SOBA.ONE

Paintings!

2011-03-02T10:21:00.001-08:00

Okay, so- these aren't tattoo machines. But Ive been playing around with paintings for 6 months or so. I started with acrylics, and recently began experimenting with oils. The hand study is oil on aluminum, and the TeddyBear is actually my first ever finished oil painting. It is a gift for a friend of mine who recently had a baby. I kinda like these two pieces, so I thought I'd share. Let me know what'cha think!

(PS- Click to see larger images.)

PHANTOM 5

2011-02-11T13:06:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick sneak peek. Not too sneaky, as these bad boys should be hitting the Workhorse site in a matter of hours... but anyway- BOOM! Phantom 5. Iron frames in Antique Black and Antique Copper. Limited Edition of 30 of each style. All liners. (Except 10 of the coppers are set up for B&G.)

Boxes were screen printed, spray painted, and laser engraved.

For the coils, I took the box illustration and did some digital painting to it- Color tweaked to match the frame finish of course. I hope you all like these- They were crazy fun to make..... enjoy.

SAMRULZ

2011-02-04T14:00:00.000-08:00

What can I say about Sam..... She really does Rulz. Once again- requests for customs amaze me beyond words- so here are pics.

Sharks. With. Boobies.

Enjoy....

Happy New Year!

2011-01-03T09:08:00.000-08:00

Hey! Well it is my pleasure to announce that the first post of 2011 is to officially say- THE NEW PHANTOMS ARE ALMOST DONE!!

I have been getting tons of requests for the Phantom 5 to be released, and I finally got my ass in gear and got it done. I'm SUPER stoked. These are going to be SICK!! This will be the biggest run of a Phantom model yet. Fancy boxes, multiple finish runs- the whole nine... or 5. Whatever. Here are a few sneak peaks of the project..... and as for a solid release date- stay tuned. I'm hoping for the 1st week in Feb- but ya never know....

New Pics!

2010-12-13T12:11:00.001-08:00

So- I have not made a post in a while, so Ill just throw up a bunch of images of stuff Ive been doing for the past few months.... Enjoy!

Learn Sompn'!

2010-09-25T10:06:00.000-07:00

Check this place out. I just finished taking the course "Digital Painting" with Bobby Chiu. You should see all the other classes and single videos they offer! There is seriously like 4 more classes I cant wait to take.

Tattooers- if you want to stop making art that looks like everyone else, and challenge yourself to GROW and LEARN- this is a very convenient place to start. I took the self study version- so I could work at my own pace- and it worked out amazingly well. At least register there, and get on their email list- even the images are inspiring! Get to it!!

New Copper Plated Clippers

2010-09-08T16:33:00.001-07:00

Here is a commissioned pair for a tattooer in Latvia!!

Copper plated brass Clippers- antiqued and lacquered. The coils are old foreign currency, and coated in thick epoxy.

Butter!

There are Tattoo Machines, and then there are OTHERS.

2010-08-25T16:43:00.000-07:00

Matt Myrdal- Thanks for asking for these. SO fun! Enjoy the pics everyone...

No such thing as a mistake...

2010-08-20T08:31:00.000-07:00

While working on a pair of themed customs, I made a mistake. I had already put a ton of time into this frame, and then- it happened. I was bummed. However, being one of PMA, I chose to use this opportunity to play with some other chemical finishes. Turned out kinda sweet. Then Dave from Love Tattoo hit me up for a new Clipper Shader. BOOM! My mistake had a new home. I think it cleaned up nicely, and Dave is stoked with his new machine.

Brown Clipper Shader

2010-08-14T07:44:00.000-07:00

This is an Iron Clipper Shader. THIS one I put some work into... The frame is ground down, sanded out and tumbled smooth. The finish is a rusty brown patina with a gloss lacquer to keep it pretty.

The coil washers- well, that was where the real work came in. They are layers of fabric laminated with epoxy resin. I then laser cut them out of the strip of the homemade 'phenolic'.

The a-bar and thumbscrew were finished to match the frame, and the coil foils and binding posts are antiqued copper.

I made this to hopefully trade a certain tattooer for a painting.... We'll see if he likes it....

A Pink Pair-o-Possum!

2010-06-10T14:33:00.000-07:00

Recently- I worked the Hell City convention in Killumbus, OH. I got to meet a great number of people there, and had an absolutely fantastic time. One of the people I got to meet is Kelly Doty. Holy CRAP! This girl is the shit. You NEED to check out her work. Anyway- she expressed interest in a pair of custom machines. No problem. "What do you like?" I inquired- "What are you into?" "Well, Girly stuff mostly." Okay, what else? "Possums."

....?.....

"Possums?!" Yep. Possums. So Ms. Doty-- Here are your Girly Pink Possum machines. The baby one is yelling. He's hungry.....

New Art!

2010-03-17T07:06:00.001-07:00

Hey! Here is something a little different... I got invited to participate in an art show recently, and the theme was hand tattoos. So- since my painting skills are shabby at best- I went with something a little more in my comfort zone. I molded my own hand, cast it in plaster, and went to town. I painted the skull and lettering with Testors Model Paint. WAY FUN!
The base is laser engraved maple, and the whole thing was coated in a thick epoxy resin.

The Hotness!

2010-03-09T09:59:00.000-08:00

Girls like pink. Its true. Sometimes they even ask for special hot pink Deluxe Pilots with wallpaper patterned coil covers. Girls also usually get what they want.... so here ya go! Hotness!

Blueberries!!

2010-03-09T09:51:00.001-08:00

Here is a delicious pair made up for Scott at Ben Around Tattoos in Virginia. I used some of the last remaining sand cast brass Rusto frames, and splattered blueberry Sabotaz over the antiqued finish. I dont think I have ever used blue on a machine come to think of it.... Especially not with golden brown, but I think these turned out super dope... Like Joey says... Whats not ta like?!

New!

2010-02-19T06:49:00.000-08:00

I know its been a while since Ive posted, but Ive been working- A LOT. Here is a new little somp'n somp'n Ive been working on. I discontinued the Iron Deluxe Pilots a few months ago, and had some cast in brass to play with. These are nickel plated, then buffed down to a satin finish. The coil foils on this one is brass, with a new pattern I made. This one is set up for black and grey shading, and belongs to Angel of Puerto Rico. Thanks for looking!

The App is LIVE!!!

2009-12-22T05:29:00.000-08:00

Okay- So for the 10 year project- I had planned on doing a book. I mean- Thats what tattooers and artists do these days right, put out books? Ahh- just kidding-- I really love books- especially from tattooers and artists- but I never felt like I had enough material to justify printing a book. Not yet anyway...

SO- instead I created an App for the iPhone and iPod Touch!!! Get it here! Woo-Hoo!!! Im stoked!!

Its Up!

2009-12-20T07:09:00.000-08:00

The 10 Year Project is Complete! All the images of the machines are up HERE! You can see them now, but they will not be available to purchase until Christmas Day! So get up early, order yourself a gift, and then wake up the kiddies....

10th Anniversary Spoiler 3

2009-12-07T15:37:00.000-08:00

I just cant help it- I gotta post about this some more- Im getting too excited!! Here are two more sneak peaks of my upcoming 10 Year project.... Woo-Hoo!

Click The Images for a Closer Look!

A new pair of Mini Rustos!

2009-12-03T12:41:00.001-08:00

I built these Mini Rustos for Kurt Meloncon of Leviticus Tattoo. They are iron, with olive green and clear powder coat. Enjoy my friend!

Two New Customs for eBay Today!

2009-11-13T11:02:00.001-08:00

First is an Almond Mini Rusto Shader- Everything was made to match like a tailored suit.

Next is a re-worked Clipper frame- cut up and drilled out to lighten it up, then a few finish tricks....

Enjoy!

Tattoodles Contest! Custom Plowhorse Shader!

2009-11-07T09:00:00.000-08:00

Hey! Im honored to have been asked to create the prize for the latest tattoodles.com contest! Check out the details here!

From the reject bin...

2009-10-29T06:33:00.001-07:00

Similar to sketching- I usually carve a couple of mock ups before the final frame is produced. These are some of those carving studies. I use a plastic resin to cast a fattened block version of a frame and go from there. I sometimes dye the resin to see better detail while carving.

Im gearing up to do the Phantom 5 soon- so I thought Id share some of the process here....

Spoiler #2!

2009-10-08T09:35:00.000-07:00

Here! Another spoiler image from the upcoming 10X project! CNC Brass Rusto Liner with extra love... High polished, Nickel plated, matching hardware. Bright!

Oldie but a goodie...

2009-10-03T15:19:00.001-07:00

Okay, so not THAT old... Ruben from Madrid just sent me pics of this machine I made in '07 I had a few brass Mini Rusto castings and I was playing with different finishes and surface treatments.. This one has green powder coat sifted and sprinkled on sparingly. Same with the brass foil coil covers. This was the first one of the 18 piece series- all of them were different. (The fancy polished one for Britton was the last!) Enjoy!

SPOILER!!

2009-09-24T16:54:00.000-07:00

Okay- As promised months ago- Imma spill the beans on my new huge project. The end of 2009 will be my 10 Year Anniversary for building machines! So- Im gonna blow it up a little bit. My project is this- 10 Frames, 10 different treatments, 10 of each. 100 Machines. And along with it- a little book- with fancy photos of all my production machines and a bunch of customs Ive made over the past 10 years.

I hope to have all 100 ready to go by the end of December. Ive got 40 in the bag as of today, and will finish 20 more next week.

This first spoiler image is a CNC Machined Brass Rusto Shader. Set up to push a heavier magnum- these guys were high polished, then powder coated with a transparent red, and a some metal flake thrown in for sparkles. All the hardware is brass and high polished, and the coils covered in a reflective safety tape. The SOBA logo and numbering is laser engraved through the powder coat.

You can expect that each one of the 100 will have the same attention paid to detail and fine tuning. I aint playin'. Well- it feels like it- but Im not. Really... Stay tuned.

2009-09-24T16:40:00.000-07:00

Here it is! My first pint of Home Brewed Beer! Im stoked! In spite of my wife's threatening, my friends jeering, and my severe ADD- I DID IT! My cousin Josh is a pretty seasoned brewer- so of course I caught the bug. Not wanting to invest a bunch just to leave it all sit- I asked him to give me a lesson and brew a batch with me. We made an all-grain 10 gallon batch of a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone recipe. Just finishing this pint, I can see I should have dry-hopped, and next time Ill keg it for sure. But hey! Ive got 26 22oz bottles to enjoy! Yay Me!

May your timbers be shivered.

2009-09-11T15:55:00.000-07:00

I get a lot of calls from tattooers with very specific requests for customs. Sometimes, this is just how you'd think- like the walk-ins who want the rebel flag with tribal kids's names and a yellow daisy cuz grandma loved daisies, all on the same arm and not "too big" and they only have $100. But SOMETIMES super cool people call who want a machine that a PIRATE might be seen using! So- custom painted box and all- here is my tribute to the type of people one step below Ninja....

Its tough to see the finish in the photos, (and maybe the gold doubloons take some contrast away) but the frame was antiqued, relieved, and painted with an amber shellac. The coils washers are laser cut book board, covered in painted burlap-ish paper and and a jolly roger ever so faintly lasered on the sides...

Satin Brass Clipper

2009-09-11T15:53:00.000-07:00

Heres one I did a while back for eBay... drilled, sanded and polished by my good friend Jimmy over at Lucky Supply. I added the rest....

The Little Phantom that Could...

2009-08-21T12:50:00.000-07:00

I have been sitting on these five frames for almost two years. Actually- I carved the frame over two years ago- but this has been one of those projects seemingly doomed from the beginning. These were going to be the liner counter-part to the Phantom 4 Shaders. But through this and that, they never made it out. Well- I finally finished them, and IMHO, they turned out great. They are not for sale- YET. But I couldn't wait to post pics......

The first one...

2009-08-17T19:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a teaser to the big project Im working on. This is the very first machine I ever finished. Technically, it was finished in late 1999, but I kept messing with it, and finally signed it in very early 2000. As soon as I get 10 followers on this blog- Ill spill the beans.....

Shiny Brass Mini

2009-08-06T14:56:00.000-07:00

This one is for Britton. The last of the Brass Mini Rustos. High polished, antiqued, and lizard leather coil covers.....

Custom Black Tie Liner

2009-08-06T14:53:00.001-07:00

A while back I did a 50 piece limited edition run with Lucky Supply. I had one frame left over, so I gave it the same copper and green leather treatment that worked so well with the Deluxe below... Another one for the convention...

Custom Clipper Black and Grey Shader

2009-08-06T14:48:00.000-07:00

Here is an Iron Clipper Shader set up for smooooooth black and grey. Some deadbeat ordered a fancy custom, and when it was done, he suddenly stopped replying to emails! Maybe now that he can see pics, he will reconsider. If not- its coming to the show!

Custom Deluxe Pilot Liner

2009-08-06T14:45:00.000-07:00

Here is a new one I did for the Paradise Tattoo Gathering show this Sept. Copper plated and antiqued, and the coil covers are left over leather from the Rolex project...

Paradise Tattoo Gathering

2009-07-30T15:38:00.000-07:00

As a rule, I hate conventions. They are expensive, far away, and I usually work booths with my by-myself. A fact that makes going to the bathroom pretty tough. Not to mention leaving a table full of tattoo machines in the hands of any one of my friends that might be walking by....

Regardless- I am attending this years Paradise Tattoo Gathering and am quite excited about it! Im NOT working it for one, and its being hosted by the amazing folks at Pulse! I am really looking forward to walking around for three days- shooting the shit, sitting in on a seminar or two, and being able to piss whenever I want.

Oh yeah- I might have a fancy custom machine or two to sell... look for the guy wearing a Workhorse Irons T-shirt and sipping a beer.

New Customs!

2009-07-30T15:05:00.000-07:00

Here we have a Mini Rusto Shader I made for Nick Suko. He likes Rolex. ALOT. He wanted a fancy little mini set up for Black and Grey. He sent me a green leather Rolex wallet, and told me to get busy. This is what I came up with..... Enjoy!

Coming Soon!

2009-07-24T04:37:00.000-07:00

YO! I am working on collecting a bunch of stuff to kick this thing off... Ive got two major projects in the works right now- so stay tuned!