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Someone asked me today why I got my tattoos. I said "because Stewart Robson was drunk". That confused them and I made a run for it.

Bridesmaids was filmed alot in my neighborhood. Movie reminded me of "the hangover" for women. Buuuutttt just as funny for guys. I ask because people here don't know corn about poop. I once worked with this fool. Actually ive worked with a handful but this one I never really cared for. This woman came tO the shop on my day off. Turns out she had a bob Roberts back piece. The fool had no idea who he was. Uggghhh there was a show that night and it just so happened I ran into her there. We strike up a conversation and we realize I worked at the shop with the dork who didn't know who bob Roberts was. She then showed me an amazing back piece AAAAAND her boobs. Moral of the story.....know your history kids. Knowledge gets you boobs.

Got this last night from Ron Wells at Three Kings in NY.

Just tell them you were drunk when you got them and you don't remember.

scowl more and dont look at people in the eye. its been at least a decade since anyones asked me about my tattoos.

Deb, you beat me to it. Or the variation: "I was drunk and it was a dare/bet." Surprisingly enough, this works! ...even with sleeves, or a backpiece. Dumb fucks.

How about, because it's a fucking Sailor Jerry, that's why. Of course then you get who's Sailor Jerry? Or that's an eagle not a sailor. Fucking dipshit just go away and don't worry about my tattoos.

Just do the "Stuart Cripwells". Classic always a win :) Great tattoo btw!

Got this a couple days ago via Mario Desa.

Starting my backpiece tomorrow, with another session two days later. If all goes well I will post up the outline. Nervous but also very excited.

I'm relatively new to the forum and the tattoo world but I definitely think that Frank Carter deserves recognition. I've got three tattoos done by him and couldn't be happier with them. One of the tattoos was a walk in done about a month ago which he stayed late to finish which I thought was really cool. He's a good guy who does awesome tattoos and couldn't recommend him enough. Also Miles at Frith Street Tattoo is an amazing artist, got my first tattoo from him and it's incredible. He can do any style and has a ton of cool stories about tattooing and travelling. Sorry about the quality of some of the pictures, I'm no photographer. The top three tattoos are by frank and the bottom one is by miles.

Here's a closer picture of my back.. The last ones I posted I now realize were reversed.

The Atlantic Magazine, just put up a 'piece' about tattoos from around the world. I like it because it's just pretty much pictures of tattoos with captions about them, rather than boring blocks of text. Thinks there is something there for everyone to either Love or Hate, which is right way to go. I don't know what everyone else will think, but I thought it was well done. Here's the link: Tattoos - Alan Taylor - In Focus - The Atlantic

And I nominate myself for the king of drunk posting.

Tattoo conventions are packed full of ignorant and rude assholes. We just finished with the London show and because our helpers (and Valerie) are young, tattooed and good looking, cameras were clicking all weekend. The only people who asked permission of any sort were the people who wanted to come inside our booth or who wanted the girls to pose. Most people shot without flash but taking a photo of a girl's chest tattoo, 12 inches away from her face, with flash isn't cool. My gurning and obscene gestures in the background of douche's photos is a different matter. @ian, if you are not a dick, you'll be in the much-appreciated minority. It's a convention. Most people working expect to have pictures taken from a respectful distance. Convention visitors should remember that it's not an exhibition. Tattooers are not there for your amusement.

i get dudes who are intimidated but wanna prove that they're not, "yeah i'd get tattoos but it'd hafta be something that means something" (implying that all my tattoos are dumb) so i reply "so you don't have anything that means anything in your life?" usually shuts them up.

@NathanShearer, Frank was mentioned one page ago, by Iwar. It's terrifying how quickly Frank learns. I wish he would tattoo more and make music less. I like his tattoos and flash. Miles doesn't have an internet 'presence' other than the Frith Street website but he's been tattooing in and around London or Australia for 20 years. He was at IntoYou for quite a while. Eye-opening stories for sure. 99% of them not fit for the internet. ;)

Johnny, the thing is most people on here had tattoos way before the Miami Ink or LA Ink shows hit cable TV. When those shows came out every tattoo on them had a "meaning" behind it, these stories play on emotions and make for better TV. Once people outside the tattoo world started watching these shows they thought there was some deep meaning behind every tattoo and felt, since they watch the shows, they share a common corp of knowledge with us. It seems that they believe by watching Ami James tattoo 100 Koi Fish that they can speak intelligently about tattoos with us. So that's why it hits a nerve.

its good to hear im not alone. I work in the south, no one seems to know anything about history or even cares. being from northern calif. is even stranger. no one knows anybody i know. some of the names ring bells but no connections. I do agree, this biz has become very diluted.

Panther head tattooed on the back of my upper arm by Nick Colella on Saturday.

Drunk posting is the new drunk dialing

This post has been my favorite so far. It's a large reason why I joind and I think it needs some fresh love. Here's my backpiece, fresh after the final session a few months ago. Jill Bonny (Horiyuki) at State of Grace Tattoo in San Jose has done all my work to date. After a few months off, I decided to add background. We start again this weekend.

just to let those that don't already know, Volume II is now available through the website. get yours Amund Dietzel

Mike Hood would be fucking pumped. Respectfully of course. He is everywhere...

from what i can tell the tattoo is nice but the photo is awful.

When someone asks me what my tattoos mean I say "nothing. They don't mean anything I just liked it". It makes me kind of mad because even if they did mean something, it would probably be something very personal to me which means it's none of their god damn business in the first place. What if my tattoo symbolized when my baby died or I got attacked and lived or my house burnt down. If any of that had happened to me I wouldn't want to talk to strangers about it. I also get very very angry when strangers grab my arm to see a tattoo. I do not understand why anyone thinks it's appropriate to touch someone they don't know. I had a waiter do it once and I almost left the restaurant. When people ask about where I got them done and they do it nicely I will tell them because I like to give my friends business. You never know who's going to turn into a regular customer. My mom always says shit like "you did it to yourself and people are just curious" and I usually say something like "well fat people did it to themselves and I'm not gonna go grab their gut and ask what the meaning behind their food addiction is, or how they could do that to their body". In the end I usually end up wearing clothes that show as little as possible. Even on the hottest days in Florida I generally wear long pants and a shirt to my elbows. It's sad that a young woman can't walk around with tattoos showing and not get yelled at by guys in cars.

I don't really understand this maniacal need to take lots of photos of everything nowadays. Like being at the Louvre watching people rush around taking snaps of everything and not stopping to actually look at the art... are they going to go home and stare at the photo instead of at the artwork in person? One can only hope these thousands of pointless convention photos end up in some folder no one ever looks at!

Every time I read this to my daughter, I laugh: "So if you have a lot of ink...."

Ian I for one would love to see some pics from the convention if you dont have to ruffle feathers to get it done

I would like to think If I was approached nicely I would politely tell them where and who I got them from and encourage them to research if they were thinking about getting tattooed

To be honest, this would likely be my answer. That or some other complete lie. Sarcasm is a strong suit.

Depends how/when they ask, I reckon. If it's some stranger on a bus who grabs your arm and starts being really rude, it's understandable to ignore/get a little angry at them. But if it's someone who does seem interested and is polite about it, I'll usually just answer something along the lines of liking how they look (and maybe telling the story behind a particular piece if they ask specifically). If I'm not busy, and the person seems nice, I'll happily talk to them. No point in being rude or defensive.

FINALLY!

Guys ,first of all you can't compare tattooing to any other profession, particulary anything related to financial gain .These people live tattoos all day every day ,not just doing them but everything to do with them -even the shit stuff they love ,i'm sure .A better comparison is to a professional athlete or the like who lives totally immersed in their thing with monk-like devotion and love .Best put I think by Horiyoshi III "i will live and die devoted to this " Deb -true love for something is always apparent and will attract likewise long after the new jack "superstars" have been replaced by the next batch.Laugh with your man cause most times its better to be invisible.

I don't remember posting this. Guess I was a lil bit to drunk yesterday. This is a little bit strange, but at least I spoke in english.

OH STOP RUBBING IT IN YOU JERKS. ..we'll have to get a NY one going just to match you!

To quote Lil B: "and also if your thugging super hard adopt a pet. honestly a cat. it will relax you. a baby cat at that. ASPCA I LOVE U! ADOPT BABY CATS!"

I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking that a tattooer with no tattoos cannot really adequately represent what he/she has never felt themselves, nor can they give you specific information about so many other aspects of the experience. I was at a convention recently and the apprentice at the booth next to ours had no tattoos (her family wouldn't allow them) and said she might not ever get any. It confused me a little as to why she even wanted to be a tattooer; during our conversation (we talked a bit, as the two female apprentices on our side of the event) it was obvious that she didn't know about what styles of tattoos she liked or would want to do, what kind her shop specialized in, or the names of any tattooers other than those on the tv shows. I can't take seriously a tattooer with no tattoos; just can't.

weve all been ripped off, come on, we all do it everyday.

Ron Wells did this! Love it. 2 weeks ago got work from chad koeplinger and jondix, no pictures online but once healed I will grab some. Also working on chest and arm with thomas hooper...this was the last blog update. Eisen Flower. « Hoopers Electric – Meditations in Atrament 2011 was busy....I see 2012 being more of the same for my wife and I.

Inspired by the group, I listened to the Lucero channel on Pandora for about 2 hours last night.

there's a lot of other mention worthy weirdness that happened at that show, hahaha. the shirt i got from that show is on it's last leg, sleeves have completed detached and now several holes are starting to spread with each time i wear it. the meatking records design that was on the back is completely gone. todays playlist is all psychobilly the meteors-wrecking crew tiger army-all heartbreak engines-all creepshow-all the brains-all nekromantix-random tracks from each album mad sin-newest album chop tops-all the cramps-all koffin kats-inhumane frantic flintstones-raucaus years demented are go-in sickness and in health charlie horse-unholy roller

I was listening to Gaslight Anthem in the car with my grandmother today. She says "This shit sounds a lot better than the other shit (Hot Water Music) we were just listening to" I of course slapped her for talking shit about Hot Water Music.

I'm just gonna get other shit around it i think. I'm probably going to do 4 medium sized tattoos as oppose to two huge side pieces because I just don't have the room for them. So like one on each side under the arm pit and then one on each side in the lower section with probably not much around my waist. I've never been a fan of really solid coverage, like no skin showing. It's ok on other people but just not what I'm going for I guess. I'm more a fan of the traditional american look of a bunch of tattoos all over with probably stars and dots or that type of filler.

I was about to say "How can there be no Judd Ripley in this thread?" and then saw that Perez had posted something awhile ago ;) so here is a bit more Judd Ripley

no offense but tattoo magazine makes me sad to look at. often times it seems to be mediocre work plastered on half naked girls and if its not that its ads for some shitty supply company or some h2ocean bs. sex sells blah blah blah. all show and no substance. my uncle buys me those things and i always end up putting them right in the trash. i wouldn't want my picture in one of those things. sorry...

Surely you don't mean....

About 7 or 8 years ago Bill Demichele took a photo of me at a convention, and I asked him not to publish it, as I had no interest in the tattoo being seen publicly. He said he would not, yet six months later, there it was in print. Every idiot in America has that tattoo, and it makes me sick.