Tattoo artist for Punk Rock Big Year

Punk Rock Big Year is pleased to announce the involvement of Pete Commanda. Pete is my go-to tattoo artist. He’s been tattooing for 16 years and has designed the main Punk Rock Big Year tattoo. This tattoo will be the first in a long series of work being done in 2011. It’s a classic tattoo style and is not meant to represent any bird species specifically. Pete has done many other tattoos for both my wife and I. My right arm has a collage of Audubon’s paintings, specifically Brown Thrashers and Marsh Wrens. Below is his bio and a sketch for the main tattoo. The ribbon you see (unfinished under the bird) will meander all over my body and contain all the names of the birds I see in 2011.

Pete Commanda

Pete started his tattoo apprenticeship at Wylde Tattoo in North Bay in 1993. After a year, he started tattooing people full-time. In 1995, he decided to move south to Toronto. Pete honed his craft working at various tattoo shops in the city finally landing at Passage. During his time at Passage, Pete would travel as a guest artist to Cottage 13 in Hamilton. Pete was married and had twin boys. He and his wife decided that they wanted someone to be home with their boys and so he started working from home. Pete draws inspiration from both traditional and tattoo artists.