Konnichiwa

Hi people, my name is Joe.

I'm from Edgewood, MD. I've been tattooing for 5 years now. I'm really happy I was able to get into tattooing. Being able to improve on an actual skill (rather than flipping burgers for people) and meeting new people along the way. I feel I have found a family and a real sense of community.

I want to be a well rounded artist and dable in a little bit of everything. For the most part, I like cartoony kinds of tattoos. Being surrounded by superheroes, beautiful pin ups and lots of anime growing up really influenced the style I would like. I like doing funny things that poke fun at cliche tattoo. Example, I used the "This too shall pass...." pharse and drew a rock in a puddle of pee under the words. It's suppose to be a kidney stone. Color is more of my friend.

I'm here to improve on my understanding of art, to improve my tattoos. Bettering my black and gray skills is definitely on that list. I would really like to be able to do the soft tones that follow in the style. Also, I have had a lot of people stick there neck out for me along the way so, improving for their sake is also part of my goal.

I have a friend who has been teaching to build machines (a lot of math). So I can better understand what I'm working with. I like using different method to color like whipping the darker color over the lighter or whipping in the shadows last. It works but, I am still developing it. I like working with dermaglo, eternal, fusion and a couple of starbrite colors too.

My mentor really grounded into me a sense of humbleness and not to become a rock star. While I hold myself back on the ego, tattooing has given me a certain attitude to be able to handle the world, on a day to day level. I hope we can learn more together than apart. Let have fun with this and not look at it as a constant final exam!!