Keiken Illustrations

"Keiken" (pronounced KAY-KEN) means "experience" in Japanese. You may have noticed that many of the titles of the pieces are not in English. Some are in Latin, but many are in Japanese. Japanese culture also influences my art, since I am part Japanese, spent years in Japan, and am named after a Japanese relative.

This website is designed to work well on most of the latest major browsers, both on the computer and on mobile devices. Internet Explorer is notorious for being wonky and not making pages look and work correctly; so like many other programmers, I have stopped trying to make old versions of IE work. For some reason, Opera on Droid phones also doesn't work 100% properly. Droid's internet, iPhone's Safari, Chrome or Firefox all work well on this site.

If the site is looking funky, you might need to update or change your browser to something like Firefox or Chrome. If you are experiencing a massive flicker in Chrome, see the next question.

If you are continuing to have problems, please contact me and let me know so I can maybe fix it.

If you are using Chrome, you need to turn off the hardware acceleration. Go into the Chrome Settings, at the bottom of the page click "Show advanced settings…", towards the very bottom under "System" make sure the "Use hardware acceleration when available" box is unchecked.

If you are continuing to have problems, please contact me and let me know so I can maybe fix it.

Currently credit cards are not accepted, unless you pay via Paypal or Square. Through Paypal and/or Square, Keiken Illustrations can accept the following credit cards: Visa, Mastercard, Discover, AmEx and e-check. In addition, you can make payments directly from your checking or savings accounts. Of course, good ol' money orders and certified checks are fine, too.

Paypal also converts foreign currency automatically to US dollars, which makes things easier for all concerned.

Sure! You can choose one of two easy ways to do this:

1. Just e-mail Keiken Illustrations and say what item you would like to purchase. It will be put on hold for up to one month until your payment in the form of either certified check, cashier's check or money order is received. (You will get an e-mail informing you of your total cost. Your item will be sent after payment has cleared.) Or,

2. Go to the online order form, print it out and mail it in with your payment. It's that easy! If you do send in a payment, make sure you also send an email since the work mailbox doesn't get checked every day.

Absolutely! You can take up to four (4) months to pay for an item (minimum total purchase price of $300.00). All you have to do is pay 20% down and make equal payments of the remaining balance for the next three (3) months. When the item is completely paid for, it will be shipped to you. There is no interest added to paying via layaway, and you can pay by paypal, money order, or cashier's check. If you think you will have a problem making payments you must notify Keiken immediately (I can't work with you if I don't know what's going on). Expired layaways, with no communication from the customer, are returned to stock and the down payments forfeited.

To purchase something by layaway, just e-mail Keiken and state what you would like to purchase, how much you would like to put down for an initial payment, and by what method you would like to pay.

Items listed on sale are always sold on a first-come, first-serve basis. The website is updated as soon as possible when an item is sold, nearly always within 24 hours of the sale. If you have bought an item which has already sold out at the sale price, you will be notified so you can choose to cancel your order or apply the payment to a regularly priced item, whichever you choose. Either option will have no penalty.

Due to the complexities of shipping outside the domestic U.S., only certain areas are guaranteed orders. Basically, any place that is not in a war that disrupts mail service or where the government steals mail, I can send mail.

Order placement is acknowledgement!

This is the fine print about international orders: Your country may impose additional customs, duties, or other costs that you will have to pay. Please check your customs office for more information. Keiken Illustrations will NOT guarantee an international package, other than breakage. Flat out NO. (Due to the way the postal services are set up internationally.) If you order anyway, do not hold Keiken Illustrations responsible for customs seizing your stuff (which is a possibility). This varies according to country, and you know your customs regulations better than I do. Duties, if required by your customs, are the responsibility of the buyer. I mainly aim this at those of you whose customs nails anything over $75 (U.S.) and opens the rest of the stuff that isn't over that.

If you dislike a product or if it is damaged during shipping, you may return it at your expense to Keiken Illustrations with a copy of your receipt, complete phone number, e-mail address, and return mailing address. Before receiving ANY package, check it before you sign for it. The shipping companies don't accept responsibility once the package has been signed for. Contact Keiken Illustrations BEFORE returning product. NO RETURNS MAY BE MADE AFTER 2 WEEKS AFTER THE PRODUCT HAS BEEN DELIVERED, AND THE PRODUCT MUST BE RETURNED IN THE SAME CONDITION IT WAS SENT IN, unless it was damaged during shipping, in which case it should be returned immediately after contacting Keiken Illustrations. All returns MUST have a tracking number. You will be reimbursed the price minus shipping fees and a 20% repair/restocking fee.

Yes to both questions. Your order is shipped fully insured at no extra cost to you. That's why you MUST examine packages for damage before signing for them from the carrier.

It depends on what you order. Calendars ship 1-2 days after receiving and processing the order and payment, generally speaking. Original art and cels may take as long as two weeks to ship after receiving payment, depending on whether they need to be framed. Limited editions and prints may take a month or slightly longer. Why? Limited editions and prints that are not in stock need to be special ordered, and sometimes it takes the printer a while to get me the images, and some original art needs to be framed, matted, and hardware installed all prior to shipping. Other original art is already set to go and just needs to be packed, and those ship much more quickly. You can check the status of your order by going to the status page. If you have questions about a particular piece before purchasing, please contact me. I will let you know the status of all items you've ordered in an email after they have been ordered. If you find out after you order that a piece will take too long for you, I will refund all the money pertaining to that particular item. There is no restocking or any other fees if you change your mind within 24 hours of placing an order, as long as the item has not already been shipped. If the item has already been shipped, it is treated as a returned item.

Absolutely! I detest when my information gets sold to someone else, so all information that comes to me will ABSOLUTELY NOT be sold or given to anybody else. For more detailed information, please see the privacy policy.

If you live in Tennessee, there is a 7% sales tax. For everyone else: zero, zip, nada.

The price varies depending on the size & complexity of the tattoo. For example, a pretty simple tattoo with no colour would run about $40. A full back piece with lots of colours and a complex design would start at $500 and probably be more like $800. When getting a custom tattoo, half of the fee is paid at the beginning of the project, and that fee is non-refundable. The remaining half of the fee is due when the design is complete, before the art is delivered. During the process, communication is key to getting the design you want.

A custom tattoo is one that is designed for a single person. When you get a tattoo custom designed, the client has complete input regarding what is in the tattoo, as well as final approval of the design. When I do a custom design, it is never resold to anyone else.

A non-custom design (or "flash") is one done with no specific client in mind. The design can be resold to anyone for a number of years. These designs are much cheaper than the custom designs and are what you see when you walk into a tattoo shop and see pages hanging on walls or in books.

It depends on what you'd like done. The prices listed here are GUIDES. The best way to get an exact quote is to contact me.

Original artwork: Depending on the size, what media the piece will be created with (ie. pencil, pen & ink, watercolour, sculpture) and the complexity, the price varies quite a bit. A fairly easy piece (like a simply designed pencil picture from a photograph) not framed or matted costs about $ 40. A fairly large matted & framed picture by watercolours would run about $700.

Murals: The prices depend on the size, location and complexity. Easier murals cost around $ 5 a square foot. Complex or hard-to-reach murals cost between $ 15 - $30 a square foot. (Most murals fall into the "easier" category.)

Business graphics / logo designs: Designs range from $ 350 - $ 700. (To have them printed on shirts, bags, etc., I only additionally charge the cost of the items to have the design printed.)

Website design or re-design: The price depends on the size & scope of the site. A simple 1-page site starts at $150 and a larger 10+ page site with a database or blog starts at $7,000.

Giclée (zhee-klay) - The French word "giclée" is a feminine noun that means a spray or a spurt of liquid. The term "giclee print" is an improvement in printmaking technology, especially for the artist. In giclée printing, no screen or other mechanical devices are used and therefore there is no visible dot screen pattern. They do not use standard inks like your general desktop printer will use. Although any kind of paper can be used, I only use high quality paper or canvas. The giclée printing process provides better color accuracy than other means of reproduction. Museums such as The Met and MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) in New York City display giclée printed artwork. For more information, look here and here.

Items purchased will always be shipped first class via the US postal service, UPS or FedEx. Include your phone number (and/or the phone number of where the package is being shipped to) in your order. UPS/FedEx may need to contact you for delivery. All prices, including shipping charges, must be paid in U.S. dollars.

** Please make sure there's someone at the address Keiken is shipping your order to who can sign for your package if it costs more than $100. To ensure that you receive your order, signature services are used. If someone will not be available at your home, consider having the package shipped to your work address (include company name in shipping info). If your package is returned to Keiken Illustrations, additional shipping charges will be applied to ship it out again. If you choose not to ship it out again, a 30% fee will be deducted from your refund for return shipping charges and restocking. **

FOREIGN INFORMATION: Customs or other international shipping charges imposed by your country are the responsibilty of the buyer. If you refuse to accept shipping of the items you have purchased, the courier may return the items to Keiken. In the event this happens, Keiken may be required to pay additional charges to the courier in respect of the cost of return including customs and import duties that were payable by you. We will look to recover these costs from you by deducting the relevant amount from any refund owed to you.

Also, Keiken Illustrations does not guarantee delivery to, or process orders from, some countries. See the "Do you accept foreign orders" section above for more specific information. If you have any questions, please e-mail me. I apologize for any inconvenience.

Occasionally free shipping is offered — it will be shown on every web page when available.

If your country charges additional customs, duties, or other costs, you will have to pay them. Please check your customs office before buying if it is a concern.

Express shipping is more expensive.

Your order is shipped fully insured at no extra cost to you, if possible.