Witch City Ink » Natan Alexander Lin

Listen to Natan’s Speech from the Institute of Contemporary Art!

Micah — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 18:14:30 +0000

Last Thursday, Natan was invited to participate in a discussion of Massachusetts tattooing at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) Boston. The forum coincided with the ICA’s exhibit of the work of famed Mexican tattooist, Dr. Lakra and touched upon the history, legalization, and changing social climate of tattooing in Boston and it’s outlying areas.

Lakra’s work will be on display at the museum through September 6th and the audio files from Natan’s discussion (On Pins and Needles: Tattooing in Massachusetts) are currently available for free download from the ICA’s website. Head on over to check out some selections from Dr. Lakra’s exhibit, learn more about the show, and hear what Natan had to say about tattooing.

Thank you to the ICA and Dr. Lakra for inviting Natan, as well as the rest of his staff, to come down and participate in such a great event!

_witch city ink

New Work by Natan: Jesus Portrait

Micah — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 23:26:51 +0000

Although Natan is generally known for his bold linework and bright colors, he does always enjoy working on some smooth, soft, muted portraits. For this particular piece, Natan utilized very soft and light planes of tone with some dark fields of black within his beard and some tight, crisp line-work in the hair and crown of thorns. Recently Natan has really been pushing a painterly kind of style in conjunction with his more graphic flourishes and finding an interesting and successful balance in pieces such as this.

Jesus Portrait

If you’re interested in booking out some time to work with Natan on a custom piece, just give us a call in the shop at 978.744.9393 and we’ll help you out!

_witch city ink
witchcityink@gmail.com

New Work by Natan: Lion Fish Tattoo

Micah — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 19:35:38 +0000

Oftentimes, our repeat clients will along a friend or two who they think would match up well with our work. When Natan was finishing up the big insect half-sleeve/chest piece the other week, Luis brought in his friend Nina, who ended up booking out some time for this fun little lion fish tattoo.

Although Natan is generally pretty booked up with larger custom work, he does occasionally take some time to work on smaller, fun, one-sitting pieces, such as this one.

Lion Fish

If you have any ideas for fun custom tattoo projects, make sure to give us a call in the shop at 978.744.9393.

_witch city ink
witchcityink@gmail.com

New Work by Natan: Insect Half-Sleeve/Chest Piece

Micah — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 19:35:30 +0000

A couple of weeks back, Natan’s client Luis stopped by the shop to get this big insect half-sleeve and chest piece finished up. It’s always rewarding when someone with a big in-progress tattoo returns to the shop for their final session and Luis’ piece was no exception. Natan was glad to get the chance to finally wrap up this big piece which exemplifies his affinity for bright and saturated colors, dynamic and varying line density, and a thoughtful balance of complex and simple subjects and backgrounds in order to create a sense of clarity within the tattoo.

Insect Half-Sleeve/Chest Piece

Natan is generally available by appointment on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays (until 5). He can also be found over at our Saugus shop, Lightwave Tattoos, on Thursdays and Fridays. To book your time with him, give us a call in the shop at 978.744.9393.

_witch city ink
witchcityink@gmail.com

Join us at the Boston ICA this Thursday, the 15th!!

Micah — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 20:45:49 +0000

click on the above link to visit the ICA website

On Pins & Needles: Tattooing in Massachusetts
Thursday, April 15 at 7:00 p.m.

Although tattooing was first introduced to Bostonians in the 1840s, it was just 10 years ago that a Massachusetts ban on tattooing (except by medical physicians) was deemed unconstitutional by a Suffolk Superior Court judge. Helping to overthrow this ban was Sarah Wunsch, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. Join Wunsch, Boston Tattoo Convention producer Natan Alexander, and exhibition curator Pedro Alonzo for a look back at the commonwealth’s long and complicated history with this art form.

$10 general admission; $8 ICA and ACLU members, students, and seniors. ACLU member discount available for on-site sales only.

BONUS! Before the talk, join Mexican tattoo artist Dr. Lakra and exhibition curator Pedro Alonzo in the galleries for a conversation about Dr. Lakra’s ICA exhibition and the role of tattooing in his art. Tour begins at 6:00 p.m. in the exhibition; free admission to the galleries.

The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston
100 Northern Avenue
Boston, MA 02210

www.icaboston.org

New Work: Faceted Heart by Natan

Micah — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:57:55 +0000

Another new piece recently finished up Natan, this faceted heart piece presented an intriguing challenge in terms of creating a realistic flow of light across various planes. This large, free-flowing piece also allowed Natan to play around with creating some contrasting, bright, vivid filigree work in the background to help with directing the movement of the tattoo across the pronounced muscles of the lower calf.

Natan is currently booking a couple of weeks out for fun, large, custom work such as this piece here. If you have any other ideas for pieces involving bold and vivid color work or anything custom that you feel would be best represented in his style, give us a call at 978.744.9393 or send us an email at witchcityink@gmail.com.

Faceted Heart

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New Work: Cross with Rosary Beads by Natan

Micah — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:57:33 +0000

Recently Natan finished up a variety of new work, ranging from religious pieces to traditional Japanese. This detailed cross with rosary beads focuses on tight, crisp details, a subtle use of green highlights, and a smooth organic flow, as directed by the motion of the rosary beads. Although this was certainly a subject matter that Natan has covered extensively in his work, he was able to find a way to push this piece in a different direction than any of his past crosses.

Cross with Rosary Beads

_witch city ink
witchcityink@gmail.com
978.744.9393

New Work: Japanese Half-Sleeve by Natan

Micah — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:56:22 +0000

Another one of Natan’s recently completed pieces is this Japanese Half-Sleeve. Asked to incorporate a number of different meaningful objects for the client, including his children’s names, specific traditional style flowers, wind-bars, and finger-waves, Natan sketched together this composition. As with the cross that he recently finished, Natan always really pushes himself to fully cultivate and expand upon a piece, particularly when working with a subject that he is so familiar with.

Japanese Half-Sleeve

_witch city ink
witchcityink@gmail.com
978.744.9393

New Work: Dragon by Natan

Micah — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:56:06 +0000

Another one from Natan’s latest batch of tattoos is this black and grey dragon from the other day. Natan’s always a fan of working with traditional Japanese subject matter and pushing himself to build off of his existing body of work. This piece features an emphasis on repeating patterns and shapes as a structural element to the design. It also relies heavily on a utilization of negative space and transparency effects to imply the rest of the dragon’s body as well as a sense of space and environment.

To book out any custom work with Natan, just give us a call in the shop here at 978.744.9393 or send us an email to witchcityink@gmail.com!

Dragon and Clouds

New Work: Stone Lion tattoo by Natan

Micah — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:55:34 +0000

Just the other day Natan got the chance to tattoo this big stone lion piece on a young new client of his. In this piece, Natan really concentrated on experimenting with a couple of different techniques based around developing realistic light sources, subtly implying different textures, and balancing a variety of line weights. Even though it was this client’s first tattoo, he let Natan tattoo it large enough to fill up the majority of his ribs and sat through a full four hour session, allowing Natan to really pack in a lot of detail and refinement.

Stone Lion

To book out your time for some custom work with Natan, just give us a call in the shop at 978.744.9393 or send us an email at 978.744.9393.