I thought I’d play into all the Halloween fun and do a spooky post for Halloweek. Whether you’re a skeptic or a believer, this is the season to indulge in spooky! Zone 13 is a tattoo shop with a unique pest problem. Despite all they have to offer, including a gallery of artifacts collected from […]
Author: Gatekeeper
Hi there! I'm Taylor, you may know me as Sterling Skull reception, or gatekeeper, or most recently Tater (thanks Chris). I love writing, creating and I love tattoos; so what better way to use my passions than to bring you a personal experience of our studio via a blog! Welcome, please stay a while!
How to Spot a Safe Tattoo Shop
With tattooing becoming more and more mainstream there are a lot of shops out there; some with ethics and high quality tattoo work, others not so much. So how do you tell? We talk a lot about reputable tattoo shops in our industry but what does this actually mean. Business certificates are a great way […]
Heartwarming Parents and Their Tattoos
I thought with all the craziness and animosity out in the world right now we’d keep it nice and light hearted with the blog post this week, also lots of pictures! This week I want to shed some light on what I think of as Inspirational tattoos. A dad from Kansas, US has made headlines […]
An Open Letter to Minors and Parents
Dear minors and parents, I thought that an open letter would be a good way to address this issue of tattooing minors. We are all entitled to our opinion and by the end of this you may conclude that we are just off our rocker and that is ok! But with a lot of teens […]
Specialties
Here’s a bit I wrote a few years back… I overheard a younger tattooer recently bashing one of the industry veterans’ work as “irrelevant” due to lack of “specialty.” Now – So much of this situation can be a hornets nest of conflict. First of all: there’s the respect issue, some of these old dudes […]
Tattoo Placement
One of the beautiful things about custom tattoos is how the placement can accent body shape. When designing a tattoo, especially a big one, we take a tracing of the area you’re getting tattooed that maps out where your muscles are. This way the artist can compose a design that flows with your muscles and […]
Fabio Viale and His Marble Sculptures
Fabio Viale is an Italian sculptor well known for his marble creations. His most recent carving that has made headlines is his marble boat that actually floats and boats! I want to focus more on his recreations of classic sculptures but you can check out the marble boat here. Viale originally caught my attention on […]
The Oldest Tattoo Shop in The World
You can find the oldest tattoo shop in the world nestled among a diversity of worship buildings in central Israel. Between the churches, mosques, synagogues, and other places of worship in Jerusalem you’ll find Razzouk Tattoo, operating since 1300; just a 1 minute walk from the Tower of David. The Razzouk family brought their tattooing […]
Realism
Realism is one of those styles that is always trending. Realism can lend itself to anything and when done well it is incredibly striking. So it’s not surprising that it’s always popular. Recently I have had lots of requests for booking realism which makes it a great time to explore this style more and learn […]
How to Compile References
As you probably know when you get tattooed you show your artist a reference photo, these are always helpful but some make better references than others. Here are some tips for finding the best reference photos to create the best tattoo: Find real photos. Tattoo photos are helpful to see the style you’re after but […]