TALA is an incredible Tattoo Artist. She knows how to tattoo. She is professional, accurate, and just brilliant. She has inked my entire arm, and I am just so happy with the results. I would…
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Being the paralogical animal I tend to represent I welcome your stories…  As a story teller I take pleasure hearing the tales of life writ large in your emotion, awareness, and experience…  I invite you to share…  Contrary to some tattoo artists; I want to know the meaning your tattoo illustrates, the significance, how you’ve [...]
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Tala did my first tattoo last October. I had never been to a tattoo studio, was unsure of my tattoo design idea, placement, and size. Tala was patient, extremely helpful, and very knowledgeable about…
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Tala is amazing. I have hours of tats from others and by far she has it down. The most amazing studio, music of your choice, a master of colors, and most importantly her talents as an artist. She…
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I live in Seattle, and travel to California for all my tattoo work, specifically to see Tala. All of my tattoos except one have been the result of our collaboration. My first tattoo wasn't done by her…
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Tala was professional, entertaining, and her studio was clean. Most important, the tattoo is a beaut. I'll be going back to her next time I return to SF.
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Tala is a fantastic tattoo artist. She is passionate about tattooing and art and giving her customer what they want. This isn't the kind of place where you come in and pick some flash off a wall. Tala…
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I’m an artist.  I’m not special necessarily.  I doubt anyone is.  I mean; think about it… there are billions of people on the planet and billions who’re already gone, passed away in the far reaches of time. What could they think of us?  Were they special in their time? 

I’m an artist.  There are differences in people.  Like many I embody, literally, many of those differences.  However one may explain oneself, we are all part of; as well as apart from… those around us, our culture, the world.  The difference of course makes the difference in how one represents visually, kinesthetically, intellectually, emotionally, physically.  We are all works of art continuously conditioned and subsequently conditioning our environment. 

I’m an artist.  Primarily visual, but that bleeds, (literally, liberally), into many other genres, other mediums, other modalities.  I’m a writer.  I’m an opinionated, critical…  and yet: open-minded individual.  I’d better be if I want to learn anything. 

I’m an artist.  Emotionally biased toward sensation and non-logical determinism.  I have this knack, this trick, where I see the end near the beginning.  It infuriates those for whom logical progression is necessary.  (It makes it easy to confuse some folks, but my process is like that, a leap from start to finish…)

I’m an artist.  Study, research, thought, analysis, and persistent redundancy are necessary for my expression in any of the artistic realms.  A muse helps.  Dreams are even better, once the work of focus has been exhausted and the body is allowed to relax.  Epiphany comes from a bit of effort… at least for me effort of some sort is the prerequisite more likely to generate illumination, an implicit intuition…

I’m an artist. I literally move to the beat of a different drummer. A funky drummer to be sure. In my tattoo environment you’ll be treated to Funk, Blues, Soul, R&B, Jazz, a bit of Country, some show tunes, Swing, Hip-Hop and a smattering of Rap. I like drums, bass, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, strings, guitar, keyboards and… did I mention… FUNK.   

I’m an artist… fated to be an artist.  I don’t always love producing art.  At times the production of art, for me, requires effort; sometimes struggle.  The exertion makes the result that much sweeter.  Oh… happy accidents are very welcome; but a part of me finds it exquisitely exhilarating  when I must needs strive to redesign, reconstruct, renovate my technique and/or understanding of the explicit artistic endeavor.  The tattoo that is…

I’m an artist.  Not all my work is fantastic, mind-bending, acid-flashback chiaroscuro induced nightmares nor noir dreamscapes.  However, my desire is to achieve artistic breakthroughs pushing a resultant beauty, drama and visually arresting work evoking distracted emotion coupled with unexpected and seductively idiosyncratic symbolism…   in a nutshell… 

I’m an artist.  Technique is paramount.  Without intent of persistent discipline or the ability to replicate the rendering today… tomorrow, or more importantly; to improve the technique of today tomorrow… one is lost as an artist.  That is to say; I must be capable of rendering, at the very least, adequately in the medium currently being worked.  (Here: ink in skin.)  However, that is not enough.  I must be more than adequate.  I must be in the top ten percent with my skills.  That too is not enough.  I must consistently work to improve my skills and develop better and/or improved technique.    

Previous Shops Tala has worked in Tala Tattoo – simply the best, trust me.  San Francisco  415 902-4794 Black and Blue Tattoo, Best of the Bay 2007, 2008 PierceInk   San Jose Gotham   San Francisco Leona’s Tattoo   Gurneville on the Russian River

Tala is a commercial and fine arts photographer and a writer as well as a tattoo artist.  Tala has worked with computers, is a master machinist, mechanic, programmer and metal worker.  Tala is an astrologer, a clinical hypnotherapist and an educator.   Tala is a business consultant and has advised numerous businesses how to successfully increase their profit.  Tala has also been the subject of documentaries and has been interviewed by various media.

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well, really, any tool available, but here we’ll be focusing on photography…

So… what does working with a camera do to an artist?  What specific actions- things- must one do when using a camera as an extension of, an adjunct to, tattoo art?  (Aside from the fact that one MUST make at least acceptable photos of tattoos if the tattoo artist is going to publish or advertise their work.)  Perhaps a better question is: what could one potentially learn as a painter, sculptor,  tattooist… in fact, anyone producing art, by using a camera? 

The question may be answered in a number of ways, but here are a few for your mastication… 

Using a camera forces the photographer to do certain things.  Not the least of which is LOOK.  Part of the beauty of the process of photography is the need to compose in the camera.  Now, you may NOT compose in the camera, but then you run the risk of loosing the image, part of the image, or most importantly… detail.  All photo capturing processes have a limited information capacity including processes which rely on chemical/film/metal and/or digital production…  Resolution of lenses and lens distortion play a part in composition.  Available darkness plays a part…. (yes, yes, I know, most photographers refer to this as “available light,” but when you turn it on it’s head you might see something different, ya?)   Composition is about what one leaves OUT of the image as much as what one puts into the image. 

Another factor is shutter speed.  The time from the press of the button to the moment when the curtain actually moves and the image is captured.  There is ALWAYS a lag, even in the most expensive and well engineered cameras.  One must learn to anticipate the shot as well as how to frame it.  (What has that got to do with other media including tattooing?  Well, yet again, it trains the artist to LOOK.)  When the mind/eye/heart are synced a more interesting set of image options open up.  One starts to see the world in stills and…perhaps,  in moving frames, captured and framed art, continually evolving and presenting itself from moment to moment. 

A good friend once asked me what the most important tool for a photographer was/is… Of course the answer was off my radar… She said: “The WALL.”  Huh?  Yup, the wall is your best friend as a photographer, painter, graphic designer, tattoo artist… in fact ANY artist benefits from putting her/his work up on the wall and LEAVING it there.  Study it.  Walk away.  Come back and study it some more.  Ignore it.  Walk past and glance at it.  Leave it up on the wall for a good amount of time…  weeks or months.  Have friends and family critique the work.  (Doesn’t matter if they don’t know or understand art.  You’ll know if their critiques mean anything and you’re inviting them to be a part of your life, your process.)  Have other artists look at your work.  Have several artist friends and/or acquaintances over to view the work… more than once.  LISTEN to the artists.  You don’t have to do what they suggest, but it might be worth trying at some point on some other image… or the one they’re critiquing…  Conversely, spend time with artists who invite you to critique their work…  There’s a ton o’ info there!

Perspective is probably an artifact of the use of lenses…Italian perspective is simply an understanding of optics.  No doubt the result of using the Camera Obscura and later… lenses…  Lenses were a HUGE factor in how the west and the world literally changed viewing and creation of art.  Lenses distort.  A friend proudly displayed a painting of a race car in action and proclaimed the artist never painted from photographs… Perhaps, but the artist had several artifacts from photography in the painting including compressed depth of field and limited plane of focus including an out of focus thumbprint from a specific type of lens.  Thus suggesting; images from cameras have played no small part in his understanding of what a picture SHOULD look like… 

Cropping… my favorite… While I do everything possible to crop in the camera, there are often better images within the image I’ve captured on film.  These refined images may be perceived through the use of two of my favorite tools; 2 pieces of black art board cut into wide “L” shapes such that they may be placed over an image and used to isolate the most pleasing composition possible.  (This is also a great tool to use when composing/designing a tattoo…  There are times when a tattoo looks better using part of the image instead of the whole enchilada…)   Cropping your photographs translates back into how you shoot/compose images in the camera and… how you see and render tattoo art. 

These are but a few points on the use of cameras/photography to improve any art form.  The most important bit here is the focus… not necessarily through the camera/lens, but the focus on producing art.  The discipline aimed at the outcome.  When one lives the art, sleeps it, breathes it, views it in everyday interactions one must change the form of the art produced…   Necessarily

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So, the debate about what makes a good tattoo often takes a number of spins/turns…  With many artists dumbing down their response by stating the following: The only good tattoo is what the client wants.  Is that true?  Yes and no… 

Yes if the only concern is having the client feel good about the tattoo right now.  And please understand; there are many clients who only want the tattoo they want and… it has to be the tattoo they’ve brought to you right now…  As an artist I need to remember, people change their minds.  They learn new ways of looking at the world.  They mature.  They get art educations.  They change… inevitably… 

As a tattoo artist and a member of a community, a place, the world; I believe I have a duty to help my clients get the best I can give them right now.  (Hopefully my skills continue to advance and my work continues to get better over time.)   So… suppose a client brings me the image shown below…  With some slight alteration this will make a stunning tattoo…  Is it the best tattoo I can give my client?  (Scroll down past the image to read and see more…)

 

What about the image below?  Would this make a “better” tattoo?  Well, yes and no…  No if the client is only interested in black tribal tattoos and that’s their plan for the canvas of skin… now and in the future.  (remember… people change.)    Yes; it is a better tattoo if the client is looking for maximum impact from a visual image rendered on the body.  The image below, when concentrated in the skin, is STUNNING and I guarantee people will look at it and be blown away.  Additionally this tattoo will age more gracefully and hold its pop and wow value far longer than the black tribal above.  However… the black tribal above is STILL a fantastic piece of art and will get it’s own fair share of “Damn thats a FINE tattoo” compliments…   

So, if you’ve read this far I’m now in the December Doldrums and… it’s the end of a year and… the end of the decade!!!  If you contact me, book an appointment, and put your booty in my chair for either of these images before January 1st, 2010, I’ll give you 50% off.  If you make the smart choice and get the image below, I’ll give you an additional 10% off.  That’s 60% off normal fees.  I really, really want this image in my portfolio…  Don’t you too want a kick-ass tattoo?   Bring a friend and they can have the image you don’t get!!! Call me now!  415 902–4794.

 

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