✷ 𝓐𝙿𝚁𝙸𝙻 𝙱𝐎𝐎𝙺𝚂 𝐎𝙿𝙴𝙽 ✷

back with fantasy flash designs, a call for spring tattoo appointments, trans in 2O25 reflections & tattoo pen dreamz

Hello friends, enemies and tattoo loving people! It’s Bug here, i n c h i n g my way out, like Spring out of Winter, from top surgery revision recovery.

Opening my books up for April and the rest of March, and here with some new fantasy themed flash for you. As a treat, I’ll be releasing a few extra bonus flash pieces here, in this series, that aren’t published elsewhere. So tattoo email newsletter subscribers can have first dibs! ;-)

All unmarked dates, from Sunday to Tuesday, and Wednesdays towards the ends of the month are available for sessions at 12pm or 3pm at my private studio at the City Centre Motor Hotel. Here’s a quick link to my booking form, website and active flash folder.

Drawing this series has been really fun! I feel my style lends well to the genre, and have been experimenting with more dark, intense shading. I think my inspirations are vintage fantasy illustration (the kinds you see on paperbacks in thrift stores) and spending my 20’s around punks who played Magic the Gathering and Table Top Roleplaying games.

I’ve always felt this genre perpetuates some bigotry in caricatures. For example the blatant anti semitism in portrayals of bank goblins in Harry Potter, the mystification of Little People in characters of dwarfs, the hyper Aryan coding of Lord of the Rings, or the ‘tribalistic,’ portrayal of Orcs. I want to be intentional and cautious in making fantasy art considering that. And I want to veer away from perpetuating the shitty parts, with the exception of being invited into reclamation.

Here are some bonus designs!

I also want to say thank you to friends and everyone who helped out by pitching in on my raffle! It’s been a huge support and relief, being able to take a pause from regular money stress while my bodies been in recovery mode.

I announced the winners, back on February 15th over instagram.

Prize #1 Custom tattoo with no limit: Tate Zavits
Prize #2 Any flash of their choosing under $500: Leopold Knox
Prize #3 Digital illustration by me of their choice: Beck Teeth
Prize #4 Surpise original art and a merch pack: Kelly Booth

On a personal note, the timing of getting this surgery has been intense! Witnessing genocide set in motion of other trans people right next door. I know this neighboring colonial occupation I live in is not far behind, and even under threat of being annexed by the American one. I feel so desperate to support and help other trans people through it, and massively under resourced to do so. I feel like I am watching the manufactured moral panic of a demographic of people that are older than time (trans peeps) also function as a distraction as the colonial project continues to genocide BIPOC and undocumented people. I know division is a key in the oppressors toolset, and we can come together by honouring what we have in common and putting aside the way ego blocks real solidarity. What a time to return to going under the knife!

It took me roughly a year and a half of hand written appeals, solo navigating bizarrely contradicting bureaucracy and arguing about the arbitrary legal definitions of trans medicalism; to convince the health authority to cover my revisions. But it happened, and they gave in so this bit of gender euphoria feels like a serious win! I started feeling my confidence and spirit return to my body in subtle ways as soon as I got the news. Sometimes, despite being out over a decade, I’m still surprised to acknowledge my own transness! The way HRT is the best psychiatric care I’ve ever had, or the way these modifications unify the crossroads of body and spirit for me.

Also I was not prepared for the extra hot spicy of extended incision lines from existing scars under my armpits and chopped and restitched existing graph! Holy. It’s been inspiring me to want to remake a template from my initial top surgery preparation document I’ve shared around a bunch for others to use since 2019! Feel free to comment if you’d like to see it.

Other than that I’ve been considering and feeling mentally ready to upgrade my tattoo machine and seriously lusting after the Chyenne brand 3.5mm Sola Nova Unlimited Nebula Stardust. I’m really interested in shifting to cordless machines! And super fascinated by it’s internal voltage mechanism, and dual steady and responsive modes.

The machine I’ve been using currently, is a coveted favourite the original Chyenne Hawk. The first model of tattoo pen by the brand and in the industry at large! But it was gifted to me, so I don’t have a warranity to use to get it serviced come the time it will need it and I find it very heavy to hold.

I’ve also been considering a Hornet Pen by Right Stuff, which is known for being light weight, smooth and is more affordable but less versatile. Big dreams for a guy with no savings! Hahaha.

Anyways, if you’ve gotten this far thank you for real for reading!

Feedback is always welcome. &&& If you’ve been considering a tattoo please do hit me up, and send this newsletter to your friends off social media. Bookmark my linktree for easy access to my links, like my booking form, flash folder and website and feel free to email me anytime at bugcruickshank@gmail.com to talk shop.

╰( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )つ──☆*:・ﾟ
Love and Solidarity,

🕸️ Bug 🕸️