mario desa

i'll be tattooing at rock of ages in austin, tx. december 4-5-6. email [email protected] for appointments (do not message on here please). thank you!

i'll be tattooing at rock of ages in austin, tx. december 4-5-6. email [email protected] for appointments (do not message on here please). thank you!

higgs is a talented, eccentric MAN. not a divine guru. this whole "cult of higgs" that has sprung up the last few years is fucking stupid.

about 7 years ago, when i worked at deluxe, i was doing a kanji on this chick's lower back. she was doing ok, then got a little light-headed. so, we stopped, i let her sit down, got her some water, her friend gave her candy. waited about ten minutes, she was feeling better, chatting, color came back in her face. she seemed totally fine. so, we decide to finish up( there was literally one minute left on the tattoo.)
she takes a final swig of her water and takes two steps toward the trash can, to throw out her cup. SHE PASSES OUT STANDING UP. !!!CRACK!!! she hit the floor unconscious, no reflexes, face first. it sounded like a bat hitting a baseball. it was the scariest sound ever, and we were stunned. for a second we all just stood there with our mouths open, then the silence was broken by the chick's eerie moaning. blood was pooling out around her head and she seemed REAL confused and in a lot of pain. she was crying and not getting up.
so, i called 911, they show up pretty quick, paramedics come in and i tell them what happened. in the most non-challant way, dude glances at her, then back at me and pulls his sleeve up to show me an old armband..."hey bro, how much would it be to fix this up?". i repeated that she was bleeding and in pain and he says "she'll be ok, probably just broke her jaw." his buddy is behind us looking at flash!
so, they finally take her out on a stretcher and off to the hospital. i start cleaning up the blood, and notice her teeth left an indent in our floor. SHE HIT HARD. so, her friend is on her way out and is quietly giggling, and i ask what is so funny? she says "well, in the last week her boyfriend dumped her, her car got stolen and she got fired. she was hoping this tattoo would turn her luck around." it was the kanji for "lucky".

good suggestions, dan! especially the fresh breath! also, shower and wash your feet if the tattoo is there!!! don't tell me about any depressing shit...like all the dead people your tattoo is for or whatever. sorry, but i don't need to hear about that 5 times a day i just want to do a good tattoo. not get bummed out. i know that sounds cold, but i do probably a thousand tattoos a year and every other person wants to tell me about the deep deep meaning of their tattoo...it's a bit much.

honestly, "collector" bothers me (sorry robin)! generally speaking people who refer to themselves as collectors are a bit smug and see themselves as above other clients. no offense robin, or anyone else who use this term, it's just been my experience and bothered me for years. the guy getting his girlfriend's name is just as important as a "collector" getting a custom "cool" tattoo. sometimes these "collectors" scoff at having to wait while i do a regular walk-in on someone they deem "uncool", and it eats me up. but i guess this is a whole other discussion!

"fuck her and her fake ass beauty mark"
hahahahaha...YES.

tat-zaps, tat-wizard, ink, get some ink, inked up, get inked, tatted, color bomb, trad, neo-trad...

about two years ago i got fed up with the owl craze! i stopped doing them for about 6 months. the week i decided to stop 'em, i got 5 requests for owls! people understood and i was able to tattoo other things on them, fortunately. it seemed once i told them why i stopped, they didn't want the owl anymore anyway, since it was so popular. i just got sick of drawing them, and honestly couldn't conceive of any new or different way to do them, it was so out of control.
it's funny how people want to be so unique and singular, yet want the trendiest tattoos. perfect example: the finger mustache. every single person who's requested it has a hubris about them when they say what they want, and they are visibly bummed out when i don't burst into laughter and congratulate them on being a comedic genius! when i say "ok, cool, we do a lot of those", they act surprised and try to say they never saw it before and say how bummed they are because they didn't think anyone else had it. seriously?!?!? then, they change their minds. out of all the requests, i've only actually done two. and those people started off with "i know it's been done, but...". people are funny.

hyena, i also try to just get a "zen" mindset going...focus on the actual craft and work of what i'm doing and not worry about the design or the money. and keep the smiles and banter going, do a nice tattoo and pay the bills. some people might not want to hear that...they want to think we always just dive in with our artistic expression blah-blah-blah and put our soul into every tattoo...haha...

no respect.

it's the wearer's tattoo. if they're unhappy with the tattooer who started it, they have every right to have someone else finish it. if it happened to me, i'd probably be bummed for a minute and wonder why they didn't want me to finish it, but you move on. you can't be attached to every one you do.

it's the wearer's tattoo. if they're unhappy with the tattooer who started it, they have every right to have someone else finish it. if it happened to me, i'd probably be bummed for a minute and wonder why they didn't want me to finish it, but you move on. you can't be attached to every one you do.

it's the wearer's tattoo. if they're unhappy with the tattooer who started it, they have every right to have someone else finish it. if it happened to me, i'd probably be bummed for a minute and wonder why they didn't want me to finish it, but you move on. you can't be attached to every one you do.

it's the wearer's tattoo. if they're unhappy with the tattooer who started it, they have every right to have someone else finish it. if it happened to me, i'd probably be bummed for a minute and wonder why they didn't want me to finish it, but you move on. you can't be attached to every one you do.

it's the wearer's tattoo. if they're unhappy with the tattooer who started it, they have every right to have someone else finish it. if it happened to me, i'd probably be bummed for a minute and wonder why they didn't want me to finish it, but you move on. you can't be attached to every one you do.

fake tattoo flash by parasites...you went to college, get a job, leave us alone.

tat-zaps, tat-wizard, ink, get some ink, inked up, get inked, tatted, color bomb, trad, neo-trad...

about 7 years ago, when i worked at deluxe, i was doing a kanji on this chick's lower back. she was doing ok, then got a little light-headed. so, we stopped, i let her sit down, got her some water, her friend gave her candy. waited about ten minutes, she was feeling better, chatting, color came back in her face. she seemed totally fine. so, we decide to finish up( there was literally one minute left on the tattoo.)
she takes a final swig of her water and takes two steps toward the trash can, to throw out her cup. SHE PASSES OUT STANDING UP. !!!CRACK!!! she hit the floor unconscious, no reflexes, face first. it sounded like a bat hitting a baseball. it was the scariest sound ever, and we were stunned. for a second we all just stood there with our mouths open, then the silence was broken by the chick's eerie moaning. blood was pooling out around her head and she seemed REAL confused and in a lot of pain. she was crying and not getting up.
so, i called 911, they show up pretty quick, paramedics come in and i tell them what happened. in the most non-challant way, dude glances at her, then back at me and pulls his sleeve up to show me an old armband..."hey bro, how much would it be to fix this up?". i repeated that she was bleeding and in pain and he says "she'll be ok, probably just broke her jaw." his buddy is behind us looking at flash!
so, they finally take her out on a stretcher and off to the hospital. i start cleaning up the blood, and notice her teeth left an indent in our floor. SHE HIT HARD. so, her friend is on her way out and is quietly giggling, and i ask what is so funny? she says "well, in the last week her boyfriend dumped her, her car got stolen and she got fired. she was hoping this tattoo would turn her luck around." it was the kanji for "lucky".

i'd rather just tattoo in my kitchen than work for a non-tattooer, or a piercer. i don't fault others, i know we all have different situations and it is very hard to get the perfect job, but i just couldn't do it.

i'd rather just tattoo in my kitchen than work for a non-tattooer, or a piercer. i don't fault others, i know we all have different situations and it is very hard to get the perfect job, but i just couldn't do it.

i have some photos of higgs tats and the murals he painted in robert ryan's apartment...but i'll never post them online!!!

These were done on South State St. Chicago, circa 1960's. Artists unknown.

oh, and people have said for decades how h next generation will shun tattoos cuz their parents have them. bullshit. humans tattoo themselves, it's in us. and it's not a matter of "coolness", or rebelling against your parents (at least not forever). we all go through a "i hate my parents" phase, but the smart ones always wise up and realize our parents were right and are the best people ever.
our shop is 40 years old, we tattoo kids who's parents got tattooed here back in the 70's and 80's and it's always an honor.

oh, and people have said for decades how h next generation will shun tattoos cuz their parents have them. bullshit. humans tattoo themselves, it's in us. and it's not a matter of "coolness", or rebelling against your parents (at least not forever). we all go through a "i hate my parents" phase, but the smart ones always wise up and realize our parents were right and are the best people ever.
our shop is 40 years old, we tattoo kids who's parents got tattooed here back in the 70's and 80's and it's always an honor.