he will be tattooing as well, and he is actually booked for the days we announced here on the blog, but since it looks like he'll be able to stick around for a few more days, there are still a few spots available.
If you're interested, send me an email (address in in the sidebar to your right) or come by the shop, and i'll see what i can do to fit you in.

Also, in other guest related news; our buddy Kiley (i don't actually think he has a website, but here's a facebook link for now) will be coming by to work at the shop for a week from September 12th.
He already has clients here in Copenhagen, so if you're one of them, or would like to be, send him a mail at thetruesoul@hotmail.co.uk to set something up.

Oh, and i wanted to write a little something about the Red Cross prints, how awesome that whole project went, and obviously how much money you guys helped us raise for them, but since i don't have the exact figure here, i'll save that for a future post.
But i will say that while the Red Cross has closed off the part of their fundraising that goes straight to Japan, we are still selling the rest of the prints and donating the money to another worthy cause, but we will let you know about that later.

Ok, i think that's it for now, but more updates are coming soon!

I don't really have any exciting new tattoo pictures cause we just got back, but here's a sneak peek at what Allan is working on right now

*To be read in sarcasm font

Postcard

Criminal LOL

2 EVOLVE & GODOY REALISM CONTEST

FOR YOU READERS WHO DIDN'T KNOW, WE RAN A "REALISM" TATTOO COMPETITION FOR SOUTH AFRICAN PARTICIPANTS,WITH THE STRONG ASSISTANCE OF BRETT FISCHER FROM 2EVOLVE FAMILY (EXCEPT GARY) FROM SOUTH AFRICA. THEY ARE THE FOREMOST SUPPLIER IN THAT PART OF THE WORLD WHO UPHOLD A STONG ETHIC AND SUPPORT THE UP AND COMING ARTIST. THEIR VALUES, IN AN INDUSTRY WHICH LACKS STANDARDS, ARE A REAL INSPIRATION.

ABOVE, IS THE TATTOO THAT WON. CONGRATULATIONS RASTY!!!

Godoy Competition Results:

"We found it hard to make a decision from the many submissions we have received. The decision was made based on the submissions we received in the time the contest was run, understanding this, the reality is that the results could have been completely different had the contest gone longer! One reason we ran it for such a short time was to encourage enthusiasm to participate.

From Tony Weintraud's Marilyn Manson portrait ...

Sean Perrins smoking guy (above) to Marc Stapelberg submission of that smoooooth wolf and straight razor... Jade McLean's full color fox portrait, Tamar Thorn's geiger piece and portrait of Morrisey... Derek Baker's obvious experience and precision in his Johnny Thuders and baby portraits... everyone kicked ass... really, any of these artists could be seen as professional tattoo roll models!

MORRISEY BY TAMAR THORN

As for the winner... take a look at Rasty Knayles full color entry. The image is not a "real" person yet the technique and execution of this three dimensional character is near perfect. Imagine if this type of character was real, he would be shaded exactly like this. Note the highlights, the shades, the attention paid to the shoe laces, the direction of the light source... this tattoo shows a real eye for detail and understanding of how to reach this outcome. In our minds he is the winner. We took a look at his other submissions and we saw a real versatility in his work. All with that touch of realism that separates imaginary / rudimentary traditional style tattooing from the more advanced technique oriented styles.

By MARCUS FROM WILDFIRE TATTOO

Marc from Young Guns... smooooth wolf.

We wanna thank everyone who participated in the contest. It was really exciting for us to look in our inbox and see submissions coming in! To see that all of you were as eager to be part of this as we and Brett were to put this on... this type of healthy competition coupled with your enthusiasm to showcase advancement in your art is what is needed NOW!!! We need to step things up!

South Africa rules."

-- GODOY TWINS.

Budha and Paul tattooing

Eltsin, Putin, Medvedev

Otritsala kid

On figers inscription Muay Thay.

Finished full sleeve

healed phots in a few weeks

new tattoo by Paul

Today! at iron heart

Some fresh snake heads by Paul

Joshua working on a shark 1/2 sleeve

Budha starting on a grim reaper back piece cover up/add on

NEW WEBSITE

We won't be using this blog anymore, we now have our own website: www.akaberlin.com
All the news, exhibition, tattoo artists updates will now be posted on this site!

Sincerely,

Your AKA Team

The knife in the neck

THERE IS NO POINT IN USING SH*TTY NEEDLES.

A perfect 7 needle grouping will run along the back of the tube tip without wiggling because the solder is pulled smoothly down from the needle bar to about 3/16" of an inch from the needle tips.

IT IS SUCH A THROW AWAY WORLD! (This is written for non - tattooers as well.) In almost everything, If you don't like it, throw it away - it's cheap technology!! Tattoo machines made in China for $40.00 dollars each, plastic disposable tubes - which is not a bad thing as far as ideas go... then there are the pre made needles!

When we started tattooing in 1985, part of the craft that was still alive and well and very necessary was "needle making". Where you actually took loose pins and soldered them into groupings used for lining, shading.. coloring. These are our paint brushes! The quality of the tattoo partly depends on the way your machine runs, partly on the skill and talent of the artist AND in the quality of the needles - the material, the gauge and the length of the taper...

This blob of solder will cause a needle to wiggle against the back of the tube tip. This was a shader taken right out of the blister pack in a box FULL of pre made needles. And some of these artists think it's the machine's fault.

We aren't just talking about the quality of the stainless steel, we are talking about the length of the tapers, the needle gauge... penetration is everything. Easy penetration = less pain, smoother shading, solid color and perfect crisp lines. These are things that can be regulated by educated artists.

Education is important. THESE days, the craft is lost. Needle making is out, (not for all of us)... Artists can buy whatever they want, and they do so without a care about who's making the needles. All they know is that they save time by buying pre mades. Not all of these pre made needles are good!! If these artists knew what they were looking for, they would NOT buy from most of these suppliers! The cheap product yields higher profits for the supplier but yields patchy color, inconsistent shading and fuzzy lines.

It's not just the solder blobs that have to be watched out for!

Pins come in specific gauges, all the needles in any grouping of pins should be the same gauge AND have the same taper length - this means consistency. Some of these Chinese needle pre-made needle groupings come with a few different gauge pins in the same grouping! We have seen a few short tapered .012 gauge pins soldered into a grouping of OO long tapered bug pins!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!! This is so negligent. Artists these days are also negligent for taking the quality of these foreign products for granted.

As tattooing has grown, so has the demand for supplies. Tons of people who should not have been involved in our business have been let in... the ignorant artist is to blame. It's time to take charge and regulate what products we use. In the end, the most important person in the equation is the client!

Cthulu Plays the Accordian

some large pieces by budha

Knee?

I think this is tattoo made on knee.

"HOW COMES Y'ALL DON'T HAVE A PHONE TO CAWL?"

Well how's this..."How comes y'all dont have a phone to cawl?" "How come you guys are so hard to reach?" Here's why... The moral decline of the industry..the rapid downhill slide in tattooing-the forgotten history, the forgotten ethics, the forgotten most important unspoken rules that any professional tattoo artist should abide by and respect...has pretty much faded away...what do we have left?...Yea, there's a million of great artists but just as many or more incompetent wannabees out there moving in....and it's not about how we let them affect us and our industry as much as in how we police ourselves in order to make sure none of us get rained on by being under this cloud of shit...we need to be better than that. How do we remedy this??? BY LIVING UNDER THE MOTTO : "being a part of the problem and NOT being a part of the solution"... BY EDUCATING AS MANY OF THESE CLUELESS INTRUDERS MAY BE THE ONLY OPTION...TO PROVE THAT WE, AS EXPERIENCED TATTOO ARTISTS AND MANUFACTURERS, HAVE ETHICS, WE HAVE STANDARDS AND WE HAVE PROFESSIONALISM. We need to know our machines, technique as it relates to machine function, provide perfect customer service if we are suppliers, tattoo artists or manufacturers...and sadly, in as much as we hate to, we have to accept that we are either floating or drowning a growing tide of present and future ignorance. HENCE why we don't have an office phone...we save ourselves the grief of having to answer IDIOTIC phone calls and STAY strict to the RULE-WE SELL TO PROFESSIONALS ONLY. Definition of a professional and professionalism: a : of, relating to, or characteristic of a professionb : engaged in one of the learned professionsc (1) : characterized by or conforming to the technical or ethical standards of a profession (2) : exhibiting a courteous, conscientious, and generally businesslike manner in the workplace pro·fes·sion·al·ism noun \prə-ˈfesh-nə-ˌli-zəm, -ˈfe-shə-nə-ˌli-\ 1 : the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional person(see 1professional) We don't have a phone for anyone to call us here at Godoy Machines Headquarters because we are FED UP with hearing the constant repeating voices saying the following: "Send me a catalog about your GUNS." "How much you charge for your guns" "My down stim tightener is broken" The list is endless...it goes on and on...sadly the fact is that we are in a booming unregulated industry. We have to be above the ignorance and in order to better the industry. The only answer for the global clean up is to keep the ethics alive along with knowledge of the past required necessities of our craft such as needle making and machine tuning. We are glad to share with you some of the tremendously F*CKED up things that have transpired in the eventful world of Godoy Machines...we will start by sharing the sad sad story of a pathetic supplier passing the blame on an artist for intending to have the CHINESE bootleg/manufacture Godoy Machines...theres a reason we have made these INNOVATIVE AND ORIGINAL MACHINES hard to duplicate and copy...for situations like this. In America we say "F*CK YOU".