Borneo Tattoo Convention Day 2

DAY 2

Woke up early this morning as I had an appointed with Ernesto to have my other fist tatooed at the convention itself.

I got off the cab and I was greeted by the press as they interviewed me, asking me bout my experience and the tattoo I got the day before. I never expected them to be there, but hey, I just love it !!

After the shoot and interview, I walked up to the hilltop where the convention was held and watched the Iban Cultural Dances before heading to the booth of Borneo HeadHunters where Enersto was waiting for me.

It was fun watching them dance and trust me, I really wanted to dance too..hehe!!

Booth of Borneo HeadHunters.

Picture taken by Ernesto himself.

Cameras all over me again...Hmmmm...

It was the most relaxing thing I ever did in my life. It was a great experience and to feel so good after that, is just beyond words to describe.

Final check of the alignment and its done !!

Ernesto and me posing for the camera !!

Robb and Me...

To summarize the whole experience and having a tattoo done traditionally was an enlighting moment for me. Never will I forget it and yes, I have learnt alot which I can use in what I do. I thank everyone who who made this trip possible and I thank the crew of Borneo HeadHunters for giving me a good experience.

I will be uploading video clips in my next post. Watch out for it...

Borneo Tattoo Convention Day 1

DAY 1

What can I say ?!

It was great being in Sarawak for the 2nd International Borneo Tattoo Convention 2007 !! I wished it never ended so fast. It was the best experience and being able to be tattooed traditionally by Enersto himself, from the Borneo Head Hunters, was a great honour. Walking around Bukit Aup Jubilee Park was the most physically tormented thing I ever did !! It was such a huge place and climbing up endless fleets of stairs was madness. I will tell you all about it as we go by...

Day 1 of the convention...

I was able to meet Alex Nadini of Italy and it was awesome to be side by side with one of the world's best !

Borneo Design being done by Rotary Tattoo Machine

FreeWind of USA doing his thang ya'all..

Freewind tattooing traditionally with the help of his wife...

Later that evening, I was traditionally tattooed by Ernesto and it drew a large crowd witnessing it. The whole event was videographed and photographed by the press for magazines and documentaries and such... My oh My, was I excited or what ?!

After close to a hour, the tattoo was done. And I had another day to go for my other fist to be tattooed again..hehe !!

Happy Bday - Immortal Tattoos

Immortal Tattoos turns 1 today on the 14th June 2007. It has been one wild ride for the past one year and hopefully many more years of wild rides to come !! I thank my family, all my friends, my clients and everyone else for the surpport.

May Immortal Tattoos be Immortal !!

Phoenix Part II

In my post about Phoenix in May, you guys might have read about the legends and myth on the Legendary bird. I happen to do one again today, which took a toll on me. Sometimes, most of the customers don't realise that their skin tone plays a part on how the tattoo turns out. And of course, being a professional in this business, its your duty to edcuate them. Most of the time, you can succeed in it, but bad times do roll in too...

A customer of mine, being in the midtone skin wanted to get a phoenix done, which obviously needs colours, but then again there are also option to have it done in black and grey. But sadly, colours won't show much of how it will be on a lighter toned skin.

Talking about the colours that would match his skin tone, I had to really crack my head...

So after close to 2hrs, when the dust has settled from the wings of the Phoenix, I called it a day with some happy endings...

Aum Tattoos

Aum - is a mystical or sacred syllable in the Dharmic religions. It is placed at the beginning of most Hindu texts as a sacred exclamation to be uttered at the beginning and end of a reading of the Vedas or previously to any prayer or mantra. The Mandukya Upanishad is entirely devoted to the explanation of the syllable.

The syllable Aum is first described as all-encompassing mystical entity in the Upanishads. Today, in all Hindu art and all over India and Nepal, 'Aum' can be seen virtually everywhere, a standard sign[citation needed] for Hinduism and its philosophy and mythology.

Aum is not a word but rather an intonation, which, like music, transcends the barriers of age, race, culture and even species. It is made up of three Sanskrit letters, aa, au and ma which, when combined together, make the sound Aum or Om. It is believed to be the basic sound of the world and to contain all other sounds. If repeated with the correct intonation, it can resonate throughout the body so that the sound penetrates to the centre of one's being, the atman or soul.

In modern time, Aum tattoos have become very popular with the crowd, regardless of thier age, sex or even religion. It has become the most common design to my knowledge and seriously I have lost count on how many of my clients carry that sacred symbol.

Mother and Child

Guess who walked in again today? Its the same guy who had his tiger done the other day...Hehe!!

My returning customer within few days apart. How cool is that? Ok lets get back to what he wanted shall we?

This time, he didn't want a eagle that looks like a rooster or a dog looking like a wild boar, but instead, he wanted a tattoo of a mother carying her child...Sweet huh? But then again, his angular looking imagination came into discussion again...And what can I say?

Anyway, he did the tattoo out of his love for his mum and wanted his mum's name in Tamil. Staying true to his roots, I should say...

Tiger

I had a customer walk in today, wanting to get a tiger on his arm. Explaining to me that he wants his tiger to be fierce. Typical tattoo as always. Well, that is what I thought. He then goes on, saying that he wants the tiger's body to face a certain angle and the facial expression to be in a certain angle, which of course, will be near impossible for the tiger to be in an awkward position in reality, unless its a tiger practising yoga, having its body to be so flexible...God !

After that is done and going through some of the designs, he said, "I want my tiger to look like a gorilla!" Come on !! How can you have a tiger that looks like a gorilla? Its either a tiger or a gorilla ! What a day to start my week with !!

At this point of time, I knew I had to step in and explain to him in my point of view, that what he is imagining is nowhere going to look like a tiger. He was on the darker skin tone, so colours won't work well. He did look kinda disappointed, but I assured him that it will turn out well.

And this is how it turned out...

Evolution Of Dragons

The dragon is a mythical creature typically depicted as a large and powerful serpent or other reptile with magical or spiritual qualities. Mythological creatures possessing some or most of the characteristics typically associated with dragons are common throughout the world's cultures.

Although dragons (or dragon-like creatures) occur commonly in legends around the world, different cultures have perceived them differently. Chinese dragons and Eastern dragons generally, are usually seen as benevolent, whereas European dragons are usually malevolent. Malevolent dragons also occur in Persian mythology and other cultures.

In Revelation 12:3, an enormous red beast with seven heads is described, whose tail sweeps one third of the stars from heaven down to earth (held to be symbolic of the fall of the angels, though not commonly held among biblical scholars). In most translations, the word "dragon" is used to describe the beast, since in the original Greek the word used is drakon.

Over the years, having tattoos of dragons have changed. From the more oriental or mythical looking to more modern contemporary ones. Most choose to have this kinds done on their skin, so as to not to run out of the "Trend" by having traditional dragons done instead, even though there are many who still prefer the traditional looking ones.

Artwork and Photography : Immortal Tattoos

Japanese Demon

The hannya mask is the vengeful and jealous woman turned demon. Pointed horns, metallic eyes and teeth, and the expression all exhibit the full wrath, anger and resentment of her nature. The origins of hannya masks may have come from early snake masks but most likely the image was taken from painted hand scrolls of stories and legends of the Muromachi period. In fact one of the oldest hannya masks is dated 1558. Of course the most prominent feature is the horns. Even to this day a hand gesture of two index fingers sticking up from a man's forehead is an indication that his wife is mad at him or jealous.

There are many variations of hannya masks. The coloring of the face also signifies the degree of passion in the demon's anger. For example, a more reddish color indicates strong resentment and anger and is used in such plays as Dodoji and Kurozuka, whereas a paler color would be more appropriate for Aoi-no-ue. Dodoji is the story of unrequited love between a woman and a priest of Dodoji (temple). She turns into a demonic serpent who wraps her body around the temple bell consuming it and the priest in the process.

For more information on Japanese Mask and their history check out http://www.yoshinoantiques.com/masks.html

The Cross

The Cross is one of the most ancient human symbols, and is used by many religions, most notably Christianity. It is frequently a representation of the division of the world into four elements (or cardinal points), or alternately as the union of the concepts of divinity, the vertical line, and the world, the horizontal line (Koch, 1955).

The word cross was introduced to English in the 10th century as the term for the instrument of the torturous execution of Christ (gr. stauros', xy'lon), gradually replacing rood, ultimately from Latin crux, via Old Irish cros. Originally, both 'rood' and 'crux' referred simply to any "pole," the later shape associated with the term being based on church tradition, rather than etymology. The word can nowadays refer to the geometrical shape unrelated to its Christian significance from the 15th century.

Artwork and Photography : Immortal Tattoos

Phoenix

Creatures from the world of Legends and Myths have been evolved into something else in this Era. For many years, tattoos such as the phoenix have been collected by many. I had the chance to tattoo a phoenix on someone not long ago... So here it is !! (Still In Progress)

The phoenix bird symbolizes immortality, resurrection and life after death. In ancient Greek and Egyptian mythology, it is associated with the sun god.
According to the Greeks, the bird lives in Arabia, near a cool well. Every morning at dawn, the sun god would stop his chariot to listen to the bird sing a beautiful song while it bathed in the well.

Only one phoenix exists at a time. When the bird felt its death was near, every 500 to 1,461 years, it would build a nest of aromatic wood and set it on fire. The bird then was consumed by the flames.

A new phoenix sprang forth from the pyre. It embalmed the ashes of its predecessor in an egg of myrrh and flew with it to Heliopolis, "city of the sun," where the egg was deposited on the altar of the sun god. In Egypt, it was usually depicted as a heron, but in the classic literature as a peacock or an eagle.

Introduction

Some months have past, since the opening of my Tattoo Studio – Immortal Tattoos. I guess its time for me to share to the mortal being, both interested and curious bout what I do. Therefore, I will take you on a journey on the voyages and the struggles that I been through in the Tattoo Industry, especially in my very own studio…

As days go by as I update my blog, now and then, gradually you will learn more bout me and my studio.

Before I do that, Let me tell you who I am…

My name is Kugan, Owner/Tattoo Artist of Immortal Tattoos, Singapore. I have been in this studio, since June 14th 2006. Everything has its ups and down if you are running your own business. You come across people of all walks of life. – Weird ones too.

I have been in this line for like, 3yrs or so now. I am loving it day by day and I would never trade it for anything in life to come. I enjoy what I do !!
Its enough bout me for now. If you want to know more bout me, you know where to find me.

Buckle up soldiers !! Lets get ready for the ride of your life – The Immortal Ride, the ride in tattoo artistry never ends…