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I have some pretty bad ones I will never mess with ,because of association. one of them is by the late Eric Hogan. he was by no means a great friend , more like someone I knew, But I will always remember him, His mother would probably appreciate this. During these times that seem sometimes like a "cool" race, we need to remember the whys and hows people have always gotten tattooed. As a tattooer/ist we ,especially street shops, face it everyday. those silly reasons mean something to those not in the know. your Moms love, your children's love, you went somewhere, you freed yourself, don't forget. They aren't just cool. Last evening I put stick figures holding balloons on a woman's foot, I tried to put them on with all the professionalism that i could. If those don't meet anyone's ideas about what good art is or what a cool tattoo is,it doesn't matter. she talked about how she went to a different shop and they were rude about it. I did a good job, she was happy, I got to eat dinner doing something I want to do,not something i have to do, Im not cleaning toilets ,Im not a Walmart greeter. not that good hard work isn't respectful , Its that I'm lucky and hopeful today. And yes I will try and give them the best stick figures they need. I do love me some "regular people".

Ariella, I would suggest checking out some books/magazines (magazine thread here: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/random-crap/956-best-worst-tattoo-magazines.html), reading some interviews and poking around online or even portfolios on here. Once you see enough nicely executed tattoos, it won't even be a question in your mind about how that dragon could be translated as anything but atrocious, even from a simple design standpoint. What makes a good tattoo is definitely not a trade secret. All it takes is a little effort and research, and once you've been exposed to more than what's walking around your town, it'll be like a big smack on the forehead. If my little sorority sister can start to "get it" after looking at a few shop links, anyone can "get" it.

Chris O'Donnell isn't featured beyond the interviews in the Grime episodes I believe. Here's the schedule for what's to come (taken from Shawn's blog) Troy Denning – New York City | Air Dates – Trailer: August 31 | Pt. 1: September 7 | Pt. 2: September 14 | Pt. 3: September 21 Troy Denning is the owner of one of New York’s premier tattoo parlors, Invisible NYC, as well as the owner of one of the most unique styles. Troy seeks to go beyond the work of other Japanese style tattooers, and searches for influence in the original Ukiyo-E masters. He has worked a variety jobs from mineworker to strip club security guard, all of which have added to his special outlook on life. He is a self-proclaimed karaoke master, and a fixture of New York’s Lower East Side. Mike Rubendall – New York City | Air Dates – Trailer: September 28 | Pt. 1: October 5 | Pt. 2: October 12 | Pt. 3: October 19 Mike Rubendall comes from the colorful world of old school tattooing in New York City, learning the tricks of the trade from the infamous Frank Romano at a biker shop on Long Island. Mike has come a long way from mopping the floors of his teacher’s tattoo parlor, and now owns his own shop, King’s Avenue Tattoo, in New York City. Mike is full to the brim with tales of his varied experiences as a tattooer, from working on Damon Dash in the Hampton’s to watching his co-workers piss into a woman’s purse at a local bar. Freddy Corbin – Oakland | Air Dates – Trailer: October26 | Pt. 1: November 2 | Pt. 2: November 9 | Pt. 3: November 16 Once the young turk of the Bay Area working with tattoo luminaries Ed Hardy and Dan Higgs in the early 90′s at Tattoo City, Freddy Corbin is now an elder statesman of the tattoo scene. Freddy proclaims that he is a spiritual man, whose shop looks like a cross between the Sistine Chapel and an old bar. He has battled addiction and dealt with loss but always maintains a positive outlook on life. Two years ago, he tattooed villagers for free in India on the banks of the Ganges River as a spiritual offering before the birth of his son.

Cheers Hogg!! All the crew there are super nice, extremely welcoming and patient with my bad Japanese. But we got there ;) lol Well I just got home after about 17 hours of straight travel. (It was only a nine hour flight but I had to go see my Mum and that isnt close!) So now ready for some sleep. I'll post pics once I get some for sure (I forgot to mention there is a decent cover up going on so some parts may need a little touch up when I return, but I am amazed in how its turning out) Actually there might be some photos on their blog so I will check ;)

"Having said that..."

I wish I could get the russian stars for time served in the Mafia. Cool design, but dont want to be frontin something.

Ryan Mason's work is awesome! I've been wanting something from him for quite some time now. Check out this amazing backpiece:

Is this possible? I need people to know immediately when I zing them in other threads they might not see.

Posting my knee piece Wednesday, dun dun dun!

This is more related to after it's healed but has anyone here has problems with their tattoos getting tiny holes in them from their hair? This might sound really weird but the individual hairs on my legs are so thick and strong that I actually get little holes all over my tattoos over time. Like the hairs are actually pushing the ink out or something. It doesn't really happen on my arms thankfully but I have noticed it on almost every leg tattoo I have except maybe the newest. Anyone else have this problem? Unfortunately it's too late for laser hair removal because you can't get it over tattoos I guess.

In my humble opinion, artwork is artwork and I think people should surround themselves with images they like to see... that being said... I think if a non-tattooer is buying flash to become a tattooer, they are already doomed to failure. Either way I support people paying me for my work.

While I'm new to getting tattooed I just put myself in the position of the person tattooing me. I think at least I am doing it right. Pre-shave the area. (I am one hairy mofo) Show up early, usually half-hour to forty-five minuets and sit quietly until called Chain smoke pre-tattoo so I don't get the nic-fit shakes When getting tattooed I sit VERY still I do not talk unless talked to. I personally hate when people talk to me while trying to concentrate. Another big one is LISTEN to advice. Unless you are a tattooer yourself, you pay them to be the knowledgeable one in the situation. These are all examples of things I take from my own job and apply them to getting tattooed. I personally would love to listen to music but won't since I tend to tap my feet to the beat unconsciously.

So far I've been told to get color since I am damn near translucent white, it comes with the territory of working inside, usually no windows :( . Just like Ursula I am Italian but its a joke since I am sooo pale. Only part of my body that ever got tough skin was my hands from years of working on my motorcycles, cars and off-roading.

hah. I didn't want squid pants drawn, just something so I could make stickers. I had a few people get back to me, but nothing has come of it. That's the lament of the blogger- those who can, draw. Those who can't, blog.

just got my "Vader Skull" today by Marcus Maguire pics later .... heres the stencil ...

I think something semi-geometric in that area. I like the idea of capping off my travel leg with a compass rose like this (maybe less detailed, a few colors) The other knee, maybe a Pennsylvania Dutch hex sign. These are super basic, but they can get really detailed:

Richard said this to me once, or twice... He heard it from Hardy First... I have tattoos I hate... It's one of those... You can live with it, it'll teach you one way or another...

Wellllll. Since you said to be honest I will. Like the other I agree it looks stupid to have hand tattoos and not have the rest of your arms and actually the rest of your body done. It makes me wonder why you chose to get your hand tattooed before doing the rest. As far as the actual tattoo, it's by far not the worst I've seen. It's not something I would ever get and I wouldn't go to the artists. The reason is not the quality of the actual tattooing, it's the drawing. I'm not into new school or whatever people would call that style. Just isn't my thing. Having said all that, if you like the drawing then there's no problem at all as it's your tattoo. If I was you I'd wait until I you have a lot more tattoos on your arm and then see how you feel about it. I have a couple tattoos that are actually really fucking awful, like I mean horrible. It used to bother me soooo much, I wouldn't wear short sleeves because I was so embarrassed by them. Then I started getting good tattoos and lots of them and now the bad ones aren't so embarrassing. It all just kind of blends in. A good friend of mine who is also a great tattooer once told me that he likes it when someone has a couple bad ones in there with the good ones because it shows that you love tattoos and wanted them before you knew about 'cool rockstar hipster shit' like a lot of the kids today who are just getting tattooed because it's the cool trendy thing to do.

Looks fine to me, now its time to fill up the rest of your arms.

yep.. sadly there's quite a few people who look exactly like that.

That's not Junni, but it does kinda look like her. This is Junni:

Its 0700 and i just took down two slices of lanesplitter pizza. Gorgonzola, tomato, salami, basil. And a large coffee. Im gonna shit my pants later

Hahahaha me too buddy! It's all part of being in the tattoo world. We tend to be a pretty opinionated bunch who aren't scared to show it. Back on the pets track.... Here's a couple more shots of Sophia my mom's cat, my dogs and tiny tiny cross stitch I made of a beagle for my dude

Okay, here's the update. Hotstuff and Panther by Scott Sylvia. Kewpie and White Tiger by Bryan Burke. Both tattoos were done in 2 sittings, black in one sitting, color in the next. Scotts side was about 5 1/2 hours. Bryans side was 4 1/2 hours total. I started Bryans side first but finished Scotts side first. I lagged on Bryan and was procrastinating getting it finished a bit because Scotts side hurt so bad. Bryan actually had to call me up and be like, "we finishing this tattoo we started or what?". Sorry Bryan. Both these guys are quick as can be and for a painful spot like the ribs I really appreciated that. I gotta say the second sitting with Scott i was feeling a little nauseous and almost ready to tap out towards the end. Scott hurt more!

First of all, nobody should be SIPPING anything..

I havnt been a member long, but as a non tattooer it upsets me that some of the artists are posting less because of us. I and most from what I can tell are grateful to be on this site with awesome artists and have no intention on doing anything other than getting good tattoos from good artists. I dont want to market anything or make money. I want to learn more so I am in position to get some great work and share it with the place that is getting me on the right path.

you just hit the nail on the head. here's the thing, most of us don't talk about all aspects of the industry, especially those of us who don't tattoo. it's kind of like a secret recipe, you might get most of the basic ingredients, maybe even their amounts, but the spices or the signature ingredient is left out. because why pay for the milk if you can get the cow for free? most of us (at least i think) are perfectly fine with not knowing every single detail about what it takes to make a tattoo if we're not tattooing. there are aspects of the industry that i'm curious about, and if i asked an artist in person about them, i might even get an answer, but if i was told "sorry i'm not going to answer that", then i would respect it and back off. while your statement about the internet is true, that you can learn just about anything from searching around, this community is not the answer to all of your questions, and if someone says "no" then you should also respect that there is a reason why they said "no". it's ok to ask, and i agree, if you're new to something, you may not be aware of boundaries, but when someone says to "stop", then you should stop. this goes to most situations in life, online and off.

Well, ultimately it's up to tattooers to just not answer the questions. People are going to ask questions and occasionally step over the line, especially people new to this who don't know any better. Most of the time it's an honest mistake, it's no big deal and a gentle correction should suffice. It's when people start demanding to know things, like we owe them something, that there's a problem.

look at that face!!!! dontcha just wanna squeeze her! sooo cute!

this our old dag Mr meiko he died about a year ago. we were real bummed. i got a pyramid tattoo to remember him by at blackheart when i was in SF. as a sort of tomb for him as king of pit bulls. plus i didn't really want a pit bull tattoo. my wife got a carrot because that was his favortite treat. from bob at perfection in austin. but now we got this little girl. she is hilarious. and just wandered into our lives.

They certainly are. I started off with one, now I've got five. I couldn't agree more about neutering. Heres a typical evening with my wife.

Casper is currently living with me. Sleep mode.. Took this one while he was yawning. Kinda scary looking..

Allana - I've wanted to do agility since i got GB i think she'd be so good! your x-stitches are awesome! also, here's my GB tattoo... sorry for the photo quality, it's hard to take a picture of your own arm haha... I hope this photo works.. it's from my personal flickr folder, that other people can't see... I should mention the dog tattoo was done by Jeff Cribb of Hero Tattoo in South Carolina. He's reallllly into dogs and owns about 7 I think. He is also the reason why I have my dog. It was through his friend who breeds working and show dogs that I got mine. If anyone is wondering the rose above it is from Eli Quinters at Smith St in New York City

that's a pretty cute bunny tattoo! And this thread is awesome! This is my dog who I haven't been able to see since January as I'm stuck in Canada and Staffordshire Bull Terriers are on the banned dog breed list here. I hope these photos work as I'm just taking them off my Facebook.. Her name is G.B. and this is the one puppy my dog had (yup just one) and this is our other dog, she's really my dude's dog as he's had her longer than he's had me! Her name is Carmen I do have a tattoo of GB on the back of my arm, I'll try to get a photo of it!

I got this idea from Shawns thread on his new "bundle of Joy" where he announced he was adopting this cute italian grey hound. i know im not the only one who loves talking about their pets so please share away. heres a little explaination of my pictures. DEPRESSING STOREY WARNING: the first one is of Joia (joy-a, this is the portugues slang word for treasure/jewels) she was my first portuguese water dog. i rescued her from a hell hole of a living situation. i got her at the age of 1 yr and she lived with me and my family until she passed 7 months later. unfortunately she was born very very sick and by the time we found out something was wrong it was too late. sorry for the sad storey but thats life!!! the 2nd and 3rd is of Avelan my current dog. we showed her within Canada and she got her championship with 4 weeks, we are so proud of her. now that shes sterealized we cant show her anymore so we've moved on to training in agility. its so much fun and shes got so much talent and ability!! lastly are some pictures of cross stitch pieces i did. i do this in my free time because it keeps my hands busy and i think its as close as im gonna get to art of any kind becasue i dont draw anymore.

This

Im no celebrity, but my co-worker offered to play for my next tattoo if its Justin Biebers portrait with the words "Baby Baby" above it. On my shin. Im leaning towards "Fuck Yes" but the thought of having that little asshole on my body forever pisses me off. Also, my only addition to this horrible idea was that the Biebs has to look hella mean. HELLA. With more teeth and fear though.

I love his tattoo as much as I love his moustache.

I don't have any cover-ups on my body but I tattoo a hell of a lot of them. Most of the larger work that I do (bigger than 1/2 sleeve) usually incorporates some kind of cover-up. I started to make a point of NOT taking a 'before' picture. Sometimes I do, but I found that the cover-up requests got bigger and bigger the more cover-ups I showed. Covering a half sleeve sized tattoo with a full sleeve compromises the end product but I sometimes enjoy the challenge and the problem-solving aspect of it. This is one of the more tricky ones from last year or so, when I used to take 'before' photos: I got an email today asking if I could cover a full sleeve - with a sleeve.

Watch it 20 more times. Than do it drunk 20 more. Did you watch 2.

1.) When George fakes a disability to get his own private restroom at work. 2.) The Frogger Episode. 3.) Again, when George leaves the "Prophylactic" as Mr. Costanza says in his parents bedroom while they are on vacation. I cant get enough of this show.

At the shop I work out in Hollywood, Chris Brown and Rihanna came in (before he kicked her ass) and they both had some pretty ridiculous tattoos on them (some of which were done at our shop). On his upper arm, there was a Jesus in the clouds with ninjas popping out of all the clouds around it. I asked what was up with the ninjas, and he said they were to protect Jesus. I'm Jewish, so I don't know all that much about Jesus I guess, but I'm pretty sure homeboy doesn't ninjas to protect him when the shit hits the fan.