Uncle Allan for Japan

Alright, they're finally here, the Uncle Allan prints we've been talking about for almost three weeks (well, mostly on twitter, but we have been talking about them!)
The prints are limited to 100 signed and numbered A3 sized prints on 300 gram fancy card stock, and we're hoping to sell them all.
All the money will go to the Red Cross' relief efforts in Japan, a country we love so, so much, and that was devastated by an earthquake and following tsunami on March 11th 2011.

If you scroll down to the end of this post there's a button that'll take you to our paypal.
Please pick the country you wish to get it shipped to in the dropdown menu, we will ship anywhere.
If you have questions, please write us before purchasing!
The prints are, of course, also for sale at the shop, just remember to call or write before coming by!

If you are interested in purchasing any of Uncle Allan's other prints, check them out here and please send us an email at conspiracyinctattoo@gmail.com before buying, and let us know which other prints you are interested in purchasing, so we can give you a separate shipping quote for the whole thing.
For this occasion only, we will offer a discount on all prints and flash (except the collaboration set with Hunter Spanks) and all the money from those prints will of course be donated as well.

We will ship once a week until the prints are (hopefully!) sold out and the first shipment will go out a week from today.

Please let us know if you have any questions, and thanks for your support!

Uncle Allan for Red Cross, 2011

(Watermark obviously not included)

All signed and ready to go

Print including shipping

to Denmark $65.00 to Europe $66.00 to US/AUS/Other $70.00

Please visit these links for other ways to support japan: All for Japan, Yellowblaze Webshop (proceeds from prints and t-shirts will go to relief efforts), I Stand with Japan, Tattooers for Japan, and our buddies at Progression Tattoo in Adelaide, Aus. who are having a walk-in day for japan on April 16th.
The TAM blog has links too, so visit them as well.

Ps. We're still planning on finding more ways to help, so check back later!

Japanese tattoo horimitsu style today's first case

Shaun Tan you Rock my World!

I just have to acknowledge the stellar and utterly deserved success of a fellow Aussie, a fellow creative and some-time fellow spec fic con panelist, Shaun Tan, who today was announced to have won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Prize!

WOO-HOO!

And this on the back of an Academy Award [TM] in Animated Short for the Lost Thing.

Wonderful, wonderful...

Well done, sir.

there was internet access trouble

Recovery!! right now.
 a costumer from Paraguay thank you for coming!!

Japanese tattoo horimitsu style today's first case

To Caroline Wojo

Well, I just formulated a reply to a certain lady in the USofA only to have the email bounce. So, I thunk to myself, how can I get the response to her. Well, my thunking proceeded, hows about making it a blog post, that way she just might stumble upon it. So here it is...

(apologies to long time Sundergirdians if I repeat myself)

Dear Caroline,

I have indeed read your email and here I am replying (at last!!!) just cause I can and, well, because more importantly you had the goodness to write so a reply is the least I can do.

As to advice about writing, I always find this a perplexing question - I am not a product of some tribe of formal training, it is an intuitive process for me, learning by doing, rather than the application of set rules. I am sure there are rules rolling about in this great intuitive blob but they are not what I am most aware of (argh! I ended a sentence with a preposition!!!)

Probably the best formal "rule" given by another author is: Plot is Character in Action.

As for the writing of fantasy: Avoid All Cliches like they are Swine Flu... ... that said, you might still perpetrate a few, but if your general intent is to avoid them, then you general will, and just might give to the world something that lightens and improves people's lives, not just numbs them with frothy oft-repeated blah.

The best practice I ever had and will ever have I think is reading, and reading well, by which I mean those books acknowledged as "classics" (though I do not find them all so), written with truth and mindful intent by folks with clear skill, not just to cash in on the latest fad. Having said that, it has not been some deliberate intent on my behalf, just that after reading Lord of the Rings I found that the only texts that really hit the same "button", that approached the same delight were not all the pulpy (in the worst way) fantasy fare, but the likes of Steinbeck, Kafka, Fitzgerald, Hesse, Galico. You see, my conviction is that if you're going to write it ought to be as good as you can make it, not just hammering away on the keyboard to get out a product, but show the contents of you soul to others in a way that is both utterly true of you and considerate of them.

I hope I am making sense.

Perhaps the best thing I can do is tell how it is that I have some thing to even write about, a bit from my own life, maybe that will help...? See, the real moment for me where a light bulb clicked and I really wanted to write was the reading of Lord of the Rings when I was 12-13. I immediately pulled out a large sheet of paper and began drawing my own Middle-earth-esque map, begun to write my own story (all 26 foolscap pages of it! - which I thought a lot at the time). Yet barely begun I quickly realised I was not able to really say what I wanted to say, that I was not quite long-lived enough, that I knew in my soul what I wanted to achieve (something even half as life changing as LOTR) but that I had not been on the earth long enough nor yet possessed quite the capacity to do as my hero, Tolkien, had done.

So, I stopped writing.

(Actually, I did at about 15 or so begin a new tale all my own, with my own ideas that after 60 odd pages devolved into teenage angsty blah, but I WAS writing, so that is something)

Yet in me continued to burn a desire to create a work that shifted me as LOTR shifted me. Finally, in second year uni and with and hour and a half bus ride one way I was reading all manner of goodly books, until finally I hit one - Titus Groan - and then pop! The dual inspirations of LOTR and this combined and I began to invent what eventually became the Half-Continent.

That was 20 years ! ago. It has grown little bit by little bit ever since, drawn from all those things around me that delight me, working them into my own distinct whole.

So my intent in this little tale is to say most of all, be patient with yourself, writing is a skill that will only (Lord willing) improve with age and experience, indeed, it is a journey of a lifetime. So keep writing, that the great ideas you are having now will unfold into even greater ones.

Now, as to developing characters: well, I suppose I ask myself how they might react in a given situation, and am a bit tough on myself to make sure that I keep the character true to how they would really be, not just making them go they way I want to plot to go. So we come back to it, Plot is Character in Action. The best advice I can give here is let your characters tell you what they would do next rather than you forcing them against their true selves to go in some predetermined direction. This forcing of a character ALWAYS breaks either them or the integrity of your story. And if you are wondering how they might be, watch people, see how they are for real, and read history and/or biography to see how folks in time have behaved - real life is always odder than pretend. Doing this I reckon will give you a much bigger pallet of reactions and emotions to draw from. Also, I would say the writing of characters is acting on slow motion, that you become that character like an actor might and perform their part (in your head of course, though you might yourself like to be more demonstrative - each to their own).

The writing of detail is a craft my editor will tell you I am still yet to master myself. You must remember in reading my words or those of proper writers is that we have all been edited, all been helped hugely to be the best selves we can be. What I can say is that detail for me is a matter of passion, I really care a whole lot about all the bits and pieces, the lay of a belt, the fold of a cloth, the bend in a road and the lean of a stand of young pines - you know what I mean. Description of details in NOT an Inventory of Stuff - just some long list of objects, it is an expression of my delight in the all the "bits" that make this character, this scene, this (pretend) world tangible, visceral, right here and now. I get the feeling you love details too, so write from that love, that passion, your own delight for all the accoutrement's that matter to you.... And be prepared to edit edit edit it all down to the best of it.

A great adventure (and trials too) stretches out before you... But you don't need me to tell you that, I can tell you already know it.

Phew, and here was me thinking I was just going to give you a quick missive in response to let you know I received you email and was thinking about how to answer... Well I guess I have done that then... :/

DMC

All booked up!

Just a quick little post to let you all know that Eckel is booked up for April, May and June.
That means we have closed for bookings for now.
So, what does that mean to you if you're a person wanting to get tattooed by him asap?
It means that you'll need to write us from June 1st. to book appointments in July, August and September.
As usual, we ask you to include your ideas for the design, size and placement, any relevant pictures of yourself or design reference, as well as a list of dates in July, August or September where you'd like to get tattooed.
And as usual, if you live in the area, we will ask you to come by for a consultation prior to your tattoo appointment.
If you are interested in an appointment later in the fall, do not write us yet.
In June we will only be booking for those three months.

That's all, we look forward to hearing from you in a couple of months, and remember, if you'd like to know more about booking, read the tabs named Eckel and client info.

Og så på Dansk:
Eckel er fuldt booket de næste tre måneder, og vi har nu derfor lukket for booking.
Det betyder, at hvis du gerne vil tatoveres af Eckel, skal du sende os en mail i starten af Juni for at booke en tid i enten Juli, August eller September.
Som sædvanligt vil vi bede dig om at inkludere alle dine idéer til design, placering og størrelse i mailen, eventuelle billeder, samt en liste over dage i de følgende tre måneder hvor det vil passe dig godt at blive tatoveret.
Og som sædvanligt vil vi bede dig om at kigge forbi til en konsultation inden din tatoverings-aftale hvis du bor i nærheden.
Hvis du ønsker en tid senere på efteråret skal du ikke skrive til os endnu.
Vi booker kun de tre måneder ad gangen, så hvis du vil have en tid senere, må du vente.

Vi håber at høre fra dig i Juni, og hvis du vil læse mere om booking kan du gøre det her på siden under Eckel og client info.

Japanese tattoo horimitsu style today's first case

OPIN DA DO!!

>>>>>>> Postcard from Africa!

Japanese tattoo horimitsu style today's second case

Japanese tattoo horimitsu style today's first case

Japanese tattoo horimitsu style today's first case

japanese tattoo Horimitsu style Recent works

Recent events

In case you were wondering, we're still a little bummed about not going to Japan this spring, and a little bit in denial too.
I'm sure it'll hit me around the 29th, but for now i feel ok.
Honestly, i was a little worried about leaving our pretty shop home alone for so long anyway.
What if it wouldn't recognize us when we came back?
That would be bad.

We're missing so much by not going, but hopefully we'll be able to go to some birthdays, concerts and events that we'd otherwise have missed. So there's that.
There's actually a convention going on in Copenhagen in the beginning of April, the first one in years, and i think we might drop by.
We're not working there by the way, even though there has been some speculation about that. Ahem. But we were never meant to.
But i think it could be fun to check it out because, really, how often do we get to go to a convention and NOT work and NOT stay at some crappy hotel afterwards? It's even close to our place, and we do know some people working there and it'd be nice to say hi.

Chriss Dettmer was here visiting us this past weekend, and with the earthquake happening, i totally forgot to blog about that.
I didn't announce his mini guest spot on the blog either, and i am sorry for that, but he was here for such a short time, and we wanted to have some hangout time too.
He did do a couple of tattoos, but i promise that we'll get him to stay longer next time, so you guys get the chance too.
Anyway, it was wonderful to have him here. He's such a good friend and an easy house guest, both at home and at the shop.

Like i wrote in the last post (by the way, sorry that this post is all over the place, but it's Friday and it's late and i'm in no mood to write anything coherent right now, so you'll just have to bear with me) we're working on making some prints to sell for Japan and that's still happening for sure. We got some test prints today, so hopefully we'll have the finished product sometime next week.
They'll be limited, as usual, and we'll sell them alone and with other prints/flash at reduced prices.
More about that when i actually have a product!
I already started raising a bit of money for Japan, so if you like hats and animals, and hats with animals on them, check out my etsy shop. If you don't, just ignore that last sentence and scroll down for some tattoo pictures!
Pictures! Yes! More of those and less of... me ranting.

The orchid in the office came back from the dead, maybe thinking it's spring? Poor, dumb bastard...

Anne got another session on her backpiece, this time in color

Clients from Geneva brought us delicious chocolate

Young brought us cake

So did Tom and Ellie (the A is for Amalie, there was one for Allan and Eckel too)

Eckel and Lucifer plotting world domination, as usual

Chriss finished this one that he started a while back

I cleaned up the back rooms for god knows what time, so the dark room is just waiting for our carpenters now

Today on the way to work i rode my bike through the old hood.

We needed Dettol and the grocery store that i usually buy it at has closed down. So i went by Nansensgade cause i knew they had it there, and boy, did that street blossom since we left!

I mean, really, when we were there all the cool stores were always closing down and in their place hair salons and coaching cults or new age-y massage places would open. You know, boring shit.

But now, i spotted a bunch of new shops and at least two new café's.

One of them was even called "Amalie's Kaffebar" so it's obviously a coffee shop for people named Amalie.

And it opens right after we move out? Oh, the irony.

Anyway, it was weird to see the street looking alive again, and it made me wonder; did we kill it?

I hope not.

At least there are no shops to kill here in Schleppegrellsgade!

Thinking of home

Today we canceled our trip to Japan.
The government here finally started advising against non-essential travel, and so we decided to call off our trip.
It was a hard decision to make, one we've been struggling with since Fridays earthquake and tsunami, but in the end it didn't seem worth the risk.
We had friends and family here at home worried sick, and going started to seem both unnecessarily risky and a little selfish too.
We're not exactly the praying kind, but rest assured, Japan is on our minds all the time.
We've been in contact with our friends in Japan who are all unharmed, but due to the continuing problems at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, we still worry about their safety.
According to Hata from Inkrat, the power is out on and off, there's no water in the super markets, shops and restaurants are closed down and Tokyo is basically a ghost town.
We're feeling pretty helpless, or useless even, over here, doing nothing, so we decided to do something.
Last night i asked Allan if he had some painting or other lying around that we could possibly make prints of and maybe sell to help out, and it turns out he did. So we talked to our printer guy and it's happening, and hopefully soon too. They'll be limited and they'll be awesome and we'll donate all the money to an emergency relief organization, probably Red Cross since they seem to be the ones who get in there and do the most good the fastest.
So stay tuned for updates!
And until then, please donate if you can, and if you're in Tokyo, go get tattooed and support the tattoo artists over there who, like everyone, are in for some rough times.

Sweet Kōenji

I don't know exactly when we'll be back in Tokyo, but hopefully things will get better there soon, and we can get back over there.
And when we do i hope we'll be able to reschedule the clients who had already booked in with Allan.
ごめん なさい, we will be back!

Information

We refrain from working with the Tohoku Kanto Huge Earthquake in Japan.
Wewould like everyone's sympathy for the victims.
Hang in there Japan !!

Japanese tattoo Horimitsu style first case today

Japanese tattoo Horimitsu style first case today

Japanese tattoo Horimitsu style third case today

Japanese tattoo Horimitsu style second case today

japanese tattoo Horimitsu style first case today

Ria's birds

Allan did these pretty birds on regular client Ria on friday.
See bigger and better pictures of hers and Richards tattoos on Allan's blog.
Good stuff.

Matching thighs are awesome

You know what else is awesome? Clients who fly in via Paris and bring us these:

Japanese tattoo Horimitsu style first case today

Japanese tattoo horimitsu style today's first case

Happy birthday to us!!

Yes, you read that right, it's our birthday!
Today it's been exactly a year since the big move from Nansensgade to Schleppegrellsgade.
I would have liked to do a huge month-by-month post documenting the last year and all the progress we've made, but, as usual, i don't really have the time.

One year ago i would have laughed if anyone had told me that we still wouldn't be completely finished with working on the shop on our first birthday, but at that time none of us knew how many things could possibly go wrong.
And considering the amount of crap we've been through, i actually think the shops current condition (which is "almost done" and "totally awesome") is pretty impressive.
I don't even mind waiting a few more months with the opening party!

Like we have for the past year, we're still going to flea markets all the time, this is one of our latest finds

And this is what it looks like in our amazing new work room

 And just so ya'll have something pretty to look at, here's the worlds most giant armpit tattoo, by Eckel

Alright, i'm gonna go celebrate our big day by scrubbing some tubes...
Yay?