Tattoo Tuesday V.53

Hello, I'm Alex, I was the first gentleman (I use this term loosely) to ever appear on Tattoo Tuesday. Danielle asked me recently to round up a few of my male friends for Tattoo Tuesday. I agreed as long as I was allowed to write an introduction for each one. So here we go:

Kris Range and I were inseparable from the ages of 16 to 30, up until he moved to Sweden in 2009. We've lived, traveled, ate (despite our opposing diets), started small unsuccessful companies, almost killed each other driving and even flew across the country to play practical jokes on our other friends. For lack of a better term, Kris and I grew up together. One of my favorite memories of Kris happens to be the most relevant to Tattoo Tuesday. Around 10 years ago, I introduced Kris to James Cumberland, my tattoo artist. About a week later after the introduction, he had an appointment set up for his first tattoo. Now I don't know what he's going to write about but let me tell you, he was nervous. When the day came, I told him I would drive him to the appointment. He didn't talk much on the ride over to the tattoo shop. I planned on just dropping him off but as his Hetero life partner, I proudly declared "I'll sit with you and hold your hand if you cry". Now I can say with 100% certainty he did not cry during that outline. Unnfortunately though for Kris he could not see the tattoo being done on his leg as he was lying down. This posed a problem for my dear swede, he was flying blind. About 10 minutes into what would be a 3+ hour long sitting, he gasps, looks up at me and asks me a question. (I can hardly fight back the laughter as I write this and imagine what he was thinking.)

Kris looks up at me in a very serious manner and asks "Is he almost done??"

So without further ado, Kris...

  
Name and blog name: Kris Range // http://blog.krisrange.com/

Age: 29

Occupation: Technical Director at Dareville (http://www.dareville.com)

Age of first tattoo: 21

Favorite tattoo: RFTC rocketship-ape

Featured tattoo/location: Left sleeve

Artist/shop/location of feature tattoo: Upper sleeve: Jimmy Cumberland, Fredricksburg, VA. Lower sleeve: Nick Baxter, New Haven, CT

1) Tell us about your featured tattoo- is there a background story or special meaning? Why did you choose this particular piece of art?

It's a full sleeve depicting various topics related to environmentalism and veganism. The main theme is taking back life/nature from those who are destroying it. The upper portion was done first by Jimmy Cumberland around '02-'03. It depicts humans, in this case an animal rights activist, freeing tortured animals from a vivisection labratory. A year or so later, Nick Baxter started the lower portion. The lower portion shows "nature", in the form of various animals, retaliating against a logger who is destroying their natural habitat.

I'm extremely happy with how the entire tattoo came out. Both artists did an incredible job with it and props go to Nick for being able to incorporate a previous work seamlessly into a continuous thought.

I chose it because the themes are a big part of who I am and this sleeve has been my way to express these beliefs in a permanent way. That's the point of tattoos right? And especially now that I live in
Stockholm, which is a country full of meatball and hot dog wrapped mashed potato bread roll-loving people. Though, in it's defence, we do have some pretty good vegan establishments and the best falafel. Hands down. It's better than anywhere else in Europe or the USA.

One story which I feel I need to share because its a funny story, if not an slightly embarrassing one showcasing my inability to proof-read the English language. About two years after I had finished my tattoo with Jimmy, a friend of mine was looking at my sleeve and noticed something wrong. He goes, "Does that say 'Posion'?" Fuckkkk...I called up my good friend Alex Z. who was working with Jimmy at the time and said 'Dude, so it seems I've got a misspelling on my arm!'. I remember Jimmy in the background laughing and saying something to the extent of "that's great. If he wants it fixed, tell him theres no way I'm doing it." The word itself is really small but I do find in hilarious though that it took 2 years out of all my friends/family/random people looking at it to figure that out.

2) Do you have any other tattoos?  If so, what do you have and where?

My first tattoo was done by Jimmy Cumberland and it is a play off a Sick of it All t-shirt design (I think 'We Stand Alone' era?) where a samauri is killing a dragon but instead of the samauri it's a 50's
style robot.

I also I have a Rocket From The Cript tattoo done by Kenny Brown. It's on the back of my left leg that was done before the last RFTC show that my friends Alex, Brad and I flew to San Diego for. That is
probably my favorite because I have such fond memories of that trip with those two. Speedo, if you ever read this: I'm sorry we ruined your last show DVD with our costumes...but you deserved it for canceling the daily tour that weekend at Swami HQ.

The last one is a D.C. hardcore flag done on my left ankle. A group of friends got these done on the last night that one of our good friends was in D.C. before he moved to Los Angeles.

3) Do you plan on getting more?

Yes! It's been 5 years now since my last. I have a few ideas that I want to get, I just need to find the right artist.

4) How do your family and friends feel about your tattoo(s)?  Have you run into any adversity or negativity because of them? 

Almost all the people I grew up with in D.C. have tattoos so it's always been the norm. Many of us have the same exact one thinking about it...but specifically, I've always expected someone to give me real shit around the animal rights themes, but each time I explain it and prepare myself for some really negative remark, people usually just say that they respect the entire concept and idea, which is actually really amazing. Art and music makes for the best politics.

The only actual negativity I've ever gotten towards any of my tattoos is from my mother. She's can be pretty liberal but shes from Sweden and I would say, until recently, tattoos haven't been that accepted
there. Though now, it's on par with the US. So, I hid them from her initially. That tactic worked for a while, until my younger sister ratted me out....but it took her a few years to get used to it, but as
with everything, you usually need to gradually ease someone into a new idea or concept before they start to accept it. Now, she brags to all her friends that her son has tattoos and explains all the concepts.

5) Any advice for those interested in getting tattooed but haven't gotten one yet?

Be patient. Find the right artist. Think over your work for a while before you decide to get it or not. It will give you time to really decide if it's for you or not. Don't be afraid to tell the artist if you don't like the design. Oh, and don't think about what it's going to look like when you are 60. It's going to look like shit....but so are you.