Tattooist / Artist Ray Reasoner, Jr.
Ray with the incredible tattooing legend Lyle Tuttle during the Thunder in the Rockies.
Ray was born in Jacksonville, Florida, USA in the bi-centennial year of 1976. After a short trip to Pennsylvania he arrived in Muskegon, Michigan where he has pretty much stayed to this day. He has a wife, two sons, and a daughter. He loves all of them deeply and appreciates them more than they know.
Ray has been tattooing professionally since 1998 with six years of private tattooing on top of that. He has tattooed at Sky Images Tattooing, Area 51 Tattooing, Sheila's Electric Tan, and now, obviously, at A.W.O.L. Custom Tattooing LLC. He specializes in tattoo cover-ups and reworks, but loves doing new custom tattoos in any style as well. He will help you find the right design and style for your tattoo. He is diligent in his research and dedicated to his craft. You can view his cover up/rework tattoos, realistic tattoos, custom and/or freehand tattoos, and tattoos done from other artist's images, right here.
He loves art in many forms but tends to stick to drawing on bristol board, paper, or with his computer. His drive to draw landed him a contract with Flash2xs.com in late 2003. You can purchase single designs from Ray here. His newest designs are here.
In September of 2007 he was fortunate enough to attend the Thunder in the Rockies event in Loveland, Colorado and be a judge at the Crossroads Tattoo Competition along with Lyle Tuttle, Friday Jones, and Ben There. All of them incredible people in their own right. The event was sponsored by tattoofinder.com and Main Street Tattoo from Longmont, CO.
In July 2008 Ray had a couple of tattoos take first place at Bike Time here in Muskegon MI. Their tattoos can be found in Ray's portfolio under custom.
In September 2008 Ray attended the Denver Tattoo Convention for the release of the Tattoo Sourcebook. He will be tattooing as well as doing a book signing since he helped out with the book and also has some of his artwork included with many other flash artists from around the globe.
All of 2009 Ray tattooed his ass off, drew many flash designs, and then squeezed in as much time for friends and family as possible, it was a quick year for him. :)
More recently, he has been trying his hand as a carpenter during off hours, (so maybe not a carpenter, more like a guy trying not to break his tattooing hand while swinging a hammer, hehehe) with some much needed help from friends, while working on our upcoming shop. We should have some progress pics up soon.
He has been continuously learning to tool leather and to oil paint. He also does freelance work drawing pretty much anything that people ask for, including company or band logos, t-shirts, portraits, and album covers. There are samples of some of these things here under the artwork link.
Ray is also an active member in the Artist Legal Alliance. This is an organization that protects the legal rights of tattoo flash designers worldwide.
Favorite saying: I'd rather live the truth in sorrow than happily in a lie.
2nd Favorite saying: Build a man a fire and you will warm him for the night, set a man on fire and you will warm him for the rest of his life, hehehe.
Musical Choices: Chaotic music to classical melodies, he has a wide variety of tastes.
Schooling: Graduated Reeths-Puffer High School in Muskegon, MI
The rest of the crew.
Eric Prow Quintin Smith Travis Garrett Josh Silver
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1147 W. Hackley Ave, Muskegon MI, 49441
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