“God’s book is full of killin’s”

Artist Michael Todoran of Las Vegas, NV sends us this set of knuckle tattoos. Check the link at the end to see his art work. It is really great stuff. Looks like his HARD WORK is paying off. Here is what he has to say about his knuckles:

Tattoo by: Brian (Owner of Mastermind)

Shop:
Mastermind Tattoo
3111 S Valley View Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89102

Significance:
I am a descendent from a Romanian father and Yugoslavian mother. Both of them were raised in the ‘old country’ in Europe, and both of them are from hard working farmer stock.

Born and raised in Los Angeles I was fortunate enough to not have to work as hard as my family just to survive.

When I finally was on my own I joined the Coast Guard. First, doing two years of Search and Rescue on the Oregon Coast, and then two years working on a Buoy Tender in Hawaii. Both jobs required a tremendous amount of work, and by willing to commit to that I was able to advance and get to work on all the cool jobs.

When I was done with my enlistment, I used my G.I. bill to get an art degree at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) and that is where I really applied a hard work ethic. I spent countless all nighters’ working on my drawings, and honing my skills. The work got noticed by my professors, and it made it that much easier to work with them on a more personal level.

Often, I have felt that I am not as naturally talented as I would have liked but I heard the saying a long time ago, “Hard work beats talent, if talent doesn’t work hard” I’ve proven this several times over.

So, as a professional artist, curator, and future architect I decided to remind myself of how I got where I am, and what I need to do to get where I’m going.

“HARDWORK”

http://www.michaeltodoran.com/lvsk8_ii.html

Found these via the excellent Needled blog.

The Smithsonian magazine had a few articles about tattooing and this picture was in with the bunch. Here’s the caption:

The tattooed right hand of a Chiribaya mummy is displayed at El Algarrobal Museum, near the port of Ilo in southern Peru. The Chiribaya were farmers who lived from A.D. 900 to 1350.

I just wanted to take a moment and send a shout out to the good people taking care of the Sailor Jerry line. Thanks for not selling out tattoo culture. Like some others I could name. Keep lowbrow affordable to the people who will still appreciate it in six months. You know, us lowbrows. The T-shirts and schwag are reasonably priced and totally awesome. You also made these lovely gloves, just for us.
And the Sailor Jerry’s rum is delicious. So good for what ails you, if sobriety is what ails you.

Remember Lux Blue’s knuckles from last week? You know, LUCKY DEVIL? Well this is his shop sign and logo. Crushproof Pro Touring all the way. Killer cars and trucks for the cats and kittens. The sign was painted by Austin’s own tattooist, pinstriper and artist, Mike Adair.

Super talented illustrator Nik Scarlett gives us this gem. Check out her work at her website Scarlett-Ink.com. This particular piece is available on tshirts for the ladies and gentlemen through Sourpuss Clothing. Rock fist, y’all…

Mike Ness’s knuckles, over Coffee. You can get prints of this from Deviant Art.
Brought to you by the fine people at Gabrielle/Brazen Photography.