Right now I'm posting photos of the Hell City Columbus experience. Well... my version at least.

Hell City '09

I'm sure I look like an idiot holding my iPhone up to everything in sight. But that's okay!
I'll even try and post decent descriptions as well.

Oh! I had a cancelation for Sunday, want to jump in and get tattooed? Email me: david@allentattoo.com

Denis took these of himself... some wonderful shots of the work we've been doing this weekend.

Not sure if it's an official post (whatever that means) but I've just posted some photos in the iPhone Photos section of the gallery. Some are in progress, while others are just quick shots. Enjoy!

I'll be tattooing the Hell City Tattoo Festival on May 29th-31st in Columbus, Ohio. Somehow, I'll be sharing a room with some of the best artists in the world... I kind of just want to get tattooed, heh.

So I'm taking appointments if you're interested... email away: david@allentattoo.com

I've always been able to open up and share. But there are some areas I deem too important, too personal, to mention... let alone go into detail. You see, around the time the post frequency started to dwindle around here, something was going on in my life.

I have appreciated the emails asking me to post more! I love hearing how Allen Tattoo has somehow helped other people that are going or have went through this incredible process. I'm not sure what I did do deserve such incredible readers, but I can't thank you enough.

So...

Once my marriage started to not only show cracks, but actually crumble, it was only right to give the site lower priority. The process was and is painful. Obviously. Seven years and I watched myself walk, crawl, run, and stand confused through a divorce. As difficult as that process was, nothing matters other than my little man: Xavier Michael Allen. The process is continual for him and we're both doing all we can to maintain a strong sense of love, solidarity, and safety.

Now I'm figuring out a schedule. I've certainly poured myself into my first love, art. And I've watched my pieces grow in complexity and execution. I've such a long long way to go, but I know I'm on the right path. With a new routine being developed, I have to make a point to not get sucked in. Sure, I love tattooing. In every way, the pursuit could take me over. But I cannot let it. There has to be balance. Even if I despise discipline; I know it will make me better in the end.

And somewhere in striving for balance, I'm already discovering more about myself than I knew. Tattooing has strengthened my confidence. I hurt, but doubt never creeps in. I wonder, but never worry. It seems my approach is different. I wouldn't say self sufficient, but I can trust in myself and my ability to handle the near future.

When Nathan Kostechko was tattooing me, he said something that stuck. I don't think it was the words, but more the implication behind it...

"I'm following that ghost line, the one that doesn't exist, but is about to."

While he said it, he looked at me a little inquisitive (in his eyes), but way more matter of fact (in his brow). His words hit me. He articulated the mysterious mental and physical process perfectly. I just got it, so I smiled back.

And so now I realize I'm doing the same. My goal is to be a wonderful father, to love people and put my all into everything I create. I've a long way to go on all accounts, but I know I'm in the middle of a process. It's my turn to follow that ghost line - the one that doesn't exist, but ...somehow and someway... will, eventually.

For now, keep bearing with me while I figure things out around here. I'm always posting to Flickr and Tweeting random stuff over on the sidebar. Let me get past grieving a little and I'll follow through with some old fashioned blog posts.

So I miss posting. I do.

I've been traveling at an ungodly speed. This month has been absolutely new and overwhelming. Next month, March, I'll be slowing down.

This week I just finished up Musink in Costa Mesa. Next week I'll be tattooing the Detroit Motor City Expo, sharing a booth with Monte. And yes, if you're around Detroit, come and visit.

March will come and I'll be back to my normal schedule.

Conventions are so different. They're both overwhelming and refreshing. After my second one, the stress level moved aside and being able to tattoo anywhere has given me more confidence.

I remember the first day I showed up in Chicago for a weekly guest spot... I was nervous and a little insecure. If only because I had no clue what the hell to do in a different environment. Everything was foreign. So I feigned some sort of nonchalance and watched the other guys setup... I remember watching them tape down dental bibs to the surface and realizing it made sense. I just did it different. Analyzing always helps; then I just added my take and was able to create a new comfort level.

Now I throw myself in. Still a little hesitant, but a bit more capable....

But for now I have to run, In-N-Out Burger calls.

I've only tattooed conventions around Chicago, so jumping into the Baltimore convention was new to me. I know the depth of my clientele at home. Who knows if that'll really transfer elsewhere?

A small booth costs money. The travel and lodging costs even more. So it was a small leap of faith; you know, I went all in.

Then, a week after signing up, I got all nervous. What if nobody wants an appointment? Baltimore is loaded with some of the best traditional work around... I don't specialize in that stuff. Hmm... will I even get people walking up? How busy will it be?

So, to ease my concern, I promoted. Nothing incredible. But I made a small post on this site and sent out a Myspace bulletin. It was a matter of taking extra time to say "hey". I'm not too keen on doing it, but I knew it had to be done.

A few hours later I had my first appointment. Days later I was filling up spots. Then, who knew? I was booked solid. Now, I wasn't going to say anything until after it happened. But the response was tremendous.

And I say this not to boast (who cares?), but simply because I had no idea. Some photos, a website, an updated Myspace page and links from a convention site were enough to capture attention. Sure, I work hard on my tattoos. And that counts. But the combination of it all worked. So much so that I wasn't ready for it really. I wasn't prepared for the effort involved in scheduling.

Most contacts started via email. Then it was a matter of staying on top of the ideas and, if I wanted to do it, I had to buckle down and put things in stone. I opened up iCal and kept everything synced with my iPhone so I could have info on me when I was at the shop. I tried to give myself extra time between tattoos because of the environment, but will make a point to allow for more next time.

And, to top it off, I actually enjoyed each client I met in Baltimore. They couldn't have been a better group of people. And for those of you that specifically came up, introduced yourself as a reader, and gave me love... thank you!

I'll be tattooing this year's Musink Tattoo Convention & Music Festival in Costa Mesa, California. (February 20-22)

Tattoos and Music. (Hello, Danzig!)

I've open availability if you'll be around the area - It's Feb 20th through the 22th.
Connect with me through email: david@allentattoo.com

I'm excited to be working in the same room with some absolutely incredible artists. Is it possible to just float around, buy people drinks, and pick their brains? Maybe. But I have to squeeze some tattooing in as well.

Also, it was awhile ago, but I spent some quality time in the land of In & Out. I think I'm going to fly a little early and spend some more with friends.

This guy is awesome. He's headed off in a week and will be going to sea. Yep, sea... heh. He just wanted an eagle and a flag... the rest was up to me.

Sometimes I love that option. Sometimes it's a stressful blank canvas with little direction and a lot of worry. So many customers know what they don't want, but can't tell you at all what they do.

But he loved the idea and sat in the chair for four hours.

...

So instead of just shading shapes, I've been really inspired by Tom (at Insight) lately. He does a lot of his work with a seven. The tiny details with pinpoint accuracy. I made a point to shade big areas, but then come back and add the details with a seven. It was a matter of treating the seven like a mini shader... dipping in wash and applying based on depth and speed as if I was shading. Maybe a seven round would be good too...

Oh, and it's a photo from my iPhone. Luis dropped the Nikon (oh no) and it's in for repair. For the first time it was smart to get the Best Buy insurance crap.

It looks like I'll be tattooing the Baltimore Tattoo Convention next month. I've yet to tattoo outside of my locale, so I'm excited to jump in.

I've open availability if you'll be around the area - It's Jan 23rd through the 25th.
Connect with me through email: david@allentattoo.com

More info here.

It took awhile, but I've just posted some tattoos in a new section of the gallery: Continuation. I'll continue to post new stuff in this section for the next couple of months.

Also, I've added a gallery of photos I take and send from my cell: iPhone Photos. I'm still posting to Flickr, but this area is a little more tattoo and experience specific.

Maybe this is obvious, but I've only recently been using it a lot. This example was used for a cover up, but I use it even more when I'm planning a tattoo for a certain space.

All I do is hold up a ruler to the piece when I take a picture. That's it.

After transferring the images to my computer, I open up Photoshop.
Create a new file (File > New). For a new document I always use the Photoshop Preset: U.S. Paper. (Size - Letter) This creates a standard 8.5" by 11" sheet at a 300 dots per inch resolution.

Next, I open the image I want and drag it onto the new document. Making sure the rulers are showing (View - Rulers) I click on the ruler and drag/pull a guide down to the inch mark. And I drag another down to the two inch mark.

Then it's a matter of resizing the photo; enlarging or reducing enough so the inch and two inch marks line up with the guides.

Pretty easy.

Then I have my size. Sometimes I print it out and draw over it. Other times I use my Wacom and sketch right there. It's perfect. And it helps with figuring out sizing for cover ups.

I also have paper rulers I print out and use as well. I like using a new one for every person, so I just print them out and throw them away. It's nothing special, but, when I get time, I'll throw it in the reference section so it's easy to just grab and print.

The last day of the convention was, surprisingly, the busiest for me. So much so I had to turn away people. Which sounds good, but kind of sucked.

Early in the day a couple approached me for some tattoos. One was paying cash and the other wanted to pay with a credit card.

The last thing on my mind was having a credit card processor.

But I really wanted to fix his tattoo. I've spent some quality time in San Diego and wanted to spruce up his letters... you know, do it justice.

Instantly I thought of the iPhone application, Credit Card Terminal. You have to have an account with Authorize.Net and it seems like a great idea. But I didn't have time to setup an account with them and the iPhone reception in the Hyatt was spotty.

The mental trail led me to where I did have an account: Paypal. I told the couple it would be about fifteen minutes and I hit up the business center computers with Paypal in mind.

Paypal has a simple setup to add payment options to a business account. It didn't matter how it looked, there wasn't really time for that. I just needed my customer to be able to pay. So I setup a new default blog in Movable Type (allentattoo.com/payment) and then pasted in the Paypal code. Ten minutes later, he was sitting there typing in his information. Twelve minutes later I had money in my account.

A little over an hour later, and the tattoo was complete.

I fell asleep to my iPhone plugged into the Hyatt alarm clock. I was in and out of sleep and then that Radiohead song from Amenesiac started in with the horns... life in a glass house? Really? Alright.

So I switched things up to Air and crashed. Four hours later I woke up to a the light of a bright city. Luis forgot to close the curtains and the city was alive and, um, reflective.

Breakfast was some food and ginger ale from the food court and it was on to the convention area to setup a little.

My ankle and leg is swollen as hell. It looks hilarious... I never thought my skinny little ankle would look so cool sporting a cankle. Yes. A cankle.

It's gross.

But it's so cool.

A bottle of 24 ibuprofen was $10 at the hotel store, but worth every penny.
Thirty minutes later things weren't as large and I was able to walk without looking stupid.

Okay, this has been hectic. And I suck for not having this as smooth and organized as I would like to have done. But it is what it is...

Just finished getting tattooed. And it hurt! Imagine.
Somehow the vibration from my ankle bone worked its way up to my teeth.

It was nice. And I can handle nice every now and then. But the tattoo?

The tattoo was (and is) lovely.

I'll throw up some iPhone pics later.

So I found myself in a hectic rush. Everything was easier this time around, but there's still the mental checklist while leaving that seems to hold things up a little. It's always nice to be able to pick up forgotten supplies from vendors, but if I already have it...

So far, every time has presented an initial mess of arriving and unloading. It's fun watching random people get pissed at the chaos. But this job is great, so letting it slide make sense, right?

I know this post is kind of random, but don't mind that. My mind and process is a bit scattered.

This time I brought the Macbook, the Wacom and my trackball. It might be overkill, but it's comfortable to at least have them around. So much so, it's my first item to setup. Then the power supply, then the dental bib, tubes, caps, and the routine. I love that the Hyatt has a business center right here in the convention room. Not having to pull a printer around is wonderful. And $0.75 for a print is worth it.

When I think about stuff like that I feel dependent. I pride myself (well, a little) in not being dependent on anything. But when I stop for a second and analyze my need for wifi... it's easy to see the level of denial.