GREATS...

Fuckin Rulers. Come see what it takes to be great. There's good then there's Great. Our criteria to get this label is not the same as most Vancouver tattoo shops' requirements. Ethically, artistically and as people they're tops. We've had some "tattoo artists" in here that didn't match the requirements. Funny thing about this tattoo shop is that it ALWAYS purifies itself. It cleans out the cobwebs, the egos, the attitudes and leaves EXACTLY what it needs. The cream floats to the top. 

TBird and Justin Cox.... 

DEER WITH GUTS AND FLOWERS...

Decomposing deer! by Art. Tanya brought this image in, I forget the name of the painter who did this... this tattoo is in progress... I will have to re stencil the flowers on the next tattoo appointment.

SURREALIST SURFER ON A COSMIC WAVE.

COSMIC WAVE SURFER! I did this on Vancouver actor and voice over artist, David. He always has great tattoo ideas! This is one of the funnest tattoos Ive done in a while!! You can see the pores in the skin, this gives an indication of how small the details are. This tattoo is only the beginning of filling a space between the "sock" of Salvador Dali surrealist greatness from the knee down and already existing images he has at the top of the thigh. Really looking forward to doing more!!! 

By Art Godoy

MARK LANKIN SAMPLER...

More talent in his little finger than most have in their whole body! That's what we've always said about Mark. He prefers to do large pieces, mostly Japanese style work but is not limited to any style or trend. 

Paintings, illustrations, drawings and carvings are artistic side outlets besides tattooing. You should see some of this stuff.... he has tattooed from the east to the west of Canada, has been tattooing in and around Vancouver for the last 21 plus years. He is legendary in the Vancouver tattoo scene. 

If you're in the market for large black and grey work. Call the shop - (604) 879-4114 or come by to book with Mark. 

HOCKEY PLAYER TATTOO BY JUSTIN COX

SO GREAT! THE SUBTLE SHADES ON THE JERSEY. THE TETURE IN THE HAT... THE WRINKLES IN THE PANTS, THE WAY THE SHADOW FADES OUT. THIS HAS ALL THE MAKINGS OF GREAT WORK. THE BEST PART... IT'S NOT EVEN DONE YET! THE BACKGROUND IS GONNA MAKE IT UNREAL. 

COME SEE JUSTIN COX FOR SOME MORE OF THIS!

REALISTIC TATTOOING AND INFO ON 'PINS' aka Needles.

Here are some small to large realistic and semi realistic pieces. These, though they are small, take time to do. The details make the difference between a good tattoo and a GREAT tattoo. Tattooing can be a time consuming task depending on the image and the area of the body it is to be placed on! The ribs, despite having a solid mass of ribs underneath, are one of the most time consuming areas to tattoo!... not to mention painful. (all tattoos below, by Art). 

The 3 image painting below was done in stages and each session saw a finished section by the end. Some pieces, especially realistic tattooing, do not have visible outlines like the traditional and Neo traditional images do, so we prefer to do finished sections and leave some guide marks in order to re-stencil the areas to be tattooed in the next session. It's about strategy!! Gotta plan ahead!

 

The small details in the images below were done with a tight 3 needle "bug pin" grouping. This term "bug pin" was used to describe the pins used in entomology (the study of insects). We've all seen the boards with insects pinned to them. These pins are made of a finer wire than "standard" tattooing pins. They originally were called 00 gauge. Double ott was the term. These days, 'bug pin' is a general term to label any pin which is 00 or smaller. Theses smaller pins, make smaller punctures because of the fine gauge of the wire they are made from along with the length of the taper so it's rare to see any bloody looking redness around finished tattoos or any horrible looking bruising, in fact, it's rare to get any blood out of clients due to the considerably lessened trauma to the skin which standard tattooing pins can. 

Many clients say that being tattooed with these pins is considerably less painful and healing was faster! It's true!! We all use them here. Not for every technique but for most and all the results are awesome!! 

The angel below was a 6 hour sit. The lack of redness or bruising shows how little trauma these bug pin needle groupings cause. 6 hours!! Look at the details. These are details that only small needle groupings made from bug pins can do, or a "standard" long tapered single needle!