A black-and-white photo of a person mid-air in a Superman-style body suspension pose, supported by multiple hooks in their back and legs, smiling joyfully toward the camera. They are suspended horizontally in a large indoor space with high ceilings and visible rigging. A group of onlookers—some seated, some standing—watch with expressions of admiration, amusement, and support. The atmosphere is lively and communal, capturing a moment of shared experience and transformation.

Maybe the camera lense was dirty

I’ve posted Andro and his top-notch work before, so I hope he’s not too mortified that I included this piece (sent in by CrustPictures), which I like a lot on a design level but appears to include a rather unfortunate blow-out on the shoulder! [Edit/Update: this blow-out was intentional and part of the piece; see the comments for more.] I like how it crosses through the front of the ear — it also goes right down her arm (check her page for more photos).

Comments

41 responses to “Maybe the camera lense was dirty”

  1. MetalHouse III Avatar
    MetalHouse III

    I hope its a dirty lens because that would piss me off if that was my tat

  2. Charel Avatar
    Charel

    *LENS!

    sucks if it is blown out though.

  3. Faye aka MetalDready Avatar
    Faye aka MetalDready

    I really like that sketchy stuff.

  4. Acid Avatar
    Acid

    okay, except for that one fuzzy spot on the shoulder this is a completely kick-ass tattoo

  5. Charel Avatar
    Charel

    would also like to see more of the back.

  6. Shred Avatar
    Shred

    I’ll be honest I really don’t like it. I can’t really understand why someone would want something that couldn’t possibly take more than a few seconds to draw on somewhere as visible as their neck. Buuut thats just me…

  7. d00j Avatar

    from looking at the other pictures on her page, it almost appears as though there were several more blowouts further down her arm.. too bad, but eh, i love the tattoo.

  8. Liz Avatar
    Liz

    What are blowouts? I see the smudgey area on the shoulder in blue, so I’m guessing that’s it, but how is it caused?

  9. davide Avatar

    wow good tattoo!
    i like it!

  10. Albert Avatar
    Albert

    I love it =]

  11. Marshall Avatar

    This is hot. I like the blowout, too – makes it look like ballpoint.

  12. HereKittyKitty Avatar
    HereKittyKitty

    How would one remedy a blowout? (Besides a coverup.) Could you laser remove/lighten just a small area then reink the line?

  13. Nicholas Smith Avatar
    Nicholas Smith

    it looks like it was on purpose given that up towards the top one of the black lines looks like it was done a zillion times as do a few others

  14. Caitlin Avatar
    Caitlin

    That is fantastic. I’ve had ideas of something similar…good work!

  15. Candice Avatar
    Candice

    ok, well i am Andro’s girlfriend and to speak on behalf of him as i was there when the tattoo was done and while they were planning it- The blowouts are meant to be there, Raph, the girl in the picture and Andro’s customer came to him asking him for a tattoo that looked rough, not perfect at all, she did not want one line that was straight etc…..so the blowouts are meant to be there for the effect. Maybe to some people this may seem wrong but it is what she wanted and she happens to be a friend of Andro’s too, so he was willing to do this.

  16. HereKittyKitty Avatar
    HereKittyKitty

    I think it looks fine. It DOES look like ballpoint pen =) and I’m impressed that it’s been done to look rough and smudged to get that effect.
    (I bet people assume it IS pen rather than a permanent tattoo.)
    Very unique and artful.

  17. ash Avatar

    i really like it! it reminds me of EKG graph thingies, so it’s like, “life!”… at least that’s how i interpret it.

    #7 — it also appears that there are scars on the forearm, which don’t really hold ink properly and are prone to causing blowouts in tattoos put over them.

  18. VOMIT Avatar
    VOMIT

    I like this tattoo alot, and the “blowout” or whatever doesn’t bother me, since the lines are all sketchy anyway.

  19. Antishock Avatar
    Antishock

    #17… haha if that were an actually EKG line.. you’d be in some major trouble! haha.
    I wonder if that was the intent.. for it too look like an ECG/EKG line? Like I wonder if that’s what it’s actually supposed to be. Most people don’t realize that there actually is a big difference depending on where the spikes and dips are and how close they are together, how high, etc.

    I still like it though. I also like that sketchy look. Not crazy about the blow-out though.. on purpose or not, it still looks like it was a mess-up. if it was on me, it would annoy the crap out of me to see that little smudge all the time.

  20. eternalsunshine Avatar

    I really like this. Pure modern art.

  21. skylark Avatar

    what’s a blowout? I think I have one on my foot, but always assumed it was due to the quality of thick skin near the bottom of the foot. How does one get a blow out? How can you prevent them?

  22. skylark Avatar

    Duh. Nebbermind.

  23. oppositronic Avatar
    oppositronic

    fucking awesome! i thought it was some abstracted script at first, spent about 5 min trying to read it… then i gave up and just sat back and enjoyed it

  24. Xenia Avatar
    Xenia

    I don’t know, I like the overall design concept, but the whole blowups-on-purpose isn’t really working for me. There’s a way to pull off the ballpoint look while still communicating that it’s a well-done tattoo (sort of like that Lionel guy’s work), but the overall effect I’m getting from this piece is that it’s an intriguing idea that was badly executed.

  25. Chaq Avatar
    Chaq

    I love it 🙂
    And I’m really intrigued as to how Andro deliberately caused a blowout.
    Did he actually just go really deeply with the gun and *hope* for a halo to naturally occur?
    Or was the halo tattooed in with shading?
    Either way, I love the whole look and idea of the work, it looks great.

  26. Greta Avatar
    Greta

    I love it a lot. My first thought was definatly ball-point pen. If the intent was for those to not be there, then yeah, that would suck like none other, but since that was the point anyway, I think it’s wicked.

  27. [email protected] Avatar

    it reminds me of a “Blind Hem Stitch ” and for that reason I like it

  28. Skyline GTR Avatar
    Skyline GTR

    reminds me of the time when i first played trauma center er or something for the wii, dang i fucked up that stitching so bad

  29. mel Avatar
    mel

    I think this is awesome, and regardless of whether the blowout was on purpose or not, i still think it suits the style. if it was a portrait or something with intricate detail that was meant to be spot on, then that would be another story. but obviously this tattoo is intended to be a sketchy style.

  30. Caroline June Avatar

    I love the blowout, it definitely just looks like a pen that’s had a bit of water dropped on it.

  31. Donna Avatar

    I may be about to get slated, seeing as everyone likes this tattoo, but I just don’t like it. It looks badly done.

    It may be intentional to have the tattoo look like a ‘biro scribble’ but I really don’t get that style.

    To me, it looks like a 2 year old has been set free on the neck with a biro. It’s in such a visible place, I wonder how it will look in 10 years time?

  32. toothpaste Avatar

    It will look rad in ten years if the person stays out of the sun, gets touch ups, wears sun screen, doesn’t get cut in the middle of it..

    .. seriously, why do people ask how it will look in ten years? If the tattoo was done by a quality artist, then there will not be an issue.

  33. HereKittyKitty Avatar
    HereKittyKitty

    #27, Now that you mentioned it, I see it!
    Not good that I’m a dressmaker and didn’t catch that =(

  34. Bertany Avatar

    I really love this a lot. I even think the fuzzy bit looks cool.

  35. KnifeInTheMarathon Avatar

    Simple and beautiful

  36. Amber Avatar
    Amber

    I love this tattoo!

    This is the first time I’ve ever seen blowouts caused on purpose. It adds so much to the whole look of it.

  37. JohnnyThief Avatar

    For those who asked, a blowout is an effect where ink spreads away from the tattooed area. This mainly happens in line work, where the needles are grouped together & liner machines run faster & with a longer stroke,… although I’ve seen blowout occur on large tribal pieces as well. (Not applied by ME, of course,…) What is really happening is pigment itself is being sprayed between the layers of the skin, outward & away from the puncture holes, hence the weird wet water color paper bleed look.

    This can happen when A: The needles are damaged when setting up the machine, either bent or hooked B: Going into think skin, like the crook of the elbow, as fast as going into think skin, like on the calf, or just by running the machine too fast C: Going into the skin at crazy angles, like holding the machine at 30 degrees or less from the surface of the skin or D: Not stretching the skin enough,…

    Blowout is unpredictable & very difficult to achieve without damage to the skin area. Among the professional circles, it is considered a sign of inexperience & amateur training, although since everyone is constructed differently, even veteran artists may experience the occasional blowout.

    It would be REALLY difficult to blow out skin on purpose,… & then switch back to clean tattooing,…

  38. spaceman spiff Avatar
    spaceman spiff

    the fact that the blown out lines were “on purpose” sounds like a cop out from the artist. better ways to go about getting the effect of fuzzy lines if thats what you want. over all i dont like this tattoo one bit, blow outs or not, but hey my oppinion doesnt really matter if she/he likes it. rock on with your squiggly line tatto, my friend!!!

  39. spaceman spiff Avatar
    spaceman spiff

    oops…tattoo

  40. Derek Avatar
    Derek

    Artist dont blow out on purpose i dont care what the girlfriend says shading it out with a mag woulda looked way cleaner and a blow out is when ya hit bone usually shins and knee caps and stuff where the needle jams a bunch of ink under the skin and bleeds out spreading under the skin kinda like a bruise…laying the machine on its side and hitting those spots at an angle will take care of blows outs….dude whipped out a weak tat and probably wasnt feelin it or needed the money and most artist arents gonna point out their blow outs because it messes up your line work its an imperfection…blow outs are never intentional…why would you purposely ruin a line? permenantly? sometimes blow outs can be shaded depending which way they run and what part they are in on the tattoo…if you tattoo you know what i mean and if you dont try laying your machine down so you dont hit the bone and blow it out

  41. Madi Avatar
    Madi

    The “blow out” bothers me. Intentional or not.

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