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Dan Higgs design by Dustin Wengreen at Tattoo 13 in Oakland, CA. Super stoked on this one. One of my favorite Higgs designs.

I used "plainskin" at the shop yesterday...all I got was fucking crickets. No one had a single clue what I was saying.

I've taken on an apprentice. I'm 12 years in and do not feel like I could've or should've taught anybody before this. First, a little shop background I work in an small isolated area that is expensive and inconvenient. You can't drive in or out and while we have some of the modern conveniences, like costco, we do not have a lot of things, like art supply stores or fast food restaurants. I bought the shop almost two years ago from the original owner, who moved back south. I did not ever expect to take on an apprentice. I also did not think I'd work alone for a year and half straight. I thought I'd make the shop the best I can and some one would slip right in to that glass slipper and it'd be sweet. Well, nobody did. A few artists expressed interest, but costs, inconvenience and ever gloomy weather killed the deal every time. Sometimes the tattooer would be pumped, but their significant other couldn't hang with living a borderline "village" lifestyle. So I worked alone for a while. I wanted the best for the shop, so I didn't turn down anything and worked myself silly. I got a sweet eye twitch out of that that has finally went away unless I'm really tired. So after talking to enough artists about why they couldn't make the move, I started to realize that I may have to grow my own. I took on one of our shop's regulars as counter help. How do you get to work at a tattoo shop? I wasn't looking to hire a friend as I've seen that go bad, so I hired someone that I had built a professional relationship with already, because they were always at the shop getting tattooed. Once I saw that he was doing a good job and began to notice that his other plans (school, etc) starting to fall to shit, I realized that I may be able cultivate a mutually beneficial apprenticeship. It wasn't that I didn't want to mop, or I wanted my ego stroked or I wanted to try and get an extra $15,000. We talked a lot about his future and future plans before we entered in to this and if fulfilled, he will contribute back into the shop for several years as his obligation for having a place to learn and a person to learn from. It was understood that he would not be tattooing for quite a while, it would be the slow road and that he's going to have to learn a lot of things that are other people don't, like needles, mixing pigment, painting flash, taking apart machines, making footswitches and all the other stuff folks with real deal apprenticeships learn. I'm trying to give him a combination of the apprenticeship I had and the apprenticeship I wanted. So far, I'm pretty proud of the little fucker. He filled a sketchbook of traditional designs cover to cover ( most tattooers I know haven't done that), put a machine together, rewired a footswitch, made needles and we've done an oversized split sheet on coquille. He studies a lot. He looks at good stuff. And while we have a pretty good generational gap, I'd like to think we've become friends. Being busy, isolated and working by myself made me feel like I was a little stagnant. He's into it and younger, so he looks at both my influences and shows me the stuff he's into. So it's not out of the question for him to introduce stuff to me, even at this point. When you have to teach, it makes you step back and present things to somebody else. That step can often make you put thought towards something that had previously become automatic. So, in that respect, I get charged up on shit again. That's the new blood factor. Overall, I hired a regular who was already familiar. Not a friend who will break my heart if things didn't work out right away. And I do feel as though there is a need for entry level tattooing at the shop here. That can free me up a little to do the best I can on the bigger projects for now. There is another factor that I don't know if it has been addressed directly (richard's quotes were closest) but yeah, it takes time and a lot of effort to teach somebody right. I'm invested in this shit now. I have a one year old baby and a wife, and I'm sneaking out in the middle of the night to teach him how to make liners at 3am on a friday night. Why would I ever do that for a stranger? I don't know if I could even hang in the same room with the person,let alone have to teach them all these pain in the ass aspects about tattooing in the middle of the night. Also, If I still tattooed down south, I would never take on an apprentice. There was just never a need. ps- I also asked the people who taught me if it was ok for me to teach someone. They looked at me like they had nothing to do with the decision and granted me permission, but the fact it, if those important people to me said no, I wouldn't have an apprenntice right now

I have a friend who lives in Providence and has been thinking about getting tattooed, I'll let him know about this. He's doing a masters in graphic design at RISD so he probably wants some pretentious art school garbage, so hopefully he'll act on this and actually get a good tattoo. But I doubt it.

And yet no one hates on the companies that took advantage of a guy that is bipolar, and trying to survive in a shit economy.

I'm in my forties, too, and am finding my tattoos just keep getting bigger. I'm not rich either...but since sessions on a bigger piece are spaced out, I can save the money needed for the next one in between. Anyway, I like your attitude-- you are thinking it over and I'm sure whatever you get, you will like. Your first one looks nice. It's just the more you get, the more you may want to get. You never know...

Hey Guys, just a heads up if you are in the area, Ron Henry Wells will be working at our new second location at Providence Tattoo in Providence tomorrow, Saturday and Wednesday! [email protected] for appointments maybe ill see you? :)

I appreciate you sharing. You seem to have your head on straight. Kudos to you sir.

Looking great. I love the expression on the face. - - - Updated - - - Second of my pair of Amund Dietzel inspired dragons. Tattooed by Jordan at Frith Street, yesterday.

@Kahlan ......find a good shop....go inside and tell them you want to help with the shop in your free time (scrubbing the toilets, taking out the trash....sweeping the floors....etc.) AND tell them you'll do it for free! Don't even mention you want to tattoo....and definitely that you are doing it at home....even on practice skin!!! Put away your machines doll....it really is disrespectful to those who have earned the right to tattoo the proper way. For over 20+ years i had been getting tattooed and never ever thought about picking up a machine to tattoo someone because of the respect I had for my friends who tattooed and just out of respect for the craft. One day i went into a shop while i was on a "tattoo road trip" and a guy told me he'd "trade tattoos" with me! I explained that i did not tattoo and why i was against this! He told me he had learned to tattoo from bob shaw on the pike in california after the vietnam war and had 40 years in the biz and he wanted me to tattoo him. I was really worried what some of my friends would think about me tattooing him but I figured he had earned the right to tell me it was okay to tattoo him....so i did! You may think it is silly of me to have been scared of what my peers would think....but it's because I respect them.....and they respect me! I didn't want to loose their respect because that is a very hard thing to gain back! You can learn the way you are learning.....BUT....to truly have the respect of your peers you should learn the proper way! And to have the respect of your peers in this craft.....is one of the highest honors there is! I'm not busting your balls doll......just trying to give you a different perspective on why you should learn the right way! I personally think you should be offered an apprenticeship....not ask for one! And why do I suggest you should offer your services to a shop for free and work like a dog for them for free??? Because you will never learn the proper way to tattoo until you earn the trust and respect first....then you learn to tattoo! It took me 20+ years to be offered an apprenticeship that was the right fit for me! My answer to the original question in this thread is....yes....there do still need to be apprentices! But not because you need free help or because the shop is slow and you need the 5-10k you can get for teaching someone! It's because the craft needs quality people in it that are willing to earn it and one day pass it on! An apprenticeship is not about learning to tattoo....it is about learning the business as well....at least it used to be! - - - Updated - - - i had the pleasure of sitting down with Zeke at the Philly Convention and the world is definitely a much more wonderful place with him in it!!!

Trust.....you have got to build trust and faith before anyone will do anything for you. I don't normally trust random people.

I don't think there's anything wrong with tribal, but make sure you go big. - - - Updated - - - Also I'd look at some of the people doing more geometric things like Thomas Hooper, Jondix, Tomas Tomas, Xed Le Head, etc. to see different ways that people have taken tribal to give you some inspiration. Also since you're willing to spend some money, get yourself the Tattootime book because it will give you a lot to consider and it's pretty much the greatest thing ever published about tattoos.

Thanks Johannes! I might take you up on that once since I'm planning to visit Sweden again in the summertime. If i'm still on the road that is. Thanks for checking out my blog

I'll be the first to admit that I fell victim to the internet/myspace era of tattoo portfolios. I saw a few "realistic color portraits" and thought they were the best tattoos I had ever laid eyes on. I went out and got myself a real expensive one from an artist held in high regard within that style of tattooing. To this day it was my least memorable tattoo experience. I didn't feel like I was in a tattoo shop, I had to deal with huge egos, there was little to no respect or care for other tattooers in the industry, and in retrospect I was paying a lot of money for a "temporary" tattoo. The internet falsely represented good and humble tattooing to me and I ate it up. It's much like what I believe the internet has done to music on both the artist and fan side of things. People no longer physically go out and buy records to find music. They download music (usually not even full albums), claim they found an awesome band that they believe to be talented via a computer screen, then when they go to see that band live it's a bunch of pre programmed auto tuned bullshit that lacks any skill in playing an instrument or understanding proper song writing. Hopefully they leave feeling disappointed, stop buying into it, and mark it as a lesson learned. Much like how I felt after I got my "realistic portrait". Bands no longer have to tour non stop in a van for months on end under shit conditions before they become successful. They are now fueled by internet hype and are playing sold out shows before ever even touring. I feel that this draws a perfect parallel to this new generation of tattoo artists that have no idea how to lay down a proper outline, shade with black, paint flash, etc yet they have kids flocking to them and are booked out months before ever paying their dues at a shop. The consumer is the only one that can stop all the garbage that happens because of the internet. If we put in a little effort into going to a tattoo shop and talking to someone about why a color portrait with no black won't make for a good tattoo as opposed to reading a blog about it we will make for a much more educated consumer and hopefully end up with quality tattoos. Fuck, I really wish I had done that and not depended on what I saw on a screen. It wasn't until I physically walked into shops like Spotlight, Classic, or Gold Rush that I truly understood what I wanted out of a tattoo. And that's the end of my rant...

that mad bio fire honeycomb thing ? Amazing stuff . The Vulture is amazing too

I've always said you just can't trust a guy with a nekkid face and no tattoos.

I'm an apprentice... I started to learn from Richard in 2002, then we all got a long so much I bought his partner Stace out of his partnership, which was Skin & Bones, a completely different business in the same building... As a business minded person I had to set down the apprenticeship, and focus on the piercing business, but knew I would get to be around and maybe get to have time enough to pick up a few things... It never happened, we maintained a partner relationship from then on... In 2009, we were reunited somewhat... after about 6 months, I was his apprentice again, and still am... What I have gathered from my 13 plus years in the body art profession is this, Tattooers or some of them, are a lot like teenage couples that don't think about the big picture, they get all hot and heavy and forget to take that pill or wear a condom, and oops a baby is born, and they themselves are still children... Babies having Babies is not an ideal situation in population or profession control.... Especially if you care about people and people getting good work. And Richard has always ALWAYS said... Taking an apprentice is like getting married and someone taking your last name as theirs.... And there is no divorce, that's forever. Hence even too risky for him to teach or just trust even a friend to tattoo... They are bound to you for the rest of their career, and you want to teach good tattooing, and it's hard to teach something that we should constantly be learning about... especially if you love it.

@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'.

Spoke with him at Musink, such a cool, humble and talented dude. The original flash he was selling was fucking AMAZING.

It's not that I hate the tattoo or the specific experience as much as it's that I wish I went into it with a better understanding of what I was buying into/supporting. It's like if you were going to buy a car and one salesman is an honest hard working guy that has been selling cars for years. He is trying to sell you a car that is reliable and tells you the car is going to last forever. The other salesman is flashier has a car that looks better aesthetically but he doesn't say anything about it. You just know that it looks newer and shinier than the other car. You buy the flashy car and it breaks down after a couple years. It's not necessarily the salesman's fault for not saying anything to you about the car not being reliable. You just should have done more research and better understood what you were getting. But it's a bummer you gave your money to the wrong guy and supported the wrong business.

Thank you very much. I'd love to take credit, but I told him what I wanted and let him run with it. The one thing I do know about tattoos, is I know nothing about tattoos. I told him I loved what he did and gave him free rain to run with it. My only request was I wanted the dragon to look wise and benevolent and not menacing. I think he nailed it. I'm excited to see the tiger. Unlike the dragon I won't see a study before hand because I wanted to be surprised and I know any ideas I have will pale in comparison to his vision. One more month to go.

An original mandala of mine. Tattooed by Zafera Kambouris in Ashland, MA

I hate e-mails (and probably typing in a forum haha) I always feel like an asshole or something, I'm pretty sarcastic in real life and typically cuss like a sailor (my moms fault) and when I type something I always feel like a tool.. idk why. but anyway I just got tattooed at CTC and the dude on the phone was super helpful and when I e-mailed Nick about the tattoo he was super cool and helpful. When I got tattooed there my wife, her sister, and my good friend were with me (sightseeing Chi town) they wanted to come in and see the place and were going to grab a beer while I was getting tattooed. Without even asking him Nick right away said "bring your wife back we can get her a chair" They had left for the bar already but I thought was cool and nobody seemed to give a shit about it, even on a super busy Saturday.

I think the word originated with @CultExciter so all credit goes to him and yeah, it's a great word.

Hi Steve, I am also a first time tattoo'er and wanted a tattoo similar to my grandfathers hinge tattoos. He died when I was 13, I'm 45 now. I took a pitiful drawing to the tattoo artist and explained to him, just like you explained to us, what I wanted. The artist will bring your idea to life and you will be amazed just as I was. So don't worry to much about the design that is what the artist is for. It sounds like you are in great hands so enjoy the ride. Oh, and please share your pics! Chris

Hello again! here's a little update after my 2nd session with Valerie at Frithstreet yesterday! One long session left before we finish the first part of my back :D Yay!

Another half-breed right here. But I'm from Alaska, so none of our imagery has come up in this conversation, but here you go anyway...I did a fair amount of northwest native (aka Haida or more accurately formline) style tribal during the first 3/4 of my tattoo career while I was in washington state, but I moved back to Alaska four years ago and really started to research the style. I started working with a local carver and studied on paper first, eventually painting and working my way up into a carving apprenticeship. I know this style is usually a pain for a lot of tattooers and I understand. When someone brings a design of this style in and it is tattoo-able, it's usually still a lot of work and doesn't feel too rewarding until you are done. But after studying it, I love designing formline from the the ground up and tattooing it. I know this is pretty specialized and leans more towards polynesian tribal than whip shaded indian girl heads or navajo designs that are (or were) on trend for clothing and fashion, but some things are the same for all of those different variations on American Native Art. When I see stuff in formline style, now I know right away if the tattooer found it, had to change parts for the tattoo and make up shapes, collage together a few different designs or bullshit something entirely. I image its what a Polynesian tribal artist sees when they look at designs cut and pasted by tattooers going strictly off of visual aesthetic and mixing designs regardless of meaning. "Nice half sleeve, so looking at this, from the parts I understand, your people are the shark fishermen of the mountains? That doesn't make sense". At least now, I feel like I'm learning the language of it enough to design with respect to the culture and not have to worry about if it belongs to a tribe or clan or would offend anybody. It was one of the first questions I asked when I got here "what can I and can't I draw for people?" and was assured by my teachers that an eagle I draw does not belong to the Eagle clan, unless I were to directly copy a house front design, drum, blanket, etc that has been passed down and I appropriated the design without the right to do so. If I draw it and build it from scratch, it is my gift to give to the recipient. And within this style there is plenty of possible abstraction to go even further away from anything that wound be considered disrespectful or clan property. How do the Native artists that I've talked to feel about people around the world getting their cultures artwork tattooed on them? They are fucking stoked. Especially since most of them have been commissioned by their friends and family to design tattoos for them. Just like any artists, they appreciate when it's done right and the medium and design work as one, they hate it when the design is great, but tattooed badly or tattooed well and badly designed. And I think, not to speak for all Alaska Native artists, but I know I'd rather see the art on as many people as possible, especially if I get to design it. I'd rather make the best native tattoos I can on anybody that not do it as much because of some cultural guilt. I know that this is a very specific corner of Native art, but I figured I'd chime in, because I was pretty cautious about the rules and stuff when I began to study. I've been lucky enough to design a fair amount of custom formline and even tattoo some of my carving designs. Lots of times the designs have stories, like the carving of the fish that I got to tattoo. When I carved that design I was illustrating a specific story about how Raven gave the Bullhead fish it's shape. If you look, the body is a Raven head. I won't bore you with the story, but when the customer came in who got the tattoo he asked "do you do that local native art stuff?" I said "'yeah, I carved that stuff right there", he saw that carving and went "that's bad ass. can I do that, but green instead of red?" and I was happy to give it to him. We didn't get all spiritual about the story and he was happy to get it because he thought it looked cool and he wanted some Alaskan art to remember the years he spent here. No problem, buddy. Have a seat.

@jacobyoung I think I saw Matt working on that off and on... a friend of mine was getting a rose on his hand by Albrigo, so I spent some time hovering that general vicinity. Also, I got this at the same convention, from Ron Henry Wells. Photo from his Instagram...

Some amazing stuff posted here, wow! Here's my entry, by javi Rodriguez guesting at frith street

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

Was going to comment early on in the thread but wanted to know where it would go, my question is why are non-tattooers trying to respond to this tread?

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.

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.

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.

@Deb Yarian made a well written post related to this topic: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/blogs/deb-yarian/312-not-my-gift-you.html

And that's the pompous attitude I'll never understand. Who says that the people that walk in the door haven't been struggling? Why assume? But it's ok to you that just because you happen to know an artist they'll give you a shot? I guess we're different. I believe in teaching others and educating people into doing the right thing. It just gets under my skin when professionals complain about people starting off in their basements, when it's almost a one in a million shot you'll get someone to teach you. Anyway... I guess I'm just frustrated. I have no time to socialize and hang out in shops like I did when I was 14. The *way* they want people to do things is a little unrealistic for me BECAUSE of the fact I'm working my ass off to get to where I wanna be!

Like every one said above: we need apprentices underneath the quality tattooers. Unfortunately, with that comes apprentices under not-so-quality tattooers. However, the main reason apprentices must exist is because everybody dies... even tattooers. End of thread. ^_^

Too many chiefs and not enough indians, as we used to say back in the pre-PC days. Far too many tattooers have simply put a few pieces on their legs, rented a shop, and look ma, I'm a tattooer.

Thanks, I have been spending a lot of time looking at myself in the mirror. I am not sure how I feel about that.

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.

What the heck, I'll throw mine in the ring this month...Got this one back in Janurary. Done by Thomas Deaton at Twisted Reality tattoo

Got tattooed by Matt Arriola at the West Texas Tattoo Conv. Super pumped on how this came out.

Done by Cecil Porter. Douglas from the movie "Where the Wild Things Are".

"The Eyes of a Dumbass" sounds like the title to a John Steinbeck novel or something.

I don't think satanist operate under the same sense that christians do. They don't necessarily believe in satan or jesus, just what it stands for. They typically believe in themselves and embracing the animalistic urges of man while following some form of a moral code. Correct me if i'm wrong

Does any one have any water colour tip e.g getting greys to blend out perfectly ,or who makes the best products , and do you really need to stretch the paper with water first .... Any tips would be cool