WWW.MDTATTOOS.COM


I was born in ‘79 and was raised in Southern California; in and around the Encino area, about 20 minutes north of Hollywood. I’ve always been into art, ever since I was little; always doodling scary faces on any piece of paper I could find. My appreciation for art really started when I got into collecting comic books.I loved the style of art; my favorite had to be the Spawn comics.

After I graduated high school in '97, I went straight to work with my old man in construction, doing mostly residential remodeling. It pretty much sucked... actually it wasn't so bad. I thought I would be doing it forever and eventually, one day, taking over the family business. I remember when I was about 16 years old, a buddy of mine came by to show me his new tattoo, and of course the next day I had to go get one. I did ask my parents for permission and I was very surprised they said "yes". It was all over after that. I was hooked and I thought that was just the coolest job ever. I continued to get tattooed for years and I always paid close attention to the art and the process of tattooing, not knowing I would ever actually be doing it. I didn't really know how to start, but knew it was for me. One day, in the beginning of 2003, when I was getting tattooed by Jim Hayek, he offered to teach me, after a random talk about it. I had to scrounge up some cash and do some construction work on his home in order to apprentice. I didn't waste any time. I started working on his house the next day and soon after, he started teaching me. It was a short apprenticeship, a few months of training, Right away, I went and bought all the necessary equipment and started tattooing on all my buddies, after work and on weekends. Within a year, I was able to quit work with my Dad and do this full-time. It has been great, and has turned my life into an art world. Most of the time it doesn't even seem like work, it’s more like, I get to do a great hobby all day, every day.



I started to get back into painting and other art mediums after seeing a couple of Jim's paintings. I wanted to buy one off of him. He had done a cool painting of Kid Rock. I asked him how much he wanted for it and he said, "come over and I will teach you how to do it yourself." That day, I went out and bought an easel and some cheap paint brushes and I started doing that in my spare time. Jim did the rock stars and since I’m a big movie fan, I did some of my favorite movie characters and scenes. So far, I’ve only painted on big canvases with acrylic paint but I would love to try oils and get into airbrushing one day. I haven't done a lot of paintings, but you can check them out in the galleries link. I haven't painted in over a year, but be on the lookout for more soon!



Some of my art inspirations are M.c. Escher and Salvador Dali, which are two of my favorites. As well as Kunio Hagio and Michael Godard. For my tattoo inspirations there are so many awesome tattoo artists to list and that I look up to; but to name a few,would have to be: Bob Tyrell, Tom Renshaw, Robert Hernandez, Joe Capobianco, Guy Atchison, Nick Baxter, and my buddies Carson Hill and Mike de Masi. And last, but not least, Big Jim Hayek. If it wasn't for him, I would still be diggin’ ditches!


And now I’m hoping to expand my abilities, to achieve the utmost realistic pieces on skin. Portraits, animals and pin-ups are my favorite things to do; anything that is real. With all the amazing artists out there and the great artists I mentioned above, who produce kick ass work, day in and day out, it drives me to do great work and to push the limits as well.

- email artist

I cant remember a time in my life when art didn't play a role. When I was a young child my mother would draw figures of
people and I'd draw faces and clothes on them. These were the earliest memories of art. All through grade and high school drew the days away, art classes were really the only ones that held my attention at all. After high school I wasn't really sure what to do so I took a few art classes at the local community college while working construction during the day. One evening an old friend Carson Hill invited me over to hang out. Carson had tattooed me in the past, and we admired each others drawings back in the day, so of course the conversation turned to how he was doing as a tattooist. Eventually he offered to teach me the craft and it sounded great. I worked construction by day and spent the evenings with Carson learning to tattoo. After about six months i started tattooing part time out of my home and after another six months i was tattooing full time. I worked next to Carson and his home studio for about a year and then worked in hollywood for a while. Eventually i started to work for my own studio in Newbury Park and started doing conventions to break the monotony. Which brings me to where I am now at MD Tattoos.

As far as tattooing goes, I enjoy doing all different styles of work and focusing my talents on bio/ abstract art. I also enjoy painting with acrylic and oils. As for inspiration there are so many I could go on forever but to name a few there is Alex Grey, Guy Aitchison, Chat Czar, HR Geiger, and my friends Nathan Kostecko and of course Carson Hill. For the future, i plan on doing a lot of traveling while further honing my painting and tattooing skills.

---

Josh Duffy - view tattoos! - email artist

Tattoo artist for about four years now.I just love to create cool tattoos for cool people. I love every kind of style of art there is, but mostly darker images and bio. Metal, tattoos, and art.

---