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Some new ones, he's been on a tiger and panther kick lately.... It works. Here's a couple pics of the tiger tattoos he's recently done...

if you cannot make out the tattoo from 10+ feet away with only the black completed, you don't have a tattoo. you have a pile of shit. if you do not use a black outline on 99% of a tattoo, you don't have a tattoo. you have a pile of shit.

"Your tattoo should look good when the lines are done, it should look finished when the blacks are done and the color is extra." Bob Roberts

Well done @Rebushido, superb tattoo. I would have voted for you if my missus @Jade1959 hadn't put in an entry. I've become rather attatched to my testicles and want it to stay that way. :)

Tattooing is and always will be art and craft, it can be performed by either artist's or craftsmen/women but best results come from the learned and schooled of both. Conversations have always continued and will continue of a traditional tattoo vs realism until the larger picture is understood that "Realism" is nothing new and has never been something new, it's purely overthought tattooing forced into the art form of tattoo. This is to say that anyone way back when could execute a realistic cardinal bird, anyone with ability seen in example back to Hildabrant to other examples of flash and pictorial overseas such as Germany, etc. BUT tattooing was meant to be as much as an "everlasting mark"as possible and with this being said, the example for an everlasting cardinal would be the "image" of a cardinal much like the one used by the St Luis Cardinal baseball team. Compared side by side at the same measurements the "stronger" will hold. The "point" being of "tattooing/executing as permanent image as possible" can best be accomplished by executing the "stronger" image so that the all valuable customer, not to be confused with ritualistic cultural tattooing, will not be back in the tattoo shop door 15 years later claiming that the tattoo was not as permanent as they were led to believe. So, for perspective, 2 Cardinal bird's tattooed the exact same size on lily white caucasian canvas, the one tattooed of varying shades of red and fine detail and graduated shades to hold the image and a white glint in the eye, the other the solid red and solid yellow Cardinal held by a bold outline. The human eye can see in both tattoos that it is a Cardinal, one more artistically executed but the other will not only be "observed" as a Cardinal but also a "tattoo of a Cardinal". This is not to say that there is no middle ground as their is a middle ground found in flash examples of people like JD Crowe's not so flat or single dimensional art and example in flesh like Kari Barba has done of late. If you can find Kari's early work in photo form you can see her transition away from "realism to tattooing realism" on that middle ground which she does very well. It's about the difference of having a painting of a flower and a photograph of a flower, of course the photograph will be an exact duplicate of the flower to hang on the wall while the painting will be"the painting of a flower" with much more to behold or capture of the image of a flower and with the best digital camera's we are still buying paintings, ha! When I began there was a great and accepted distinction between tattooist and tattoo artist with no disrespect of either, both if accomplished were held with the same respect but it is never respectful to see someone practicing anything that strays from canvas cloth to human canvas, flesh is the essence of what tattooing is as there has never been an old school as much as there has been logical and practical tattooing with advents of new school attempts of fusion that rarely apply. Artistic craftsmen/women make great "tattoo artist's", craftsmen/women make great "tattooist's". Artistic or not the entering tattooer still has to struggle to become a "Great Tattooer" either way. It's a repetitive process that tattooers have to endure during times of tattooing's renaissance, it is that we have to deal with and get tangled with visionary attempts at evolution to better and higher degree's instead of "Everybody come and get a tattoo! ......i need a new car". ha! For certain we see evolution that is positive and different that will be around for a long long time and this is a good thing, means people are contributing and skills are evolving, once we go forward with things that work like the computer your using right now, we won't see many going back to getting information from a hard wired phone and newspaper no matter how much we may embrace the era.

Mike Wilson Juan Puente Scott Sylvia Not only are these guys all capable of pulling off damn near anything, but I just noticed that their names are all the same length.

Bill Loika fits the bill,old school to the bone ,tattooers tattooer,looks like a tattooer,the list goes on....

BEFORE we order any finger breaking can we insure that this guy doesn't also have cancer.... :D

On my ribs. Super pumped!

these are the three people i feel have proven they can tattoo almost anything flawlessly, have been tattooing for 20+ years, and still tattoo today....any style. scott sylvia mike wilson chris trevino

Chris Garver. Stewart Robson . Don Ed Hardy AKA Sic-Tat-Man lol

50 years and it doesnt matter what who where. its all going to look like shit

I should add that Drew Flores (of the above facemelting torso) sports one of Chris Brand's Cholo Suikoden backpieces (a la the one on Ben Grillo). Drew also counts Chris Brand as an influence. For those fortunate enough to be familiar with the elusive Mr. Brand's work, the parallels are clear, but Drew most definitely does things his own way. I can't say enough good things about either of them.

February 2012 Tattoo of the month winner is @Rebushido with his Koi Back Piece by Marius Meyer @ Invictus Tattoo in Oslo Norway, congratulations! PM me your shirt size, male or female style (note: we have no smalls or mediums for males left at this time, sorry), and your mailing address. Thanks for everyone else who participated and now it is time for March 2012 Best Tattoo of the Month

So I am always a week behind the show (watch it on spike website) and at this point don't really care how it ends, I have seen enough. That being said the idea of a who the most well rounded tattooers around is something worth discussing, so I figured I would ask who people would put on the show ideally. Obviously most of these tattooers probably would never go on this show, but nonetheless I figure it's an excuse to give great tattooers the credit they deserve. I am still thinking about my list but so far I would say Freddy Corbin Juan Puente Tim Hendricks

just click this link and scroll down for a dragon sleeve by tim Saltwatertattoo I am not versed on technical aspects like alot of the guys and girls here so My choices will be on whos stuff I see that looks good no matter the style scott sylvia stewart robson tim hendricks I see a guy like jeff gogue do his japanese stuff that looks great to my eye then another syle that I cannot explain. all his stuff looks good to me but havnt seen enough diversity to say he is with the other guys.

The internet has rules guys. Pics or it didn't happen!

Yes, and the the dermis itself is the determining factor, painting on cardboard shouldn't be expected to last like painting on canvas.

I am not a fan of any of the color outlines or realism stuff and I agree with everything that people say. If I have an eagle tattoo you should be able to tell what it is from ten feet away and it shouldn't matter if it's twenty years old. That is not to say it is going to look as good as the day I got it, but it still should be recognizable. But another thing I see that I would almost equate with it is the dumbing down of traditional work. Elongated panther heads without any definition in the jawbone that look like they would probably lick you to death before they attacked you and blocky eagles with not enough feathers to take flight. Clearly it's a traditional tattoo and nobody is asking for a portrait of said animal but just because it's a traditional tattoo doesn't mean it shouldn't be a good drawing. I think I would rather pick an eagle out of the Rollo sketchbook than have a custom drawing put on me that wasn't up to snuff. One argument would be that the old school way you paint the flash a little sloppy and clean up the design when you tattoo it, but I don't see that happening these days. This stuff is getting tattooed just as it's painted. I worked with a guy for awhile, had been tattooing for a few years but never really learned how to do it the right way. I would look at him draw and some of the stuff was horrible. I would steer him towards using reference material, but he was set on drawing everything from his own head. It just seems like if you draw something with no frame of reference of what it supposed to look like it's bound to end up a little wonky.There are guys who can do it, but only after years and years of drawing certain things in the proper way. I have a file of stencils at the shop I saved of stuff I couldn't believe he put on people. I am not saying this is what's happening but if it is we are all doomed. Eventually enough people got on his case and he came around and his tattoos are looking better (not amazing by any means). I am not trying to bust people's balls or call out names or dwell on the negative. There are plenty of people doing great traditional work and clearly this is not about them. Maybe I am just over thinking things, I mean it's just a tattoo. I remember the story where Terry Tweed sent someone home for the day, well actually sent him to the zoo, because he put a green eye in the eagle tattoo he did that day. Clearly this is a slight overreaction, but I think he made his point and that was at least 15 years ago.

Word!

my point exactly. if anyone received a half way decent apprenticeship now a days, this would be tattooing 101.

take a picture, it will age best.

Hey Kev, I don't have a blog, but a good friend of mine does. Since you are interested in grafitti I thought you might like it. wackytupaky

Where were you waiting? I've been here all day!

Thought this one was cool. I still think tiger head hand tattoos look great for some reason.

good skull by wes carter...and fb comment here is another one by bert krak (bob roberts spider above it) and el monga from spain

hahahaha! thank u! and i fully understand you voting for your missus.. testicles are not something you play around with........ ore is it?? haha and that noble lady head is amazing! i really thought it would win!! :)

well put! i gotta throw in the fact that so many young tattooers are relying on wonky 'traditional" to get by and build a name for themselves. they think they know how to tattoo. i wanna see what they are gonna do when the market for that stuff changes.

There's a push for SUPER conceptual 'old timey' stuff so they can 'out oldschool' each other. Some of the stuff, by well respected tattooers, looks to me like a five year old drew it. I mean, whatever folks want to get is fine by me, but until people start calling it out.... it's only going to get worse.

I would love to get something done from him. Unfortunately for my tattoo collection I just bought a house so not too many tattoo road trips in the near future. Oh well, soon enough. Can't wait to see your tattoo.

Damn! He looks very satisfied with himself in that pic.

True that could definitely lead to an interesting time. So far I've found bone to be easier to relax with than muscle

He is a great artist, and a great dude. Proud to call him a friend.

THANKS! Always looking to cheer up someone's morning!!!!

@Reyeslv - cheers homie. Now I have to go clean my shoes ;) LMAO (I was drinking my coffee when reading this and did not expect your response - but I did enjoy the surprise lol)

Whatever could you mean?

For sure, worst healing ever too. Eff dem there ankles

Reading his responses I was almost compelled to send him an 'customer service 101' primer. here's a tip: Eat the shit sandwich. "Andy, I'm so sorry this has taken so long and I'd be happy to refund you and even send you a machine on me to make up for your terrible experience." Then refund. Then ship the comp'd machine. KISS A LITTLE ASS. There are tons of people making machines; you have options out the ass when you're buying a new one. So when someone has a bad experience... hustle. Kiss that ass. Make it right. People never learn. Good luck with the refund, Duder.

So i believe its or responsibility to talk about it more.Sometimes we have to put back the artistic ego and just work for the good of the customer.I think tattooing is a big thing with huge history and traditions.We have to take more from the past than hurry to put our mark in a way,

A thousand times yes. When I was getting those tigers on my ribs, I left the station soaked in sweat. That was far and away the worst I've experienced yet. Thankfully, Tim Lehi is super fast (and broke it up over 4 sessions). My longest rib session was 2.5 hours, but they were the longest 2.5 hours of my life.

Maybe an Inappropriate location for this comment,but, Lochlan rocks. you are On IT ! Thank You for what you do. I appreciate Ya.

Trixie, awesome, I have a few from Kim, she is great, and the nicest person on earth. Can't wait for my next appointment with her.

I thought you californians were fast paced, i have been waiting 3 hrs here :)

Drew Flores of State of Grace just finished this facemelting Tlaloc:

Here's some of my ink...

Currently healing a sun and moon pair of knees from Trevor Taylor at Liberty Tattoo in Seattle... based on some Bert Grimm flash (his idea).

One time, knowing that my cat was scared of the sound of the vacuum and that my partner was about to start vacuuming, I picked up my cat in an attempt to soothe him. I still have a pretty good size scar on my hand from that! A couple of weeks ago I opened a gate the wrong direction. It swung back and hit me in the head. I had to get 3 stitches above my left eye!

@Stewart Robson, I was hoping you'd say, "Lie back and think of England." I always try to take deep, controlled breaths. For me, it helps to inhale deeply before the needle hits, then exhale slowly for the length of the needle attack. I only do that when things get really bad, though. Like for the entirety of my ribs.

I honestly like what this guy has going on for the most part. I'd take that big gorilla face over a portait of Marylin Monroe, or Johnny Cash flipping me off, or a mario brothers tattoo anyday. I've got weird taste though. The lion is a recreation of an old tattoo, I wanna say a british tattoo maybe I saw it in the 1000 tattoos book? When it comes down to it, theres very few tattoos I can hate on, as long as they're done well. Even then, sometimes a shitty tattoo has a certain charm. Blah blah blah, I guess what I'm trying to say, is that I don't like tribal (random example), but I can still appreciate a well done tribal piece. :cool:

the palm! fuck that shit never again. i felt like i was literally being tortured for and hour. my muscles were so tense afterwards i had to lay down on my bed just so i could relax...and i thought the front of my torso was bad haha...still haven't had my back done though so i guess it could get worse huh?