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Got this chola lady head from Paul Dobleman at Spider Murphy's in San Rafael, CA.

@Kahlan No lecture here, everyone else seems to have done a great job of that. Just some straight up info: At the shop I work in (Which may or may not have a reputation on being harsh to 'wannabes') we get at least one person each week asking for an apprenticeship. In the summer months we get AT LEAST two per week, often more. Aside from the fact than none of them can draw and most haven't been tattooed at our shop, - I'm not even sure if any of them know what kind of work we do (hint: almost everything) they certainly don't look through any of our folios while they are in the shop. - There is no way that our city can support 52 to 104 new tattooers each year. I've been there since 2007. That would be over 800 new tattooers. But really, shitty tattooers should stop taking apprentices and helping them become shitty tattooers. If a good tattooer won't teach you, tough shit. If a good tattooer does teach you, I hate you because I never got that chance and I did a whole bunch of shitty tattoos while I was 'learning'.

Where are all the awesome Mermaid tattoos?! Such a classic sailor design I love seeing. Here's mine....kinda. It's a spin on the Capricorn, but you get what I mean. Hillary Fisher-White is awesome.

Well,I've already voiced my opinion on this subject- but.... One thing nobody has mentioned is that there are still shops out there willing to take on an apprentice- for payment. In the 70s I knew of a few people that were charging thousands of dollars for the opportunity to learn and work at an established shop. ( Set up equipment usually went w the deal.)Today it would not be unrealistic to be asked to pay tens of thousands of dollars. Think of the money you would pay to attend a trade school or university. If a person is serious and committed, a financial obligation along with an agreed upon length of time/work commitment- isn't unreasonable. So find a shop that you love, get tattooed there and ask if they would be willing to take you on as an apprentice for 2-3 years, if you would be willing to pay them ( what ever amt) you agree upon, $10-$15,000 a year, let's say. Unless you just want them to give it to you, which seems to be what everybody wants.

I think the girl been booted in the ass about enough. She said she gets it, so leave us all lighten up a tad.

That letter was amazing. - - - Updated - - - This thread reminds me of when I occasionally eavesdrop on my kids from the next room. Sometimes if I don't get involved in their arguments, they figure out how to work it out themselves without me running in and yelling at everyone. I'm not saying that you're like children, I'm saying that I'm so proud of how LST has grown. You guys are awesome.

I tried taking a photo of my latest from Javi Rodriguez but unfortunately i have my right arm in a cast at the moment so it wasn't easy. I've settled for pilfering one from his instagram instead. Done at the fantastic frith street on Tuesday.

@Kev Congratulations on your big day!! We are there in spirit :)

Seems I just quit smoking. It's been weird for the last two days haven't touched one. Been a smoker since 13 years old. Anyone else ever quit?

I'm Stephany and like all of you here have a huge appreciation for good tattoos. It's my first time joining any forum, this one was just too awesome to pass up ! All of you have inspired me to chase good artists around for tattoos. I have an appointment booked with Paul Dobleman in April and will post pics when it is done ! I know I'll learn a lot and see a bunch of good work here :D

http://tattooroadtrip.com/blog/category/zeke-owen/ Here is a link to all of the letters that Zeke wrote for Skin and Ink. I thought I had posted this on the forum before, but maybe not.

I know you've said you're looking for an apprenticeship, so firstly -- and this is not coming from a pompous holier-than-thou attitude -- tread lightly here. One of the reasons we've lost solid contributing tattooers to LST is for this very reason. Every few months someone joins up and says, "Hey, I want an apprenticeship, what's the problem?!" The forum is here to help and to share -- but not when it comes to technical how-tos and certainly not when it comes to the ins-and-outs of getting your foot in the door. Second -- and this is coming from only a very slightly more life experience -- go get tattooed. I know you've got two tattoos.. But apprenticeship aside, if you want to learn about tattoos and that world, go. get. tatt.ooed. Make that your primary goal, put the apprenticeship out of your mind. How do you know that you want to commit your life to something when you've only got two tattoos? I bet things will be a little more clear after having spent more than a few hours in a tattoo shop. Tried being as nice as possible here and there's a good chance it's as nice a response as you may get.. It's not that it's a cult or that people are assholes. Take a step back. Listen to what people are saying. Godspeed.

Hi all, well, i want to show you guys my Laserprojects. i hope you guys understand me, because my englishgrammar is not the best (i never had english in school ;) here are the pictures of my Lowerleg. Before and during the laserprocess. I started it in March 2011. we started to cover it in December 2011. The First Testlasering ! This was on the Inside Outside and start of the first Treatment And finally, it's almost finished! :) And Here is my Current Project i started in november 2011. it goes to the end... it was a full sleeve! almost 10 Years old... not really happy with it at all... Current Status Enjoy :)

A question for the tattooers: I live around the corner from a street shop. This shop has been around a long time by Montreal's standards...when there were only three tattoo shops in town, this was one of them. It's a first come, first serve, pick something off the wall, take a number and wait your turn kind of place, walls completely covered in flash, and they keep pretty busy there. I was talking with one of the tattooers there when I was out walking my dog the other day and he was saying that even though the winters are always slow for them that it's rare that there's a day when they aren't each doing at least one tattoo. Then he was saying that there are a lot of shops around where the tattooers can go days or even weeks without doing a single tattoo. They'll be at the shop drawing but they aren't making any money. There simply doesn't seem to be enough people getting tattooed to sustain the number of tattoo artists in this city. Stewart said that if Frith Street gave a chance to every person who walked in the door asking for an apprenticeship that London would have around 800 new tattooers right now. That is obviously not sustainable. Seth Ciferri posted something on instagram a couple of months ago about somebody in his area offering a groupon deal for tattoos with the comment that new tattooers would have to take second jobs if they wanted to make a living. So my question for tattooers is how is the saturation of tattooers affected you and your business? How has it changed over the course of your career?

Capilli Tupou at Sacred Tattoo new zealand

I've got a mermaid that frames a ship on my arm. I'm too tired to take a pic now, but I'll post it tomorrow. It was inspired by some of the tattoos done in the Bowery in the 1920s.

BJ Betts tomorrow, can't wait! I'm going to have to though, my appt isn't till 9 PM :(

The same reason why Dave Navarro is a judge on Ink Masters...

Nathan Kostechko

We really need more Zeke Owenses.

"If you don't want me tattooing in my home then teach me." That sounds like blackmail. I try not to hurl insults on the internet, but after reading your posts on this subject I am a little annoyed. I don't have an opinion one way or the other about people getting apprenticeships. Every individual circumstance is different. I do however have a problem with people thinking they deserve something just because they want it. I am not sure why you think you are owed an apprenticeship, but until you get over that entitled attitude then I am certain you do not deserve one.

New signature.

Really? So you would happily give something that you've spent your whole life (or large part of) striving to perfect, your means of providing for your family and whatever else to any random person that asked for it? If yes, good luck to you. You know what my answer would be? Go fuck yourself. I don't tattoo, or have any desire to tattoo but if someone came up and asked for my life on a plate I'd be a lot less civilised and nice than most people, especially if that person was a complete stranger.

I don't know, Richard Stell is so badass, he might live forever.

got my elbow tattooed yesterday by Lowercase J

Hello LST! I've been lurking for a while and thought i might as well create a profile here. I have only gotten a single tattoo at the time, but I'm obsessed about getting more work done. I live in Thailand at the moment, but will soon move back to my native Denmark. I've been putting off getting more tattoos, because none of the tattooers here in my town - to my knowledge - do the kind i want - Traditional - very good. I have alot of good options when i return to Copenhagen, so i guess i'll just have to wait - even though it sucks! I was introduced to this site through the fantastic youtube videos, which i have seen at least 5 times each. I dont see myself posting to much, as i dont feel I have much to bring to the table in terms of knowledge, but I'm satisfied listening and learning. Thanks for providing an awesome board, Simon.

Part of the common misconception, you give a tattooer x amount of dollars, they pocket all the cash and spends it on all the finer things in life, while they hob nob with Robin Leach, and the tax man is none the wiser. While I can't speak for everyone in regards to paying taxes, In General, tattooers pay a lot of taxes since they are self employeed, owners of shop pay even more because of local taxes on business (Public Transportation tax for one example). Fees from Credit cards transactions cut into profit, and in some ways they might as well be a tax, because it just results in less money in your pocket at end of the year and more money you pay the accountant to sort it all out. Like it's been said before, even places that accept cards would rather you pay cash. I don't think any shop or tattooer would appreciate anyone just assuming they are committing tax fraud, or that it's a common practice by tattooers in general, especially as many of them are writing big checks to govt during this tax season.

Finished the eagle today. It's gonna stay black & grey for now.

Who needs to apprentice when you have the internet and youtube has tutorials! (jokes)

It may be a pompous attitude but just because you've been working hard and doing things right doesn't mean you deserve to be taught. As well if you're a random person just coming in how is anyone supposed to know all these things about you? I believe in teaching people as well, but I don't think everything should be taught to everyone that asks. At the end of the day it's their world, which means they make the rules. You may not like them, they may frustrate the shit out of you but that's life.

Just for fun, here is my finished dragon by Kore Flatmo. Its only eight days into the month and there are already so many amazing tattoos posted. Thats pretty awesome.

No, we dont.

I have a very similar story, did them myself, and have the same views you do about it now =P Id never get these covered (at this point in time), they are above short line so i dont care too much and they have some meaning to me now.that and they are nowhere near as bad as some I've seen. most id do is have someone touch em up.

A few years ago my brother bought a tattoo kit from china for $150 australian (really super good quality....) so I tattooed this above my knee , and we tattooed a few friends. After two days the power supply broke and safe to say I never touched a machine again hahah I'll leave it to the professionals.

I saw this on his IG it's awesome congrats.

New one from Chad Koeplinger done at Frith Street Tattoo

New little one I picked up from Mil Martinez at the Tattoo Tea Party in Manchester. He works out of 13 Diamonds in London. Super cool guy. Sorry about the crappy picture, i'll get a better one soon!

Done at 2:a Långgatan Tatuering aka American Art, been going since 70's by Magnus Tufvesson. a good guy. Nova is my youngest daughter. getting some fillers around it to finish up that arm in a couple of weeks or so.

Picture from Kore Flatmo's Facebook of our progress this week! Such an amazing experience, I'd recommend PluraBella to anyone and everyone here! Here's one I took to show how it matches up with my Kurt Wiscombe piece. I'm so pumped!

Pattern fill-ins from Thomas Hooper today. One more session to go.

@Iwar, I kind of like it! Certainly not the worst tattoo I have ever seen, and though it's not the best, I like how it looks kind of etched

My first tattoo, done in the late 90's. The original design was for my dad's one-man guitar repair business called "the guitar doctor". It was based off of the ambulance symbol, only with a guitar neck and two snakes instead of one. Judging from the borderline he put there, I don't think Grime liked it very much, haha. It's not going anywhere though.

Last pic before I head up to San Francisco on Tuesday to start the cover up Wednesday. Left pic was Dec. 9, 2012 and the one on the right was tonight, Jan. 10, 2013

You see my snake tidbits on my squidpants? (idk lol ftw)

One of my favorite big skulls from Kore Flatmo. In my opinion, he does the perfect skull. His stuff is so good, whether it is more realistic or more stylized...it doesn't matter.

Jesse Tseronis at Sakura Tattoo in Winchester, VA.

Crikey!! this is from Trevor McStay, he is dope.

This is my tiger done be Mr @byranburk back in october. Done in one sitting. He's very good.

I'd only ever seen a couple Kore Flatmo tattoos that Lochlan had shown me. Intrigued by Scott's recent interview with him, I checked out his website... Damn! Homie does some amazing work. Here's some skull jammers that I was stoked on