Antlerlady goes into fashion!

I have been working in this one for a while but now I think it is time to actually get them printed...soon!! This is the design for the next tshirt i am going to make! If everything goes as planed that is!! Well fingers crossed! Hope you like her!

"Cherio mate! Spot on, Guv'na! Cheers for the tea. Pip pip ta ra"

So... some might notice the lack of numbers in the headline today! That's right! We came up with a title for this one! By we, I mean my British customers and I! To proof the authenticity of their Britishness I bring photos!!


See!! Anyway! Besides being British my customer Marcos proved to be a trooper! Day one he did 6 hours and 40 minutes on the lower arm. A dead gentleman (since he is from England) and the all seeing street lamp! Awesome!
Day two we started a bigger project. A frontal!! Auch! He had a hard time after almost 7 hours the day before but when he got into it it seemed to go pretty well. He did survive!! He lasted all the lines for 5 hours including the much needed breaks here and there! Good job Governor!
...turns out that not only is he British...he is also a gangster like my self!

word!!

So after two days of midnight tattooing I hope they will enjoy their last day in Copenhagen at the Zoo and not in the studio!

Number Eight!!!

Easy day today! I only had to do a Zombie samurai horse on a foot! Awesome!! So I finished early today and with what I got done yesterday (where my customer forgot to show up) I am almost done with the second tshirt design!! If everything goes as planed then I will finish he third tomorrow and that means new shirts soon...since the plan was to print them as soon as I got three done!! Anywho!! Here is da dead Horsie!

The Last Laugh/ Los Angeles

UPPER PLAYGROUND TEAMS UP WITH LOS ANGELES ICONS
MISTER CARTOON & ESTEVAN ORIOL TO OPEN FOUR RETAIL EXPERIENCES IN THE HEART
OF DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES

Grand Opening Celebration Features an Open House of the New Storefronts

WHO/WHAT: San Francisco-based apparel and art company Upper Playground,
photographer and director Estevan Oriol and artist Mister Cartoon are
excited to announce the unveiling of a series of four one-of-a-kind retail
establishments in the Skid Row area of downtown Los Angeles. Each storefront
will offer customers a unique fashion and fine art experience. In
celebration of the new properties, the three entities will host an open
house on Saturday, May 31, 2008 that will feature a special art exhibit and
appearances from some of the world's leading designers involved in the
project. Details about the four businesses are included below.


Upper Playground
Upper Playground includes apparel for men and women including their popular
line of hoodies, t-shirts, jackets, shoes, luggage, an innovative line of
home furnishings and more. An exclusive line of Los Angeles-inspired apparel
designs will also be available. The Upper Playground store will have a
separate space for an art gallery similar to many of Upper Playground's
other retail locations. Upper Playground L.A. marks the seventh city in the
world to feature an Upper Playground retail establishment since its
inception in 1999. The company recently opened two other California stores
in Sacramento and Berkeley.



"Upper Playground has a large following in the L.A. market and we're excited
to offer our Southern California friends an outlet to experience rare art
and fashion from some of the world¹s leading designers," said Matt Revelli,
founder and owner of Upper Playground. "As a West Coast brand, Los Angeles
is a natural progression for Upper Playground to have a retail presence and
it's nice to be located in a developing area of the city. Upper Playground
thrives in unique and emerging neighborhoods like Skid Row, and we're
honored to be working with the talented Estevan Oriol and Mister Cartoon on
such an innovative retail experience."


Upper Playground is the pioneer of combining fashion and fine art. In
celebration of the new store opening, there will be a special art exhibit
featuring the works of Usugrow, Sam Flores, Jeremy Fish, David Choe, Herbert
Baglione, San, Retna, Saber, Alex Pardee, Ron English, Doze Green, Slick,
Armsrock and David Ellis. Many of the featured artists on display also
contribute designs to Upper Playground's apparel line.


In addition to Upper Playground, the new venture includes "The Last Laugh,"
which will house the Mister Cartoon and Estevan Oriol retail experiences.


Mister Cartoon Popular L.A. tattoo and graffiti artist Mister Cartoon's new
store will house signature Mister Cartoon items and artifacts from his
passions and hobbies. "I wanted to create a space that was open to the
public that is an extension of my lifestyle and culture," said Mister
Cartoon. The Mister Cartoon experience will include a special tattoo station
for a select group of tattoo artists to make guest appearances.

Estevan Oriol In 2006, photography legend Estevan Oriol selected Upper
Playground as his official apparel partner. This new retail space will house
Oriol's apparel line with Upper Playground and his iconic photography prints
will also be available for sale to the public. "Upper Playground understands
what I want to convey with my art and they have given me the freedom to
transcend my imagery with my apparel line in the way that I want," comments
Oriol on his experience working with Upper Playground. Oriol is a longtime
resident of L.A. "I wanted to open a store in downtown L.A. because it's
where we've spent a lot of our time for the past thirteen years," said
Oriol.

Bonus Space
The fourth location involved in the new retail project will be a rotating
concept that will house unique fashion and art concepts for short periods of
time. During the open house, it will feature a display of custom motorcycles
from 1998 AMA 250cc Champion-turned motorcycle designer Roland Sands and
limited-edition fashion pieces from designer and model Tony Ward's line, Six
in the Face. From August through September the site will be transformed into
a truly unique promotional experience for the upcoming feature film from
Overture Films called "Righteous Kill" starring Robert De Niro and Al
Pacino. SA Studios Global, the agency of Estevan Oriol and Mister Cartoon,
was selected to produce the iconic poster for the film. The space will
become the exclusive promotional headquarters for the film and will feature
a shrine to the film's stars.


WHEN: Grand Opening: Saturday, May 31, 2008 from 1 ­ 8 p.m.


WHERE: Upper Playground & The Last Laugh
125 E. 6th Street (between S. Main St. and S. Los Angeles St.), Los Angeles,
CA 90014

ABOUT UPPER PLAYGROUND:

Based in San Francisco, California, Upper Playground was founded in 1999 and
has become a leader in today¹s progressive fine art movement with its
innovative apparel line and art gallery, FIFTY24SF. Recognized as a catalyst
for the fusion of fashion with art, Upper Playground produces apparel lines
bi-annually and features designs from notable local and international
artists. Upper Playground apparel is sold nationally and internationally in
over 300 boutiques and online. Please visit www.upperplayground.com
for more information.


MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES:
· Interview opportunities with Matt Revelli, founder and owner of Upper
Playground, and artists attending the opening including Mister Cartoon,
Estevan Oriol, Sam Flores, premier Japanese painter Usugrow, and others
· Photos of the new store
· Images of Upper Playground¹s Los Angeles-specific apparel designs

-SAL

Nuuuuumber Seven!

MORE LINES!!!!!!

Yesterday was another day of lines...loooong endless lines...or that's how it must have felt for poor Miss Becca who had to suffer from my needles for 4 hours on the ribs! Good job! All lines are done and that is the start on the first Antler Lady tattoo. Mmmmm...antler Ladies!!

Number 6.

LINES LINES LINES!!!
All day I did lines!!! Normally I don't like to do that many lines and usually I mostly do traditional stuff that is made of one pass lines but this little lady demanded more lines and the kind that needed to be build!! But since I have been thinking a lot about stupid crap ass wannabe tattooers and scratcher lately then it kinda inspired me to do that many build lines. When I look at those stupid, no talented idiots and their crooked lines it makes me wanna work even more on making my lines better just to separate myself from them even more!! Anyway! This is the result of a day of lines. A gypsy Laaaaady with a squirrel on her shoulder (don't ask...i don't know).

On other news today:

We are dog-sitting for our friends who are going to Germany for a week. Lucifer is happy because it is one of his bestest friends Palma! So for a week we will have 2 dogs! Exciting news, Huh???

King Of The Castle, Prince Of (bloody) darkness,
Son Of The Morning, Baby Mus:
Lucifer

The Best buddy, Kinda Girlfriend, Neighbor,
The One And Only:
Palma

RIGHTEOUS KILL/SA STUDIOS

LA Legends.... Hollywood Legends....


Robert De Niro and Al Pacino... Mister Cartoon and Estevan Oriol... A
collaboration for the History books.

This is it! The iconic "Righteous Kill" movie poster created by Mister
Cartoon and Estevan Oriol before it hits the streets.

Keep an eye out for an SA Studios / Righteous Kill Downtown LA Experience.
Word is out, this is going to be a historical tribute to SA Studios two
favorite actors, De Niro and Pacino. The "Righteous Kill" experience is set
to open up in August 2008 right next door to the "The Last Laugh" Mister
Cartoon's & Estevan Oriol's retail spaces along side the Upper Playground
retail space located on 6th and Los Angeles Streets in Downtown Los Angeles

Also in August 2008, SA Studios and Righteous Kill in collaboration with
Upper Playground will release "Righteous Kill" limited edition merchandise
and lithographs signed by the designers of the "Righteous Kill" iconic
artwork, Mister Cartoon & Estevan Oriol.

The upcoming feature film from Overture Films, "Righteous Kill" starring
Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, will be in theaters 09-12-08
To learn more on the film, check out details and a trailer of Righteous Kill at www.righteouskill-themovie.com.
-Sal

Number 5...nope..still nothing!

I DID IT!!!

I actually managed to do finish a painting today!! I havn't had time or energy to do anything lately but today I did!! First I drew my wife's next tattoo. We were supposed to do it today but it took a while to agree on the look and to draw it so it would have been late before we would have finished...maybe next weekend. BUT the drawing is done so from here on it should be smooth sailing.

Since we didn't tattoo it I had time to do some other things that I haven't had time to do. I got to work on my good ol friend, Antler Lady III. She has been waiting for me to finish her for quite some time now so it was about time that we got her done. Since I always manage to put my arms in the wet ink a was extra careful to take some small drying breaks here and there. That time was well spend here in front of my computer, answering some of all those emails that always piles up doing the week...still some left, I'm affright! I also found some time to add a few links here to this blog. More to come but i added some photographers that I really like and who's work inspire me a lot.

But back to the main event of the day... Mrs . Antler III.
She is the 3rd of a series of 3...hence the last name..hmrr! There were supposed to be more but i am affright that the last ones will just be fillers so for now this is it! They are finally done...here they are: May I Present to you The Antler Ladies:

Mrs. Antler The 1st.


Mrs. Antler II.


The latest addition to the family:
Mrs Antler III.

It feels good to know that you have finished this last gal! She has been on my drawing table, staring at me every time I walked by! No more!

Good Night!

Number 4...I really need to come up with better headlines!

Yesterday turned out to be a good day for the blog...meaning a lot to post. I like having a place like this where I can post work that I wouldn't put in my portfolio because it doesn't represent my style. But just because it's something that I normally would do differently doesn't mean that I'm not happy with it. So here is a few pieces that won't make it to my portfolio or my myspace (which is more or less my online portfolio) but that I had a lot of fun with just because it is something different that what i normally do.


Started the day with Thomas Aka Spy Thomas. We are doing a ...hmmm...Tarot card, Illuminati, occult, mystic symbol lower arm on him. This is the start and later we will fill it with more scrumptious mysticism. It has the look of my work but still a lot different from my normal tattoos so here it is...on the brand new Bloooog!! Thanks to this fabulous place, this piece will be shown and not just end up in a dusty storage room...I mean, my computer (going a little Indiana Jones crazy here).
..I just realized that I have compromised the secret identity of Spy Thomas with this post...ohh well!!
Up next was Morten...no alias for this dude...
I did the panther a while back but like Thomas' piece it was just one of those pieces that really
didn't fit in with what I do. I just really like the Old school-ness of it and I normally don't make my tattoos THAT old school. We talked about it doing the session, how funny it is that people travel far to get my style and that's all i do but then he comes to get something completly different. He just want something über traditional but i guess still with my touch on it. Anyway, it is fun for me to be able to do something traditional like this and not having to force my look onto the piece.


So this time he wanted a traditional peacock so i decided to look to one of the masters for inspiration...more like stealing this time. Ok ok I bluntly stole one of Sailor Jerry's peacocks from one of the flash books that I have. I did change it a bit...a bit...and I did ad a rose and stuff!! Well here it is! Again, without this blog I would never have posted it anywhere!
So that was what I did at work yesterday! How was your day, hon?

Later we had a shop trip to The Rock to see Hatesphere.






Now i try to get something out of my weekend. Hopefully that will result in a blog with paintings and photos and stuff later! Have nice weekend!

Number 3

Here is todays doing: 4 Hours of outline on the ribs!! Auuuuuiie!! Although he scared me yesterday by telling me that he usually only lasts about 3 hours, he lasted all this outline without moving! Good job! Tomorrow I will be doing his friends lower arm so let's see how long he will last!

I still don't know what to call my posts...or what to write here so this will have to do for now!

Number Two

This saturday I went to try some stuff out with my camera, while my homeboys in Last Mile were making sound check. I had fun but it was hard and I didn't quite got what i planed but instead I chose to embrace the blur and go with that. Just for the fun of it!

Number one

Here I am! Yes, Flora and Nick, I was jealous of your blogs and now i wanted one too! Yes you told me so!! Well here it is! Not gonna be filled with words but more pictures. So here we go!

Here is my family:

My pretty wife, the fabulous Flora aka Princess Inferno.

Lucifer

Estevan Oriol, Retna and Mac Collabo

Here is a Collaborative effort of Estevan Oriol, Retna and Mac. Estevan shot the image that inspired the piece. Stay posted on the Blog and look out for any Collabos in the works......
-Sal"The Apprentice"

Mr Cartoon/ Roland Sands Collaboration

Check out the Latest Collab from Mr Cartoon. This is a Bike that Roland Sands (rolandsands.com) Built, Cartoon (mistercartoon.com) Airbrushed the Murals and the DeAlbas (mariosautoworks.com) Layed the Paint. These pictures really dont do this Piece Justice but I had to bring it to you anyway. Keep your eyes open at the next carshow and you just might catch an eye full... -Sal "The Apprentice"