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ALEKIVZ ✨

@alekivz.bsky.social

3.5K followers 210 following 480 posts

☆ KINGSLEY ☆ he/him ☆ RVA ☆ Design & Illustration ☆ Tattoo Artist @ Unkindness Art ☆ don’t repost or tattoo my work without permission!

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ALEKIVZ ✨ @alekivz.bsky.social · Aug 5

i'm kingsley, i draw a lot of things based on animals, guts, botanicals, and all of the above. i also design merch to sell online & do tattoos!

website ✨ https://alekivz.com
etsy ✨ https://etsy.com/shop/alekivz
instagram ✨ https://instagram.com/alekivz

more links below ⬇️⬇️⬇️

photo: digital illustration of an opossum with sarracenia pitcher plants and bog rosemary in water. it has been printed at 18x18” and being held in front of a brick wall.

photo: open sketchbook, with two marker illustrations, one of a deer with facial deformity and the other of a dead squirrel. markers used are set to the side on a black desk.

tattoo of a dead rat with bloodroot and mushrooms in lieu of organs. it is on a woman’s thigh.

tattoo of a rose with a skull in the middle and a black ribbon tied around the stem. the skull and rose are both somewhat drippy in appearance.

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ALEKIVZ ✨ @alekivz.bsky.social · 3d

i’m so, so sorry :( if you guys need anything you know you’re free to ask us for it! i hope you guys are holding up okay, it’s been one thing after another

ALEKIVZ ✨ @alekivz.bsky.social · 5d

i have things i need to do (like scan & mail out some take home badges from anthrocon, embarrassingly) but it’s just hard to make myself do it & i think i will not do more take home badges at cons in the future until im medicated, in case it happens again 😭 bc i feel bad & silly for it!

ALEKIVZ ✨ @alekivz.bsky.social · 5d

also: sorry i’ve been sparse lately. you’re never gonna believe it, as a creative on the internet, but i have adhd and im trying to get medicated for it bc my executive function for things like “running a webstore” and “responding to emails” has hit a wall recently 🫠

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ALEKIVZ ✨ @alekivz.bsky.social · 5d

my newsletter sign up is on my website but you can use my contact form or email me directly for booking inquiries 🫶 it’s alekivztattoo at gmail dot com

trying to figure out more small flash to make but very silksong brained rn……….

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ALEKIVZ ✨ @alekivz.bsky.social · 5d

trying to rough in some large concept sketches i really wanna do, in hopes that i can start these on my next round of booking… (my books open oct 17 btw, but i have some scattered availability in oct before then)

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Reposted by ALEKIVZ ✨

ALEKIVZ ✨ @alekivz.bsky.social · 8d

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ALEKIVZ ✨ @alekivz.bsky.social · 8d

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ALEKIVZ ✨ @alekivz.bsky.social · 22d

i’m a little wiped but i definitely thought she was on a skateboard at first. i love her either way tho

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ALEKIVZ ✨ @alekivz.bsky.social · 28d

probably 90% of my feeder visitors are pretty standard fare— carolina chickadee, northern cardinal, mourning doves, house finches, tufted titmice, blue jays, and squirrels… i do have a bunch of woodpeckers in the area tho & they’re my fave! also a cooper’s hawk that patrols the area

ALEKIVZ ✨ @alekivz.bsky.social · 28d

today: dug up a couple of half dead bushes and a bunch of landscape fabric to replace with local ecotype spicebush, put some old seed heads in the bird feeder for birds… i’m finally home for several consecutive months so i’m trying to set up my garden for success in spring!!!

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ALEKIVZ ✨ @alekivz.bsky.social · 29d

ur hornet: killing everything, awesome, fast, etc.
my hornet: skipping TWO bosses bc she goes exploring so hard. lost in some hole somewhere tho probably

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Reposted by ALEKIVZ ✨

ALEKIVZ ✨ @alekivz.bsky.social · 29d

this seal won an award! a seal of approval 🦭

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ALEKIVZ ✨ @alekivz.bsky.social · 29d

this seal won an award! a seal of approval 🦭

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ALEKIVZ ✨ @alekivz.bsky.social · Sep 12

am i far in the game? no. am i going about things in the right order? i don’t fucking know actually. i think i am doing things in my own way and out of order. so idk. i’m literally just a little bug ok

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ALEKIVZ ✨ @alekivz.bsky.social · Sep 12

i started playing silksong but it’s great bc i can’t hyperfocus on it. i play until i get stuck on a part, then start to die to stupid shit bc i get flustered, then i draw for a bit until im better 👍 the only gaming style that doesnt leave me entering some sort of fugue state until 4AM

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ALEKIVZ ✨ @alekivz.bsky.social · Sep 9

i like when education animals have names that reflect their native environment bc it’s an extra bit of education — like allegheny the ratsnake. he’s found in allegheny national forest! or naming them after the native american names for the creature.

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ALEKIVZ ✨ @alekivz.bsky.social · Sep 9

aadhya for @reinbourne.bsky.social at chattanooga this past weekend— need to do a lil catch up on tats!

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ALEKIVZ ✨ @alekivz.bsky.social · Sep 6

oh, birthday buddy! congrats, welcome to year 32 🎉 hope it was good for you!

ALEKIVZ ✨ @alekivz.bsky.social · Sep 4

i feel like sometimes i come off ungrateful without meaning to; but it seriously means a lot that i have enough support from folks to be able to book super last minute. i was lowkey panicking a little but i really & truly appreciate how much yall saved my ass on that. it was a HUGE ask of me!!!

ALEKIVZ ✨ @alekivz.bsky.social · Sep 4

i’ve booked up these slots!!! thank you so much 😭 if you’re looking for a piece please check out some of my friends & coworkers:

@beachw00f.com @roachparade.bsky.social @carrionbeetle.bsky.social

we should have some stuff open for walk ups this weekend!

ALEKIVZ ✨ @alekivz.bsky.social · Sep 3

seeking clients for chattanooga, tennessee, NEXT weekend, september 5th & 6th!

i’m booking for literary ink kinda last minute since almost all of my appointments cancelled this week 🤙 email me (alekivztattoo [at] gmail [dot] com) with budget, subject & placement 🫶

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ALEKIVZ ✨ @alekivz.bsky.social · Sep 3

i think it’s really easy to see the prices we charge and just think that we get All Of It; this doesn’t even consider shops that ask for a cut from cons (which idk any personally but i’m sure that it happens) or the costs of studio work, like rent, shop percentages, paying for assistants, etc.

Reposted by ALEKIVZ ✨

➰ GIBBY➰ @roachparade.bsky.social · Aug 11

Im going to be hanging out with the Unkindness team at Literary Ink in Chattanooga Tennessee!

⛓️September 5, 6, & 7⛓️

My books are OPEN

Lets make something kooky together!

Literary Ink
Books Open
Chattanooga Tennessee
September 5, 6, & 7

#qttr #queertattooartist #southernqttr#contemporarytattoo #transtattooartist

Stuff id love to do:
Pinups
Fantasy
Beasts
Old epics
Dungeons
Bugs
Fish
Interesting objects

#qttr #queertattooartist #southernqttr#contemporarytattoo #transtattooartist

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ALEKIVZ ✨ @alekivz.bsky.social · Sep 3

example: i just did megaplex, where my overhead was a hotel room split 5 ways with other artists, the table cost, and food for one. the extra income from megaplex helps subsidize the expenses of chattanooga this week, like the extra $250 in hotel for my wife.

ALEKIVZ ✨ @alekivz.bsky.social · Sep 3

usually people charge more at a con to compensate; i feel comfortable at my current prices to stay the same, but that is also in part due to doing guest spots/tat cons back to back with more traditional con income streams w/lower overhead, to alleviate the strain of some of those costs

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ALEKIVZ ✨ @alekivz.bsky.social · Sep 3

so, going to a tattoo convention costs me anywhere from $1100 to $2500 to work at— meaning in order for it to be profitable and worth going, i need to make that amount + an additional $3500 to pay for pet sitting, days off work, and extra costs alone.

i can’t make that tattooing alone tbh!

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