In-Progress Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Carl Hallowell (Horisho)

East and West: A Tattoo Story

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On June 2, 2015

Slowly, I prepare my station for the tattoo to be done today. There is only this tattoo, there is only now. The future is nonexistent, the past is void. There is no hurry, there is no pain. There are only the materials to be prepared. Stainless steel needles and rich, thick black ink. Barrier bags […]

Horimono from the Bottom Up

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On May 22, 2015

Mr. C is back. Come to find out his pilgrimage to irezumi was not made by accident. The road that brought him here was paved by meditation, manga, and anime. Not to mention photos he had seen here and there of the beautiful horimono worn by the Japanese. Does not the other intrigue us so, […]

Sumi Irezumi: A Japanese Tattoo

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On May 9, 2015

Well, well… Four hours in the tattoo artist’s chair can tend to pass by like a dream, with the correct mind settled beforehand. Some have no fear, some have no weakness. Some struggle to regain their breath, and then are able to “climb the hill” of continuing their tattoo again. Zahm conquers this tattoo session […]

Sumi-E

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On May 7, 2015

Today i will begin anew. Today i will embark on the “journey of a thousand ri”. Today has loomed on my horizon like a vast city of gold, just out of reach, but there in plain sight. I have performed my purifications, I have bolstered up my studies. I have attempted to correct the mind, […]

Sujibori, or Outline Stage

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On April 25, 2015

The Tora And Snake This young man here came in with the right idea. I am very lucky he came to me. Or perhaps I deserved it. Or karma led to this chance meeting. Or the tattoo gods presided over the realm we walked that night. Either way, here we are, and there is nothing […]

Established 1995

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On April 8, 2015

Before the Sailor Jerry books came out, before the Tattoo tv shows, before the internet, and cell phones, before computers were everywhere, before credit card scanners, before the revival of the rotary tattoo machine, before a tattoo color kit included ten shades of green, before the tattoo internet chatrooms made trade secrets public, before there were ten tattoo magazines, before the death of the […]

Keepers of the Light

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On April 1, 2015

Join me as we head underground into the catacombs past what you thought you knew, leaving familiarity behind for a sense of adventure and allowing the doors of perception to open. True reality can become apparent. Rows and rows of designs, these are the archetypes. Which one will you be today? – Miike Ness… The […]

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On December 12, 2014

Background Complete At the inception of my website, I was excited to post in-progress tattoos. It really helps to illustrate the progress one must make towards attaining their goal. It also represents the amount of work a tattooer can get done in a session. It is also a badge of honor for those who sit […]

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On December 5, 2014

Detroit the Motor City Rob returns for his second black and gray tattoo sleeve from me, we talked last night about how it was funny that it all started off with one tattoo on the inside of his other forearm. That tattoo? A single needle “DETROIT” done in Old English that we did as a […]

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On September 27, 2014

Tiger, Rock, Water, Clouds, and Flowers This outline stage tattoo went on one of our local musicians whose music is a mixture of Country, Soul, and Rock. All those hours of sitting behind the drum set and his guitars have made this one tough sonofabitch. We were able to outline the whole 3/4 length of […]