A couple weeks back Molly tattooed this swallow on the neck of one of her regular clients. This piece was a perfect match for Molly, as she’s always glad to have the chance to draw up animal-related tattoos in her illustrative style that she’s cultivated over the years. Molly specifically tailored the composition of this tattoo so as to mimic the natural flow of the anatomy and work in a congruous manner with the structure of the neck. Molly is currently booking out for custom work, especially in an illustrative or animal-themed direction.

To book out any time or discuss any ideas you may have for custom work, give us a call in the shop here at 978 744 9393!

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978.744.9393

Steve’s been finishing up a bunch of big projects lately, including this vivid mermaid rib panel. This piece exemplifies Steve’s dedication to precise, technical, and clean linework, as well as smooth and bright color blends. It also features a strong sense of depth and dimension lent by Steve’s calculated drop shadows and sense of tone and light. Check it out below and make sure to ring him up in the shop today to book out time for your own custom tattoo work!

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978.744.9393

Mermaid

Recently, local Emerson College graduate student, Josh Couillard, stopped by our shop to ask us a few questions, check out the art, and interview owner/artist Natan Alexander. Josh’s article profiles the growth of custom tattoos, the development and direction of our shop, and how a pre-existing and sturdy foundation in fine art is absolutely essential for tattoo artists aiming to create the best work possible.

The article is now available to read up on the site surviveandthriveboston.com or you can click on the link below to go right to the page. Check it out for a great introduction into the direction and motivation of our shop and a brief overview on the growth of the new era of artistic tattooing!

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!

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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!

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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.

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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.

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Lately Matt’s been working on really refining his portrait work and pushing the envelope with his black and grey realism. Last week, he got the chance to tattoo this Nietzsche portrait on shop regular, Brad. Brad’s been coming in to collect different small pieces from all of the different artists here for awhile, but this was his first big realistic piece.

Coming from a painting background, Matt always revels in the chance to work on really soft, smooth, and painterly type projects, so this piece was perfect for him! If you’re interested in any portrait work, soft black and grey, or any other custom work, make sure to give us a call in the shop at 978.744.9393 and book out your time today!

Nietzsche Portrait

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978.744.9393

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

Here’s a new piece that Matt sketched up and tattooed the other week. Matt worked with his client for awhile on this one, drawing everything into place, moving things around, and adding in some stylized bars of light into the background. This piece is a strong example of Matt’s style: a sort of illustrative realism which integrates light line-work with soft blends, concentrated blacks, and restricted areas of color. He’s always looking for more fun, large, custom work such as this, so make sure to get in touch if you’ve got anything in mind!

_witch city ink
witchcityink@gmail.com
978.744.9393