salutations deep valleyzens, and happy september. as the summer winds to a close, i’m reflecting on the year up till now and trying to imagine what’s in store for the rest of the year.
this fall, i have a few cool projects i’m working on, and a couple of travel plans / guest spots. i’m working on overhauling my online shop and adding a handful of new products. more about that below. i’m also maybe traveling to atlanta at the end of october for a wild chorus related event (maybe) and would love to tat while i’m there. i am 100% going to be in portland early november for a gallery show, and would love to tat while i’m there as well.
other than that… business as usual! i’ll be in nyc tattooing and working on my game and painting. hope this newsletter brings you some joy today in some way.
thanks for being here!
-p
new flash + booking info
have a gander at 15 new flash designs for september and onwards
for this month, i was particularly interested in looking at christian / catholic iconography. not really sure why. the catholics specifically had so much swag, it was fun to draw from that. i was raised catholic but don’t really believe in that sort of thing anymore.
catholicism has so much repressed sexuality. shame is the main emotional thrust of that religion. i think that bleeds outwards into how we view sex. anyways, i hope you like the demonic sex orgy crucifix.
as always, here’s a reminder that each design is only available once in black and gray, and once in color. flash is non-reservable. if you’d like to see all my available flash, please check out my google drive here.
i currently have a bunch of open slots in september, and full open availability for october in nyc. i’m mainly working saturdays and sundays, but have space to squeeze in a few appointments on weekdays (first come, first serve!) just fill out a form below to book
tattoos i liked from august
august ended up being one of the most flash-heavy months i’ve ever had, i think! was super excited to go through some of my fav recent designs every day. thanks to everyone who came out!
here are some of my favs. pardon the washed out colors, my iphone decided a month ago or so that color was no longer a thing it needed to accurately capture… looking into getting a point and shoot digital camera to keep in the studio at this point. but if anyone has tips about getting good saturated colors on an iphone please blow up my line.
illustration corner
extra illustrations for mei ehara
after working on the album cover that i shared last month, mei reached out to me about doing some more small supplemental illustrations for the album. they’re currently being used for tour flyer stuff, and i believe there will be merch made from these once the tour starts. check em out!
it was fun to revisit the world from the album cover in a style more congruous to my tattooing style. i also got to design the back for the vinyl sleeve, but that hasn’t been shared yet so i’ll sit on the design for now :p the album releases september 12th, so make sure to check it out! it’s a banger for real.
in the studio
honestly, i’m struggling with painting right now. it’s not a bad thing. a lot of the best things in life are hard-earned. i rebuilt my routine this summer to divide my time equally between illustration, tattooing, and painting. but only one of those things is optional, so i found my self skipping studio days to catch up on illo or tattoo stuff. or to make time for, you know, life. so these paintings are taking forever.
i’m happy with the progress and trajectory of the last year, and the six paintings i’ve done. but i don’t feel like i’ve gotten close to really understanding painting. there are mysteries about the medium that are both alluring and frightening. and frustrating. i think frustration is a big thrust right now, and it makes it difficult to go into the studio and push these larger works to finish.
but, that being said, i’ve found frustration to often be the first indicator of a breakthrough. frustration is the mind telling you something isn’t working. being able to understand what that is will allow you to fix it, and get closer to the truth of the work. i’m planning to finish the paintings i have on the wall right now, then dive into a series of smaller paintings to experiment and play around. possibly some studies even, despite how boring they are. they really help!
other than that, i think just time and making more paintings will help. you have to work through these things. as the summer winds down, there’s less shit to do, so i’ll be in the studio more (i hope). i’m also looking into applying to some residencies, or just taking a month off from tattooing to spend working through this without work on the brain. one day, i’d really like to go back to school to get an mfa…
anyways, here’s august in the studio
clavadista
i spent some time working on the figure at the bottom this month. i painted it twice. the first pass was way too dark, so i went over it again and made it a bit lighter. i tried to blend it a bit more, but i’m not sure if it’s working for me with the choppy nature of the cliffs. there’s a lot going on in this painting, and most of my decisions are being made on the fly.
i like this piece, but i feel like i need to finish it just to be done with it. i need to learn something from this piece, and pack it up. i really like some aspects of it, but am running into familiar issues with other parts. i just need to paint in the brush around the lower half, the figures up top, the birds, and the blood. all in maybe 2-3 more long sessions should do it.
i learned a lot with this one, but if it was about half the size i think i would have learned the lessons i needed to learn and been done by now. hence why i’ll be working smaller for a little while.
pile
i started this new painting last month, based on one of my oil pastel drawings (you can sorta see it off to the side). it took me a while to get this one going, but i’m pretty excited to continue on it. hoping to dive in more but this one requires some long sessions to get everything done.
the painting in it’s current state illustrates something that has been evading me over the last year as i work more and more with oil. mainly, how to find a balance between the energy of an underpainting and the polish of a finished piece? this piece is clearly unfinished. but in it’s current state it has so much energy. the paint is paint, runny, transparent, and textured, and i am making an object, not a picture.
almost every one of my paintings starts with a monochromatic underpainting like this that i then cover up with colorful opaque paint. the paintings end up nice, but something gets lost. i’m looking to find that in-between right now, and have been for the last year. but it’s frightening to let something look unfinished. i often take the cowards way out, and render everything out. i’m going to really push myself to find some answers this fall. this one might end up getting rendered out but if i’m really brave it might look super weird and cool. who knows?
does he know he should have a tail?
this is another new one. i think i shared the underpainting last month, but i found some time to paint in the glowing background i was envisioning for it. i spent a lot of time trying to make it feel like a smooth transition, and while i don’t dislike what i ended up with at all, it’s certainly not what i was trying to do. paintings like this really can humble you and remind you that you have a lot to learn.
technically it looks good enough. but yeah, i’m clearly grappling with my lack of understanding and technical skill with oil paint a lot this month lol. i’m going thru it! painting is the practice i have the most tempestuous relationship with.
sketches for new work
i’d really like to make a proper followup / partner painting to the penis painting i finished in july. thematically i’m interested in following the cum on their journey. where do they go after they exit the penis? anyways here are some rough exploratory sketches. i’m not sure if any of these feel right yet, but i’m on to something for sure.
i’m making art about sex and sexuality right now. i know that’s kind of not in my usual wheelhouse. bear with me.
kick art photos
i recently worked with casey from kick art studios to shoot my paintings from this last year. i’ve mostly taken all the photos of the work til now on my iphone, which just truly sucks at capturing all the details and colors accurately. i’m really stoked with how these came out, and definitely recommend working with casey if you’re looking to archive your artwork.
casey shot my artifacts show back in 2023, and crushed it. i’m glad to still have his info! check out his portfolio.
new merch and shop updates
i have a couple of cool announcements re: my rarely mentioned online shop where i sell prints and zines and merch and original art for fair and friendly prices.
first off, i’m partnering with a print-on-demand service called artelo to start offering prints of my illustration/drawing work. this is something i haven’t had available for a while, as the bulk of my products were things i riso printed and random merch items. i got everything set up on their service and ordered a sample print that i’m quite please with, so i’m hoping to have all the new prints integrated in the shop sometime this month. keep your eyes peeled!
second, i’m working on a couple of other new merch projects! i just want to share what i’m shooting to get done by the end of the year. it’s unlikely i’ll get to everything, but i figured i’d share at least my goals
“artifacts” art book from my 2023 solo show
new riso printed photo/poetry book
heaven iii riso book (i’m actually gonna do it i swear)
l/s screenprinted shirt
return of the out-of-stock “play” embroidered hat
3-5 new stickers to include as mystery freebies
final note, i’m updating my website in general right now which is very boring and tedious. but i’ll soon have an archive of tattoo work, an updated archive of flash designs, and an archive of all my comics/zines available to read for free. more info to come.
wild chorus updates
man, august has been a whirlwind for wild chorus. after bringing our game out into the light for the first time at the wonderville playtest in new york, and the gamedev meetup at my parents basement in atlanta, it feels like the floodgates kinda blew open.
we decided it was time to start applying to show the game off at cons, and create a steam page. we actually haven’t worked a ton on the game itself, but rather making a trailer and assets for the steam page. it’s been a lot more work than anticipated! we’ve been accepted on steam but haven’t made the page live yet, as we’re still setting it up. here’s a cropped screenshot of the capsule art i’m cookin up. keep an eye peeled for the steam page launch! we’d really appreciate any wishlists.
we’ve got a really wonderful little trailer too, and i’m so excited to share it with you guys once we’re ready to launch. more importantly, i’m excited to get back into actual gamedev mode. there’s been a lot of other developments that i can’t really talk about right now… and i’m only writing these newsletters once a month, so subscribe to the wild chorus substack to get info as soon as it comes out!
flash friends 3 kickstarter
my buddy hunter (@crocodile.jackson) launched a kickstarter to support his third set of flash friends trading cards! and you should support it / back it!
this project is seriously very cool. hunter gifted me a few packs when i guested at his tattoo studio, pegasus, in la back in january. each set is choc full of super cool flash tattoo designs from artists of all corners of the tattooing world. there’s trad stuff, fineline stuff, whatever you’d call my kind of stuff, and stuff you can’t even put a name on. hunter has his finger ont he pulse, and curates such a sick collection of artists every time he does one of these.
the cards are high quality, and really nice to hold and collect. on top of that, this is a really cool, algorithm-free way to discover some new artists and scheme out your next tattoo.
im pushing this because i’m gonna a card in the new set, but also because it’s just genuinely a really cool thing that deserves your attention and support. consider backing to get some good deals on cards! i believe there’s 5 days left to back, so don’t miss your chance to help :)
patrick recommends section
music → box for buddy, box for star (deluxe) by this is lorelai
i’ve been kind of in and out of keeping up with this is lorelai for the last few years. i discovered them in 2021 and really dug a lot of the music, but it felt like they were making a lot of music and a lot of it sounded kind of same-y so i stopped keeping up with new stuff.
isabella has been really into the mj lenderman cover of “dancing in the club” which pulled me back into this album. the original album came out last year, but the deluxe version (which includes covers from lenderman, bob and sarah amos, and snail mail) came out back in april.
the original album is great, and feels like a cohesive finished project for nate amos, the brains behing the project. if the original album is a nutritous dinner, then the deluxe version feels like nutritious dinner with a delicious dessert at the end. while i really love all the songs on the album, the covers at the end really feel like some of the best music i’ve heard recently. it’s a testament to amos’s songwriting chops. anyways you should listen to the whole album. give it a whirl!
movie → black swan (imax)
ok, i’m late as fuck to this. i never saw this movie before, but they were doing a 15th anniversary imax screening last week and isabella invited me to go along with her and her friends. this movie is so fucking good!!! i can’t believe i never saw it until now. it feels goofy to recommend a 15 year old movie that like, everyone has already seen. but i just wanted to talk about how good it was for a second on here. and maybe it’s been long enough since you’ve seen it that you can go check it out again.
every single thing in this movie is so essential, and aronofsky doesn’t waste a single second of your time. every theme in this film is explored so fully, and the ways they intersect are remarkable. the battle between innocence and adulthood, in all of it’s forms. sexuality. the artist struggle for greatness. the manifestations of anxiety and it’s inherent delusions. it’s a trip, and it’s a treat to see it through the lens of ballet, a truly demanding and gorgeous art form.
it transcends genre. it’s got a little drama, a little thriller, a little comedy, a little this and a little that. but it feels off to say “it’s a horror movie” or “it’s a romance movie”. the score by clint mansell is absolutely incredible. natalie portman crushes it in her role as nina.
there’s not much in the movie to date it really either. you could do this movie today. you could do it in 1950. you could do it in russia in 1880. any of these would hold up because the themes are so human and universal. i rarely give a movie a 10/10 but i think black swan is a 10/10. i could talk about it for hours. idk. go watch it or watch it again if it’s been a minute.
game →clair obscur: expedition 33
another late-to-the-game moment, but yeah this game is so so good. it’s an indie, somehow, and it blows most triple a games out of the water. it’s a jrpg style game, made by a small team of 30-40 people in france. what a game!
when i started, i had some reservations. the opening is pretty slow, and pretty uninteresting. a lot of the dialogue feels marvel-y (not sure how else to describe this writing style. this issue plagues a looooot of video games and movies right now). but after the opening, the game opens up a lot. and the writing improves a lot too. i don’t want to reveal much about the plot, but shit hits the fan in a major way and the plot certainly thickens. i’ve not finished the game yet, but i feel like i’m getting close.
anyways, gameplay is as you’d expect from a jrpg. turn based combat with a nice overworld to explore. the art direction for this game is absolutely bonkers. there’s some really really really pretty places to explore. the level design is alright, most of the levels are fairly linear with little nooks for repetetive collectibles. they’re so beautiful that i don’t mind how simple they are.
the combat is great. there are five distinct party members with completely different playstyles. you’ll have three as your main group and then two for backup if your main squad falls. each one is super fun to use. it has some timing based mechanics that add a skill element to the actual fights, which is cool. like, time your dodges or parries to avoid damage kinda stuff. adds just a little layer of skillchecking on top of all the cool complex normal jrpg combat stuff. you could defeat anything in the game at any level, if you’re skilled enough!
anyways, the game is great and you should check it out! it doesn’t seem to be normal jrpg length (i.e. 100+ hours) so i don’t think it’ll eat up all your time either. enjoy!
honorable mentions
you know black swan was really that good because i saw the new naked gun movie, and weapons, in august. these movies were both two of my favorite movies i’ve seen in the last year or so. i went into naked gun with low expectations and it ended up being one of the best comedy movies i think i’ve ever seen. dare i say even better than the original? and everyone is talking about how good weapons is, so i’ll just nod in agreement.
other than this is lorelai, i’ve been listening to a lot of connan mockasin, cameron winter, alex g, and silver jews this month. i’m trying to let the new alex g album sink in a little more. i wasn’t super into it when it came out. not a bad album at all just not what i was expecting from him.
isabella got us cheap tickets to the lincoln center orchestra which was really really good. i didn’t think i’d be that into it but it was really amazing! i totally want to go back and see another show soon. they do some affordable nights, here’s the page for discounted tickets if you wanna go soon!
r.i.p. reader recommends section
well, nobody sent in a recommendation last month so i’ll be taking this section out moving forward. no worries! i was just trying something out here and it didn’t really work, so we adapt :)
resources for palestinian action
i’ve decided to start including resources for those wishing to take action for palestine in my monthly newsletter. i think it’s extremely important that we all use whatever power we have to speak up and act out collectively.
the above site is regularly updated with information about action you can take. it includes protest information, places to donate, boycott targets, resources to educate yourself, and many other resources to take action.
Love the new flash and mei ehara illustrations 👍
For iPhone’s poo saturation: try setting photographic style to rich contrast and dropping the base exposure by -0.3. Sometimes works for me 🥴