TWO HANDS TATTOO

CLARES HAMMER

2012-02-05T00:41:00.001-08:00

BENS FLYING NUN TATTOO

2012-02-05T00:39:00.000-08:00

MELBOURNE

2012-01-12T20:11:00.000-08:00

Here are some iphone pics of some of the tattoos I did at Green Lotus in Melbourne.

Green Lotus is a really great shop with the most friendly and talented guys and girls, I'm looking forward to spending more time there in the future.

THE END

2012-01-03T21:06:00.000-08:00

TWO HANDS IN NEON

2011-12-30T19:24:00.000-08:00

GIFT VOUCHERS FOR XMAS

2011-12-08T15:54:00.001-08:00

I've been busy making vouchers. Each one can be priced from $50, comes in a beautiful Verge de France envelope from Pencil Boutique and is sealed with the Two Hands official wax seal.

FLASH DAY IV: AT THE TATTOO CONVENTION

2011-11-20T12:05:00.000-08:00

Here's my flash sheet for our next flash day, which we are doing at the Auckland tattoo convention on the weekend of November 26th and 27th. As always each design will be tattooed at a specially discounted price and once only.
Contact the shop for further info on 3766999 or twohandstattoo@gmail.com.

BORN TOO LATE II

2011-11-08T11:52:00.001-08:00

Temporary tattoos for the Born Too Late chopper show.

ILLUSTRATION FOR THE DEPARTMENT STORE MAGAZINE

2011-10-10T18:55:00.000-07:00

Here's an illustration I did for The Department Store magazine of Emma from Lucy and the Powder Room.

BIRD AND SNAKE

2011-10-10T18:49:00.000-07:00

FLASH DAY III

2011-10-10T18:44:00.001-07:00

TATTOOS FOR NBR NZ OPERA

2011-09-27T17:04:00.000-07:00

I recently designed temporary tattoos for NBR NZ Opera's production of Cav & Pag.
Three of the main characters: Nedda, Tonio and Beppe, are members of a traveling carnival and are heavily tattooed with quite primitive 'carni' type tattoos. Each characters tattoos reflect his or her roles in the performance.
I made them all very bold and graphic so they were easily readable from a distance, and seeing them on stage on the opening night was really exciting. It was the first time I'd seen an opera and I was really impressed. It's an incredible production from the actors right through to the set design and the costume department.

A BRIAR ROSE

2011-09-20T17:43:00.001-07:00

FLASH DAY II

2011-08-26T00:39:00.001-07:00

These are my designs from our second flash day. Each design was done at a specially discounted price just so I could add them to my portfolio. I'll be posting the finished tattoos shortly. You can see a tribal influence creeping in, that's a direction I'm consciously moving towards, although not in the 'spikey-neo-tribal' tradition that we are all too familiar with. Basically I'm just obsessing over lots of solid black.

ROWANS OTHER HAND

2011-08-26T00:34:00.001-07:00

ANNAS LION

2011-08-26T00:32:00.001-07:00

A SKULL AND OUROBOROS

2011-08-26T00:28:00.000-07:00

Her first tattoos, both in one session. So rad.

A CAMEO

2011-08-26T00:26:00.000-07:00

ZOE AND MORGAN: DESIGN WORK

2011-08-02T21:15:00.001-07:00

Here are some designs I did for Zoe and Morgan: the collections logo and two drawings based on some of their pieces.

ZOE AND MORGAN: TATTOO PARLOUR ETIQUETTE

2011-08-02T20:45:00.000-07:00

This is Zoe and Morgans SS2011 campaign shot up here at Two Hands by Darryl Ward.
The collections name is inspired by the idea of tattooing as a sacred ritual, a right of passage.
My favourite piece of jewelry that I own is a gold Zoe and Morgan winged skull with diamonds for eyes, and many of my tattoo designs are influenced by medals, badges and regalia so I am super excited to be involved with them on this campaign.
Visit ZandM's sight and see the rest of their beautiful jewelry by clicking here

CHRYSTALS ROSE

2011-07-06T19:31:00.000-07:00

BENS 3/4 SLEEVE

2011-07-01T16:12:00.000-07:00

Based on Durer's Melancholy woodcut this is two sessions in, another two to complete.

SOME TATTOOS FROM FLASH DAY

2011-06-27T18:09:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to everybody that got tattooed on Flash Day. Looking forward to doing it again soon.

BORN TOO LATE

2011-06-27T18:07:00.000-07:00

A TUI FOR ELODIE TUI

2011-06-20T17:41:00.000-07:00

CLARES CHEST

2011-06-20T17:40:00.000-07:00

ROWANS HAND

2011-06-20T17:39:00.001-07:00

ANAS MEDAL

2011-06-20T17:23:00.000-07:00

The 'Evil Eye' is common in ancient Turkish symbilism.
Ana's sons name is Indie and her Great Grandfather was a Turkish knight.

PILOT MAGAZINE

2011-06-20T17:14:00.000-07:00

Here's some temporary tattoos I did for on Louis for Pilot. Shot by Guy Coombes.

FLASH DAY

2011-06-14T16:25:00.000-07:00

Saturday June 25th is Flashday. That means I will be doing massively discounted tattoos. The catch- you have to choose them off my new flash sheet. These are all 'folio pieces', tattoos that I want to add to my portfolio to show the style and direction that I'm taking my craft. Each piece will only be done once. To reserve one you can either pop into the shop or email twohandstattoo@gmail.com.

NEW YORK CITY

2011-06-01T02:33:00.001-07:00

I got back from New York on Sunday after doing a short guest spot at my favourite Brooklyn tattoo parlour East River Tattoo. They have a beautifully set up shop owned by Duke Riley and managed by Sue Jeiven. Sue has got to be the friendliest and most professional tattooer Ive had the privelege of working with. Maxime Buchi (of Sang Bleu fame) and Liam Sparkes (who tattoos everyone I know in London) also work there when theyre in New York. I'm looking forward to meeting the full team next time I'm up there.
Click here to check out East Rivers sight.

WIN A FREE TATTOO

2011-06-01T02:21:00.000-07:00

To win a free $150 tattoo voucher with me visit the Groove Guide site by clicking here and leave a comment

SECOND SESSION ON CLAIRES SLEEVE

2011-05-08T19:55:00.000-07:00

GREGG MURRELLS BOTANICAL ETCHING

2011-05-08T19:39:00.000-07:00

PHILLIPS GALLEON AND SEA MONSTER

2011-05-08T19:35:00.000-07:00

FIRST SESSION ON CLAIRES SLEEVE

2011-05-01T23:46:00.001-07:00

Really looking forward to getting this one finished. there are lots more lines to go on the hawk and the flower will be dot shaded.

EMMAS GRANDMA

2011-05-01T21:56:00.000-07:00

This is a framed portrait of Emma's grandma. The actual photograph was taken in the 1950's at a dance where her boyfriend was playing in the band. I love the vintage wallpaper in the background. Emma's grandma loves jewelry, so we draped pearls and earrings around the frame, a theme we will continue with the rest of her sleeve.

RACHELS FIRST TATTOO

2011-05-01T21:42:00.000-07:00

Rachel asked for a swallow and banner. I'm really happy with this one because I've stylised it very differently to how I would usually do a swallow (I've been doing Jerry style 'blue birds' for a long time). I drew this one referencing a photograph of a real life swallow and I laughed to myself because I think it was the first time in ten years of tattooing that I've googled for a real one.

NEW FLASH

2011-05-01T21:26:00.000-07:00

Animals, regalia and geometric flowers- three of my favourite things right now. I drew up this sheet a few weeks ago and have already tattooed the hawk on a new client and she's getting the goat soon too.

TATTOO PARLOUR ETIQUETTE

2011-05-01T06:24:00.000-07:00

Tattoo Parlour Etiquette- the autumn/winter collection by jewelers Zoe and Morgan is inspired by classic tattoo imagery. I designed the banner logo for them on the invite for their Paris and London fashion week shows. Can't wait to see the rest of the campaign (shot at Two Hands) when the collection is released for the northern hemispheres winter later in the year.

COMING SOON...

2011-05-01T05:42:00.000-07:00

I designed this logo for the upcoming Stolen Girlfriends Club collaboration with Jeffery Campbel. They're doing a western style boot so we figured a cute cowgirl would do the trick. Watch out for some more design work by myself for the SGC boys in the future.

SOME PHOTOS BY DUNCAN INNES

2011-05-01T05:08:00.000-07:00

Photographer Duncan Innes was at the shop recently and was kind enough to take some amazing pics. You can see more of his work at his websight.

STOLEN RUMS NEW WEBSITE

2011-04-21T03:32:00.000-07:00

Stolen Rum served some amazing cocktails at our Ponsonby store opening in May last year. Recently they launched their new website which includes a section where they profile their friends including Atip Wananaruk for whom I did temp tattoos for the Pulp shoot, my pretty girlfriend Jordan Rondel/The Caker and Myself. Check it out by clicking here

GIRL WITH A SWAN

2011-03-21T01:12:00.000-07:00

JAY BULLETPROOF: NECK SCRIPT

2011-03-18T18:40:00.001-07:00

KANDARS INDIAN CHIEF

2011-03-18T18:36:00.000-07:00

PIKACHUNES: LOVE LESS

2011-03-18T18:26:00.000-07:00

Pikachunes makes some of my favourite music. Click here to have a listen.

MY BOOTH

2011-02-06T18:04:00.001-08:00

JEMS DEATHS HEAD MOTH

2011-02-06T17:54:00.000-08:00

THIS IS A POLYHEDRON

2010-12-07T11:37:00.000-08:00

A HEART WITH ROSES

2010-12-07T11:33:00.000-08:00

TODAY I DID SOME CARPENTRY

2010-12-07T11:16:00.000-08:00

I spent my day off building this mount for my tattoo machines out of an old piece of wood I found in my parents garage.

MATT BENNS SLEEVE

2010-12-06T11:30:00.000-08:00

NEW FLASH SHEETS

2010-11-16T11:29:00.001-08:00

Today I finished a new set of flash (tattoo design sheets). Evidently I have a new obsession with Regalia which seems to work in nicely with the mystical, primitive and mortality themes I usually like to play with.

NEW TWO HANDS T-SHIRTS

2010-11-10T17:17:00.000-08:00

Designed by our dark lord apprentice Joshua Solomon, these new T's are available in every size in both boys and girls cuts. Satin lives.

YVETTES CROSS

2010-10-31T04:51:00.000-07:00

VOUCHERS

2010-10-31T04:43:00.001-07:00

I've been busy making new vouchers. Each one is hand drawn and unique, can be priced from $50 and makes a perfect Christmas gift.

SOMETIMES WE LET OUR FRIENDS TATTOO US

2010-10-31T03:38:00.000-07:00

Sam Montgomery tattooing a pyramid/volcano on Capilli. Sam shoots our ad campaigns.

My good friend Lucy Hunt doing a pair of crossed arrows on my leg.

Pebbles Hooper doing a bone on my leg and a cloud with a little face on it. Pebs has actually done about four little tattoos on me now including a very pro-looking anchor.
When she's not busy giving me new tats Pebbles is a stylist and blogger and she has styled all of our ad campaigns. check her blog out by clicking here.

Occasionally I even tattoo myself.

I guess when you have as many tattoos as we do a couple of extra little ones is no big thing. And when you spend the most part of your working life striving to achieve the cleanest and most consistent lines possible, having some less than perfect 'amateur' work is actually very refreshing.

ANDREWS NEW OUTLINE

2010-10-20T01:11:00.001-07:00

REGALIA

2010-10-20T01:02:00.000-07:00

BILL MURRAY AS STEVE ZISSOU

2010-10-14T13:09:00.000-07:00

When we moved Two Hands to Ponsonby we chose The Life Aquatic as the theme for our opening party. So when someone came in recently and asked for a colour portrait of Steve Zissou I was super excited. It's actually the first time I've done a human portrait in colour, so it was a little bit of a challenge and loads of fun.

WHILE IM AWAKE IM AT WAR

2010-10-14T12:12:00.000-07:00

Flip Grater asked Scissorface Design, Isaac Likes, Twenty-Seven names and myself to each come up with a tshirt to celebrate her new album 'While I'm awake I'm at war'.
Amazingly we all came up with animal themed designs. That's my stags head above. Flip makes beautiful folk music, you can listen to her album here.
If you live in Auckland you can buy the tees at the Parinto pop-up store down the road from Two Hands at 181 Ponsonby rd. You can also order online by clicking here.

BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER

2010-09-22T00:10:00.001-07:00

GREGS SAILORS FORTUNE

2010-09-22T00:08:00.000-07:00

STEVES DIA DE LOS MUERTOS GIRL

2010-09-22T00:04:00.000-07:00

THE NEW POSTERS

2010-09-21T01:23:00.000-07:00

photography // SAM MONTGOMERY
styling // PEBBLES HOOPER
makeup // HANNAH WILSON for MAC

art direction // STEFAN SINCLAIR

LINAS PEACE BIRD

2010-09-21T01:15:00.000-07:00

WHITE RING

2010-09-18T20:47:00.000-07:00

TEMP TATTOOS FOR REMIX

2010-09-11T03:11:00.000-07:00

I recently worked with stylist Atip Wananuruk doing temporary tattoos for a sunglasses editorial in Remix Magazine. Each look was themed around a style of tattoo: Japanese, 80's
"fineline", 70's biker, Native American, Russian prison style, floral and 50's traditional American.
I only had an hour to spend on each one (as opposed to 3 or 4 hours for a real tattoo) as each model was timed to come in every hour from 9am til 3, and from there would go straight to the shoot. I learned a lot and by the time I did the last one (the 50's sailor girl above) I had my technique locked down. I think my over all favorites are the sailor girl and the Navajo chest piece.

SUMMER INK

2010-09-11T03:05:00.001-07:00

So here are the final shots as they appear in Remix, photographed by Jessica Sim
Check out jessica's sight over here.

HANNAH'S APACHE

2010-08-18T03:19:00.001-07:00

SAM'S SAILOR

2010-08-18T03:16:00.000-07:00

TWO HANDS PONSONBY

2010-08-16T02:40:00.000-07:00

TATTOOED LEATHER

2010-08-16T01:23:00.000-07:00

Recently I've been experimenting with tattooing onto leather. Working with a medium that doesn't bleed or breath or twitch was a bit of a learning curve but after some trial and error I've got a technique locked down. I'd like to do some collaborations in the near future. I'm thinking maybe boot straps and bags.
(pics by Pebbles Hooper)

PAGAN WINTER: a sneak peek at two hands tattoo's new advertorial

2010-08-11T05:06:00.000-07:00

Robin Of Sherwood, a favorite television series of my childhood provided the inspiration for our new advertising campaign. Shot by Sam Montgomery on a Holga camera in Woodhill Forest and styled by the multi talented Pebbles Hooper (the digital pics above are by her) with make up and hair by Hannah Wilson. This time we showed a combination of real tattoos on Sid and Kandar, as well as temporary tattoos that I drew on Lily and Derya.
We hired a generator and borrowed my flatmates fog machine to get some ethereal mist in the woods.
Here's my favorite Robin Of Sherwood clip:

DONT DARE STARE

2010-08-05T04:35:00.000-07:00

MR. CASH

2010-08-04T03:31:00.001-07:00

SANG BLEU V

2010-08-01T14:55:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my friend Aston, I recently got a copy of SANG BLEU issue 5.
Split into two volumes with 308 pages combining tattoo culture, fetish, art, fashion editorials, interviews and essays it is a true masterpiece, a magazine that would be kept for a lifetime. I think what makes Sang Bleu so special is the new territory it is exploring: the combination of tattooing, high fashion and theory presented in an honest and unpretentious way. Available at Magazino for $100, it's the size of 4 or 5 regular magazines, so it's pretty cheap really.

THE PIN-UP BOY

2010-07-22T01:48:00.001-07:00

I've tattooed hundreds of pin-up girls over the years, but never a real pin-up boy. So I decided to develop a pin-up boy template and these are my first two of a planned series. I found very few drawing referances out there. Googling "pin-up girl' will provide many inspirational images by prolific illustrators like Gil Elvgren and Alberto Vargas, but the same cannot be said for the male counter part. Both men and women get pin-up girls tattooed and I'm designing this series in the hope that both guys and girls will be inspired to wear a pin-up boy.

LITHOGRAPHY OF THE SKIN

2010-07-22T01:43:00.001-07:00

KATIE JONES

2010-07-22T01:27:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite customers, Katie Jones, talks fashion, Shortland Street and tattoos in NO Magazine.

HERNE THE HUNTER

2010-07-20T05:36:00.000-07:00

Les Trompe L'Oeil de CHANEL

2010-07-19T04:45:00.000-07:00

CHANELS tattoo inspired stick-ons. Designed by their head make up artist, they are available in packs of 55. From a tattooists perspective some of the designs look a little amature, but in a good way. I love the chains the most.

KRIS VAN ASSCHE

2010-07-19T02:19:00.000-07:00

KRIS VAN ASSCHE had these models decorated with temporary Latino styled tattoos in his SS09 womenswear collection. As well as designing for his own label, Van Assche is artistic director at Dior Homme. A really great magazine called SANG BLEU interviewed him and talked to him about the inspiration behind the tattoos. Check out this magazine and read the interview over here.

ADELLES DREAMCATCHER

2010-07-15T02:11:00.000-07:00

ASHLEIGH AND HER NEW CAT

2010-07-14T01:56:00.000-07:00

TESTING

2010-07-01T05:44:00.001-07:00

PEBBLES HOOPER wearing a hand drawn temporary tattoo that will be featured in TWO HANDS TATTOOs new campaign.

ZARA & DANZIG

2010-06-25T04:00:00.000-07:00

MY JOB

2010-06-25T03:40:00.000-07:00

An article in the SUNDAY NEWS

LANDSCAPE

2010-06-25T03:38:00.000-07:00

photography // SAM MONTGOMERY
styling // PEBBLES HOOPER
makeup // HANNAH WILSON for MAC

art direction // JOSEPH LEARY

FLOWERS FEATHERS AND BEADS

2010-06-25T03:27:00.000-07:00

TWO HANDS on THE WORLD AT YOUR FEAT

2010-06-21T20:59:00.000-07:00

ONNY KAULIMA'S new blog, THE WORLD AT YOUR FEAT has been kind enough to feature an interiors spread on TWO HANDS TATTOO. Check it out over here.

2010-06-07T20:00:00.000-07:00

photography // SAM MONTGOMERY
styling // PEBBLES HOOPER
makeup // HANNAH WILSON for MAC

art direction // JOSEPH LEARY