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Music as a Weapon IV
Interested in getting tattooed at a rock show in Portland, Maine on April 18, 2009?
Yes, the whole staff will be traveling to Portland, Maine to for the Music as a Weapon IV Show.
If you are interested, please feel free to contact us at tattoos@witchcityink.com or give us a call at 978-744-9393.
A common occurrence in tattooing is taking a concept or image you have tattooed before and reinventing it for another customer who has come in with the same request.
Here is an example of a customer who was an executive chef who wished to express his love of his favorite food; pork. He came in with the idea that he wanted an image of a flying pig with the indicating butcher marks. I myself being a fan of animal tattoos, and pork we hit it off pretty well and came up with this finished product.
Flying Pig
Several months later a local Salem baker/ pork enthusiast came in looking to get a tattoo of a pig also with the indicating butcher marks. He wanted the style of the tattoo to look like it was done with a printing press. This style was achieved by drawing multiple series of lines vaguely indicating shadow.
Both of these tattoos were the same concept but the end results couldn’t have been more different. The chance of someone having the same tattoo idea as you is very strong if not inevitable. Luckily there is more then one way to do a tattoo.
This painting is Darth Vader with a Mexican sugar skull twist. If you like this type of painting or you have an idea for a painting, please contact Witch City Ink. Steve can customize your idea into a painting. All artwork he posts is for sale. If you would like to purchase a painting, call the shop at (978)744-9393 or email tattoos@witchcityink.com.
darth vader sugar skull by Steve Gillespie
This is a water color painting by Steve Gillespie. A traditional shark in Japanese inspired water. If you like this type of painting or you have an idea for a painting, please contact Witch City Ink. Steve can customize your idea into a painting. All artwork he posts is for sale. If you would like to purchase a painting, call the shop at (978)744-9393 or email tattoos@witchcityink.com.
 Portrait tattoos are a very powerful way to preserve the memory of a loved one forever. Michael Bragan of Salem Massachusetts came into Witch City Ink with a picture of his Mother kissing his Grandfather on her wedding day. He was looking to get a portrait tattoo done, and he chose Natan to do the portrait because he liked some of the other portraits in his portfolio.  His Grandfather had passed away on December 27th of 2007, and Michael felt this would be the best way to honor his grandfather.
In Michael’s words: “I chose this picture because it is my mother’s favorite of the two together and from what I can remember this was the happiest I ever saw him. The smile on his face was priceless!”
Below are the images of the picture Michael brought in, the stencil Natan made of the picture, and the final tattoo.
The original Image:
Grandfather and Mother Picture
The Stencil:
Portrait Stencil
The Tattoo:
Finished Portrait with original picture
A Close up shot of the Final Tattoo:
Grandfather and Mother Portrait Close up
Natan writes, “Portrait tattoos are always a joy to do because people are so thrilled when you get it perfect. A tattoo of a loved one is a great way to keep them forever in your thoughts. When people bring in their favorite picture of a someone its up to you to really capture not only their likeness but also their spirit. There’s always a great story behind it and its some of the most challenging yet rewarding work you can do.”
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wolf tribal
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    The client on this tattoo wanted a wolf tattoo with tribal . I told him we should do the wolf photo realistic and have the tribal fading behind the wolf. Doing a little research went a long way in creating this piece. We looked through images of wolves and found a pretty mean looking one for reference and then drew on the tribal with a marker. Sometimes drawing directly on the skin allows for a better flow, making the tattoo contour to the body alot more than it would if I used a stencil.
This is a water color painting by Steve Gillespie. If you like this type of painting or you have an idea for a painting, please contact Witch City Ink. Steve can customize your idea into a painting. All artwork he  posts is for sale. If you would like to purchase a painting, call  the shop at (978)744-9393 or email  tattoos@witchcityink.com.
Chrysanthemum watercolor painting by Steve Gillespie
Some tattoos get done in one session, and some take many. Brad wanted a Japanese dragon and he wanted it bright and strong. Thats exactly the type of tattoo work I like to do and I was very excited about the project. In the initial drawing consultation he described what he would like, we looked at some references, and I took some measurements to help me plan the tattoo. Brad and I began this tattoo knowing it would take a few sittings because there were 2 very solid tattoos that had to be covered as part of the design.
Heres a picture of the 2 tattoos we covered:
Brads Before Picture
When Brad arrived for his first tattoo session we sat right down and got to work. I was careful to locate elements of the design in places where I knew the color would mask the old tattoos. We tattooed for 3 hours and I managed to lay down the entire outline and some of the black. We made great progress but nevertheless, after the first session it was clear there was a long way to go. After our session, Brad took a picture of the outline. The photo is a little bit low resolution but you can at least get a sense of the progress. After 3 hours the tattoo looked like this:
First Session
The first session we got the whole outline in and some of the preliminary black, in the next session, 6 hours into the tattoo, we began to prepare the underpainting of the scales and background. Fortunately, Brad sat perfectly every session and was patient about getting the results he wanted. As a result I was able to concentrate on every detail along the way. Soon the tattoo started taking shape:
2nd Session
In the 3rd session the entire tattoo started really looking clearer and brighter, and we felt like huge progress had been made. At this point it started getting pretty hard to tell it was a coverup tattoo at all. 9 hours into the tattoo and the 1/2 sleeve looked like this:
3rd Session
At last we got to the final session, the last 3 hours. This is where a large amount of final detail work, color touch ups, and tightening of the outline took place. Using the last session to really perfect the tattoo gave me a chance to go over every area and make those colors pop out. Both Brad and I were very pleased with the final results as seen below:
Brads Dragon Final 1
Front View, Final Session
Brads Dragon, Back View, Final Session
Some tattoos definitely require patience, but in the end it pays off.
Another Satisfied Customer
Artist: Steve Gillespie
Customer: Erik Hudak
Erik Hudak from Marblehead Massachusetts allowed us to take advantage of the photo opportunity while being tattooed by Steve Gillespie of Witch City Ink. Erik decide to take advantage of our walk-in tattooing availability on President’s Day , Monday , February 16 of 2009. It looks as though we have another satisfied customer at Witch City Ink.
Prick Magazine Opening Notice, 2008
Subject: Witch City Ink Opening Party
Celebrating the opening of the Witch City Ink location in beautiful downtown Salem , Massachusetts was a lovely evening in June of 2008. Friends and family gathered for the festivities and Prick Magazine was there to capture it all. The tattoo shop has an eclectic feel and is filled with treasures collected from Natan’s travels throughout the world.
