Tattoo Sighting: Paul Dobleman

This nautical tattoo is by one of my favorite artists working in the American traditional style, Paul Anthony Dobleman, who works at Spider Murphy's Tattoo in San Rafael, CA.

Apparel Sighting: Black Market Art Company

Black Market Art Company offers a range of apparel and canvas prints highlighting work by tattoo artists. Given the seeming affinity tattooers and tattoo collectors have for BTs, it's not that surprising to find at least one in their catalog. This V neck ladies shirt features art by Thea Fear of a sailor pup smoking a pipe (don't try that at home with your Mugsy dog).

You can purchase this shirt through Black Market Art Company directly, or through the Inked Shop.

Art Sighting: Bryn Perrott

Bryn Perrott works in the venerable tradition of woodcutting, using chisels to carve out patterns in slabs of wood. She then inks the wood to reveal her cuts in sharp relief. She talks about her work in an interview at Nine Bullets. Although she tends to favor the style and subjects common to American traditional tattoos, she also is fond of illustrating (wo)man's best friend, especially the Boston Terrier.

Based in Morgantown, WV she hones her craft at Wild Zero Studios. Her work is also featured on the cover of the new LP by Lucero, entitled Texas and Tennessee. Although she doesn't seem to have an official website, you can find the majority of her work on her Tumblr blog DeerJerk, and her artwork is featured on apparel and jewelry over at Shirts and Destroy. She also has a Twitter account under DeerFaceKilla.

Tattoo Sighting: Matt Houston

I'm currently apprenticing to be a tattoo artist. This involves not only learning lots of technical knowledge about tattoo machines, bloodborne pathogens, and the actual process of placing ink in skin properly, but (insofar as I'm able to) also an immersion into the culture of tattooing. As a result, I follow a great deal of wonderful tattoo artists and blogs for inspiration, read a lot of magazines and books, and experience conventions.

It's remarkable to me not only how many tattoo aficionados choose to adorn themselves with representations of their BT family members, but also how many tattoo artists themselves share their lives with these great dogs. There just seems to me to be a high correspondence between loving tattoos and this particular breed (Boston Terriers are pretty badass). I've been able to collect many images representing both facets of this correspondence and I hope to share them with you.

The first one I'm offering is of a pooch named Ninja, tattooed by Matt Houston. Matt originally hails from the UK, but is currently working in Vancouver, BC, Canada at the Gastown Tattoo Parlour. He works primarily in a Neo-American Traditional style, characterized by bold lines and limited color palette. You can find more of his work on both Tumblr and Instagram.