I speak to a lot of artists about their struggles and it seems that getting past the basic digital hurdles is one of the big ones. It's something that took me many years of trial and error to get past, since there were so few tattooists using computers back in those early days. Now it's a different story, and we've designed our weekend curriculum to help tattooists with both beginning and advanced levels of digital experience, with everything from Photoshop 101 to detailed digital tattoo design. We'll have Wacom Cintiq tablets on hand to make sure that all participants get hands-on time with the equipment under our close instruction. If you've ever wanted to know more about using computers to expand your tattoo vocabulary, I can't think of a better opportunity than this one. You can get tickets now at the online store of our sister site, www.tattooeducation.com.

I also wanted to mention that I've just listed a new acrylic painting on eBay, fresh off the easel from two weeks ago. It's one of my painterly realist texture studies, which I filmed the painting process of for a tutorial I just taught at the Paradise Artist Retreat in New Mexico last week. It comes in a handmade gloss black frame, signed and dated, ready to adorn your workstation or art room wall. It's listed now at our eBay store.