Category Archives: modblog

Worst case scenario

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The often quoted Murphy’s Law says something along the lines of “Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong”.  When it comes to modifications, we always hope that nothing will go wrong with anything we get.  Now I’m not talking about the procedure, more along the lines of what can happen down the road.  You could be getting dressed for work when you suddenly snag a microdermal and tear it.  You could be riding a bike down a moutainside when you fall and scrape up your arm so badly it ruins one of your tattoos.

In the case of Nikita IAM: 9sbg-av4372071, he got into a fight a little while ago and ended up tearing open his medusa stretching project.  If he looks familiar to you, that’s because he was the young man who attempted the single point elbow suspension that ended in a nasty tear.

27mm

Here’s how it looked last year when he had it up to 24mm.  There are other images of it in the lip plate gallery.

24mm

Prior to the fight Nikita’s had stretched his medusa all the way up to 27mm.  If you head over to his IAM page, you can see pictures of how it looked before he lost it.

Hopefully Nikita continues to upload images of how he’s fixing it to the lip disc reversal gallery.  And let’s hope he manages to go a long time before anything else traumatic happens to him or any of his modifications.

It’s my crack head tattoo….

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I know, I am kind of a tool for pretty much abandoning modblog as soon as Rob jumped on board and then coming back only to post a tattoo that I got last weekend. However, had I seen this tattoo on someone else, I would have quickly jumped to post it, especially seeing that it came from a relatively unknown artist out of Martinsburg, West Virginia.

Sometimes, I work conventions, but not this time. This convention was purely about hanging out with friends, enjoying some time off from my usual responsibilities of work and parenting and to get a “little” tattoo. Usually, when I go to conventions I just cruise the show floor looking at portfolios and “convention specials”. Convention specials are tattoos the artist really want to do, either for their portfolio, to enter in tattoo of the day or just because it’s such a ridiculous design no one outside of a convention would likely ever get it. I usually go for the latter. At the recent Philly convention I got a traditional style tattoo of a hand being held in a cup shape that read “cup the balls”, of course I got this on my inner thigh as close to my balls as possible so it could act as a fully functional instruction manual for how to properly handle my balls.

I had every intention of getting an equally, or possibly even more, stupid  tattoo at this convention. Then I saw this design and instantly fell in love with it. After talking to the artist, Matti Hixson, I realized this was the guy who worked at Cherry Bomb In Martinsburg, WV.  I first discovered his work on Sketch Kult and was instantly impressed, and SHOCKED that this kind of work was coming out of WV a mere 20 minutes from my home. After realizing this was the same guy, I almost decided to opt out of the tattoo. “Why get work from a local guy when there are all these amazing artist from all over?”, I thought to myself. I decided to check out the rest of the convention floor. There were some awesome designs but none that drew me in like this one from Matti, so after realizing someone else might actually want this piece, I hauled ass back over to his booth to book the appointment.

I was a bit disappointed to find out  this design would fit nowhere on me (except my left rib panel that I am saving for a bigger piece) that was even remotely visible, but it did fit well between the random tattoos on my upper right thigh. As he started the first things I noticed were that he was incredibly light handed and his machines were damn near silent. It was almost surreal as the two sensations, pain and noise, that I normally associate with tattooing were not present. As the hours went on (6 total) it did get a bit more painful but never unbearable.

The background is one of my favorite parts, it was 100% freehanded on, and while it was being done, I have to admit I had my doubts. I thought to myself,  ”Dots? Big fucking dots? If I wanted dots, I would have gotten a traditional tattoo”. However, I had faith in him, and I kept my thoughts to myself. As it came together, I grew to love these dots. The give the design movement and flow and the muted colors of the background really make the main design pop. When the piece was finished I was blown away. The drawing was rad but the finished tattoo was absolutely incredible. I was not the only one impressed either this piece got second place for Tattoo Of The Day on Saturday, a day full of awesome tattoos.  The girl who took first that day had a bad ass Velociraptor on her thigh and really can you argue with a chic with a velociraptor? I think not. To sweeten the deal, third place went to my wife’s rad tattoo by Josh Payne.

Anyhow, like I said, I feel like a bit of a tool for posting a tattoo that I have, but I really think Matti deserves some recognition for his talents, and this post is the best way for me to do that.  If you are within a few hours of Martinsburg, WV and are interested in a low pain, high quality color realism style tattoo, at AMAZINGLY REASONABLE West Virginia prices  definitely get in touch with him.

screen-shot-2010-09-14-at-54626-pm

PS: Now that I am back in town and things have settled down a bit I am going to try and put out at least one modblog post a day, to take some of the burden off Rob.

PPS: On a totally unrelated note. Does anyone know the older gentleman who is tattooed all blue with tribal tattoos that was running around the convention? I tried to peg him down for an interview, but I never saw him except when I was stuck in the tattoo chair. He seemed like a super nice guy and it’s odd for me to see someone with that heavy of a transformation and not at least know of them.

The Guess What Game (Results)

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Well, the moment you’ve been waiting for all day is here, the results from today’s Guess What game.

First a quick re-cap of the images.

Round 1

guesswhat11

Round 2

guesswhat21

Round 3

guesswhat32

So, if you haven’t had a chance to guess, here’s your last chance.  If you think you know what all three are, keep reading to find out!

If you guess a stretched labia for round one, give yourself a pat on the back.  IAM: Jay-Z is the proud owner of this genital project, and you can see more images of it in the female piercing gallery.

round1

Round 2 was probably one of the easier ones, but for some people it may have gotten them bent out of shape trying to figure it out.  From the hard galleries comes Falica’s CBT play.  For the life of me I can’t figure out how he did this, but it is an impressive use of piping.

round2

And finally, the third round brought us probably the trickiest image to figure out.  From the extreme gallery comes this image from Rogerdaily.  What you’re seeing is an extreme vacuum pumping session on his nipple.  Obviously this is something that shouldn’t be attempted unless you’re well aware of the risks involved.

round3

So how many did you get right?  Were you close on a couple?

These three images show just how big a range some of the BME galleries cover.  If you don’t yet have a subscription, you can sign up for a free one today, or if you’re interested in a subscription to the hard/surgical/video sections, you can do so as well on the sign up page.

The Guess What Game (Round 1)

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I normally post the weekly “Guess What?” image on Tuesdays, but today I thought I would make things a little interesting.  Over the course of the afternoon I’ll be posting 3 separate images, and providing some clues as to what they are.  Make your guesses in the comment section, and later in the day I’ll post the full uncropped images to see how many you got right.  In the interest of fairness, I will say that all three images are of different body parts, it’s up to you to guess the correct ones.

So, first off we have we have an image that involves a lot of metal.  What I can tell you is that at some point in the creation of this mod, it took two separate individuals working in tandem to get it just right.  Also, the owner is a member of IAM.BMEzine.com.

guesswhat1

Think you know what it is?  Make a comment below.  You’ll find out if you’re right later in the day!

As a side note, IAM is open again for new memberships, so if you’ve been thinking about joining the community, just head on over and sign up.

Update:  You can see the results from all 3 rounds here.

Beeing at one with nature

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This late summer piece is by none other than Fabrizio Divari, from Toronto.  This work in progress features apples, poppies, as well as a couple of bees.  The time when the apples in an orchard are changing color, and those big lazy bumblebees are flying around, spreading the last of the pollen for the season.

bees

Head over to the nature and wildlife galleries to check out more images like this one.

Remember, ModBlog relies on images submitted by you, the reader.  So if you have something you’d like to share, upload it to BMEzine.com, fill in all the boxes so the artist can get credit, and who knows, it may appear on ModBlog one day.

Tastes like chicken

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Well, at least that’s what the movies have told me to believe about the taste of human flesh.  I suppose it also matters if it is cooked or not.  Raw chicken meat is pretty much a no-go (with the exception of one breed that they’ve used on Iron Chef), so I think the same rules apply to human flesh as well.

Then there are those who like to laugh in the face of danger, go against the grain, and take some risks.  Of course the vast majority of the people who are willing to dine on raw flesh also have the slight problem of being one of the walking dead.

zombie

As far as zombie portraits go, this may be my new favorite one.  The fact that the portrait isn’t just a look at a zombie’s face, but it is one in motion, taking that first bite of flesh off of the screaming victim who obviously wasn’t adequately prepared.  I also like that if you look close enough you can make out little details, like the veins visible through the skin on the face.

The artist IAM:Nick Friederich, from Shelton Tattoo in Shelton CT, was featured last week as well with his portrait of Eva Angelina.

It makes you wonder, if Shaun and his friends can walk through a group of zombies acting like them, and Rick Grimes can cover himself with fluids from a corpse to get through a horde, would getting a zombie tattoo allow you to make it to safety without worrying about being bitten?

Basket weaving is so 10,000 years ago

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It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a surface weaving project of this scope, and seeing as how it is by Arawak from Saintes, France, the man responsible for the Marilyn Munroe portrait, it’s nice to see a follow up to the piece.

chaplin1

I really like how the Charlie Chaplin image is able to take a simple play piercing design, and connect the dots to form a distinct image.  The surface weaving gallery is pretty small so if this is something you’re capable of doing, please send in the images, as the potential for some incredible designs is huge with this technique.

If you want to see the before and after images, just keep on reading.

chaplin2

chaplin3

Now I know that right away you can see that the original image has been slightly photoshopped.  Normally I wouldn’t post an image that is obviously photoshopped, but given that it is only to remove the tattoo, and the galleries show that Arawak has done this type of project before, I don’t believe anything dealing with the surface weaving specifically has been altered in any way.

What are girls made of?

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Sugar and spice and everything nice?  That might apply to some girls, but definitely not every girl.

These hand tattoos show that while these girls may be made of sugar skulls, and they certainly have a bit of spice in them, I doubt they’d be up for having a tea party with the other nice girls.

sugar skulls

Jason Chappel sent in these sugar skull hand tattoos over the weekend, and with the Day of the Dead a little over a month away, it’s always good to plan ahead.  There are a few closeup images of each hand individually over in the hand tattoo gallery, if you feel like getting a closer look.

Of course not everyone celebrates the Day of the Dead, but a large portion of people in North America do celebrate Halloween which comes a couple days beforehand.  Which begs the question, do you have any plans made for either day yet?  Got your costume picked out?

Spiritual Cutting

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When creating a Buddha image, the artist is expected to be in a spiritual and mental state (samādhi) that will enable him to visualise this ideal reality. There is no requirement that every Buddha image be identical, and in fact there is a wide variety of artistic styles and national traditions in representing the Buddha.

–http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iconography_of_the_Buddha

The process of getting a scar is unique to each person.  Yet in each time, the person receiving the scar is going through a mental state that is unlike any other.  In some of the comment sections recently people have criticized scarification work as “dumb” because you can “get a better result with a tattoo”.  What these people are failing to grasp is that the process, the healing, and the final product are very different from a tattoo.

Making these cuts into the skin, the artist is enabling the wearer to go through an experience that is both physically taxing, and spiritually moving.  To feel ones flesh being removed from the body, in a controlled manner, is one that requires a person to look inside and really become aware of their self.  When the process is finished, and the healing begins, again there is an element that is unique to scarification.  The resulting scar is not only the product of the work of the artist, but also the product of the body itself.  We all heal differently, and the scars that result are unique to each person.  It truly is an art form that requires both the mind and the body working in harmony to create the finished product.

Then there is the artist.  These talented men and women who have taken something naturally occurring (the formation of a scar) and have transformed it into an entirely unique form of art.  One such artist is Efix Roy, from Montreal.  This most recent scar was placed on none other than IAM: Caleigh Green.

buddha

The scar was created this past Saturday, and it’ll be nice to see it as it heals up.  There is another image of the scar behind the clickthough.  It’s closeups from a side angle so you can get an idea of the depth of the cuts.

closeup

BMXnet conference, 1 week away

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If you’re in Europe next week, and can make it over to Berlin, you’ll have the opportunity to check out the BMXnet conference that’s happening from the 16th to the 19th.  You can get the details about the conference at the BMXnet website.  There you’ll find out the times and locations of all the lectures and workshops taking place over the course of the weekend.

bmxnet 2010

BMXnet Conference 2010

Open for up to 500 Attendees / 6 Classrooms / huge Expo space!!!

Thu. 16th Sep. 2010 : Half- / Full-Day Classes and Workshops
Fri. 17th Sep. 2010 : 10:00am start Conference 2010
Sat. 18th Sep. 2010 : full day Conference 2010
Sun. 19th Sep. 2010 : 08:00pm end Conference 2010

Location:  Congress Hotel Holiday Inn – Berlin Schoenefeld