COOL BROOKLYN ARTIST ALERT: CRAIG RODRIGUEZ of The End is Near Tattoo Shop

Some of Craig's work (also: I want to meet the man or woman who has Walter White tattooed on his/her body!)

If you’re gonna get inked up in the Slope, The End Is Near is the place to do it. Though my body is a blank canvass, I can tell this place is the real deal. I recently sat down with owner Craig Rodriguez to discuss his vision for the shop, the celebs he's worked on, and the bad-ass guest tattoo artist they've got in the shop through the end of the month.

At forty-six years old, Craig’s been tattooing people for twenty years. His body appears to be enrobed in tats, and he reveals that the very first one was a falcon’s head on his shoulder, and the first tattoo he ever inked on someone else was the Harley Davidson emblem.

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5 questions with Park Slope's Al Fliction, Tattoo Artist

Photo via Gowanuslounge.com

Born and raised on St. John Place between 6th and 7th Avenue, Al Fliction grew up airbrushing t-shirts and graffiting the NYC landscape. Now an owner of two tattoo shops, with a Brooklyn location at 1626 Bedford Ave, he specializes in urban tattoo inking reminiscent of the street art of his youth. Tonight he is taking over Spike Network's InkMaster show with his urban tattoo style.

Al is having a launch party for the show's premiere tonight at 200 Fifth sports bar. The party begins at 8pm and the show airs at 10PM.  A few days ago I had a nice email exchange with the artist, who answered a few questions about his own tattoos, and what it was like to grow up in the Slope.

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What New York Needs...Another Reality Show — New York Ink

Step aside, Kat Von D, there's a new show in town. First Miami Ink, then LA Ink, and now finally at long last — New York Ink!

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The Park Slope Ink Stink: Roger

images via Park Slope Lens

Making a big stink over Park Slope ink one dirty needle at a time, we're giving upstanding citizens the opportunity to brag about their tattoos so they can shut the fuck up about them already!

This week's victim willing participant: Roger DelaCruz

Tattoos discovered: at the shitty Xavier High school gym aka Park Slope's illustrious "indoor soccer field."

When Roger isn't busy being a ball hog at Xavier on Tuesday nights, he can usually be found perched at one of Bierkraft's picnic tables dining on his two favorite things: sandwiches and beer.

He has 3 tats: a dragon on his left shoulder, a coat of arms with some llama looking thing on his right arm and some Chinese scrawl in an extremely risqué location that I assure you is just as feminine and unoriginal as the tattoo is itself.

As you can see from the pictures, I obviously didn't seek out these specific tats for their sheer artistic qualities (sorry Rog), but more so for the stories behind them.

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