• Please read this entire page before messaging - it answers a lot of FAQ’s.
Clark aims for perfection and takes the necessary time for each client. • With over 40,000 hours in the skin and now in his early 60's - Clark is privately tattooing up to 5 people a week (one person a day).
for consultations email [email protected] Clark specializes in classic style Japanese tattoos, works by appointment only, and charges $165 per hour.
Contacting Clark is only done through email at [email protected], please do not use Facebook, instagram or other social media apps. Clark’s wife, Terri, assists with his emails and the scheduling. Terri is known for providing a better experience in communication and scheduling than Clark himself. (Responses may take a few days due to her having a separate full-time job, patience is appreciated).
• Sessions are Wednesday—Sunday at 1:00p. Off Monday & Tuesday - Feel free to let us know which of these days are best for you, but remember 1:00p is the meeting point, Clark needs to wrap it up by 7:00 or 8:00 (9:00 at the latest). ~ • E-mails are answered in the order received. Please be patient and understanding... it's never our intention to put anyone off. • Clark works from a private, invite only, one on one shop. It is quiet and not open to the public. You will be sent the shop address once we’re all set up to meet and discuss your tattoo. ~ Contacting Clark should be the final step in your tattoo process, after having your own internal discussions, personally being sure about your decision. It is also highly recommended to save up your money first. This is a valuable piece of personal soul touching art that Clark treats with the utmost seriousness.
Clark also enjoys the smaller, single-or-short-session tattoos! These are priced by the piece.
~ Heads up! Clark is sometimes heavily booked up, the workload ebbs and flows: sometimes available in a month or two, sometimes booked solid for a year & sometimes even more. Also he doesn’t take fix-ups, cover-ups, or finish-ups.
When messaging, please include the theme, the size or area of the tattoo, whether you prefer black & grey or color, and whether you want a background or no background.
If you are traveling from afar, booking multiple consecutive days are best.
For smaller, single-session or less time-consuming work, a consult may not be required, but it could still be helpful to communicate via a back-and-forth discussion. Clark designs each tattoo individually for each client. ~ • HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE ??? -The duration of a tattoo depends on various factors such as skins softness or toughness, swelling, the actual designs complexity, black & grey or color the line thickness ect, ect …. For a standard 3” to 10” tattoo, the average time ranges from 1 to 5 hours, usually completed in one visit. large full sized tattooing is done in ongoing 1-5 hour sessions. Now I know I’m repeating this but it is helpful to understand — each sessions time-frame are based on any number of factors, such the clients swelling, their ability in pain management, their ability to relax, also just their individual skin’s acceptance of the process as well as how complex the drawing is etc…. Everyone’s skin is different, each person handles it differently too. The best advice is to relax and be a limp rag doll, do not clinch and tighten up or the tattoo will go in too shallow and need a go-over later do to a week looking area. There are so many things that make each tattoo take its own path, some go quick and effortless and some need all sorts of go overs for example; because of push-back.
Full back color tattoos in-skin total take approximately 30-60 hours, while arms and legs may each require 25-40 or35-60 total hours respectively. As for a full suit, which includes multiple body parts and different design considerations, it could take anywhere from 100-300 hours. Factors like skin condition; if dry and thick or soft and moisturized does affect the overall time needed to complete let alone the design!. ~ • Tattoo sessions are best done - weekly, but bi-weekly, tri-weekly or monthly are fine, all pre scheduled until the work is finished. Random 2 or 3 times a year is NOT a good approach to this style, it can produce an un-balanced tattoo ... but of course we can spread em out if you need ~ save up money first so that a smooth flow in the process can be achieved. ... • Sessions - these short length sessions create the best healing for the best final look of the tattoo. These short session are how it has been done in Japan for over 200 years, it is absolutely traditional to do it this way.
-The outline usually takes up the first 2 or 3 sessions, next is the backgrounding (if any), the last thing done is the shading and or coloring as well as the thick line sculpting.
The first day is usually a consultation* ~ that's a more in-depth discussion of the tattoo's theme and perhaps a discussion of how many appointments you may need to make etc.
Clark enjoys giving each design flow for each particular body shape, the layout and flow is utmost in full-size tattooing. He'll tell you if what you want will work well on your body and if the amount of skin you are thinking about tattooing will work well with your idea and theme. He'll discuss your overall composition and/or, if needed, how to adjust it for true classic / traditional styling. • The second visit can be another more in-depth discussion, or it can be measurements, or it is when we start tattooing. - If you’re from out of town it's the norm to book 3 or 4 days in a row for each visit... if you would like to do this it's no problem - just let us know so that we can book accordingly • Walk-in-shop tattooing and what Clark does are a bit different from one another. Walk-in-shop tattoos are often done without previous consultation and typically in a slight rush without multiple sessions. Both styles are great, I enjoy the memories from the 20+ years of street shop tattooing... Yet the styles are different from one another ~ though neither one is better. ~ • The traditional Japanese style is very powerful, bold, nostalgic and beautiful all at the same time, it is not a delicate realist airbrush style. - This style is not done in pastel or transparent tones, that is a completely different style of art / tattoo. - Classic Japanese tattooing has a specific simple and bold look to it, and that is Clarks passion. make sure that you understand & love the classic Japanese style (1820-1880) as well as its scale (size) on the body. Please be sure it IS what you want before you reach out. This style of tattoo is based specifically on Japans tradition and the artists that lived in the mid 1800's... to be specific - 1820 to 1880.
• HELPFUL INFO Clark will create something you will both be proud of by collaborating with a simple short description from you. That's the normal process, It is a fun collaboration between you both. And of course Including specific details if you have them.
• Most of the time what we receive from the client is the "theme and or main image". Most often referring to the clients favorite late Edo period Ukiyo e.
(PS: modern tourists items like daruma, happy/waving cat, a piece of sushi etc aren’t very traditional in the Japanese tattoo, but if you really want one, let’s do it as its own little tattoo, Clark would rather not blast it into the true traditional tattoo).
• Traditional tattooing can be done in Black & Grey or Color no matter theukiyo-e. • Using "my imagination" from your description instead of supplied ukiyo-e is great as well. ~ • In order to understand the true classic style ~There are many great artists from the mid-1800’s era, but the best artist to start with is "Kuniyoshi". Kuniyoshi is the godfather of traditional Japanese tattooing. The Japanese "tattoo art" is specifically related to his style. Kuniyoshi is completely intertwined with the beginning of traditional tattooing, they were, in the 1800s, one-in-the-same and still are today.
• If you would like more education on Japanese art of the mid 1800's check out my page specifically dedicated: called. “the Japan Style”CLICK HERE
• the original artists - Utagawa Kuniyoshi ~ 歌川国芳 1797–1861 Utagawa Kunisada ~ 歌川国貞, also named Utagawa Toyokuni III ~ 三代歌川豊国 1786 –1865 . Kawanabe Kyōsai ~ 河鍋暁斎 1831–1889. Baiōken Eishun ~ 梅翁軒永春, also named Hasegawa Eishun ~ 長谷川永春 1710–1755. Tsukioka Yoshitoshi ~ 月岡芳年, also named Taiso Yoshitoshi ~ 大蘇芳年 1839 –1892 Toyohara Kunichika ~ 豊原国周 1835 –1900 . Katsushika Hokusai ~ 葛飾北斎 1760–1849. Utagawa Yoshitsuya ~ 歌川芳艶 ,1822–1866, also named Kōko Yoshitsuya ~ 甲胡芳艶and asIchieisai Yoshitsuya ~ 英斎 芳艶 .