JoKno

You're kinda right. We cover some of this kind of thing with EMT training. Basically your body is reacting as if you have an infection. White blood cells primarily try to kill infections in the lymph nodes due to the amount of proteins, antigens, and other things that come in handy. It's just like if you have a sinus infection and the glands in your throat swell. Some people it will be the lymph nodes closest to the tattooed area, other's it can be random. Most people don't have this reaction. Most bodies will just kick in with the reaction to try and blocking your pain receptors mostly by burning up your sugar supply. When this happens of course your blood sugar level goes down, and if you've been around a shop long enough or a convention, you see people pass out. Signs of your sugar being too low can include feeling shakey, sweaty, feeling hot, nausea or vomiting, "knot in your throat", dry mouth, and vision problems. I always take a big coke and a bag of candy when I get work done.

So, just so I know I'm not crazy. Does anybody else in here remember when FTW meant F*ck The World and not For The Win? I get a little chuckle when I see a lot of people saying FTW.

"gun" for a machine is really the only thing that bothers me. I like to use the term "work" for tattoos. Kind of a broad definition refering to "work of art" and just plain "work" because getting and giving tattoos is work.

"gun" for a machine is really the only thing that bothers me. I like to use the term "work" for tattoos. Kind of a broad definition refering to "work of art" and just plain "work" because getting and giving tattoos is work.

You're kinda right. We cover some of this kind of thing with EMT training. Basically your body is reacting as if you have an infection. White blood cells primarily try to kill infections in the lymph nodes due to the amount of proteins, antigens, and other things that come in handy. It's just like if you have a sinus infection and the glands in your throat swell. Some people it will be the lymph nodes closest to the tattooed area, other's it can be random. Most people don't have this reaction. Most bodies will just kick in with the reaction to try and blocking your pain receptors mostly by burning up your sugar supply. When this happens of course your blood sugar level goes down, and if you've been around a shop long enough or a convention, you see people pass out. Signs of your sugar being too low can include feeling shakey, sweaty, feeling hot, nausea or vomiting, "knot in your throat", dry mouth, and vision problems. I always take a big coke and a bag of candy when I get work done.

OMG I just heard about a shop in Myrtle Beach called "420 Superstore Tattooing and Tobacco"

You're kinda right. We cover some of this kind of thing with EMT training. Basically your body is reacting as if you have an infection. White blood cells primarily try to kill infections in the lymph nodes due to the amount of proteins, antigens, and other things that come in handy. It's just like if you have a sinus infection and the glands in your throat swell. Some people it will be the lymph nodes closest to the tattooed area, other's it can be random. Most people don't have this reaction. Most bodies will just kick in with the reaction to try and blocking your pain receptors mostly by burning up your sugar supply. When this happens of course your blood sugar level goes down, and if you've been around a shop long enough or a convention, you see people pass out. Signs of your sugar being too low can include feeling shakey, sweaty, feeling hot, nausea or vomiting, "knot in your throat", dry mouth, and vision problems. I always take a big coke and a bag of candy when I get work done.

Feel better Jolly? Sounds like you've wanted to say that for a while now. You had me thinking about a shop in Augusta. The owner doesn't tattoo, but her son does. He's not very good either. He thinks he's all that and a bag of chips though. The owner completely bombarded the radio and tv with ads and discounts and give aways of all kinds. She did have some great artist working for her until they got fed up and left opening their own shop across the street. She wouldn't hire anyone that wasn't tattooing for less than 10yrs and wouldn't let any new apprentice in unless they had a assoc degree in art. Now that shop is only surviving on the military crowd that doesn't realize that they are over paying by 100%. A tattoo that would cost 100 - 200 anywhere else with better artist they are charging 300-400. Crazy.

I joined last sparrow specifically because I found that this seems to be the only place online discussing this,and in my opinion it is a growing problem.It may be okay for the non-tattooer to be an owner of a shop,but for an artist it can be hell and for so many reasons!I have had many bad experiences working at shops run by non-tattooers,too many to list here.
The main problem is that the tattoo business is a whole different animal.Running other types of business establishments is not the same at all,and nowadays far too many people get a decent size tax return & a book on business and think that they know what they are doing,because they spent a few hours in a tattoo shop.They all spit out catch phrases that they acquire in these books.I had a non-tattooer recently tell me(after putting me through a bunch of unnecessary nonsense) that he worked in the"retail" business before & that the "retail" business can sometimes be rough.I told him that he should take it up with his "wholesaler",but I don't think he was bright enough to understand what I was saying.A lot of these "business" people also don't understand why if you get a detailed description of what the customer wants from them and then when you spend 6 hours drawing it,only to have the customer come in for their appointment and say "yeah,I was talking to my friends and I have decided that instead of that I want this...." why you won't draw them something else after they have wasted 6 hours of your life that you will never get back.I don't think that is hard to understand,but what do I know,I have only been tattooing for two decades.
I have a phrase-"the customer isn't always right,you can only try to do right by your customers".Most non-tattoo artists that run shops don't understand this.If someone comes in with say for instance a horrible maze-looking tribal design that their little brother drew at school on a spiral notebook and I tell them that it isn't really a drawing that translates to a tattoo and that I can draw something that is similar,but better (rather than saying that the drawing is shit and insulting them).Yet still they are insistent that they want it EXACTLY like it is on the paper,the non-artist owner that owns the place will say,"that's what they want,so just do it!"-not understanding that they are trying to force me into doing a bad tattoo,which in turn would give me and their shop a bad reputation.
The non-tattooer also normally doesn't do research before they open a shop,I think they just watch television shows & figure that is how it is supposed to be.So when they are building up the inside of a shop,they say"okay I will have a row of barber chairs over there that 5 or 6 artists can work at (in this small town) ".Not realizing that without dividers of some sort if the customer wants a tattoo in a private place that they will be exposed in front of everyone else in the shop and a small town doesn't have enough business to support 5 or 6 artists.They are worried about having a koi pond,crushed red velvet curtains,leather couches & flat screens,but don't worry about things like a thermographic copier,because the artist can hand trace everything and what do they care if they make the artist work way more than they have to,it isn't making them work any harder.
When a non-tattooer opens a shop they will post something online that normally says "No rock stars!".I have grown to realize that this is code for:leave your individuality and self respect at the door,because really they are looking for rock stars.I am one of the least pretentious artists that there is.I just want to make a living and do great tattoos,which after all these years of denial & error I have finally become very good at my work.I love tattooing,but I am an artist not an entertainer,some people may be both,but I choose not to be a part of that.The non-tattooing owner doesn't seem to understand why I don't want 10 people leaning over me while I'm working,all taking photos & video of me on thier cellphones.They don't understand why I don't work at conventions and have no urge to.They don't understand why I don't care how many people press the like button on their shop's facebook page,or why I don't want to pose for a group photo outside their shop with everyone folding thier arms and acting tougher than they are in their Ed Hardy shirts and with thier fauxhawks.I don't want a biography on your stupid website,let my work speak for itself! Some job postings online say "must have own clientele,you will not be getting walk-ins"-that is just an insult to anyone with any intelligence,especially if your not looking to work near where you live & looking to relocate.What would they be doing for their half of a 50/50 split,providing paper towels?
Most of all I have had problems with non-tattoo artist owners trying to give away my hard work for nothing."Welcome to our tattoo family,now we will take advantage of you like we do our real family" they might as well be saying when they say"we are giving away $200 gift certificates on the radio,because it will be good for business!" .Who's business?-not mine,I don't work for free."we are running a special:as long as you can sit for $250,it will be good for our business!".Yeah,sure,maybe for you-you don't have to depend on this for your living,you have another job as a contractor or a bartender or whatever it is that you do when you are not here most of the time.I appreciate you stopping by for an hour every day and bitching about how tired you are & how hard your primary job is & then telling me something I should do differently.You must know more than me,you have done 5 tattoos in your lifetime & have been in the industry for a staggering 6 months!with expertise like that,you must know what you are talking about!
It feels good to vent!
Can I get an Amen?

I saw this video recently of the 3-day sleeve. I was just trying to imagine how hard it is to sit for that long, and get tattooed so much in such a short amount of time. Does anybody here have any stories of a marathon session like this?

http://vimeo.com/18984844

Did story 3 involve some counciling as well? The possibilities of what you listed are endless and horrible.

I'm currently an apprentice. As far as the shop is concerned, I have it pretty easy. I have a full time job, so I only work nights and weekends. The guys don't treat me like absolute crap, but they are serious about me pulling my weight. I occasionally get shot with an air soft gun or assigned a horrible task to keep me in line, but that's how it goes so I don't mind those. What I consider my worst experiences come from the customers.
story 1:
We had a walk in one day when the wait was kinda long. She and her male friend decide to wait. The friend went back to use the shop restroom. He was in there a long time and he came out right as I was moving tubes to the back. I heard the door chime, and noticed they had left. This does not bode well. I head back to the restroom, and the toilet lid is down. I lift the lid to see a toilet full of paper. We're talking atleast a quarter of a roll. So I grab the plunger and discover that there is a full deposit waiting under the paper. 20 minute later I finally have the toliet unplugged. It was so bad that at one point I was afraid the plunger wouldn't be enough. And it smelled horrible. About 30 minutes after that they come back in, and they have a bag full of Krystals. I guess he had some room to fill. To top it off, when it's finally time for the chick to get tattooed, she says she's gonna run next door really quick to use the restroom, because her friend says "there's some kinda leak in ya'lls restroom." I was stunned. I said "oh no, our restroom is fine." The dude would not look at me.
Story 2:
We had a lady come in and decided to bring her 8yr old with her. Everythings going okay, then suddenly the kid pukes, right there at the artist 'sfeet. Then again in the hallway. Then in the restroom, all over the sink and toilet. It was on the mirror, the magazine rack and even the walls. Then she puked once more for good measure in the hallway. Lady stayed to finish her tattoo. I had to fight the urge to hand her the mop.
Story 3: I don't even like to think about story 3. It involves a clogged toilet, a bent salad tong, a broken a/c in the shop and a lot of gagging.
After the last, my teacher said "what is it with your apprenticeship and toilets? It will all be worth it one day, but damn! that's alot of gross!"

I personally like to see a lot of variety. It's kind of like reading a book. Different chapters of a persons life.

I personally like to see a lot of variety. It's kind of like reading a book. Different chapters of a persons life.

If you look at the close-up, it does have the circle. It's in red? reddish? Hard to see, but it's there.

I had the best healing experience I've ever had with my last session so I figured it was worth sharing. It still looks just as good as my tattoos that healed using my previous regimen, but it only took like 4-5 days until the tattoo was completely flaked, healed, and looking like how most tattoos do weeks later. It also barely flaked at all- the lightest smoothest flaking possible. Thanks to Freddy Corbin for the tip... So rad.
Leave the bandage/wrap on overnight.
Apply a hot compress to the fresh tattoo after you pull the bandage (transfers heat better than the shower)
Then take a hot shower to rinse everything off (cleans the surface better than a hot compress)
Aquaphor as needed over the next few days.

Well said Lochlan.

I've been watching this thread since it popped up and have enjoyed seeing the respectful post from multiple perspectives of LSTers, thanks. I think some valuable feedback and ideas have been put out there. This sounds like a frustrating experience though to go in to any business from an entitled perspective as a customer we are bound to hit friction, sometimes aversion in our interactions, and overall unhappy outcomes. I do think some good feedback has been given and don't think verbal retaliations need to exist on this site. If that is what any LSTers are looking for I strongly encourage you to go elsewhere as this is one of the reasons we started LST as the other tattoo forums have too much of this negativity. We designed this forum in hopes of positive interactions from tattoo conversations to tattoo pictures to what-have-yous for both tattooers and tattoo customers. This thread is heading in a manner that I don't think it needs to go and honestly hope it doesn't as we don't need that here. This topic is a good one so if it is going to continue lets continue to go for overall ways to support/facilitate better interactions with the tattooers and customers who respect tattooing humbly.

I was digging in some older threads and this topic has been mentioned before, but I thought I would restart it with the hope of a little more success. This is not just for the tattoo artist out there. This is to anybody that is looking for ideas for their next tattoo and those that are always looking for inspiration for their own art.
I have seen everything from the expensive fine art books to children's coloring books in the library of artist. I would like to know what everybody here has and uses as some of their favorites. If it's books, magazines, a specific website, or whatever gets those creative juices flowing.

You're kinda right. We cover some of this kind of thing with EMT training. Basically your body is reacting as if you have an infection. White blood cells primarily try to kill infections in the lymph nodes due to the amount of proteins, antigens, and other things that come in handy. It's just like if you have a sinus infection and the glands in your throat swell. Some people it will be the lymph nodes closest to the tattooed area, other's it can be random. Most people don't have this reaction. Most bodies will just kick in with the reaction to try and blocking your pain receptors mostly by burning up your sugar supply. When this happens of course your blood sugar level goes down, and if you've been around a shop long enough or a convention, you see people pass out. Signs of your sugar being too low can include feeling shakey, sweaty, feeling hot, nausea or vomiting, "knot in your throat", dry mouth, and vision problems. I always take a big coke and a bag of candy when I get work done.

You're kinda right. We cover some of this kind of thing with EMT training. Basically your body is reacting as if you have an infection. White blood cells primarily try to kill infections in the lymph nodes due to the amount of proteins, antigens, and other things that come in handy. It's just like if you have a sinus infection and the glands in your throat swell. Some people it will be the lymph nodes closest to the tattooed area, other's it can be random. Most people don't have this reaction. Most bodies will just kick in with the reaction to try and blocking your pain receptors mostly by burning up your sugar supply. When this happens of course your blood sugar level goes down, and if you've been around a shop long enough or a convention, you see people pass out. Signs of your sugar being too low can include feeling shakey, sweaty, feeling hot, nausea or vomiting, "knot in your throat", dry mouth, and vision problems. I always take a big coke and a bag of candy when I get work done.

You're kinda right. We cover some of this kind of thing with EMT training. Basically your body is reacting as if you have an infection. White blood cells primarily try to kill infections in the lymph nodes due to the amount of proteins, antigens, and other things that come in handy. It's just like if you have a sinus infection and the glands in your throat swell. Some people it will be the lymph nodes closest to the tattooed area, other's it can be random. Most people don't have this reaction. Most bodies will just kick in with the reaction to try and blocking your pain receptors mostly by burning up your sugar supply. When this happens of course your blood sugar level goes down, and if you've been around a shop long enough or a convention, you see people pass out. Signs of your sugar being too low can include feeling shakey, sweaty, feeling hot, nausea or vomiting, "knot in your throat", dry mouth, and vision problems. I always take a big coke and a bag of candy when I get work done.

You're kinda right. We cover some of this kind of thing with EMT training. Basically your body is reacting as if you have an infection. White blood cells primarily try to kill infections in the lymph nodes due to the amount of proteins, antigens, and other things that come in handy. It's just like if you have a sinus infection and the glands in your throat swell. Some people it will be the lymph nodes closest to the tattooed area, other's it can be random. Most people don't have this reaction. Most bodies will just kick in with the reaction to try and blocking your pain receptors mostly by burning up your sugar supply. When this happens of course your blood sugar level goes down, and if you've been around a shop long enough or a convention, you see people pass out. Signs of your sugar being too low can include feeling shakey, sweaty, feeling hot, nausea or vomiting, "knot in your throat", dry mouth, and vision problems. I always take a big coke and a bag of candy when I get work done.

You're kinda right. We cover some of this kind of thing with EMT training. Basically your body is reacting as if you have an infection. White blood cells primarily try to kill infections in the lymph nodes due to the amount of proteins, antigens, and other things that come in handy. It's just like if you have a sinus infection and the glands in your throat swell. Some people it will be the lymph nodes closest to the tattooed area, other's it can be random. Most people don't have this reaction. Most bodies will just kick in with the reaction to try and blocking your pain receptors mostly by burning up your sugar supply. When this happens of course your blood sugar level goes down, and if you've been around a shop long enough or a convention, you see people pass out. Signs of your sugar being too low can include feeling shakey, sweaty, feeling hot, nausea or vomiting, "knot in your throat", dry mouth, and vision problems. I always take a big coke and a bag of candy when I get work done.

I know a guy that works for another EMS company and he has FTW in rather large font down the back of his arm. Standing around one of the local hospitals I heard a kid say "Check it out. He has for the win tattooed on his arm." I laughed for awhile on that one.