Skin Ink

This is my first tattoo and it's my business logo. This as well as all my tattoos have been done by Jason Schroder at Incognito Tattoo in Pasadena. Jason put this one together in 2004. It took 4 1/2 hours in two seatings.

This is my second tattoo and it represents my other passion which is Freediving. It was inspired by the artwork of Augustine Rodriguez and interpreted into skin ink by Jason in 2005. This is the outline and shading after 2 hours.

This is the second seating and it was 3 hours of blue! OUCH!!!

This is the final tattoo after another 2 hours of coloring. Jason did an incredible job creating a whole kelp forest around my diver.

This is my third tattoo and it was inspired by the artwork of Ty Wilson and interpreted by Jason in 2008. This is the outline and shading portion and took 2 1/2 hours.

This is the finished tattoo three weeks later with all the colors. This portion took 2 hours. Jason will be completing this piece in the future into a complete back piece.

Nicole was not about to let me have all the fun and decided to get her first tattoo. So she went to see Jason on Septemeber 5, 2008. Nervous you think???

The Ink Master Jason Schroder shaving Nicole's back and getting her ready.

Jason is applying the stencil of Nicole's lower back tattoo inspired by the artwork of Aldo Luongo, "Tango & Cobblestones." Of course it was interpreted by Jason!

Here comes the needles!! Nicole gets her first taste of the "Gun" and takes it like a pro!!

Two hours later, she is now bandaged and ready to go.

This is her finished and healed tattoo which depicts her passion of dance! The tattoo bug has set in!!!

This is the beginning of my fourth and most current tattoo. It is inspired by a piece called "Bone Salsa" by Erich Decker-Hoppen and completely transformed by Jason. We started on April 24, 2009.

This is the outline and shading portion and it took 2 1/2 hours.

I'm back a month later for coloring. After one hour Jason had done all the dark blues.

We both need a break as we head into the final coloring portion. This portion was the most painful I have had with all my tattoos.

DONE!!! After another hour Jason completed his work. His incredible use of color and blending makes him the best! I named this piece "The Rumba de las Calaveras!"

Close up of the tattoo at the studio before bandaging. Total time for this tattoo was a little over 4 1/2 hours.

La Rumba de las Calaveras tattoo after washing it the next day.

Guess who's BACK?????? YEP Nicole and she wants to add just a little more to her back! This was just before her appointment time on April 23, 2009.

A little more??? YIKES!!! Jason and Nicole put some ideas together for this incredible tattoo of Koi swimming in a pond with Water Lillies. This a totaly custom piece and my mouth dropped when I first saw it. This is the stencil on her back.

Jason begins working his magic on Nicole's back as she almost falls asleep! NOT!!!

Jason is still working away on the outline & some shading and is almost done for this session.

All done for this session. This session took 2 1/2 hours. this is just before bandaging.

This is what it looked like as she walked outside with the bandages on.

What a difference a few days make! This is Nicole in Las Vegas right before Hollie's Birthday party where we were slated to perform. Everyone kept stopping her at the airports and commenting her on her tattoo!

This is three weeks later, May 13, 2009 as she is having more shading work done.

Done for this session!!! This session took 2 hours and now the total time is 4 1/2 hours. She still needs two more sessions to complete it.

Nicole is back for her third session on June 10, 2009 and Jason has gone over the shading and started adding color. Nicole is resting after two and a half hours.

The shading around the Kois has received a third round of ink and most of the color in the Kois is done. Another half hour to go for today.

Three hours later and she is off the table and cleaned up and ready for the bandage. Just a BIT sore!!!!

All bandaged and ready to pay the master and make the next and FINAL appointment for this piece. Another three hours should do it all! So far she is in the four figures $$$$ already on this one.

This is what it looked like when she washed it off after the bandages came off the same night at home. Very sore, but very happy with the beautiful Kois. Next appointment is July 6th! Stay tuned!!!

July 6th, 2009 has arrived and after 1 1/2 hours Nicole is up stretching her legs as Jason takes a break. The end is near now!!

Shush, she is sleeping! Not really, but her tolerance for pain is very admirable. Jason has completed his masterpiece and is ready to clean and bandage the last portion of this tattoo. He was able to complete this session in two hours.

All bandaged and ready to pay and say good bye until the next one!! Since Jason worked so fast finishing Nicole's tattoo he decided to give me a little pain to go and did a little touch up work on my diver tattoo. How cute! Matching bandages!!!

WOW!!! After close to ten hours of needles in four long sessions over three months, this is the final masterpiece after being cleaned up! The wise saying states that "there are no cheap tattoos, only bad ones!" With the generous tips added, this one cost around $1500, but when you consider it's a life long work of skin art it is more than worth it! Who's next??

Well it's been a few months since our last ink session and guess who's back first? No that's not me in a bikini!! Actually we both went back at the same time, but since she is a lady she went first. Nicole does nothing small scale and Jason took her simple idea and created a HUGE masterpiece.

Before you get too excited, she is NOT nude!! The tattooing was done with her bikini on and moved, tied and taped so she was always covered up. A room partition was set up for more privacy. I also used a B & W special effect to highlight the details of the tattoo line work done by Jason in two hours and to add some additional privacy for Nicole. Nicole swears she will never do any other tattoos in the rib area. It HURTS!!

I went back to complete the scene for the dancers Jason tattoed exactly one year ago on my back and cover my upper back. It is a Jason Shroder created street scene of Old Havana. I had come up with some silly ideas, but Jason being the true artist that he is came up with this scene that will highlight the dancers. He did all this line work in only one hour!!

Well the bandages are on and it's September 17, 2009. Time to go heal up before returning back to Incognito Tattoo on October 8th for more work. Nicole will also be receiving a few more hours of work on her masterpiece the same day.

It's October 8, 2009 and three weeks since the outline session and we are all healed up and ready for more. Nicole once again chose to go first and Jason has just completed three hours of shading and the beautiful blue of the maiden's face. Nicole said it was the easiest session she has ever had. Two of our student's dropped by the studio as she was being tattoed and Jason was very gracious in allowing them to watch as he worked and answered questions.

Here she is all bandaged up and with her bikini tied back in it's proper place. Btw, she is always properly covered up and the privacy screen in the photo is placed so the public cannot view her. $500 paid and now she get's to watch me!!

Jason woked on the shading of my abstract background until his eyes just would not stay open. He tattoed us for almost 6 hours! We decided to leave the last bit of shading for October 29th (My B-Day!) and hopefully complete the piece with the coloring that same day. The session was pretty painless except for a bit on my extreme left side that hurt like hell. But after he got past that point I actually fell asleep and was snoring!! The "Boys" in the shop had us in stitches with their stories especially Spencer. $400 bucks and out the door we went!

Well it's October 29th and guess what day it is? My birthday! Well nothing like needles, blood and ink to celebrate! Jason decided to just complete the shading on the right side and allow the tattoo to heal a bit more before adding the final color. After an 1 1/2 hours i'm off to the mirror to check it out.

Here's a close up of the completed shading work as it starts to make the dancers come to life. Well be back on November 19th to complete it! Only $240 with tip today!!

Well as the Jason tradition of booking us on the same time slot continues, Nicole is back on the table for more work on her huge masterpiece. Madame Butterfly is coming to life slowly. Jason decided to add the blue coloring to the lower portion on this seating.

Break time after a couple of hours and Nicole is napping. I think?? Great view of all her other Jason tattoo work!

This is the completed work for the day of blue ink on the bottom portion of the tattoo after 2 1/2 hours. Time to go bandage up and pay the man!! $350 and next booking is with me again on November 19th. She will still have a couple more sessions to complete this one.

Guess whose back? It's Angelica Ramos the night before her first tattoo! After a really bad experience with a now closed tattoo shop she met Jason and they quickly decided on her beautiful black & grey Guardian Angels back piece. No silly little Tat here! Angelica went for the big leagues and chose a full back design.

Well the design has been approved and after a hard night of Salsa dancing at Sportsmen's Lodge Angelica Ramos is ready for her first taste of the tattoo gun. It's November 7, 2009.

Angelica halfway through the outline process relaxes comfortably. NOT! She had everyone in stitches complaining of the pain, but most of it was for show. She was doing very well and Jason as usual was calming and gentle in his words and technique. Her guardian angels are coming to life!!

WOW! Done for today!! Jason worked very fast as usual and got all the outlining done in one hour. Angelica is all bandaged, sore and happy! Angelica becomes our first student to add her images to our Skin Ink page. Welcome!! She's be back on November 29th for her shading work.

Who's That Stalker?? It's Jason Schroder & Nicole having some fun at the grand opening party on November 7, 2009 of Spitfire Girl in Echo Park. It's a wonderful shop full on real neat original stuff and owned by Jason & his wife Kristin.

Time to wake up!!! It's November 19, 2009 and I'm back for what I was hoping would be my last session. After 2 1/2 hours of coloring Jason decided to let the other side heal a bit more before inking it and decided to call it a day & move on to Nicole who was waiting impatiently!

All cleaned up and ready for the bandages. Only one real PAINFUL area in this tattoo, but it was a good one. Another 2 1/2 hours and we'll be done. I think???

Damn! Maybe next time I'll get a little one! NOT!!!! You can see the reality of tattoos in this photo. The beauty of the art, but also the blood flowing right over the bandages reminding those tempted to take the plunge that this stuff is very serious!

This is a close up after showering the same night. Sore, but no real pain to speak of. I'll be returning on December 17, 2009 to complete this one. Only $350 for this session with tip of course!!

Jason always schedules Nicole and myself for the same session and we have a blast talking and joking with the guys at the shop. Jason put 2 hours of blue in the upper part of Nicole's tattoo as well as the green in front of the goddess. Nicole was dying with the rib area work.

All cleaned and ready for the bandages. You can see the red area around her ribs where she was really hurting.

All bandaged up and properly tied back up and time to go pay & schedule the next session. $275 for her session and will be back for at least one more on December 17, 2009. I brought in a 15 lb Rosemary roasted turkey with a Madeira wine sauce and home made Linguica sausage stuffing to feed Jason and the guys. Time to go plan the next meal!

Time flies when you are excited and three weeks have passed since Angelica had the outline done. It's November 29th and Jason got all the shading done to complete her beautiful Guardian Angels in just one hour!

Emotional tears! It is so hard to try to explain the emotions that run through you at realizing that a permanent mark has been placed on you. Angelica's tears are not of pain, but of the emotional feeling of knowing her dream of having her namesake Angels tattooed has finally come true. She LOVES her tattoo!!

Three days later and the emotions have settled, but not her glee and enjoyment over her masterpiece! She is now shopping for a new wardrobe to display her Angels! AND starting to talk about ANOTHER!! Stay tuned!

It's December 17, 2009 and Jason had begun tattoing the last portion of my back piece. This will be the last session and I'm pretty excited!!

One hour into the session and the right side of the flames are done as well as the "Street People." A few painful spots, but not too bad. Another 1 3/4 hours to go!!

For those of you who think I'm a Macho Man, think twice! Not as bad as my friend Angelica Ramos would call me, a big "Whinnie," but I was NOT acting for this shot. Jason saved a little special area for last and BOY was it ever. OUCH!!!

DONE!!!! Two and three quarter hours, but it's finally completed. I'm very happy with the final masterpiece that brought together my dancers in a scene of Old Havana I only dream of.

All cleaned and bandaged up! WOW!! After 16 hours in 8 sessions since the original dancers were tattoed back on September 6, 2008 I'm finally done. This session was $400 and the total cost with tips is over $2500, but well worth it and a lifetime's worth of enjoying my masterpiece. THANKS Jason!!

Nicole was hoping to have her last session also since it's been a non stop year of tattoing for both of us and our bodies are starting to reject it and taking much longer to heal, but Jason was very tired after th non stop session with me and decided to have her come back for the last coloring of the upper buteerflies and to add detail to the whole piece. LAST appointment is on January 28, 2010. She had 1 1/2 hours of work today.

This is the next day before a private lesson outside my home. Did not hurt too much last night and all looks good. Some bruising on the side, but good.

Close up on the same day. The colors will tone down in the next few weeks as everything heals. What's Next?????

Here is Nicole flashing a quick view of the butterflies before the private lesson we were about to teach. She said she felt good, since her tattoing was sacttered into smaller areas. Next year I'll post the final art piece.

Lots of "Skin Ink" at our 2009 Bodygroove Holiday party!! Well not really, but the "Three Amigos" had no problem flashing our stuff!!

YEY!!! The end is here!! For now that is. It's January 28, 2010 and Nicole's tattoo is basically completed. Jason wants to look at it in a few months and see if he wants to add additional detail then and also photgraph the fully healed masterpiece. This was a 2 1/2 hour session.

Well after cleaning and before bandaging, here is the final tattoo. Six painful sessions and a total of 14 hours and about $2400 is all it took to get it done. We both need a long break from tattooing since our bodies are now taking a long time to heal. Maybe later in 2010? What's NEXT?????