Behind the scenes photoshoot
Shooting promo shots on a rooftop in Santa Monica for Anthony Celia’s new cd.
Shooting promo shots on a rooftop in Santa Monica for Anthony Celia’s new cd.
A few tattoos from this week in Gilbert, AZ. Some of my biggest and most creative work is started and will be finished later this week.
I’ve been in Santa Rosa for the last week hanging out with friends, tattooing, and meditating in the redwood forest. There are so many things to do here and such a focused “home” in the center. I’m going to be back to Santa Rosa very soon. Two more tomorrow night, and Tuesday I’ll be driving down HWY 1 all the way back to LA. I’m going to be in Phoenix May 3rd through the 7th tattooing. If anyone knows of anything I need to check out, let me know!
I had a few photos published in an Italian “Welcome Book” for Riva Del Garda, a beautiful town along Lake Garda in northern Italy. While I can’t understand what it says, I’ve managed to translate enough to know that Riva Del Garda has unique unchanging winds that are perfect for sailing. Looking at photos of the city makes me want to pack everything up and hang out at the base of the Alps for a few weeks.
I got a few business cards and updated WearTheMark.com. I can’t decide if I should separate the tattoos from the rest of my work, or keep it all on one site.

I am very happy with this new tattoo on Ben. We matched the font and placement of the “Trust” on his opposite arm. Carson showed me how to mark off a target using the muscle definition on his arm, so that the tattoos would be symmetrical.
On Tuesday I filled in the heart on Jack’s leg. The outline was healing nicely and I got about 3 hours of tattooing in before the skin was too irritated to keep going. Jack has a great attitude though and his friends made sure to keep him occupied the whole time. Only a few more hours left on this piece before it’s finished.
For the past 8 years I have been working full time as a professional graphic designer and web developer building websites for companies like Userplane (an AOL company), H&R Block, and EMI Music, to name a few. What began as an interest in experimental interactive design expanded into an expert skillset in user-interface design and front-end development.
Now, for the first time since I was a teenager I’m taking the biggest step towards pursuing my artistic vision. Today I gave two weeks notice at Userplane, in order to focus 100% on tattooing. You read that right folks, in two weeks I will no longer be “the web guy”, and will become “the tattoo guy”.
Decisions like this typically don’t come without having to make sacrifices along the way and my financial security is the most overwhelming sacrifice that I have to make. I’ll also be leaving one of the best companies I’ve ever had the pleasure to work for, and venturing into an entirely new career and lifestyle that I’ve only begun to understand.
I’m excited to see what happens and hope you’ll join me along the way! To celebrate, I’ll be giving half-price tattoos in May for new clients. Those of you lucky enough to have been tattooed by me already are welcome to a free tattoo session, for believing in me from Day 1.
Jesse is the man, and this is his new Where the Wild Things Are tattoo. He came in 3 days we did the third session on the koi on the opposite side of his calf. I really like using the needle as if it were a pen, and the neuma makes it comfortable for me to do. Jesse says it hurts a bit more though. Lucky him, I’m not using a coil machine or it would hurt a lot more.