Carl Hallowell Blog | Traditional Japanese Irezumi & Tebori Tattoos

Yang advancing over Yin

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On December 27, 2015

Mr Z has conquered another leg tattoo session. He drives up from Austin to get tattooed here in Dallas. This work in progress is executed with the traditional and singular black ink of Japanese tattooing, sumi. It must be hand ground and prepared for each tattoo, one at a time. I am very proud […]

Japan, Land of A Thousand Mysteries

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On November 24, 2015

Japan is the jewel center of the arts. Stretching backwards into time, nothing has been undone, or taken away. The rich tapestry of symbols, of images, of virtues, has only been added to. Modern glass buildings spring up around Shinto shrines that are hundreds of years old. Uniformed schoolchildren bounce past monks under large, pointy […]

The Flower Priest

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On October 16, 2015

Traditional Japanese Back Tattoos What to say of this, a piece I worked on for years, on a great friend and a great artist, who’s strength is equal to his talent… Over and over what impresses me is the ability of my customers to stand up to the intense physical pain of tattooing… This pain […]

Peacock works for a cover up

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On October 8, 2015

Sitting up late working, maybe its not tattooing, not painting… Strangely, its writing, one of the first art forms I ran to, after I had read the lyric sheets for everyone from 7 Seconds to The Smiths, even as I recoiled from the reading assignments in english class… school sucked. I had my friend draw […]

Autumn Mix Irezumi

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On September 21, 2015

Every customer is just as important as the next one. “You are only as good as your last tattoo.” And yet, there is an added pressure when you know the tattoo will be seen more than others, or, when you know that you will see the tattoo more than others. But it is a pressure […]

Tenka Gomen; Kabuki Kumadori

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On August 10, 2015

Traditional Japanese Sleeve Tattoo Rememberin’ back when i knew every tattoo shop in town… Next came the era when I actually knew most of the tattooers… Of course i started tattooing in Amarillo, and spent the bulk of my career tattooing in Ft. Worth, and am now tattooing in Dallas, the big city, the Big […]

Sumi Botan

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On July 28, 2015

Dallas New Tattoo Artist This will be my last shared post from Carlhallowell.com to Facebook, for a while at least. I want to keep all content exclusive from site to site, including my instagram feed @featherhand and the shop feed @elmstreettattoo. The purpose of all of these accounts is primarily to showcase my traditional tattooing […]

Peony sketches for HR

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On July 15, 2015

The old way is tired. The new way is fresh. The old attitude is jaded, the new, exuberant. Clinging to old ways, old habits prohibits renewal. Renewal is natural, renewal is springtime, renewal is vital. Renewal is not stopping the mind. Not stopping the mind allows it to be everywhere at once. This is the […]

Tenka Gomen

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On July 7, 2015

Ohayo gozaimasu! Sujibori irezumi today. I am practicing the japanese language now, in addition to studying it’s great images, which I have been pursuing for over twenty years. I am also studying Yamato’s written languages, and the calligraphy practice of shodo to write them. It is a slow journey, but it is a passion that […]

Liberty School

Posted by Carl Hallowell
On June 27, 2015

Liberty Electric Tattooing was my tattoo parlor I opened in 2002 and ran until 2009. I was run out of my hometown of Ft Worth, Texas by city planners, gentrification, and big business. I fought like the samurai the tattoo business had taught me to become. But my two swords were no match for the […]

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