2 EVOLVE & GODOY REALISM CONTEST

FOR YOU READERS WHO DIDN'T KNOW, WE RAN A "REALISM" TATTOO COMPETITION FOR SOUTH AFRICAN PARTICIPANTS,WITH THE STRONG ASSISTANCE OF BRETT FISCHER FROM 2EVOLVE FAMILY (EXCEPT GARY) FROM SOUTH AFRICA. THEY ARE THE FOREMOST SUPPLIER IN THAT PART OF THE WORLD WHO UPHOLD A STONG ETHIC AND SUPPORT THE UP AND COMING ARTIST. THEIR VALUES, IN AN INDUSTRY WHICH LACKS STANDARDS, ARE A REAL INSPIRATION.

ABOVE, IS THE TATTOO THAT WON. CONGRATULATIONS RASTY!!!

Godoy Competition Results:

"We found it hard to make a decision from the many submissions we have received. The decision was made based on the submissions we received in the time the contest was run, understanding this, the reality is that the results could have been completely different had the contest gone longer! One reason we ran it for such a short time was to encourage enthusiasm to participate.

From Tony Weintraud's Marilyn Manson portrait ...

Sean Perrins smoking guy (above) to Marc Stapelberg submission of that smoooooth wolf and straight razor... Jade McLean's full color fox portrait, Tamar Thorn's geiger piece and portrait of Morrisey... Derek Baker's obvious experience and precision in his Johnny Thuders and baby portraits... everyone kicked ass... really, any of these artists could be seen as professional tattoo roll models!

MORRISEY BY TAMAR THORN

As for the winner... take a look at Rasty Knayles full color entry. The image is not a "real" person yet the technique and execution of this three dimensional character is near perfect. Imagine if this type of character was real, he would be shaded exactly like this. Note the highlights, the shades, the attention paid to the shoe laces, the direction of the light source... this tattoo shows a real eye for detail and understanding of how to reach this outcome. In our minds he is the winner. We took a look at his other submissions and we saw a real versatility in his work. All with that touch of realism that separates imaginary / rudimentary traditional style tattooing from the more advanced technique oriented styles.

By MARCUS FROM WILDFIRE TATTOO

Marc from Young Guns... smooooth wolf.

We wanna thank everyone who participated in the contest. It was really exciting for us to look in our inbox and see submissions coming in! To see that all of you were as eager to be part of this as we and Brett were to put this on... this type of healthy competition coupled with your enthusiasm to showcase advancement in your art is what is needed NOW!!! We need to step things up!

South Africa rules."

-- GODOY TWINS.

THERE IS NO POINT IN USING SH*TTY NEEDLES.

A perfect 7 needle grouping will run along the back of the tube tip without wiggling because the solder is pulled smoothly down from the needle bar to about 3/16" of an inch from the needle tips.

IT IS SUCH A THROW AWAY WORLD! (This is written for non - tattooers as well.) In almost everything, If you don't like it, throw it away - it's cheap technology!! Tattoo machines made in China for $40.00 dollars each, plastic disposable tubes - which is not a bad thing as far as ideas go... then there are the pre made needles!

When we started tattooing in 1985, part of the craft that was still alive and well and very necessary was "needle making". Where you actually took loose pins and soldered them into groupings used for lining, shading.. coloring. These are our paint brushes! The quality of the tattoo partly depends on the way your machine runs, partly on the skill and talent of the artist AND in the quality of the needles - the material, the gauge and the length of the taper...

This blob of solder will cause a needle to wiggle against the back of the tube tip. This was a shader taken right out of the blister pack in a box FULL of pre made needles. And some of these artists think it's the machine's fault.

We aren't just talking about the quality of the stainless steel, we are talking about the length of the tapers, the needle gauge... penetration is everything. Easy penetration = less pain, smoother shading, solid color and perfect crisp lines. These are things that can be regulated by educated artists.

Education is important. THESE days, the craft is lost. Needle making is out, (not for all of us)... Artists can buy whatever they want, and they do so without a care about who's making the needles. All they know is that they save time by buying pre mades. Not all of these pre made needles are good!! If these artists knew what they were looking for, they would NOT buy from most of these suppliers! The cheap product yields higher profits for the supplier but yields patchy color, inconsistent shading and fuzzy lines.

It's not just the solder blobs that have to be watched out for!

Pins come in specific gauges, all the needles in any grouping of pins should be the same gauge AND have the same taper length - this means consistency. Some of these Chinese needle pre-made needle groupings come with a few different gauge pins in the same grouping! We have seen a few short tapered .012 gauge pins soldered into a grouping of OO long tapered bug pins!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!! This is so negligent. Artists these days are also negligent for taking the quality of these foreign products for granted.

As tattooing has grown, so has the demand for supplies. Tons of people who should not have been involved in our business have been let in... the ignorant artist is to blame. It's time to take charge and regulate what products we use. In the end, the most important person in the equation is the client!

"HOW COMES Y'ALL DON'T HAVE A PHONE TO CAWL?"

Well how's this..."How comes y'all dont have a phone to cawl?" "How come you guys are so hard to reach?" Here's why... The moral decline of the industry..the rapid downhill slide in tattooing-the forgotten history, the forgotten ethics, the forgotten most important unspoken rules that any professional tattoo artist should abide by and respect...has pretty much faded away...what do we have left?...Yea, there's a million of great artists but just as many or more incompetent wannabees out there moving in....and it's not about how we let them affect us and our industry as much as in how we police ourselves in order to make sure none of us get rained on by being under this cloud of shit...we need to be better than that. How do we remedy this??? BY LIVING UNDER THE MOTTO : "being a part of the problem and NOT being a part of the solution"... BY EDUCATING AS MANY OF THESE CLUELESS INTRUDERS MAY BE THE ONLY OPTION...TO PROVE THAT WE, AS EXPERIENCED TATTOO ARTISTS AND MANUFACTURERS, HAVE ETHICS, WE HAVE STANDARDS AND WE HAVE PROFESSIONALISM. We need to know our machines, technique as it relates to machine function, provide perfect customer service if we are suppliers, tattoo artists or manufacturers...and sadly, in as much as we hate to, we have to accept that we are either floating or drowning a growing tide of present and future ignorance. HENCE why we don't have an office phone...we save ourselves the grief of having to answer IDIOTIC phone calls and STAY strict to the RULE-WE SELL TO PROFESSIONALS ONLY. Definition of a professional and professionalism: a : of, relating to, or characteristic of a professionb : engaged in one of the learned professionsc (1) : characterized by or conforming to the technical or ethical standards of a profession (2) : exhibiting a courteous, conscientious, and generally businesslike manner in the workplace pro·fes·sion·al·ism noun \prə-ˈfesh-nə-ˌli-zəm, -ˈfe-shə-nə-ˌli-\ 1 : the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional person(see 1professional) We don't have a phone for anyone to call us here at Godoy Machines Headquarters because we are FED UP with hearing the constant repeating voices saying the following: "Send me a catalog about your GUNS." "How much you charge for your guns" "My down stim tightener is broken" The list is endless...it goes on and on...sadly the fact is that we are in a booming unregulated industry. We have to be above the ignorance and in order to better the industry. The only answer for the global clean up is to keep the ethics alive along with knowledge of the past required necessities of our craft such as needle making and machine tuning. We are glad to share with you some of the tremendously F*CKED up things that have transpired in the eventful world of Godoy Machines...we will start by sharing the sad sad story of a pathetic supplier passing the blame on an artist for intending to have the CHINESE bootleg/manufacture Godoy Machines...theres a reason we have made these INNOVATIVE AND ORIGINAL MACHINES hard to duplicate and copy...for situations like this. In America we say "F*CK YOU".