Lala Blackheart

I thought we could use a thread that shined a little light on some of the artists we love, but aren't necessarily very renowned or getting the recognition we feel they deserve.
Lets get the ball rolling....
I've been a fan of the work of James Tex of Deadly Tattoos inc, located in Calgary, Canada, for a few years now. I'm sure a lot of you are familiar with his work, and some members here might even know him personally and/or have tattoos from him.
Anyways, I stumbled across him a while back in another tattoo forum where a member showed off the progress of a Samurai sleeve he was getting done from Tex. I was blown away by his work, and to my great viewing pleasure he had a fairly large online portfolio on his shops website: Deadly Tattoos inc.
I'm not sure if everyone agrees with me in that he's "low key", but I can't say that I have read an article about him or seen any pictures of his tattoo except on his website (and obviously the forum I mentioned).
Here's a few samples of his work from his online portfolio:

Done in Petaluma, CA by Clayton @ Electric Oni Tattoo. My cousin Tori passed away, leaving her husband and 5 year old boy behind. She was the best addition to our family and she will be missed. She had the same tattoo on her forearm, but hers said "Angel's Wings Carry Me Home" From Social D. "Bella Demise" was her nickname, which suited her perfectly.

oh man just looked at those first pics again. What is up with Hello Kitty dude?

Man that lady with the Goldenpalace.com tattoo on her forehead did it for 10 grand. Crazy.
Mom sells face space for tattoo advertisement | Deseret News

LOL True It was a funny picture in my mind tho . Just imagine spending about 30 mins getting the placement of "Racist" just right !!

"Ok... I think we may have it..." *tattooer walks back,looks* "Oh, uh actually if we..." *wipes of stencil starts again - 'centers' * "And there we have it. Perfect"

Its the moment when they check the stencil out in the mirror and say "perfect!" and give the go ahead to the tattooist

If a tattoo artist walked into my school, half the boys would try to get tattoo on their face and necks as their first tattoo.
We talk about tattoos a lot and I always try to express to them the importance of how your tattoo will impact your life.
IMHO this guy above needed that talk.

Thanks for uploading those photos as I always enjoy seeing the work coming out of State of Grace.....glad you decided to finally set up an account

Hi!
I'm Lance, nice to finally be a part of this. I swap time between Los Angeles and San Francisco for work. San Jose for tattoo work. I've been following this site for a while now and figured I'd might as well step up. Hope to be a useful contributer and learn some history and about the art/artists in the process.
Cheers!
Lance

Nice mindful response and I think you made a great decision to weigh-in on this one, thanks!

I haven't been tattooing very long, so I feel awkward replying to shit like this. But here goes.
I like the act of tattooing. I love watching pigment go in the skin, seeing the line as it's being pulled across the stencil. I love it. So when I get requests for annoying shit, or things I'm sick of,(and denying that you ever get sick of shit is fucking retarded. We're humans. We get sick of shit. Period.), I try to just get past it in my head and think about the application. Not that I'm applying a tattoo that I hate, but that I'm applying a tattoo at all. And get right back into that mindset of enjoying the work aspect of it.
Without trying to sound like a wagon jumper, I too like tribal. I love watchign the black just go in solid as fuck. I know this dude is just some dude looking to look just like his boys, but in my head I'm thinking, "man, this shit is going to make your buddies tribal look like shiiiiiiiiiiiiit!". I just try to get in that zone as much as I can.
The clients though....
None of us can control the chaos that is our client base. That is the unknown quantity part of the job. Lots of shitheads, and lots of people who don't actullay want tattoos. They just want their very own "me too, guys! I did it too! See!" story. They spend hours trying to find the least tattoo-ish, most benign design possible and stick it somewhere no one will ever see it, because to them it's just proof that they did it too when the stories start flying.
I try very hard to pick my battles, read clients and choose which ones would be receptive to some swaying. Not into something completely different to stroke my ego, but into a better planned out version of what they want. Just gotta pick the battles.
Can't do it with everyone or you burn out, and you can't responsibly be the guy who says "fuck it, I know this will look, age and heal like crap, but i'll take your cash." All the time banging rainbows up their ass telling them how good of an idea it is to keep them and their dumb friends coming back for more.
Regardless of how it will effect responsible tattooers who try to do a good, well thought out tattoo for the benefit of their clients. Just gotta do what I can to sleep at night, like trying to explain to people that upside down is upside down. I try. If they get it, awesome. If not, I'll at least try to do it clean.
Sorry for the ramble. I just felt it on this one. I felt that I need to make an ass of myself on the internet. Word.

I try to do everything I can. I have bills and rent. I'm not the best tattooer and haven't been doing it as long as a lot of you guys. So, if I think I can't do a tattoo justice I will pass it to someone that can. Some people want ghetto ass shit and will get it done from some joker that's gonna probably fuck it up. Or lip tats, etc. So if it's do-able, I will most likely do it. It's also common sense, like don't tattoo some 18 yr old kids face. However if the guy who has a bunch of crap and has done prison time wants a face tat...."Get in the chair bud."

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

back in the late nineties broads used to call the shop trying to get beauty marks tattooed on them. ala cindy crawford i guess.
once such woman came in the shop and asked for one. i said NO. the boss was all.... come on dude. itll take you 2 minutes to do. i held my ground and said no. he said fuckit and did it. a week later she came back in wanting it bigger. a week after that she came in wanting it darker. a week after that she came in wanting it lighter haha.
i looked over at the boss and asked him if the $50 he made that dumb shit was worth it.
im positive all that weirdo did was look at herself in the mirror and critique that little spot on her face. fuck her and her fake ass beauty mark

i'll do it all....i don't really mind the tattoos as much as i care if the person sucks or not.

I once did 17 lines around this dudes arm. Different colors. I will never do not a single line/stripe around any one ever again. Stupid sweat sock arms

im also gonna add tiny ass upside down lettering on the wrist......in white

Trees. In the last two years I've done about 100 of them.
Trees with hidden words or initials anywhere in the design (in the trunk, branches, or roots)
Hidden words or initials. If you've got something to say, SAY IT!
Arm bands. They break up the arm in such weird spots it makes it difficult "add to" or expand on with future tattoos.
Cherubs. Naked babies?! For reals?!
Art. You really need V. Van Gogh's "Starry Night" on your arm? Go buy a t shirt!!
Superman logos. You are from right here. Not Krypton
This list can go on forever. Sometimes it's not the what that you are tattooing but the who. Arrive on time, be respectful and don't figit around. Bring a good story to tell. Tattooers love em! Most of all, leave your tuff guy attitude at home. You ain't as tuff as us.

it is slightly douchechilling, but it makes sense, in that were traveling, not just spending money on the tattoo, but reasearching, planning entire trips, for this "souvenir" of sorts. most people are blown away by the prospect of flying somwhere to get a tattoo when you can just drive 10 minutes and get one. "laypeople" dont quite get that just like any other art/craft, people have certain styles that just cant be mimicked. so in a sense im collecting them.

I don't take personal offense when people use slang terms I just kind of use it as a barometer for how in the loop a person is.
Two people joking around in the shop might say "ready to do some tatzaps" and the other might respond "slinging ink all day long" and i know they are joking having a good time.
However if some guy comes in and wants to show me his sweet tatz that his bro who has his own tat gun and ask how much it would cost him to get sleeved cause he bro would do it for $100, then that is annoying.

Though we had a brief flirtation with trying to get Fratbros (fratbroz?) to call tattooers "Squids" cause they "fuckin shoot ink, man"... but that never really worked out. Would have loved to send in a bro to one of my friends and have them address him as a Squid. Haha

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

what are your thoughts on the use of slang and terms that folks use to try and make tattooing sound cool? as an example i don't like the use of the terms tat, tats, or tatted up. i think that the word tattoo is cool enough and has always had a certain power to it. there's not really a need to attempt to make it sound cooler or clever by shortening it or adding z's instead of s's. i don't like gun for a tattoo machine either, but do find it amusing when people use it and sometimes i'll say "do you mean a tat gat?"
so are there terms that you do or don't like as well as does it give you an idea of the type of person you're talking to when you hear them use certain slang?

I know every one is pretty busy currently but anyone want to try for a meet up soon?