Lick The Brain

Vanesa is dead lifting her dog and Ray is enjoying the rainy day vibes. What do Vanesa and Ray do outside of their careers? Would they still be tattoo artists if they won the lottery? After talking about plants, our hosts transition to a conversation around tattoos and the military, as well as mental health in the tattoo industry. Is there a correlation between experiencing trauma and becoming heavily tattooed? How have experiences with burnout shaped Vanesa’s and Ray’s careers?

Shout Out: www.instagram.com/tattoossavedmylife

Artist Shout Out: www.instagram.com/scastrotattoo

Follow LTB on Instagram at www.instagram.com/lickthebrain to keep up with us! Contact Ray at [email protected] if you have any thoughts you’d like to share or any recommendations!

Previously hosted by Vanesa Reeves and Ray Durham

Intro Voiceover thanks to Isatu Kamara

www.instagram.com/isawho

Music by: Federico W.

www.instagram.com/skane.music

www.fiverr.com/skane_music
www.skanemusic.com

Ray talks about the mushroom chocolates he tried on 4/20 and Vanesa adds the catch phrase “make trouble” to her vocabulary. Ray refers to Vanesa as a fellow redhead but she refuses the title before moving on to discuss tattoo pain! Everyone experiences pain differently. How do you manage tattoo pain as the tattoo artist, versus being the client receiving the tattoo? How can your mental and emotional state affect your level of pain tolerance? Do color tattoos hurt more than black and gray?

Artist Shout Out: www.instagram.com/jaygatestattoo

Artist Shout Out: www.instagram.com/rae__bies

Artist Shout Out: www.instagram.com/koraltattoo

Follow LTB on Instagram at www.instagram.com/lickthebrain to keep up with us! Contact Ray at [email protected] if you have any thoughts you’d like to share or any recommendations!

Previously hosted by Vanesa Reeves and Ray Durham

Intro Voiceover thanks to Isatu Kamara

www.instagram.com/isawho

Music by: Federico W.

www.instagram.com/skane.music

www.fiverr.com/skane_music
www.skanemusic.com

AATC Part Two

Vanesa feels that she doesn’t look threatening because she wears glasses and doesn’t have anything to hide. Vanesa and Ray don’t always see their tattoos when they look in the mirror and briefly follow up a previously discussed topic about underaged tattoo artists. Vanesa asks Ray for story time and we get to hear about a fun convention related experience! Can tattoo artists maintain their hygiene standards under convention conditions?

Oddities Shop: www.instagram.com/moonravencreations

Artist Shout Out: www.instagram.com/samuellimbertitattoos

Follow LTB on Instagram at www.instagram.com/lickthebrain to keep up with us! Contact Ray at [email protected] if you have any thoughts you’d like to share or any recommendations!

Previously hosted by Vanesa Reeves and Ray Durham

Intro Voiceover thanks to Isatu Kamara

www.instagram.com/isawho

Music by: Federico W.

www.instagram.com/skane.music

www.fiverr.com/skane_music
www.skanemusic.com

Vanesa meets up with Ray at the All American Tattoo Convention in Fayetteville NC! Vanesa and Ray got to record in a rather official feeling business suite and discuss the convention. Vanesa doesn’t feel legitimate enough to work at a tattoo convention and Ray talks about his experiences with imposter syndrome. Tattoo conventions provide the opportunity to compete against other artists, can this also be motivation for clients?

Artist Shout Out: www.instagram.com/ga3riel_luna

Artist Shout Out: www.instagram.com/artxavii

Follow LTB on Instagram at www.instagram.com/lickthebrain to keep up with us! Contact Ray at [email protected] if you have any thoughts you’d like to share or any recommendations!

Previously hosted by Vanesa Reeves and Ray Durham

Intro Voiceover thanks to Isatu Kamara

www.instagram.com/isawho

Music by: Federico W.

www.instagram.com/skane.music

www.fiverr.com/skane_music
www.skanemusic.com

Vanesa and Ray discuss how they do their best to juggle work life balance as tattoo artists. Vanesa started off working six days a week, full blown workaholic mode, and Ray’s been there before too. Work/life boundaries can be difficult to establish when getting into the tattoo industry. Somehow having a flip phone can make it easier to find this balance?

Gesture Drawing References: https://line-of-action.com/

Artist Shout Out: www.instagram.com/anna.works.ta2

Follow LTB on Instagram at www.instagram.com/lickthebrain to keep up with us! Contact Ray at [email protected] if you have any thoughts you’d like to share or any recommendations!

Previously hosted by Vanesa Reeves and Ray Durham

Intro Voiceover thanks to Isatu Kamara

www.instagram.com/isawho

Music by: Federico W.

www.instagram.com/skane.music

www.fiverr.com/skane_music
www.skanemusic.com

This episode is a little morbid but Vanes and Ray try to keep things fun!

What would happen if someones passes out mid-tattoo? What would happen if they died?! How does the tattoo artist handle it? Ray wonders if he would need to take time off from work before tattooing another client and Vanesa tries to plan out her hypothetical reaction. Tune in to hear stories from Vanesa and Ray about clients that have passed out and speculations about what they would do if the grim reaper paid their client a visit while at the tattoo studio.

Artist Shout Out: www.instagram.com/elrosetattoo

Follow LTB on Instagram at www.instagram.com/lickthebrain to keep up with us! Contact Ray at [email protected] if you have any thoughts you’d like to share or any recommendations!

Previously hosted by Vanesa Reeves and Ray Durham

Intro Voiceover thanks to Isatu Kamara

www.instagram.com/isawho

Music by: Federico W.

www.instagram.com/skane.music

www.fiverr.com/skane_music
www.skanemusic.com

Ray has been enjoying having a newer tattoo artist in the studio and Vanesa is still asking if they’re recording yet..smh Ray has been tattooing for eight years, meanwhile Vanesa is going on six years and forgets how hard it is to tattoo. Tune in for a discussion about tattoo touch ups, setting expectations with clients, and freehand vs stencils 

Artist Shout Out: www.instagram.com/chanellejasminart

Follow LTB on Instagram at www.instagram.com/lickthebrain to keep up with us! Contact Ray at [email protected] if you have any thoughts you’d like to share or any recommendations!

Previously hosted by Vanesa Reeves and Ray Durham

Intro Voiceover thanks to Isatu Kamara

www.instagram.com/isawho

Music by: Federico W.

www.instagram.com/skane.music

www.fiverr.com/skane_music
www.skanemusic.com

Vanesa and Ray recall some of their early career experiences with clients and words are hard. When is it okay to touch another tattoo artist’s work? How does it feel when your client goes to someone else? Does it feel upsetting when another tattoo artist has finished art that you started?

Artist Shout Out: www.instagram.com/yarafloresta

Follow LTB on Instagram at www.instagram.com/lickthebrain to keep up with us! Contact Ray at [email protected] if you have any thoughts you’d like to share or any recommendations!

Previously hosted by Vanesa Reeves and Ray Durham

Intro Voiceover thanks to Isatu Kamara

www.instagram.com/isawho

Music by: Federico W.

www.instagram.com/skane.music

www.fiverr.com/skane_music
www.skanemusic.com

Vanesa has misophonia and allegedly talks in her sleep, meanwhile Ray shouts in his sleep sometimes?! Trigger warning: Ray will fall asleep to video game gun violence?? Willow tries to sit in Ray’s lap and Vanesa goes on an anti-confederate flag rant. Ray literally gets pinned down by someone who wants to have a tattoo consultation.

Follow LTB on Instagram at www.instagram.com/lickthebrain to keep up with us! Contact Ray at [email protected] if you have any thoughts you’d like to share or any recommendations!

Previously hosted by Vanesa Reeves and Ray Durham

Intro Voiceover thanks to Isatu Kamara

www.instagram.com/isawho

Music by: Federico W.

www.instagram.com/skane.music

www.fiverr.com/skane_music
www.skanemusic.com

Ray gives us a lil update about his vision, mentions his love for Amish people, and bumps into the microphone (gracefully). Vanesa and Ray don’t like to talk about being tattoo artists in public. At what point can you consider yourself “heavily” tattooed? Vanesa and Ray talk about their cancellation policies but understand that sometimes life just happens. Vanesa has an organized black list and mentions a couple ways you could end up on it

Artist Shout Out: www.instagram.com/joshhermantattoo

Follow LTB on Instagram at www.instagram.com/lickthebrain to keep up with us! Contact Ray at [email protected] if you have any thoughts you’d like to share or any recommendations!

Previously hosted by Vanesa Reeves and Ray Durham

Intro Voiceover thanks to Isatu Kamara

www.instagram.com/isawho

Music by: Federico W.

www.instagram.com/skane.music

www.fiverr.com/skane_music
www.skanemusic.com