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Hi there, my name is Dave Sobel and I'm a tattooer. I've been tattooing since 1990, Starting in Los Angeles, and now in Maryland for the last 21yrs. I'm really crappy at talking about myself. I love the fact that this forum has rules aimed at protecting and respecting this thing that I love and have devoted the last 23yrs of my life to.

Outer thigh finished. A bit bloody.

I have an appointment with Marius Meyer January 31st. We are going to finish all the backround on my back piece, and some lines on the dragon.

@RoryQ Thank you! All credit to Tim Pausinger. And Yes, I am going to do my whole front. I've got another artist at The Pearl who is doing a large piece on my stomach. I'm looking forward to it, and terrified all at the same time. It is going to be a black and gray tattoo taken from a New Deal era relief on the Dept of Health in (I think,) Duluth. Unfortunately, I've moved in next to a donut shop and the image is going to look a little stretched. :(

I've got my next appointment on my back project set for Jan 1st. Helluva way to start 2014, if I do say so myself.

I think superstition is relevant only when you believe or partly believe. It's intellectually interesting to me to read about (for example) Asian superstition or religion in tattooing terms, but it doesn't worry my reptile brain or cause unease to me... Because I simply don't believe, on any level. I'm not even really too worried about Christian iconography... Devils even! Maybe reflective of the very a la carte Catholicism of my upbringing. What worries me would be jinxing myself in the sense of tattooing something that signals hubris, complacency etc. 'Counting my eggs before they hatch' and so on. To give an example, a lot of Martial artists / soldiers / cops seem to get warrior-themed tattoos or macho tattoos. My mentality is that I try to avoid something like that because on some level I think it almost dares the universe to come along and give you a crushing injury of some sort that puts paid to all that. The closest I have to a macho tattoo is my shin dagger, probably.

I want to wear those to my office next Halloween, then take them off at lunch and see if anyone notices.

The only reason I would buy a PS4 at this point is for the new games coming out in the next year. Right now I am squeezing in every last bit of Skyrim-romping I can before we cave and buy the PS4 in a few months (once it's available again, it's been a nightmare trying to hunt one down around this time of year). @Diehardonvhs I really want to play Papers, Please. I've only heard good things.

got commissioned for this pair. loads of fun

Chad Koeplinger made this on my upper arm when he visited Oslo in October. Hard to get a good picture because the tattoo wraps around my arm, but you get the idea :)

Hey Folks, We all obviously have our personal reasons for getting tattoos. I thought it would be fun and interesting to hear thoughts and experiences regarding getting or not getting a tattoo because of some superstitions, personal beliefs, cultural customs or taboos. Apologies for my very long-winded dialogue below. My own perspective is a bit of a double-edged sword. I’m American born Chinese, raised in the Lower East Side/Chinatown of NYC. My parents and grandparents are/were Buddhists. My maternal grandmother (Grams), who had a major role in my early upbringing, was a devout practicing Buddhist. I’ve never been religious but was always respectful of the customs and beliefs. It was Grams who naturally started me on the path of some of these beliefs and informed me of some of the more peculiar superstitions that ended up influencing my tattoo choices later on in life. As most of us know in Asian cultures, tattoos are still a taboo subject and subculture. However I’ve never been one to go with the grain so much but I ended up getting my first tattoo in my early 30’s. My first tattoo was a koi with water and cherries, done in a Japanese motif. I’ve always loved goldfish and koi as a kid and I remembered begging my grandmother to get them for me. Grams would flat out refuse. You see, while goldfish and koi are considered good luck, if they die, the Chinese believed your luck dies with it. Being very conscious of that, I figured a tattoo is permanent and the koi would “live” forever. It just so happened that when I got this first tattoo, it was at the end of the same year Grams had passed away. Part of it was in honor and remembrance of her. My next tattoo was of a dragon, my Chinese zodiac sign. I received a stern lecture from my mom on this. Even though she accepted this path I was on with getting tattooed, she had indicated it was bad luck to get my own zodiac figure tattooed on myself. It would be in conflict with one’s self. Too late I explained to her and we’d just have to see what the eventual outcome with be in my destiny, hahaha. Now when I had decided to get my back tattooed, a lot of odd things popped up that I had to consider. First, the literal connotations of getting my back inked, the Chinese would say you are getting stabbed in the back, bad karma. Of course didn’t take too much stock in that and plowed forward. Next, while I am in complete awe of most back pieces and overall tattoos for that matter, I had made a decision not to get any religious or associated figures tattooed on me. No Kannon, Buddha, demons, Monkey King, etc. You get the idea. It is considered bad luck and disrespectful to get a deity tattoo, let alone on your back where you would be “resting on them”. It broke my heart as I adore the powerful and serene image of Kannon riding a dragon and although life is short and one should always try to get what they want, I just couldn’t see myself breaking away from this belief. To the point I was scared I would “anger the gods” and have bad luck for the rest of my days. Hence you’ll notice in my gallery, my tattoos comprise of creatures and florals and will continue with this theme until I’m “done.” One thing that’s never been spoken of in a negative light is that it is okay to get a mantra or chant or just Buddhist scripture tattooed on yourself. These would act like talismans or amulets to ward off evil or bad luck. I’ve recently been researching Sanskrit and Bonji characters that I will eventually incorporate into my collection.

Fallout 3 is one my favorite games ever. I think it was my #1 favorite until Skyrim came out. If you're into RPG's it's a must-have, and if you're not, it's still probably a must-have. I've always been a PC gamer, but I'm tempted by the PS4. I've always been jealous of Sony's exclusives. Might cave and get one next year when they have some solid games out... played about 30 mins of Last of Us at a friend's house and wanted to get it real bad.

Again, not a tattoo but a suit design including rosary beads. Slightly off topic but one of the most amazingly detailed designs I have come across. By Frankie B Yoshiaki

@Brock Varty I'm going to second what @CultExciter says about Fallout 3. It's an incredible game. I don't have the Game of the Year edition, just the regular one without the expansions and there's more than enough depth in the game by itself that it's worth playing through a few times because the vastness of the world and things to explore seems almost limitless. Skyrim is about the same, but with swords and magic.

I'm about 16 hours into Fallout 3 (for the third time). Man, this game is fun. It's the first RPG (albeit action) I've ever really gotten into. I'm gonna play Skyrim next. My mentor bought a PS4, and he is kinda "meh" about it. I think his kids are into it more than him.

I was massively unimpressed with everything the new generation of consoles has to offer so I built a very nice gaming PC instead....couldn't be happier! Been playing Metro - last light, which is excellent, and Assassins creed 4, which has its faults, apart from sailing the high seas with shanties, which is ace. Also playing through Papers, Please, and Spelunky, both of which are fantastic. I picked up the Witcher 2 as well on the steam sale - not got around to playing it yet, cant wait though!

cant be coincidence that this video wont even play!!! - - - Updated - - - very interesting thread! I love reading about superstitions with regard to tattoos as well as the traditions. I also love tattoo symbology. it was for this reason I went for 7 butterflies first, stars with my kids initials and changed my idea of getting a masked owl to instead wanting an eared owl- preferably the European eagle owl. I love reading into different cultures and discovering powers behind animals or symbols or flowers etc. no doubt I will continue downthis path with all future tattoos!

Update: I still look like Burt Reynolds with a better mustache.

Came across this by Bunshin Horitoshi

Saw Black Sabbath play their only London show last night with Uncle Acid as the opening act , all the old favourites came out (with the exception of Bill of course ) and for me the highlights were the rendition of " Black Sabbath " and Iommi in fine form . Getting home after the show was suitably metal as London was engulfed in the worst fog I've ever seen which caused our river ferry to crash forcing us to disembark the vessel and subsequently miss the last train - proper Doom ha ha .

Who: Shawn O'Connor shawnocconor.ca What: bad assfrog (Sailor Jerry flash!) Where: Ink Machine, Edmonton, AB Canada When: at a touchup appointment...station was already setup, however i wasn't in the mood for a minor neck touchup. Why? because it's a god damn sailor jerry battletoad! we were shooting the shit and i was flipping through a jerry flash book. i was like yeah buddy that's a sweet frog! shawn is like yeah buddy i've never done a frog before! we looked at each other and than said let's go buddy! add some pink in the belly! done on whim! took like 15 minutes lol RIBBIT :cool: this retarded little frog tattoo captures everything i love about the tattoo experience. the best. - - - Updated - - - also got this cool headless owl from Jon Gray (from Hamilton, ONT...guest spot at Lucky Strike in Edmonton, AB). It was from Jon's own painted flash. 2hrs. Ollie walked by and turned up the volts on the machine and Jon was flying. it was funny. good time and good tattooer! <nuff side ass, en joy>

A little Christmas metal..

Popped into The Pearl this morning to catch a session with Tim Pausinger before he left for the Xmas holidays. He basically finished my chest piece. In January we'll link the shoulders and arms to it. He is also going to do some spider webbing between the tattoo and the bottom of my pecs. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A picture taken after last sitting, by Matt Shamah

Saw this on FB today.. Kick ass piece and awesome to see it getting recognition!!

I took this photo and a bunch of others at the New Jersey State Fair in Cherry Hill. It was August 12th, 1990. It was a blast meeting Jack Dracula. He had such a crazy mystique about him. There were all kinds of crazy stories about him and I was afraid to meet him but he was a fun guy to hang around with for an afternoon. He rode back into town with us and told us old corny jokes. RIP Jack Dracula and Sonny Tufts.

My artist finished the eyes of my dragon last. He said once the eyes where done the dragon is alive and to continue tattooing it would cause the dragon pain.

@beez I've noticed that with most tattoo artists working in the Japanese motif, when tattooing animals and creatures, most won't highlight or fill in the eyes until the piece is nearly completely. We've heard the old saying that, "the eyes are the windows to the soul" and the Chinese take this literally. They believe when you "dot" the eyes or fill in the eyes, the creature should be complete and would come to life as it were. If it wasn't complete and "brought to life" it would bring bad lucky and imbalanced as you've indicated. If you ever been in a Chinese community and witnessed the Lion dances during the Chinese New Year or other special occasions, the event is started by the "dotting of the eyes" of the Lion with incense, thereby waking up the Lion to start the dance that wards off evil.

Please leave.

Look forward to those pics @ironchef. I'll be in the chair in around 12 hours time, adding colour to my thigh piece. Then back to saving up my pennies again.

Question for everyone: I've seen a design similar to the hand holding the club from Higgs' flash, except it was a hand holding a flower. Is that also Higgs flash, or was it someone's flip on the club design? EDIT: Nevermind, answered my own question. Turns out I had a picture on my phone of a Higgs flash sheet with that very design on it. I'm thinking about having Mario Desa put it on me at the Philly convention in a couple months.

Horiyoshi iii's son has a badass ghost backpiece

I missed this one somehow - Love that reaper!!

This is my "Ghost of Oiwa" tattoo done by Chad Koeplinger: It is based on this Kunisada woodcut: & http://woodblockprint.com.au/images/s3654.JPG?471 You need to check out Hide Ichibay´s work! I think he makes the absolute coolest ghosts. Do you agree, @Iwar?

Next time im in the UK you're putting this on me! its fucking awesome!

^^ This...worse feeling ever! My ritual is serious now, as I have worked out the "kinks" that can ruin my day (well more than getting my knee drilled with a needle for a few hours haha). Shit, shower, shave, as close to the time before me leaving as possible. Fill my two nalgene 1L bottles with ice and water, begin hydration. Start the long drive into NYC, and park in the same parking deck (no need for street parking tickets, assholes want $150 a pop). Walk to burger joint, get massive burger and fries. Go to favorite bar. At bar immediately bartender(s) ask me what I am getting worked on today. Drink 2-3 tasty beers. Walk to shop, smoke a cig on the way. Use bathroom before because nobody likes to stop mid-tattoo. Afterwards, get in car light up a premium cigar (currently working on a case of Rocky Patel Vintage 1992s). After I get home shower forever then get a nice scotch and look at new tattoo. Literally nothing ever changes, and it works out perfect. Also not drinking any alcohol the day prior makes a massive difference!

My family is mainly Greek Orthodox. Though my parents aren't really religious, all the extended family's weddings, christenings and funerals happen in the Orthodox church. Greek superstitions are a mainstay amongst my older relatives. The first to come to mind is the "evil eye". Basically, there's a theory that someone, intentionally or by accident, can transfer bad luck or a jinx to you just by looking at you. Lots of Greeks carry (usually as jewellery) a blue eye symbol, which is meant to stare back at the giver of the "evil eye" to ward off the bad luck. My grandparents have a heap of these little eye symbols in the form of small paintings and random knick-knacks all over their houses. I've always thought it would make for a kind of cool tattoo. My other favourite is about bat bones being lucky (but never kill the bat, that's unlucky!). I think a little bat skeleton tattoo would be cool. Same goes for moths - a moth above your door means you'll get visitors, and moths are said to be a kind of protector (depending which village you're from). I can definitely see myself getting a moth tattoo. I've always wanted a crow tattoo, and I actually feel crows are good luck (we have a lot of them in my city, they're awesome), but most older Greeks I know will do anything to ward them off, and spit/say certain words when they see one for fear of being cursed by it. I just can't shake that old superstition of crows being bad luck, despite the fact I'm a total non-believer. I also have a tattoo based on Greek mythology. Even though it's not exactly superstition-related, the imagery feels very comforting to me.

@Delicious I would add that just because people love you and our on your side, doesn't mean they know what is right for you. At some point I think we just have to gain the confidence enough to disagree with our family and understand that their preconceived notions of what society deems appropriate is not going to determine your happiness, only you can do that. And disgreeing with them doesn't mean you love them any less, just that you have become your own person. Their is that old saying, you live under my house, you follow my rules. Well I have my own house and I say fuck rules.

If I'm not mistaken, Beez, the story you're referring to regarding Horiyoshi III and his son's tattoo was from Jill Bonny's book: Studying Horiyoshi III: A Westerner's Journey into Japanese Tattoo. I can't remember exactly either about the specifics, but I think his wife's eye swelled up like Oiwa and other things happened to Horiyoshi III and his son also. This is an interesting topic @ironchef, thanks for sharing. My experience was a little dis-similar from yours but I understand your path and appreciate it. Instead of superstitions influencing tattoo choices, being Japanese, I looked to traditional subjects and supposed "rules" to dictate some of what I have. Like maintaining a specific season and the idea that water elements are on the lower body, air elements are for the upper, and specific pairings of creatures. As such I have a koi/peonies on my leg, a phoenix and dragon on my arms, and a soon to be finished image of Oda Nobunaga for a backpiece. The koi/peonies is a quasi memorial to my mom who loved flowers. My dad loves koi ponds. And I grew up watching samurai/yakuza movies with my Dad and Uncle. So my history/heritage influenced me too but in a different way. A bit more generically I suppose. My whole family is a bit gringo-fied so superstition and religion didn't factor in as much. So no superstition, but influenced in other ways pertaining to culture. It's interesting to hear how yours was. I rushed through this so hopefully this all made sense.

Dan had a band before "Reptile House" called "Red Guard Youth." I went to school with he and his brother, he helped me open my eyes to the whole world of punk rock. He and his brother are Great artists. Thanks for posting the photos.

I apoligize if this is a repeat, but this is a pretty damn cool Higgs pictures I found surfing on that internet thing. With the late Sonny Tufts and Jack Dracula.

i think one of the main things that adds to the mystique of higgs is that he doesn't tattoo any more. not because he can't but because he chooses not to. he worked with some really talented folks and for most of us that do this, it's something that we'd probably find hard to give up if we had the same opportunities. also, it wasn't until after i started tattooing that i really even knew that he tattooed. i always knew him to be the singer in lungfish, it was only through diligent efforts that i was even able to obtain the lungfish albums back then and that was from working in a record store. back before the intervebs, if you didn't have an excellent book store or some type of real active art scene, you didn't get to find out about much that went on in the world. so i dig getting to hear stories about and from people who were there and got to work with him and it's obvious he had an impact on them. plus, in reality he is an important component in tattooing history due to those interactions. so rock on!

All those terms are fine by me.... As long as a tattooer is using them. If the person doesn't tattoo and uses them, I wanna smash their head down into their neck. I'm a jerk