The Ballpoint and Wood Art of Dave Warshaw

Dave Warshaw is a professional tattoo artist who has been creating distinctive skin-art for two decades, thirteen of those and counting at one of the best known tattoo shops in Southern California, Avalon Tattoo II.

Warshaw creates fantastical imagery on wooden surfaces. From the poetic and surreal intertwining of live thorny vines to nectar-oozing flowers surrounding his detailed creations which he calls “Urbantaxidermy,” the artist’s compositions flow like a virtuoso playing his chosen instrument. Warshaw’s mediums are ballpoint pen and wood – all types of wood, from balsa to skate deck. At one time Warshaw carved wood and painted with watercolors and acrylic, but now strictly creates his art with ballpoint.

“My first creations were based on original commercial clay and steel wheel skateboard graphics from the 1960s. I then began morphing the company logos into my own surreal creatures. I use cheap ballpoint pens, the kind you find at the drugstore. If the wood surface is too grainy and unfriendly to the ballpoint, I will use a fine tip ink pen for my line-work – and then go back over and finish with ballpoint pen,” explains Warshaw whose art is heavily inspired by Southern California car-surf-skate-comic-Tiki and punk rock culture. It was Warshaw’s creative efforts that lead him to a career in tattooing.

Warshaw starts his pieces much like a tattoo, using a sketch which he transfers to wood, then lines and shades using his improvisation and imagination as his guide. “I don’t scribble on the surface– you have to be cautious as the ink from the pen smears easily and you cannot erase wood,” says Warshaw who, as a tattooist, knows well that you only get one shot and cannot blow it!  Among the many wooden “canvases” Warshaw uses for his art are one-of-a-kind skate decks specifically made for him by the oldest manufacturer of skateboards, Watson Laminates, the company that was responsible for the original Dogtown decks, among other classics.

For the second year in a row, Warshaw’s art will be included in the rebranded annual La Luz de Jesus juried group show -”Laluzapalooza“ 

Follow Dave Warshaw on Instagram: @davewarshaw
www.davewarshaw.com
www.urbantaxidermy.wordpress.com
www.facebook.com/urban.taxidermy

Images (both in the La Luz de Jesus “Laluzapalooza” show)
“Foureyes” – Ballpoint pen on wood, 8″ by 11″
“Sailor’s Grave” Ballpoint pen on wood, 8″ by 11″