The Ink Never Dries - A Tucson Tattoo Adventure

Clients talk about Maggie Mayes

2010-03-06T18:42:00.001-08:00

Thank you Debbie! Debbie first walked into our shop 11 years ago.

Portrait Tattoos Testimonial

2010-02-04T06:14:00.000-08:00

www.TucsonTattoo.com

Dog Portraits Tattooed by Greg

2010-02-03T18:41:00.000-08:00

It's just been a few years ago that I did my first dog portrait...I'd always shied away from them before. This first one I just couldn't pass on...I've always liked dachsunds.

www.TucsonTattoo.com

And then the last couple of weeks I've been privileged to do these two.

Maggie Mayes in Tucson - Client Testimonials

2010-01-31T10:11:00.001-08:00

www.TucsonTattoo.com

Me as Santa

2009-12-15T07:14:00.000-08:00

Susan found this 2005 Commercial for Maggie Maye's. That was a fun time - hot economy and all!

TucsonTattoo.com

That commercial was great because on the day Santa came to our shop, Hector played Santa and Susan took pictures of him with tons of people (still have those on a hard drive somewhere)....people came to the shop with their little ones just to have pictures made. It was a great day.

Update on Luke's Dragon

2009-10-25T20:31:00.001-07:00

I've just about finished Luke's dragon. I think we have one more sitting to go.

Portraits for David

2009-10-25T20:04:00.000-07:00

David Hull has a huge heart and now he has a lot of tattoo work too! Here is a series of pictures depicting the portraits I've recently tattooed on him. I think this was 3 settings.

Tattoos for Halloween

2009-10-25T20:01:00.000-07:00

Normally, Susan does the foot tattoos - she loves them...but she's not really into this sort of design. I like it.

A little different koi

2009-10-25T19:58:00.000-07:00

Everytime I am asked to do a koi I try to do them a little different. I think everyone of them should be as unique as the wearer.

Finished Tattoo for Josh

2009-10-25T19:52:00.001-07:00

Earlier I posted the outline of this tattoo and I recently had the privilege of finishing it. This type of tattoo work is a lot of fun. I can combine the challenge of portrait work with the adventure of custom work. Bring me more of these ideas!!

YOU'RE INVITED! Maggie Maye's Celebrates 10 Years in Tucson

2009-10-25T12:04:00.000-07:00

November 15 Maggie Maye's is having a PARTY! Come celebrate our 10 Years in Tucson. Food, Prizes, Demos, Gifts and a rockin' band.
Watch a tattoo demo! Eat, Drink and be Merry. Rock out with Shell Shock.
The party is Sunday, Nov 15 from 12-5 in the courtyard behind Maggie Maye's at 204 W. Grant Rd.

Biomechanical Tattoo Work

2009-09-11T19:39:00.001-07:00

First sitting on what will be a large biomechanical piece. This was a lot of fun. I have studied Guy Atchison's book...read and re read it. Learned a lot from it. Can't find the book now so I guess I'll have to buy another one...Luckily I have the privilege of working with Jeff Scrivner. Jeff had his bio work done by Guy and so I have a real life example to study now. I think it really helped me lay this one out. Looking forward to the next sitting.

Family Portrait Tattoo

2009-09-11T19:35:00.000-07:00

This is the first sitting of a family portrait. It is about 2/3's done. We'll have a second sitting in about a month and I'll finish putting in the grey tones and small details. I never get tired of doing portraits. Everyone of them is a new challenge that I enjoy.

New Dragon Project

2009-08-30T16:41:00.001-07:00

Last week I got to start a new oriental dragon.

Saturday's Portrait

2009-08-30T16:36:00.000-07:00

I think you all know that portraits are one of favorite tattoos to do. Everyone of them is a challenge...and I like challenges. And this little guy is a cutie.

Sal's Portraits

2009-08-30T16:28:00.000-07:00

Sal had me do the portraits of his children on his back calf. Man, that really hurts back there - can't tell it when Sal's getting tattooed. I tattooed his girls on the left calf a few years back and he was in this week to put his new pride and joy - his son- on the right calf.

Spent Saturday Tattooing Margaret

2009-08-17T21:25:00.000-07:00

I spent Saturday tattooing my dear friend, Margaret. It's not work when you get to tattoo subject matter that you love on people that you love. I've been tattooing Margaret for several years so I took this opportunity to photo some of her tattoos that I've done in the past and also what we are working on now.

2 DAy Sitting on Sleevework

2009-08-11T18:20:00.000-07:00

Chris Roberts came in from Indiana yesterday and today to have a marathon sitting on the sleevework we started this spring....didn't quiet get done. Oh well, Tucson is beautiful in winter and so Chris and his wife will have a good excuse to come back.

2009-08-10T21:52:00.000-07:00

Update on Ryan's chest piece. We have the Koi done....the Turtle is next.

First sitting on an Oriental Breastplate

2009-08-06T05:34:00.001-07:00

This is the outline of the koi on the left chest. Today we have a sitting to do color work. The plan is to do a turtle on the right side soon. Each side is representative on one of Ryan's children.

Music Fans and Tattoos

2009-08-05T20:30:00.000-07:00

I was privileged enough to do this first tattoo a year or so ago. Then I got to follow it up with the guitar just last week. I like these sorts of challenges.

Good vs Evil

2009-08-05T20:28:00.001-07:00

The Good Swallow vs The Evil Swallow....which one wins??

Where the Wild Things Are

2009-07-05T10:14:00.000-07:00

Where the Wild Things Are has been the subject of many a tattoo in the last few years. I had the privilege of starting one this week. Thanks, Francesca. I believe we'll have 2 more sittings to complete this one. The design will be a comlete armband when we are done. And there will be color. This is Francesca's first tattoo and she did a great job of sitting for such a large amount of line work.

Portrait - first sitting

2009-07-05T10:10:00.000-07:00

Sometimes portraits require more than one sitting. Here is a good example. I did the first sitting on this portrait the other day. We finish it up in a few weeks. Sometimes the skin gets too irritated to keep tattooing, sometimes redness gets in the way, sometimes it just starts hurting - lots of shading can do that.

Tom's Tattoo

2009-07-05T10:03:00.000-07:00

Finally got to finish a tattoo I started on a good buddy of mine. I started the tattoo over a year ago. Time flies. We've both been busy.

Margaret's Tattoo work

2009-07-05T07:33:00.000-07:00

I worked on another dear friend, Margaret, this week. Here are some pictures of her arm in progress.

Maggie Maye's Tattoo has a new website

2009-07-05T07:26:00.000-07:00

Susan is currently busy building a new website for our store front shop, Maggie Maye's Tattoo. I will continue to work privately from my studio behind Maggie Maye's but Susan is going to once again run the store front, Maggie Maye's Tattoo. We have a little remodeling to do as the people who were running it these last few months left a bit of a mess...but it's all in a day's work!
We have a new (not new but new to Maggie Maye's) artist joining us, Jeff Scrivner. Susan will be posting his portfolio today.
So although it's not quite finished, here is the new site:
www.MaggieMayesTattoo.com

Debbie's Tattoos

2009-07-05T07:19:00.000-07:00

I've been tattooing my close friend, Debbie, for years....and she informed me the other day that I've never posted any of the pictures. Well here are some pics of her arm work.

Koi Tattoo

2009-05-31T17:34:00.000-07:00

Another tattoo I started recently. This one on a vet who was visiting Tucson. He will return in August for a marathon color session. I like to draw each koi a little differently. This one has a nice masculine quality.

Chris's Tattoo - First Sitting

2009-05-31T17:24:00.000-07:00

Here is a slide show of a new tattoo I'm starting on Chris. I have just done the first sitting and there will be at least one color session. This tattoo is inspired by his time in Costa Rica.

The video is longer than the number of pictures...but only because I love this music by Gabriel Francisco. He's a local musician. This is from his album Spanish Dreams.

Hot Rod Women Tattoos

2009-05-31T15:20:00.000-07:00

Here is the outline. Josh is coming in this week to get color. I loved getting ready for this tattoo. Lots of cool hot rod pictures to go through and Josh emailed me pictures of his wife. Then I caricatured her into a Rosy the Riveter-ish hot rod girl. It was lots of fun.

Dave's half sleeve

2009-05-31T15:14:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots of a recently completed half sleeve on Dave.

Pretty little tattoo

2009-05-31T15:08:00.000-07:00

Here's a smaller tattoo I recently did. A local teacher sports it on her calf. Sometimes it's nice to do one sitting, smaller pieces. Especially on such nice customers! Thanks for the use of the leg, Margaret.

Cover ups

2009-05-31T15:02:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across this picture looking for something else and it occurred to me I don't think I've posted any cover up work. I actually do a lot of cover up and fix up work. I don't always take before and after pictures. My goal is to have a finished tattoo that doesn't scream "I'm a cover up". I do have a before picture for this tattoo but let's just say it's not suitable for web viewing. It was a rather large phallic symbol. The wearer had long gotten tired of explaining why he had it and how truly out of his mind he was when he got it...a common story!

Update on Lemar's Tattoo

2009-05-31T14:56:00.001-07:00

Here are some recent pictures of Lemar's tattoo. I work on him again this week and then he's off to Hawaii for a vacation with his family. I hope to finish the tattoo later this summer.

Recent Tattoo Portrait

2009-05-31T14:50:00.000-07:00

Here's a portrait I did recently. I can't repeat enough how important a good photo is to work with. It makes the whole experience better. The drawing for the tattoo, the actual tattooing and the results are all so much better when I get to start with a good photo.

Celtic Tattoos

2009-05-17T14:06:00.000-07:00

Sleipner. See wikipedia. This is an eight legged horse from Norse Mythology. Bryson is the proud owner of this tattoo. I enjoyed doing it and learning something new in the process.

Tattoos to remember loved ones

2009-05-17T13:57:00.000-07:00

A very rewarding subject to tattoo is memorial tattoos. I really think getting a memorial tattoo helps the grieving process. I know it did for Kristin ( sorry if I mispelled your name). My sympathy goes out to you and your family.

Progression of a oriental style sleeve.

2009-05-17T11:08:00.000-07:00

Lemar's tattoo has been just pure pleasure to do. He has given me full reign to use my artistic sensibilities. I am enjoying watching the progression of this piece as much as designing it. This slide show represents what we have so far minus his new work this week (still in camera). And there is a sitting in 2 more weeks. Then Lemar will take his new tattoo to Hawaii for a vacation with his sons. There won't be too many more sittings after that and it will be finished.
Click here to link to Lemar's tattoo.

Update on Paul's Jesus Portrait

2009-05-17T10:18:00.000-07:00

I did a second sitting on Paul's Jesus Portrait this week.

Tattoos with Religious Themes

2009-03-25T21:26:00.000-07:00

Religious tattoos carry substantial meaning for the tattooed. This is one I did recently. Paul will come in for a second sitting in a couple of weeks to add a little more shading.

More of Lemar's Japanese Style Tattoo

2009-03-25T20:58:00.000-07:00

Tattoos in multiple sittings

2009-03-25T20:11:00.000-07:00

Earlier in the month I shared pictures of a large tattoo that I'm doing for a client named Lemar. He was back for another sitting yesterday. The first pictures are before I started tattooing so they aren't fresh and red. This tattoo has several more sittings to go. Eventually it will be in full color.

Portrait Tattoos Rock

2009-03-15T10:21:00.000-07:00

Here is another portrait tattoo I've had the privilege of doing. I can't tell you enough how much I enjoy the challenge of this type of tattooing. And the rewards are tremendous.

Monochromatic tattoos

2009-03-15T10:10:00.000-07:00

What are monochromatic tattoos? Mono = 1. Chromatic refers to color. So monochromatic tattoos are tattoos done with one color. Most generally you see these done in black. But black is not the only option. Recently I did this arm piece all in red. I like how it turned out and so does Karina.

Celtic Tattoos

2009-03-15T10:02:00.001-07:00

Another fun and challenging type of tattoo to do is Celtic work. Celtic tattooing takes a lot of patience and concentration. When a tattoo artist concentrates his skills the resulting tattoo is terrific. Here is an example of some Celtic work I had the pleasure of doing recently.

Tattoo Portraits

2009-03-15T09:53:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite subjects to tattoo are portraits. I've been meaning to share this picture for awhile and lost it on my computer. Dang file protocols can be confusing. Jim has had a few tattoos from me and his back showcases his family.
Having a portrait tattoo done to memorialize your family and friends is probably the ultimate tattoo.

TATTOOS in Progress...Fun Stuff

2009-03-05T19:10:00.000-08:00

I love working on large project Tattoos. I love being allowed the freedom to design and draw them. I know this is when I do my best work. Thanks to all of you that have given me that artistic freedom. Here are some pictures of one currently in progress.This was a preliminary drawing. First I drew this on Lemar free- hand. Took some photos and tracings and then went home to work out the dragon's head on paper for a few days.

I believe this was taken by Susie during the 2nd tattoo session. You can see the head is taking shape and I'm beginning to add details. The dragon body is also winding up and then down Lemar's arm.
Lemar's arm is starting to take shape.

I've actually had two more sittings on this tattoo and Susie's had the camera with her at home both times. I will make sure I get pictures at the next session so you can see how far it has come.

Passing the Mantle at Maggie Maye's Tucson Tattoo

2009-01-19T14:14:00.000-08:00

Well, it doesn't seem like ten years since we opened the doors at Maggie Maye's but the calender doesn't lie I guess. It's been quite a ride through the mean times and the lean times and the shop has been through many changes. We have watched Maggie and William grow from the shop babies into beautiful little people. We've seen our complex turn from run down and neglected into a picturesque and growing colony of artists studios with some of the finest oil painters in the nation working and teaching there daily. The time has come for us to step back from the shop and devote more time to running the colony and school.
Susan and I will continue to tattoo by appointment in our private studios. The rest of my time I will spend painting.