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Thrillist Washington DC
There are lots of reasons not to get a tattoo: it hurts, it'll get wrinkly, and should Train one day break up, you'd be forced to get it changed to "I Love Trains", which would just be dumb. Giving you the sweet tats without the heartache: the art of Drew Storm Graham.
Inspired by the rebellious themes and aesthetics of skin-ink, VA-based Graham crafts large-scale, labor-intensive, mountable 3-D masterpieces by hand-cutting/layering individual wood pieces, which're then air-brushed with automotive paints for "candy coats", which you can't have until you've applied your pea coat. Ratfink-esque, bad*ss cartoon pieces include the flame-laden, cigar-smoking Devil in "Live eviL"; "Legacy", with a gaping skull above crossed revolvers; and the 4ft x 4ft "GT500": an ode to the souped-up Shelby Mustang, with a massive heart bursting with pistons, flaming exhaust pipes, and a blood-dripping gas pump, fuel for cars also powered by NOSferaratu. More recent, "abstract" pieces're less graphic/more tribal, and include the beautifully-twisted, 15-layer "Running Water", and his latest work: a jockey-ish fellow riding atop a layered design dubbed "Neeyaoowmmm" after "the sound a motorcycle makes when riding by", unless it's being ridden in Biker Boyz, in which case the sound is the hollow clunk of Laurence Fishburne hitting rock bottom.
He's also got a few non-tattoo but equally cool outliers, like the graffiti'd-traincar "Gran Via", and an impressively wind-blown "MD Flag" -- though he's totally open to commissions, if you'd prefer he Meet Virginia.
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