WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO. (photos by Juan)

Why do we do what we do?... there are several reasons we do what we do, the way we do it...

We tattoo all day... work really hard because we have fun at work, we challenge ourselves daily so that we can be more versatile, creative and technically advanced...

We do great work, like this unreal piece (below) by Mark. We feed off of each other's creativity and are stoked when we do really cool tattoos. This inspires us to be the best we can be.

We do it so that we have stories to tell. Think this one in the works (below) that Sasha is dealing with is gonna be a good one??? I think it definitely has possibilities... we talk laugh all day long, the conversation and the stories are endless.

That look on Sasha's face says it all!! Finally, after a long week... we get to reward ourselves with... MEAT... brisket, sausages, pulled pork, ribs, rib ends, fries, cornish game hen, fries, potato salad, beans, cole slaw, barbecue sauce... pecan pie for desert!!!

F*CK YEA, LET'S EAT!!!"

VIDEO DESIGN

VIDEO DESIGN - only in English

Request information and download the course program

The course in Video Design, taught only in English, trains professionals who will work closely with the production of images in the audiovisual field. A figure capable of not only personalizing and reinforcing a television programs identity but also able to create a visual personality with projects not related to television, such as music, artistic, fictional videos or documentaries.

The video designer is able to analyze and administer problems, create solutions, atmospheres and emotions through visualization. Precisely for this reason they must know how to use the technological tools and have a deep understanding for the languages and mediums that this profession is based on.

Throughout the duration of the three-year course the students share professional experiences with their professors, who are all actively working in their fields. This contact helps the student gain a strong transversal project culture, covering both theoretical and specific technical aspects. The course culminates with the final thesis project, where the students come up with concrete solutions presented by real companies.

STICKS DON'T PAY THE RENT BY SASHA

A few years ago, a repeat client of mine walked into the shop seeming quite disoriented, which was unusual for him. he shows me a geometric design he wanted to have tattooed and asked for a price quote, all twitchy like.

i could tell by the psychotic glint in his eyes and his self-inflicted rantings that he was off of whatever meds he was supposed to be on. i quoted him the minimum charge and he proceeds to dig around in his pocket. he procures a bunch of twigs, leaves and bottle caps. he tells me that they are magical and sacred and wants to know if he can trade them for the tattoo.

at this point i have to giggle to myself and when i tell him no he continues to tell me how powerful they are and that he got them from a shaman. i tell the guy "cash only" and feeling defeated & possibly realising the lack of monetary value, he gives me the sticks, leaves and bottle caps because he "wants me to have them" and he leaves the shop. i actually kept them for like a year, cause they made me giggle every time i saw them, so in a way i guess they were kinda magical.

now, off-handedly in our discourse i made the mistake of complimenting dude on his dope vintage leather jacket. so half an hour later he comes back to the shop wanting to know if i would trade the jacket for the tattoo. i woulda come out on top on this deal and it WAS a tempting offer, but i just couldn't bring myself to take advantage of the guy in his debilitated state. i was kinda hoping that he would see the lack of monetary value in his jacket and give that to me in defeat also.

i learnt that day that i do have morals and that no matter how hard i tried i would never be able to pay my rent with sticks, but at least i could make a fire, adorn myself in leaves and drink out of battle caps. i always get the crazy ones.

THINGS ARE PICKING UP! FINALLY

Just some examples of what's going on lately. Some really cool pieces are happening in the shop. Here, of course are some samples of realism. Both done by Art...

FINALLY, after the Canada Line construction, which took 2 years, the "recession", the Olympics... and a rainy winter, things are picking up again. We're pretty lucky to have the Canada Line train running under our street but during it's construction, things were pretty dismal. The street was torn up from one side to the other. Foot traffic was a thing of the past. The waiting area of the shop which was as busy as a single's bar was completely dead. No cars were able to travel down the side streets, or even park in the neighborhoods due to pipe replacement.

I remember working late one night, til about midnight and hearing a loud rumbling sound accompanied by a real foul smell. I bandaged my client and went outside to see what was up. As I looked into the trench which has now been replaced by Cambie Street again, I saw a pipe puking out, what looked like a brown spray of human turds and sewer juice! The next morning, as I showed up for an early appointment, it was sealed up and the smell was gone. The city handled it pretty quickly!

Everyone at the shop is busy right now... even Fester is starting to go. Get down here!!!

JULIA GNUSE, ONCE AGAIN VOTED MOST TATTOOED WOMAN...

I (ART) started tattooing Julia in 1991 in Newport Beach California. She walked in one day without any tattoos, hoping to get some relief from a skin condition which was a side effect of her liver producing too much iron for her blood. The skin condition manifested itself in the form of blisters which were as deep as 3rd degree burns. They commonly show up on the hands and face mostly but other body parts were affected. She made an appointment to start tattooing her body suit for the following week. Twice a week for the next 7 years and about 2300 hours later, she was the most tattooed woman in the world. I moved to Canada in about 1998 and my brother Steve took over where I left off. We have appeared on the Guiness Prime time TV show, You Asked for It, Ripley's Believe it or not, Pro Sieben TV (Germany)... and many more.

Recently, she was in Milan where she was AGAIN voted most tattooed woman. There have been several contenders but none with the coverage she has. I look at her photos and it's hard to believe that she was my project...and my brother's, and we feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to opportunity to tattoo her, to have had the recognition we have had and at the same time, be able to restore confidence and happiness in Julia's life, by putting images on her skin which she loves to look at everyday instead of blisters and the scars they leave.

People judge all the time but they don't know her story. If I was in her shoes, I would do the same thing. When experimental medication causes blindness, when dermabrasions and chemical peels only left scars... when doctors said there was NO treatment available which would end this condition, tattooing saved her sanity & happiness. I have had one well known local artist tell me that what I did was "wrong" and that he wouldn't want to "contribute to another person's nightmare". How can this be considered a nightmare when she smiles everyday, now knows Quincy Jones, has been asked by Aerosmith to appear in the "Pink" video, she gets paid for TV appearances, she is flown all over the world - all expenses paid, to show herself off... and all because she wanted to remedy a condition which NOBODY could treat, except tattooing.

The Latest Trends in Tattoo Designs

The Latest Trends in Tattoo Designs

Tattoo designs are becoming increasing popular. The older mind set of negativity towards tattoos are being phased out as they are quickly becoming the latest trend. The older generations are not happy about this idea, but are having to learn to accept it, the younger generation is welcoming the trend with open hands.

There are several reasons people get tattoos. The most obvious, as well as the most common, is the meaning behind the design. The idea for these designs tends to be brought about by spiritual ideas. Many people want to be able to wear their heritage with pride.

Remembrance tattoos have also become quite popular. Many people like to remember their lost loved one by having a tattoo done in their honor. This is often a sign of respect also. These designs will often contain the name of the person, but not always. Often a special symbol that has a certain meaning or memory directed towards that person is used instead.

Both men and women alike enjoy the angel wing tattoo that covers their entire back. These wings have a spiritual meaning, but are often used for their physical appearance. Depending on whether it is a man or a women that receives the tattoo it will have a more feminine or masculine touch. Depending on the preference of the person as well, color may be used to fill in the wings rather than black ink.

Flowers incorporated into the design are also quite popular. Girls will often times get this tattoo because of its physical appearance, as it attracts the eye. However, it also has spiritual meaning behind it. The flower represents the circle of life, death, and rebirth.

Positive messages, and hope for the future are often written on the person body. However, these messages are rarely written in the form of English words. Typically the message is seen in languages that can be written in symbols and designs rather than words.

Tattoos are extremely addicting. It is more common than not that a person will receive a single tattoo and then soon after receive another. With the increasing approval of society this is becoming more and more true. People wear their visible tattoos with pride and respect rather than hide them away as they used to. This is a nice way for the person to add a unique mark to themselves and to show their individuality.

The Worst Tattoo Sleeve Trends

The Worst Tattoo Sleeve Trends

Tribal Sleeve - Leo Zulueta is credited with bringing tribal style tattooing from the South Pacific to the United States in the late 70's. But is was George Clooney's character in the movie From Dusk Till Dawn that caused the tribal sleeve to explode in popularity. Tribal sleeves may be the worst sleeve trend of all as they take another peoples tattoo culture, remove all the meaning and mock the origins of tattoo designs that date back centuries. They are also next to impossible to cover up once tattoo regret sets in.

Biomechanical Sleeve - Biomechanical tattooing was pioneered by tattoo artist like Aaron Cain and other tattooist in the San Francisco bay area. A breakaway from traditional style American tattooing, biomechanical uses images of the human flesh mixed with machine parts. Basically biomechanical tattoos mix organic images with inorganic images. It quickly became over used.

Flame Sleeve - No clear origins on the flame sleeve but whoever created it should be ashamed. The sleeve is not only hard to look at but is unbelievable boring for the tattoo artist. Flame tattoos are not only a waste of good skin but will also prove difficult to cover.

Random Cool Stuff Sleeve - A twist on the American style hodgepodge sleeve that is acquired over time, the random cool stuff sleeve is acquired quickly. The images often include skulls, flowers, brass knuckles, something with wings,maybe a couple of flames. A newer variation on this sleeve is to get random candy pieces or random kids toys tattooed as a sleeve.

NEW ARTIST - "FESTER", STARTING AT SHOP TODAY!!

Armando "Fester" Castruita, is starting at the shop today. Great artist and friend. I've known him for many years from attending tattoo conventions in Mexico. He is a great talent, and we're stoked to have him in with us. He and Juan used to work together in Fester's shop "Ninety Nine Tattoo" in the city of Celaya in Mexico. He can do any style of tattooing... with his eyes closed!

His schedule is not yet set, it will be in the next few days. Come by and check his portfolio out or just tell him "welcome"!

Rap Tattoos-The NewTrend Rap Stars

In the year 2009 more this time as the development of advanced age and wear tattoos are not taboo, but many people like to decorate her body with tattoos in order to appear more confident. Tattoo design the gain popularity, mainly because of their meaning, symbolism and the interest they create between individuals. Some good examples of tattoos in relation to civilization (such as Aztec, Celtic, etc.), flowers (like the lotus, rose, etc.) and many more. Similar to this tattoo, the intelligent sports tattoos of their favorite sports team logo or number of sports stars and lovers of rap artist tattoos of their favorite rap artist.

Fhasion Trend Tattoos Design

Fhasion Trend Tattoos Design

There are many tattoo designs available like historical tattoo design, traditional tattoo design, females tattoo designs and latest tattoo design which is running on the recently. I these tattoo designs you can intend assorted style of the tattoos like Japanese tattoos, arcane hieroglyphics to gothic skulls tattoos, flower tattoo butterfly, Celtic amulets tattoos, tribal tattoos, interbreed tattoos and more.

Popular Tribal Tattoo Ideas to Bring Out The Individualism in You

Tribal Tattoos, although may appear to be simple at times, are undoubtedly appealing and among the most popular today. This article will help those especially new to the world of tattoos in general and particularly, Tribal Tats. The following walk through history will help shed light on some of the different Tribal Tattoo Ideas used throughout the decades.

The most common Tribal Tats found today dates back to the polynesians who used black, geometric tatau ornaments which appeared to be silhouette-like in many ways. In Europe, sailors were attributed for the earliest Tribal Tat ideas - they originated from Tahiti and were added together with the sailors' own maritime-themed designs. Over the years, they have evolved to become what is known as traditional tattoos.

Over in America, Leo Zulueta and Don Ed Hardy, an innovator, were both responsible for an exciting Tribal Tats boom in 1982 when they started "Tattoo Time", a magazine on tattoos. Featuring native Borneo and Samoan tattoos, it quickly popularized these tattoo ideas as a form of interesting tattoo style and design.

As illustrated from above, these modern day tattoos have strong ties and affiliation with natives and tribes from different parts of the world. It was from there that they slowly evolved into the Tribal Tattoo ideas we have today. Although it has been said that a handful of tattoo parlors and tattoo artists would turn down tribal tattoo designs due to their simplicity, a lot of tattoo enthusiasts begs to differ. Tribal Tats, as a matter of fact, needs articulate skill to be tattooed on the difficult body parts in order for it to look naturally "grown". In addition, it has also been said that the coloring of these tattoos requires a steady hand.

You can find an assortment of tribal tat ideas ranging from tribal armbands, flames, black, crosses, stars, tigers and an assortment of motives and designs that are based on tribal motives. Personally, I have 3 tribal tattoos tattooed on different parts of my hands - one of a tribal flame on my right shoulder, one of a tribal motive which I designed on my left shoulder and another circular tribal design on my right wrist.

My advice to all those who are out to get their own tribal tattoos would be to pick one that you feel connected or feel strongly about. Doing so will bring out the personality and individuality in you.

Sexy Tatto In Swimming Pool

Sexy Tattoo In Swimming Pool

WHERE IS A CAMERA WHEN YOU NEED IT...

I (Art) was tattooing at the "House of Tattoo" in Venice Beach in 96, about 2 years before moving to Vancouver. I worked at a shop on the boardwalk... it was so great cuz you when it wasn't busy, you could sit on the front step and people watch all day. Sometimes, there was a piece of dog shit on the boardwalk and with thousands of people walking, we'd place bets on who would step in in it! On weekends or on every day in the summer it was packed with tourists and weirdos... and if you in the shop, and couldn't see outside, no need to worry, they would come into the shop. Weekends there are packed... street performers and people doing weird sh*t. I swear, you could pull one of your balls out, paint it blue, sprinkle some glitter on it and people would walk by, put a tip in your hat and say, "cool ball, keep up the good work!"

Well, one day this guy walks in. He was obviously femenine and gay but was trying to act, and look real tough and straight, jaw clenched, mean look on his face... he comes right up to the counter and in his high "Rip Taylor" style voice he goes, "Who Duzzzz Cover upssss!?" I jumped up and in his same voice I go, "I dooooo!" "Well"... I said "what do you need to cover?" He says, "Oh, it's something on my back, I got it at a party, I passed out and when I woke up, it was there!" I go, "Let me see it." he says, "It, IN NO WAY, reflects who I am... I woke up and it was there!" I go, "I need to see it." He says, "It doesn't reflect who I am, Before I show you, you have to ssssssswear that you won't tell anyone... I want an orca." I go, "I sssssswear! but I really need to see it so I can tell you if it's able to be worked on." He goes, "OK, you promisssssed." I go, "Your secret's safe with me..."

He pulled up his shirt and on his back, VERY WELL DONE, was a tattoo of a man, portrait style - whoever did it KNEW their sh*t.... this man had a black leather hat, dark glasses on, a large handlebar moustache, real thick neck and shoulders- had the physique of a body builder, he had a leather vest on, black chaps motorcycle boots on AND NO PANTS!!! the tattoo had a huge d*ck that hung down past his knees... like if someone had sewn a horse dick on him!!! I stared it for a long minute... I couldn't believe it and then I said, "What shop did you say you got that tattoo at?" he got pissed and said, "I DIDN'T GET IT AT A SHOP BUDDY, I passsssssssed out at a party and there it wassssss!" I go," You're a f*cken liar, that thing is tooooo well done to have been done at a party when you were passed out. It would have taken at least 5-7 hours to do that tattoo, it's very well done, who did it?" It looked like work by some Hollywood artists who's work I knew so I threw out some names... he got so pissed, "uh, uh... CAN YOU COVER IT OR NOT?!" I said, "sure..." so we made and appointment for the next week, and he walked out the door. He never came back...

UNREAL... this is only a small part of the stuff we see in our jobs as tattooers. We could tell stories all day long... come down and see for yourselves! At the corner of Cambie and 14th!

open source vector art design showcase

open source vector art design showcase where the community gets to pick the best designs to be showcased on the front page.

Download Free Vector Graphics at Vecteezy

Vecteezy is an index of Free Vector Graphics available for download by some of the best designers around the world.

butterfly Flowers vector

old school tattoos

old school tattoos

how to tattoo

how to tattoo

Flower Tattoo Gallery

Flower Tattoo Gallery

Flower Tattoo Gallery

Flower Tattoo Gallery

Flower Tattoo Gallery

Flower Tattoo Gallery

Dragon Tattoo Gallery

Dragon Tattoo Gallery

Dragon Tattoo Gallery

Dragon Tattoo Gallery

Dragon Tattoo Gallery

Dragon Tattoo Gallery

Dragon Tattoo Gallery

Dragon Tattoo Gallery

Dragon Tattoo Gallery

Dragon Tattoo Gallery

Tribal Wings Tattoo

Tribal Wings Tattoo

Tribal Wings Tattoo

Tribal Wings Tattoo

Tribal Wings Tattoo

Tribal Wings Tattoo

Kanji Tattoo Symbols

Kanji tattoo designs are quickly become one of the most popular tattoo designs. It is now quite common to see people sporting a tattoo that looks like cryptic Chinese alphabet. Well, firstly it is Japanese and not Chinese, though originally it was derived from Chinese. But why is this mysterious looking alphabet becoming so popular, even though the person on whom it is inked is himself not conversant with that language?

The reason for Kanji tattoos immense popularity is that this alphabet is not really what people in the west think of as an alphabet; this is actually a symbol which represents a picture, a fable or an expression. So for example if you want to get something tattooed that represents "Love", Kanji has a letter to be able to do so or if you want a tattoo that symbolizes the fable of the hare and the tortoise, you can do it easily by using the Kanji alphabet. People generally also put the English translation next to the tattoo so that it is easily understood.

Kanji Tattoo Symbols

Apart from Kanji characters, Japanese language also consists of Hiragana and Katakana letters. Hiragana is the phonetic alphabet set, used for connecting different sentences and it is not used for tattooing. Katakana characters are also used as tattoo designs. In Japanese Katakana characters are used to write foreign words and names, hence if someone wants to get their name tattooed in Japanese, one can use Katakana. But Kanji characters have been the most popular throughout the world.

The total number of Kanji characters is close to 80,000, so there are very few tattoo artists who are really experts in Kanji and this has lead to lot of fake artists. They might not know the right Kanji character and may ink something wrong, or even if they know the symbol they might not ink it in the right way because each character is very complicated and even if a small mistake is made it can mean something entirely different. Kanji tattoos are in fact one of the most frequently removed tattoos because of the number of people who have got the wrong Kanji symbol. So when picking the tattoo artist, be very sure about the artists knowledge of Kanji, pick an artist who is proficient in Japanese.

One can also find lot of Kanji symbols and their representations on the internet. But several of these symbols are also incorrect. So if you are picking the Kanji symbols from the internet, be sure to pick it from a trusted site which doesn't give away free tattoos. Lot of the Kanji symbols given away by these free tattoo websites are worth just what you have paid for them. Even after you have picked up a symbol from a trusted site, it is best to get it verified from a Japanese expert before getting it tattooed on your skin. It can be extremely painful to carry around a tattoo on your skin for the rest of your life which is inaccurately drawn or it means something that you didn't intend it to be.

Line Art Design

Vector Design

New Dragon Tattoo

Dragons are the mysterious creatures, usually represented as monstrous, winged and scaly serpents, with enormous claws and a crested head. The word ‘dragon’ is derived from the Latin and French words for the Greek ‘drakwu’. The term is connected with ‘derkomai’ for ‘see’ and interpreted as ‘sharp sighted’. The depictions of dragons have been incredibly complex and diverse, over the years. No