Creature Painting Class Wolf vs. Bat

Wolf vs. Bat . The 2 busts to be painted at Black Raven Tattoo in Torrance,
This is a previous class hosted by Little shop of Hairdos in Upland Ca.
Previous creature painting class held elsewhere
Blank busts before painting

Good Time Charlie Cartwright Visits Black Raven Tattoo in Torrance

At nearly 83 years old, Charlie Cartwright, yes the famous tattoo artist known as “Good Time Charlie,” still attracts an audience that appreciates his contributions to tattooing, especially in the Los Angeles area. He’s known throughout the tattoo world for his modern art in a traditional style. The staff at Black Raven Tattoo in Torrance were thrilled to have him visit.

Charlie visited and told everyone stories going back as far as 1968 when he started tattooing. Tattooing sounds like a wild time back then and his life has been quite a colorful journey. Tattooing is an industry with a lot of history and most tattooers love to hear old timers talk about the early days.

When Charlie talks, people listen.

Charlie is a fan of hand tattoos and studied what everyone in the studio had. It’s inspiring to see how enthusiastic and passionate he still is about tattooing. He’s was known for pioneering black and grey tattooing.

Of course everyone at Black Raven needed a picture to commemorate his visit. He has an incredibly warm personality and is a living legend, a true icon who continues to impress.

Good Time Charlie was kind enough to pose with Black Raven body piercer John Johnson.

Above is the lucky staff members at Black Raven Tattoo the day Charlie Cartwright came to visit.

Scaredown in Downtown

Saturday Oct 14th will be The Scaredown in Downtown. we will be open all day and tattooing for as long as we can till we are overrun by trick or treating goblins. We will be passing out candy, but feel free to stick around and play our vintage CarnEvil video game, ask questions, even book an appointment. Fun is to be had by all. everything from music, tarot Readers, treats and specials and of course CANDY!!

Friday The 13th in October

This year we wanted to get into the spirit of the season with this Friday the 13th. We will be showing classic horror movies and popping fresh movie popcorn all day and yes, that’s free too. we will also be doing give always and of course offering killer tattoo designs starting at only 60.00. you could play our Vintage arcade video Game CarnEvil while you wait your turn. Be sure to bring cash and first come first served. we hope to see you all there.

Pet Drive during the cold months again.

As many of you know, we annually do a drive to collect new and used blankets, towels, pet beds, food and toys. We take your donations to a high kill shelter i order to give the homeless pets waiting to be adopted a better chance . it has been shown that pets with some comforts of home feel more relaxed and less anxious, they become friendlier and a wagging tail goes a long way. We choose high kill because if we cant help them get adopted we could at least offer them some comforts of a home and help them feel loved before they are put to rest. Help us help them

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May 1st Charity event

I know you have all seen the tragic events of the war in the Ukraine. A war created by people in power, not the people themselves. Luckily many foundations, charities and celebrities are donating millions of dollars to help the people of Ukraine, but the one group of innocent victims a lot of people have seem to have forgotten about is the pets and animals of the war stricken areas. Many people were forced to flee with just the clothes on their back and what little they could carry forced to leave their beloved pets behind. Ifaw.Org has been rushing emergency help to animals in Ukraine. With their help we’ll be sure the money gets to the right resources. On May 1st our artists have agreed to donate their time, talent, skills and supplies to work for FREE. We have created a handful of designs each. We are not limiting designs to creators so everyone will get a chance to get a design of their choice with a min donation of 80.00. We are donating 100% of proceeds directly to the charity. Tips will be greatly appreciated. You could also leave a smaller donation if your heart compels you. We also have stickers in the shape of Ukraine with the now infamous response by Ukrainian soldiers ” Russian Warship, go fuck yourself!” for 3.00 . Other artists from other shops have also volunteered to work alongside Black Raven Artists and non tattoo artists will be selling canvas originals and prints also donating proceeds. Please join us on May 1st to get yourself a cool tattoo for only 80. dollars knowing its going to a good cause.

Body Piercing Has Returned to Black Raven Tattoo in Torrance

After a 22 month pause in piercing services, we’re thrilled to announce that we are once again offering body piercing services to adults 18+ at our tattoo studio at 1313 Sartori Ave. in downtown Torrance.

The COVID shutdowns that began in March of 2019 have kept our piercer John Johnson at New Flower Studio in Long Beach until now. He’s piercing again in Torrance with a limited schedule. See his availability here.

The piercing services at Black Raven tattoo in Torrance are provided by New Flower Studio which is located in Long Beach. Many of the same jewelry designers that can be found in the showroom at New Flower are also in our tattoo studio. If you prefer high quality jewelry please see our piercing schedule. You can email the piercer directly at john@newflowerstudio.com.

Our tattoo and piercing services are for adults 18+ and we’re following current COVID19 precautions. Please wear your mask properly when visiting the studio. We hope to see you soon.

Getting tattooed at Black Raven during Covid 2022

We require valid proof of full vaccination or recent negative covid test results in order to get tattooed. All of our staff is vaccinated for your safety. Vaccinations among tattoo artists is not a new concept. For years we have been required to have A Hepatitis B vaccine and in some states additional vaccinations are required.

Please be sure to notify us to reschedule your appointment if you are feeling sick in the slightest, even just a sniffle. The fact that flu and strep throat are going around along with Covid , we are not wanting to get sick and miss days to weeks of work because you wanted to get your tattoo.

We are already short staffed as it is. We recently lost 2 of our artists who have moved out of state. Luckily they plan to return once a month, but as of now we are short.

Body Art Prohibition due to Covid19

As we all know the Governor of California has imposed yet another shut down order for personal services, gyms, restaurants hair, Nail, massage and of course tattooing. Now they have made exceptions to allow  outdoor dining and some outdoor services, all except for bossiness that have to maintain hygienic environment.

Now lets think about that for a second..let us examine what hygienic means  , it is defined by The Oxford English dictionary as “Conducive to maintaining health and preventing disease, especially by being clean; sanitary.”

So they chose to close hygienic business, but not all, because you can see your dentist, get laser treatment and Botox if you choose. Why are tattoo shops forced to close , you may ask? Well, it is because we are considered non- essential. Ok so would getting a mani/ pedi be essential? No it is not. Actually many of the businesses forced to closed have been categorized as non essential and many remain open that are deemed essential yet are the places that the most Covid infections have been linked to, like warehouses for garment manufacturing, food processing, restaurants, and even churches. Many of those businesses merely closed for a few days, or paid a fine and re opened. nearly 50% of all restaurants were not complying with any new safety protocols as documented by the LA County Health Dept.

I know many times I have observed going into Home Depot, Target, and places to eat  where the employees are wearing filthy, blackened exam gloves cross contamination everything they touch, or masks worn by staff under their nose or chin. I have even seen the door greeters that are supposed to enforce the mask policy with a dirty mask worn with their nose hanging out, and once many customers enter stores they often pull their masks down, take them off to talk, smell, or eat things while shopping. Customers are touching everything in site and no one is monitoring them, unlike how it would be in a tattoo shop.

The difference between tattoo shops and most everywhere else is the environment is easily controlled by staff. A staff that is trained and re certified annually in disease prevention, cross contamination and blood borne pathogens. You will see artists properly wearing appropriate masks, wearing them correctly, and focusing with one on one attention to their client, ensuring that temperatures are taken, hands are washed or sanitized, masks worn correctly, and no guests, not just when they walk in, but all the way through the tattoo till they walk out the door.

You might be thinking, “So what? you’re non essential to survive this pandemic.” Well, that is where I believe that thought is wrong. Along with the Virus, we are also now dealing with social isolation, anxiety, fear of contagion, uncertainty, chronic stress, depression and economic difficulties . In the 25 + years of tattooing, I can’t count how many people use tattooing as therapy, some have jokingly called it their ” therapy” session when booking.

Many people use tattooing as a stress release,  a way of emotional healing with a loss or a means to cope with grieving the death of a loved one, marking of a significant change or turning point their life ( eg. a birth, marriage, love, sobriety, and personal accomplishments). All which change a person’s state of mind during and after a tattoo, without the use of any controlled substances. With all this stress and depression, tattooing offers a safe and rewarding means of escape. Not only has tattooing been proven to help psychologically it has also been proven by a study from The America Journal of Biology, and reported on by Scientific American that getting multiple tattoos can actually strengthen your immunological responses, making it easier for your body to ward off illness. … They also looked at the levels of cortisol, a stress hormone known to suppress the immune response. As mentioned before it is a stress reliever.

Lastly, if you still don’t think tattooing is essential, well I can definitely tell you that it is essential to the people that do tattoos. For many tattooing is their only source of income and has been their only job for years. The people that rely on these artists to support them think tattooing is essential. Its not like a tattoo artist with no other job experience is going to easily get hired at McDonald, many have dedicated their whole life to art and tattooing that they have wrecked their bodies from the years of contorting just to achieve perfection. Like they can have the stamina to stand for 8 hours vs. some young kid right out of high school.

I can tell you that I feel much safer coming in contact with 1-2 clients per day in a environment that I can control, that I do going anywhere else. Over 10,000 people go through a single Target store on any given day. How safe does that make you feel?

Until The  LA County Health Dept or ANY department in California keeping records of Covid infections can show me a single piece of evidence that tattoo shops contribute to the spread of Covid19, I may have a different opinion, but when the CDC puts out on their own website recent documentation of 2 hair stylists who were Positive for Covid19 with symptoms, saw 130 clients, and all the clients were quarantined and tested, that not a single of of the clients contracted it because of proper mask wearing, I’m going to continue to believe the Governor is basing his decisions on biased, not science or facts.

As of this date there are no known transmissions of Covid19 stemming from any body art facilities in the entire US, although there have been body art practitioners who have contracted Covid19, none contracted it from the work environment, nor gave it to any co workers as the incidents were isolated to exposures by secondary persons in the household.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6928e2.htm