Matt Hodel

I Peaked

Washed up? I have been rebooting my career. I have been taking stock of what I have accomplished, and what I am worth. I have been trying to find the fire that has driven me for so many years. The truth is, no one can recreate the past. Here is what I have discovered. My…

Does Numbing Cream work for Tattooing?

Does numbing cream work for tattooing? Numbing cream can be used to reduce the pain associated with tattooing. The cream works by temporarily numbing the area of the skin where the tattoo will be applied. How long the numbing lasts is dependent open how much lidocaine is in the cream. The most common numbing cream…

Your Taste is on Display

Your Taste is on Display Have you ever looked at a dude and said, “What in the hell did you do to your arm? Sometimes it baffles me what people choose to openly display on their bodies. Who Am I too judge? Well here is the deal, I tattoo for a living. I study peoples…

Study the EYE!

Sketching is the Artist Workout. I wanted to be a Scientific Illustrator. This was my original goal when I was in my teens. I still want to be an illustrator and any chance I get to freelance, I take it. Tattooing is cool but it demands a set of rules to follow that hinder the…

Reboot My Career

Rebooting My Career I Am Not Done Yet I’m rebooting my career. I have survived 27 years in an industry that has shaken off a lot of dead weight in the last few years. Tattooists from back in the day are succumbing to age, lack of drive and feeling irrelevant. I have friends in the…

A day in the Country

It is time to check on the property in the Ozark Mountains. Matt and the Family and the Dogs drive down to see if the Canvas Tent has survived the snow and winds from the last few months. Join us as we off-road some logging trails, and scout for a new home for the tent.

Samurai Tattoo Added to an Old Joe Allhoff Dragon

Old Tattoos Completed Chris got a really nice Dragon from an old coworker of mine. Joe Allhoff and I worked at Trader Bob’s from 2004 until I left in 2012. Joe was singled handedly the most naturally talented Tattooist I have ever worked with. I have never seen an artist render images so effortlessly. I…

Ryan Uses a Computer

Matt teaches Ryan Computer Ryan and I want to make a YouTube channel. We both do cool stuff and have fun lives. A good friendship is rare and we have been each others yin and yang for a decade or more. We help each other quite a bit. I think the trick to have a…

Saturday Morning Cartoons

Cartoons Inspire Creativity I was born in 1975. The 1980’s world of Saturday Morning Cartoons was a small window of time from 7:30 am until noon. I cannot express enough what an escape those few hours were for me. The fantasy worlds of Smurfs and Dungeon and Dragons and He-Man were a stark contrast to…

New YouTube Channel!

Ryan and Matt TV Ryan and I have been good friends for years. We share a work space tattooing, share a garage, we have cabins next to each other and we have logged over 20k miles traveling together. It was brought to our attention that we should start filming. So here is Spring Break 2022.…

Codye.

I did Codye’s first tattoo less than a year ago. As I remember he was quite the handful. He was rather nervous and really persistent at communicating the importance of the getting his first tattoo perfect. I don’t mind. I was told a while back that the energy like this just means the client is…

Back Piece Finished!

Congrats to August So much goes into getting your back tattooed. You need to figure out what the idea is, how to design it, how to pay for it, how to commit time to it and how to keep up the energy when your still not finished. Finishing a large tattoo is very hard. I…

Let’s Draw a Dragon

I tattooed a Phoenix on the back of Nick’s calf so of course I tattooed a Dragon on the front. I drew it on because it just makes more sense than stenciling. I also forgot to draw the night before, so drawing the dragon directly onto the leg seemed smart. Smearing a sharpie with my…

Get Weird

A Good Kinda Crazy Team Mullet Louie’s leg is ripe with humor. I guess you could describe him as silly but he looks a serious as a heart attack. Currently he’s shaved bald and looks scary as hell but if he showed you his hidden tattoos it would throw you off. We already did the…

I wrestled my Xterra

My yellow banana This is my forever project. I want a rig that can get me to the farthest parts and still get me home. I know “overlanding” is all the rage and yes I like everything about camping and back country traveling too. Overlanding seems to focus more on gear and sexy rigs. I…

Tonk the Tattooist

My new Zine “Tonk” I guess I could have printed this sooner. I kept circling back around and tweaking this and redrawing that. It is just a zine! What is a zine? A zine is short for fanzine. In my youth they were the life line of the underground music and punk scene. Zines are…

You called The Wolf!? Hell yes.

The Wolf Is Here The Wolf is the second print in my animal illustration series. The first was the The Scary Red Bear which was inspired by my first run in with a black bear. The Wolf is a follow up to my experience with being isolated in the woods with a pack of wolves…

Sunny Sunday Drive

The dog and I went exploring this weekend. I have been building an off-road capable Xterra. I love Missouri. I love exploring The Ozark Mountains. They recently logged the property behind ours. The trees will come back soon and the undergrowth with return. In a few years it will be good for hunting. Currently the…

Whiskey Tattoos and No Regrets

My title is a bit misleading. No one was drinking whiskey when we did this handle of liquor tattoo today. My clients last name is McCormick and he wanted a vintage whiskey flask by the distillery with the same name. I’m not too concerned with capturing a photo realistic image of a whiskey jug. I…

Arm Studies in. Adobe Fresco

I was pretty happy with this study of arms. It is no secret that the human anatomy is difficult for me. I tend to shy away from the muscle structure and only show a simple shape of the arm. Recently I revisited Andrew Loomis’ book “Figure Drawing for All It’s Worth. There is a great…

Competition.

Healthy Competition “When you are in competition with others, you get bitter. When you are in competition with yourself you get better.” Self Growth Competition is healthy. Like most traits, using competition in the wrong way can be self destructive. Using other’s successes as your barometer isn’t reliable. Sometimes I can get jealous of other…

Hunter doesn’t stop.

Heavily Tattooed Hunter has been getting tattooed by me for years. We balanced his arms in a “yin-yang” approach. If we did a skull blue on the left, it was red on the right. We did not mirror his arms, we just paid careful attention to the layout and it turned out great. We started…

Lady sleeping

I drew the Circle Jerks poster!

I Drew the Circle Jerks Poster!!! I drew the flyer for the upcoming Circle Jerks show in St. Louis. I am beyond stoked!! The Red Flag The Red Flag is THE venue for shows. I mean it is just perfect. It is big enough to get a bunch of concert goers comfortably in the venue…

Tim’s Coi Fish Sleeve

Finally Finished I really love how this turned out. I actually tattooed Tim in 1995. He was dying for a flaming yin-yang around his navel and I obliged. The 90’s were good for shit like that. It was more about the act of getting tattooed than what you got. That was at Iron Age on…