Cameron Jose

Got some fun ones over the last 6 months or so: 
Finished up my rib piece with Theo at Spider Murphy's:

Scored a walk in with Chris Wielk at Ocean Ave Tattoo:

Another walk in with Cody Miller at Blackheart:

And got this scropion from Alex Matus when she was guesting at Idle Hand back in September:

 
Took all the images from the respective artists' Instagram page. Have an appointment with Jay Watkins at Spider Murphy's tomorrow, so I'll post that one soon too

Got some fun ones over the last 6 months or so: 
Finished up my rib piece with Theo at Spider Murphy's:

Scored a walk in with Chris Wielk at Ocean Ave Tattoo:

Another walk in with Cody Miller at Blackheart:

And got this scropion from Alex Matus when she was guesting at Idle Hand back in September:

 
Took all the images from the respective artists' Instagram page. Have an appointment with Jay Watkins at Spider Murphy's tomorrow, so I'll post that one soon too

Man, these are all amazing. Theo does the best demons for sure and I love that scorpion. Alex is back at Idle Hand next weekend and I'm sorely tempted to get something.

Thanks, Theo does the best demons out there. Really cool guy, too

Got some fun ones over the last 6 months or so: 
Finished up my rib piece with Theo at Spider Murphy's:

Scored a walk in with Chris Wielk at Ocean Ave Tattoo:

Another walk in with Cody Miller at Blackheart:

And got this scropion from Alex Matus when she was guesting at Idle Hand back in September:

 
Took all the images from the respective artists' Instagram page. Have an appointment with Jay Watkins at Spider Murphy's tomorrow, so I'll post that one soon too

Got some fun ones over the last 6 months or so: 
Finished up my rib piece with Theo at Spider Murphy's:

Scored a walk in with Chris Wielk at Ocean Ave Tattoo:

Another walk in with Cody Miller at Blackheart:

And got this scropion from Alex Matus when she was guesting at Idle Hand back in September:

 
Took all the images from the respective artists' Instagram page. Have an appointment with Jay Watkins at Spider Murphy's tomorrow, so I'll post that one soon too

Thanks, Theo does the best demons out there. Really cool guy, too

Got some fun ones over the last 6 months or so: 
Finished up my rib piece with Theo at Spider Murphy's:

Scored a walk in with Chris Wielk at Ocean Ave Tattoo:

Another walk in with Cody Miller at Blackheart:

And got this scropion from Alex Matus when she was guesting at Idle Hand back in September:

 
Took all the images from the respective artists' Instagram page. Have an appointment with Jay Watkins at Spider Murphy's tomorrow, so I'll post that one soon too

Got some fun ones over the last 6 months or so: 
Finished up my rib piece with Theo at Spider Murphy's:

Scored a walk in with Chris Wielk at Ocean Ave Tattoo:

Another walk in with Cody Miller at Blackheart:

And got this scropion from Alex Matus when she was guesting at Idle Hand back in September:

 
Took all the images from the respective artists' Instagram page. Have an appointment with Jay Watkins at Spider Murphy's tomorrow, so I'll post that one soon too

Got some fun ones over the last 6 months or so: 
Finished up my rib piece with Theo at Spider Murphy's:

Scored a walk in with Chris Wielk at Ocean Ave Tattoo:

Another walk in with Cody Miller at Blackheart:

And got this scropion from Alex Matus when she was guesting at Idle Hand back in September:

 
Took all the images from the respective artists' Instagram page. Have an appointment with Jay Watkins at Spider Murphy's tomorrow, so I'll post that one soon too

Just got this reimagining of a Rock of Ages by Aaron Hodges at Spider Murphy's. Stolen from his instagram:

Got one from Adam Hathorn (aka Honkey Kong) yesterday at Guru Tattoo in San Diego. First time getting tattooed in my hometown, Adam made it a really memorable session. The dude is full of stories and a super interesting guy, I'd recommend anybody in So Cal to go check him out if they get the chance

Got one from Adam Hathorn (aka Honkey Kong) yesterday at Guru Tattoo in San Diego. First time getting tattooed in my hometown, Adam made it a really memorable session. The dude is full of stories and a super interesting guy, I'd recommend anybody in So Cal to go check him out if they get the chance

Got one from Adam Hathorn (aka Honkey Kong) yesterday at Guru Tattoo in San Diego. First time getting tattooed in my hometown, Adam made it a really memorable session. The dude is full of stories and a super interesting guy, I'd recommend anybody in So Cal to go check him out if they get the chance

Got one from Adam Hathorn (aka Honkey Kong) yesterday at Guru Tattoo in San Diego. First time getting tattooed in my hometown, Adam made it a really memorable session. The dude is full of stories and a super interesting guy, I'd recommend anybody in So Cal to go check him out if they get the chance

Well, today was the day!
What a long, but great day! It began a little before 11:00am. I was the first one in Triple Crown Tattoo with Scott Ellis (most of the day, there were 10-15 people there, and at one point six artists were tattooing simultaneously). He had been working on a few designs based on the sleeve length I wanted. Over the week between today and our consultation, I had decided to ask him to put the dragon's head somewhere on my arm instead of with the head in the more traditional chest area. I was a little worried to be asking for this, as Scott has a relatively new sleeve with the head in the center, and the last thing I wanted was for him to think I was trying to copy his own tattoo. Luckily, when I got there, he informed me that the last several dragons he had done had the head on the chest, and he was dying to do something new. Perfect! His sketches had just what I wanted. It was a really good sign.
However, getting it right took some time. Using thin paint brushes, he created the design over four separate layers. The dragon's head had to be moved several times, and the unique swirl of the dragon we decided on what difficult to get right without looking like the head was plopped onto the center of the body... but Scott is a perfectionist, and after a lot of erasing and revising, and then relining, and revising, etc... we were finally done with a design ready to be inked at 2:40. With only a few short breaks, it took a lot longer than I expected. But the result is something that works specifically with my body as opposed to just slapping a template onto my arm. I love it.
Here is a quick snap of Scott somewhere between layer 2 and 3 of sketching on me:

I haven't had a tattoo in nearly 20 years, so I had no idea what to expect from the pain, especially over so many areas. Tattooing in the ditch was no treat, but not as bad as I had come to expect from reading. The outside of the elbow lived up to expectations. But the worst was around my collarbone, where any wincing or tightening of my face would risk pulling the skin under his needle. And there was one spot on my chest where I could clearly feel the vibration on my pec, but the pain was in my neck. I could have sworn at the time he was tattooing my upper-middle neck.
Long story short (yeah, right), we finished up the linework a little after 5:00pm. I am absolutely thrilled with the result... and was getting tons of compliments on it by the many artists and clients in the shop throughout the day. Here is a front shot:

It is a little difficult to see from this angle and with only linework, but the dragon's body actually goes out the back of the head and swirls up and around the shoulders through the clouds and comes out belly showing under his head before turning again towards the end of the sleeve. It makes a little more sense visually if you can see the back. I also have the dragon clutching a pearl with his talons on the back on the sleeve and will actually be filling the pearl with a significant flower logo in the next session.
Overall, a fantastic day. I couldn't be happier that Scott got all the elements I wanted into the design, was able to keep it very traditional, but also with a great deal of uniqueness built just for me. If any readers are in Austin, Triple Crown Tattoo on Chicon Street (right around the corner from Franklin's BBQ!) is a must-visit.

Gotten a few fun ones over the last six months or so:
Steve Byrne at Temple before the Bay Area Convention of the Arts:

Healed

Robert Ryan at the Convention:

Crappy healed photo:

- - - Updated - - -
Got a couple from Miguel Montgomery aka Uzi to start the year


Healed


- - - Updated - - -
And most recent is a little one shot by Alex Petty based off of some old Milton Zeis flash
Flash

Piece (still healing)

Just got this reimagining of a Rock of Ages by Aaron Hodges at Spider Murphy's. Stolen from his instagram:

Just got this reimagining of a Rock of Ages by Aaron Hodges at Spider Murphy's. Stolen from his instagram:

Gotten a few fun ones over the last six months or so:
Steve Byrne at Temple before the Bay Area Convention of the Arts:

Healed

Robert Ryan at the Convention:

Crappy healed photo:

- - - Updated - - -
Got a couple from Miguel Montgomery aka Uzi to start the year


Healed


- - - Updated - - -
And most recent is a little one shot by Alex Petty based off of some old Milton Zeis flash
Flash

Piece (still healing)

Just got this reimagining of a Rock of Ages by Aaron Hodges at Spider Murphy's. Stolen from his instagram:

Just got this reimagining of a Rock of Ages by Aaron Hodges at Spider Murphy's. Stolen from his instagram:

Gotten a few fun ones over the last six months or so:
Steve Byrne at Temple before the Bay Area Convention of the Arts:

Healed

Robert Ryan at the Convention:

Crappy healed photo:

- - - Updated - - -
Got a couple from Miguel Montgomery aka Uzi to start the year


Healed


- - - Updated - - -
And most recent is a little one shot by Alex Petty based off of some old Milton Zeis flash
Flash

Piece (still healing)

Just got this reimagining of a Rock of Ages by Aaron Hodges at Spider Murphy's. Stolen from his instagram:

Just got this reimagining of a Rock of Ages by Aaron Hodges at Spider Murphy's. Stolen from his instagram: