merry christmas

hi folks, hope everyone had a great few holiday days...i did!! but now its time to get back to work.
i thought id post up the last tattoo i did before christmas. with any luck you all have awesome plans for the new year, i hope it ends up hang over free!!

finally for your info ill be closed on new years eve and new years day, so if you are planning to swing by then sunday or after will work out.
catch you soon inter-buddies

"look at the blood stains right there..."

i got to tattoo the lovely sarah this week with some cherry blossoms. these tattoos are always fun to do, and this one had particular meaning for her, which made it even more pleasing that i got to do it for her. we went for a style that is much like a traditional chinese painting, and it came out pretty nice i think. she is going to swing by in a couple of weeks and let me get some healed up pics so hopefully ill have them up sometime in the future.also i got in another session with the incredible donk, and his koi fish revamp. you might remember what it looked like before, if not you can check here. its not the best photo as some of it is fresh and some is still healing, which doesnt help my crappy camera out.
ive left the front side open for now as we are planning to put some more japanese style awesomeness onto his chest in a few weeks time.

some people have been e-mailing about availability over the X'mas holidays so here is a rough idea of when ill be closed:
friday 24th - closed
saturday 25th - closed
sunday 26th-closed
i will pretty much be open the rest of the time, and ill give you a heads up when ill be closed over new years too. have a nice weekend folks

complex matters

go check out the homies at complex.com. they have put together a list of 50 tattooers you want to know, and yours truly is up there representing the BLACKOUT crew. good start to a slow and lazy sunday afternoon. now if you dont mind, i got some drawings to do. later!

no snow here.

hello friends, i hope this might give you something other to look at than wikileaks, at the very least it might kill a few minutes of that valuable weekend time for you.
i got cracking on this painting this week. i wanted to use really muted colours, you know keep it a little on the subtle side. well, as subtle as you can make a big ass skull, and dagger. its A3 as usual and all done with crappy watercolor paint.

I also got to tattoo some tiny ruby slippers on miss katie, as a tribute to her favorite movie of all time, the wizard of oz. i had fun trying to get as much detail as possible into a small tattoo, and i think they look pretty cool.
finally this is an alternate into for the walking dead... which might become my favorite show in 2010. so far i've really gotten into it, i'm just hoping that it stays this good all the way through.

enjoy your weekends.

sorries

sorry about the glare on this (it's shiny new and fresh). sorry about the bloody look on the blues (its bloody and fresh).
sorry for the short post (im hungry)
stay fresh!!

the band that ended too soon...

if you are a regular reader of the blog you might remember me shamelessly plugging my friends band "The Merriweather Deer". well the bad news is that they are no more....thats right the lead singer Eph and his wife are leaving our sunny shores for Portland today, and they have decided not to continue on without him. its a huge shame as this band accomplished more in their short 8 months together than some bands do in a lifetime, all coming to a perfect climax when they opened for the Flaming Lips and the Raveonettes last night.
the good news is that knowing that they weren't going to be playing any more shows they decided to produce a CD. its all done by the band for the fans. Recorded in different locations around HK, and amazingly mixed by Scott Evans. Also i had the honor of being able to put together the artwork for the sleeves.

I have a real limited supply of the CDs in the studio. You can pick 1 (or more) up for the exceptional price of HK$70. all the proceeds are going go to the band, and hopefully used to entice Ephraim back to HK for a reunion gig. Also if you are from overseas then i will be more than happy to post them to you

Dont be a sucker, pick one of these up before they are all gone!!!!

the elbubble/the impossible photo

i got to make a new compass rose tattoo on mr jacky's elbow bones yesterday, it came out great, but damned impossible to take a good photo of. so what you get is a photo of the enormous distended bubbalicious swelling instead. seriously, check it out!!
dont fret though, he's gonna be back for some sweet eagle tattoo action in a few weeks, so im going to get much better pics of it then.

also in the straight line and circle category, i got to do this nice little cross for rose last week. despite having to stop every 5 minutes, we managed to get it done in the end. i have seen this since and the greys healed up real nice and soft.
lastly if you are thinking about coming by on saturday night... you'd be better off doing it on sunday instead cos i'll be at the flaming lips gig (in fact you should probably be there too!)

this ones for me

i have been pretty busy doing the tattoo stuff recently, drawing tattoos, and then tattooing tattoos...and everyone knows tattoo stuff is great, but sometimes you got to have a break right? right? well i have had a break the last couple of days, and spent them trying to get better at painting and this was the product:its A4 on nice water colour paper, and its done with... thats right water colours. any feedback is always welcome. catch you soon buddies of the electric web

quick update...

typhoon megi turned out to be a chicken shit, so as usual i am open today. this is what i did yesterday:second session on daves girls and roses themed half sleeve. this part is on the his inner bicep, and took about 2 and a half hours. round 3 is coming on tuesday, when ill try to get a nice healed up photo of round 1.
have a nice weekend folks

theres' a storm a comin

batten down your hatches....
looks like this little bastard might hit on saturday. in which case BLACKOUT will be closed. it might still chicken out, so feel free to give me a call to check if the door is open or not. thanks.

something new, and the incredible donk...

time for an update right? right?
i got to have my first real crack at a more realistic style this saturday. this is part 1 of a 3 part half sleeve of none other than girls and roses (not to be confused with guns and roses, they are a whole different bunch of girls.)
its pretty hard to get a nice photo when ever you are doing black and grey tattoos, so expect a better one when its all healed up and looking less red. i really enjoyed this one, its a pretty big step away from what i normally do, and it was great to get to do something different. cheers dave, and remember not to get fucked on vodka the night before next time...you'll have a better time i promise.

I also got to start some pretty cool japanese style doings on the incredible donk. (its true that he is actually the incredible hulks younger pinker brother). the original koi is about 12 years old and the donk figured it was time to give him a reboot. i ended up freehanding most of the background so what started out looking like this:

ended up looking like this:

in a couple of weeks we are going make some real bold lines and start chucking in some black (note to self...order more black) im looking forward to getting some colour in this too. keep your eyes peeled for updates on this one.
also here is a snake.

why a snake you ask? why not?

bits and pieces

hey friends. im still reeling a little bit from my birthday shenanigans over the weekend, so forgive me if this is short and sweet, but i thought you deserved some things to look at.

i made this a while ago while messing around with some ideas for a tattoo, and it ended like this:

i tattooed this lettering on new buddy matt, and he put up with it like a seasoned veteran. hope you had a safe trip back to germany mate.

also if you guys are in or around sheung wan at anytime and fancy checking out some new things, then you should definately swing by above second gallery. the art is cool as fuck and so are the 2 lovely people who run it. when you are done there, you should go check out these guys at garage works...they are making some really cool stuff.
oh and before i forget...."never say no to panda"

pick has news...

for those of you stalking mr pick, you can get some new pickalicious news on picks pickalicious plog.

beat it

nate came by a couple of weeks ago, wanting to do his first tattoo. all he knew was that he wanted a drum in it. this is what i came up with for him:he sat like a rock, and didn't complain once.... now that's rock n roll.

well done dude

not a good start, and the start of it all

1.if you want to get tattooed...dont send an email that looks like this:

"dragon tatto

size.aprox 15cm
when?"

please send me something a little more detailed (and a hello helps too) and it makes things go much smoother.

2. i like science, and im pretty sure that this is how we got be here:

enjoy you weekends friends...

the meat prayer...

despite being sick as hell as weekend, it actually managed to be quite a good one. first i tattooed my top buddy mr don. incase you dont know him he is the axe-man for "hong kong superband" the merriweather deer. if you havent seen them play yet, then you suck. you should get your asses down to the next show, because they aint gonna be around forever as their singer ephraim is heading back over stateside. check em!!! this what we got done:round 2 in a couple of weeks.

yesterday george from sunny glasgow came by for his blinged out maneki neko tattoo. now what you have to understand is that george loves money...LOVES IT. hence the gold and cash motif. LOVES IT I TELL YOU!!last of all some buddies returned from their pilgrimages over seas. buddy sterling came back from san francisco bearing quite possibly the most awesome thing i ever seen. check it out. i hope this is for real, i honestly do.also buddy shifty nic came by to drop off some booze and show me my doppelganger. apparently we all have one. i wish mine wasnt wearing chaps though....yeeehaw....

ouch

so, my ma has left our sunny shores once again, for the even sunnier land of singapore for a flying visit to my sister. but before she left i managed to con her into leaving me with a little something.
i asked her to tattoo me, and after some arm arm bending she decided to go all old school on it, and here it is: her first (and i think last) tattoo....

... it hurt, but i love it.

big bubba

fun day yesterday!! buddy simon asked me for a tattoo of the big buddha on lantau island. his email asked for: buddha, lotus, water, clouds and lots of colour. i think its always awesome when a customer gives you a loose guideline and then lets you run with an idea, so i was super stoked to be able to do this one. have a safe flight back to london dude!

lots of small tattoos this week but i thought i would post this one up. a fancy shark for master dive ninja corey. we decided the shark should be super light and almost anti-tribalistic. i think its kinda cool!

im excited this week cos my ma is coming into town, which is always a pleasure. but this also means that the studio is gonna be on weird hours this week, so its better to call ahead or just shoot me an e-mail before you swing by. peace out and ill catch you soon!

something for everybody.

one for the boys:

one for the girlsand a couple of interesting tattoos from last week for everyone:
not a great photo but you get the idea
by the way we will be closed on thursday, as im gonna be partying it up at rockit in macau. but back open on friday as usual, so if you wanna get tattooed or just come by and hangout, you better make it any other day.
later friends of the electric web!!

photo post #2 of many

so heres the story.... many months ago me and mr pick took a long walk around Mong Kok for a photo day, and as most of you know pick loves his picture taking days, so he managed to develop his film months ago. me on the other hand, i find it hard to get as excited about HK photos, because i feel like i have seen everything before. that being said when i got these back i was pretty happy man, i feel like i got some new angles and stuff going on that i havent seen before. these are all taken around HK and the last 2 are from macau (though it looks like the grand canyon huh?)
they are all taken with an OM4 with sensia 100 film, and cross processed. they are straight up scans without any messing on photoshop. hope you like em as much as i do.

grey days go away!!!

ugh....rough weather this week, which not only means the shop has been quieter the last couple of days, it also means i have wet socks. anyone who knows me knows that there is nothing i hate more than wet socks. honestly it puts me into a state of hulk like rage. on the plus side the quiet days mean drawing days, which arent the worst thing in the world (wet socks are). this painting was the product:


its a chinese unicorn and is made with watercolour and a little prismacolor.
on a separate and final note...for all those people who feel the need to use your umbrella when you are in the only under cover area on the street, this is how i feel about you!



that is all!!

rock returns to HK

got some wicked news the other day...rockit (my favorite rock out weekend) is returning to our sunny shores. well almost. its moved to macau. and even though its a boat ride away i will be there in full effect.
the line up is looking good already : gary numan, UNKLE, electric eel shock, and chris cunningham. YES!

on another note here are a couple of tattoos that got done this week.
enjoy your weekends. because im sure gonna do my best to

birds and blood

so...my client today (happy birthday missy), had to push back her appointment for a couple of days so instead of some tatooey business, you get some painty business instead.
i have been trying to paint more these days, and im still new at it, but it is something i am enjoying more and more.
so here is a crane:
and here be a heart.
got some nice tattoos booked in for the next few days, so you can expect some real life bloody pics soon.

Germany 1 - 0 Haemoglobin

gordon (super nice dude from germany) popped back in to see me this week, with his proud farmer all healed up and ready for a photo. when we tattooed this he was what i like to call a "superbleeder" so i just couldnt get a good shot. here is the freshly healed man in all his glory:
thanks for coming back buddy and have a safe trip back home. secondly the lovely miss Kimi came in for a little fancy something. always nice to see her.
and last of all i wanted to show you guys this awesome antique mirror i picked up in a trade for a calf piece a while back. thanks homie.... you know who you are!!

It has hand carved phoenixes (spelling ?) and rats eating grapes. perfect.

HOBO !

That's it , Hong Kong ... This gweilo's outta here !

As always ... I will tragically miss this magical town !! Take care of Mong Kok for me while I'm gone and see ya all again soon enough , next year !!

Stay fresh !!






EP >>>>>>> Out!

uh oh...

for pick, cos i know he dreamt of this once...

and who says dreams cant come true?

photo post #1 of many

,here are some shots from my last trip over to macau, and man do i love that town. i cant wait ill i next get over there. all the snaps were taken with my beloved contax T2 and tri-X. enjoy.


im not entirely sure why this guy was in a church... i think he's a bee gee or something. these last 3 were shot around the star ferry in HK on the way home. the ferry is by far the best way to get across the harbor. and mr softee is always waiting for me on the other end.