Paulywhore

I wonder if Frankie D knew what he was getting himself into when he asked that question on this site? hahaha lol

I had to click on your link Alanna, dang I almost wish i didnt ;) your baked goods look delicious, now im craving Lemon pound cake, god damn i love lemon pound cake, I may have to take you up on your cake Mistress deal, sweet, soft and tangy just how I like it. lol

D. All of the above

nothing says love like Bacon and roses, i think larry the cable guy said that?

ya the got a website called www.lastlocklizard.com , you can go on there and get some advice on it, believe in yourself tony, you can do it!

damn i fuckt it up its www.lastlotlizzard.com

Does anybody have any advice on how to become an ice road trucker???

ya the got a website called www.lastlocklizard.com , you can go on there and get some advice on it, believe in yourself tony, you can do it!

pandora's box has just been opened.

ya, thought id ruffle a few feathers, round n' round we Go~

hey Frankie D, just thought id give a little PMA regarding your goals,

I think that the idea that you could become a doctor before you could become a tattoo artist is just not true, you may not become Chris Garver in ten years but who does? Nobody on here knows how good at drawing you are and you may not even know yet yourself? I have heard many talented tattooers say that they didn't really even draw that much before they started tattooing and now they are one of the best, shit, Grime said he didn't even draw before he started tattooing, so in reality I think that you becoming a tattoo artist just depends on how bad you want it, keep drawing every night, keep bugging all the tattooers around your town and maybe offer to sweep up there shop if they will look at your drawings & give you advice on shading or styles and what not.

Personally Im not a tattooer, nor do I know much about the tattoo world compared to a Pro tattooer, but I do know that we are spinning through Space right now with a giant ball of Fire spinning around us that lets us see the paper that we draw on and our balls to wash them so if anybody on here tells you that you cant become what you want because of this and that and because your hands are too small or your skin is too black or your daddy cant send you to medical school or art school or whateverrrr, its allll bullshit and its bad for ya, like carlin said, but I digress, Ya frank the bottom line is that haters are either too scared to grab life by the balls and do what they are telling you that you cant do, Or maybe they just dont want to give away info that they found out the hard way.

Most on here may hate me for saying this but if you cant get a chance at working in a tattoo shop and nobody will help you for whatever reason, Fuck it, go on ebay, buy a machine some single use needles, buy some ink, and start tattooing all the drunks, skaters, punkers, thugs and wannabees in your neighborhood for free or next to free, dont lie about your skill and never steal anyones photos of their work, If no one will help you, do it on your own, life is short and all the haters will be six feet deep one day anyway so fuck em!

My uncle was in vietnam and got tattooed back in the late 60's/early70's , he had some tattoos and I always thought they looked rad, he had the old style zigzag man smoking a joint with pot leaves around him and in the smoke it said 13. My uncle was from Long beach ca born and raised so im guessing he got work done at the pike, but hes dead so i cant ask him.

Im not sure how much exposure he has had but ~ Tom Moser - at Goldrush, wow is all I can say, all the pics of his work are insane but a few that stand out to me are the blue yellow and red cobra that goes from the guys waist line to his chest, tiger head on the guys hand, panther on the hand, and the tiger at the end on his portfolio.

I looked at most of the other guys pics at gold rush and they are all incredible, looks like these dudes are top of the food chain.

oh heres the link - Artists « Gold Rush Tattoo

Im not sure how much exposure he has had but ~ Tom Moser - at Goldrush, wow is all I can say, all the pics of his work are insane but a few that stand out to me are the blue yellow and red cobra that goes from the guys waist line to his chest, tiger head on the guys hand, panther on the hand, and the tiger at the end on his portfolio.

I looked at most of the other guys pics at gold rush and they are all incredible, looks like these dudes are top of the food chain.

Pauly did kinda flip on Shawn, a touch. Still, he may be feeling ganged up on, justifiably. Kinda like the scenarios that too often transpire in tattoos shops. And junior high locker rooms . . .

Oh, and the concept that a generation ago Pauly wouldn't have even "gotten in the door" is wrong. One of the few old farts I was lucky enough to get tattooed by was Mike Malone. From what I saw, that grouchy fucker would tattoo anything. He wanted to make money. Don Nolan did my whole back. Dude was a consummate professional when he tattooed me, and I knew zip about tattooing at the time (not that I'm any fucking "expert", now). Nolan worked next door to Jerry and Jensen, among others, in Honolulu. Bob Roberts refused $40 of my $60 tip and took me and my bud to dinner, as, perhaps, he picked up on the fact that we were about tattoos, not ass-kissing. Those old guys might have been gruff and direct, but I'd guess they weren't looking for fucking sycophants. Malone might have had a temper, but he was always on point and respectful to a dumbshit kid who came in, gave him a couple Fuente cigars as a recommended icebreaker, and asked for "a heart with some knives in it." I'm not idealizing the guy, by any means, nor was I alive on Hotel Street in 1943, but American tattooing is not old school Japanese tattooing, in which, from what I've read, artists were extraordinarily selective.

Damn PShakman, you have a great deal of knowledge about tattooing and legendary artists, thanks for sharing some of your knowledge, I think your what they call a "OG".

After subjecting y'all to my shit, I actually motivated to read a few more of these comments . . .

Dude, Pauly was forced to wait TWO HOURS after his appointment, and was subjected to further disrespect thereafter. I've seen that type of behavior countless times. Pauly's being eminently reasonable, not hyper-sensitive. He wasn't asking to be "BFF's" with everyone in the fucking shop, he was asking for courtesy and a respectful gesture. That's understandable, considering how inconvenienced he'd already been by the shops lassitude and egotism. I commend him for standing up for himself. Guarantee if Pauly'd stripped naked and had a Kuronuma bodysuit, these guys woulda been arm-wrestling to suck his cock. Then again, most tattooers don't even know who Kuronuma is. Hopeless idiots.

Hell, one of the big-name hotshots I mentioned above had to be dragged out of bed to tattoo me two hours late a couple years ago. I was a touch peeved, but the way he greeted me with a look of contrition and a handshake, coupled with his subsequent treatment of me and the diligence he committed to the tattoo, earned him a $50 tip. Charity's a two-way street, though. Tattooers are not more important than the rest of us peasants.

I can see why tattooers want to eat cyanide when groupie clients want to be best buds with them. Pauly was not asking for that. He was asking, as one of you said, to be treated professionally.

Most of my friends are tattooers, now that I think about it. They hate tattooers passionately, as well, for good reason.

The whole thing's an adolescently-fixated joke. Glad there are a few tattooers who see through the weakness. They're good arm wrestlers, too! I love good arm wrestlers. God Bless!

You said it brother, thanks for seeing respect for more than just a word.

Respect seems like such a simple concept to some, but to others it is a very complicated thing to practice, i guess depending on a persons background and the experiences they have had in life contributes to they way they give and expect respect?

Oh damn I feel like i opened a can of worms with this post, It kinda seems like we are flushing something out, whatever that is im not sure? Its good so hear all you guys chime in and give your two pennies worth, I guess we all have one thing in common, uuhhh tattoo's?

when getting tattooed what do you like better?

personally I tend to like black and grey more, it kinda feels alive or something to me when I see a good black and grey tattoo, kinda what I think of when I think of the word tattoo, but than some stuff looks so good with color like traditional for instance, its crazy how good the tattooers have got nowdays, some of the stuff almost seems too good to be a tattoo, like it should be in a gallery or in some rich fucks house, is there such a thing as a tattoo that is too good?

I guess this turned into a two part question-

guy comes in a few years back, part of a construction crew. smelled like weed and beer first thing in the morning. the tattoos on his face let me know he was serious when he asked for a " hood spongebob". best ever.

lol what the hell are people in florida smoking? spong bob on a construction workers hands? never seen that out here in cali, Now that would make for good tv, fucking garden gnomes on trailer trash chicks with no panties and spong bobs on bikers and shit, sounds a hell of a lot better than watching Garver tattoo a crazy piece on some jock thats crying about some anal herpies he ex gave him, nothing againts Garver, shit I really want to get tattooed by him, its just if Conor's had a show I wouid be watching that laughing my ass off.

did this one about a week ago. gal comes in and says "i want a garden gnome, snatching some panties"/

say no more. im fucking sold.

damn I bet she cam in all commando too, you are my hero Conor.

I always thought "Ink Slinger" sounded funny, ya know call up the ink slinger and get a 20sack of some grey wash or sumthing? lol

Pauly, even your initial post on this thread makes me think you came here looking for a fight. I can sympathize with the frustration but if you've had more negative experiences than positive at tattoo shops, then take a look at these situations and try to understand the root causes. Maybe the guy was a dick and it sounds like the time management and professionalism could have been better on his end, but no one is obligated to get you drinks or be your best friend. Like others have said, as little as a generation ago, chances are you wouldn't have even gotten in the door. We've all had times where maybe we've had to wait around, or appointments run long, or maybe the tattooer is just having an off day. We all have shitty days. But it's no reason to think all tattooers (or waiters, etc.) are assholes across the board. You get the same cross section of people in any industry. There are a lot of dipshit people in general.

I wasn't going to comment on this, but I can understand your frustration. Instead of trying to force people to like you and treat you with respect, you have to show some respect first. If you're serious about continuing to get tattooed, just relax and try to enter in future situations with a positive outlook and no expectations other than a great tattoo.

How'd the end product turn out?

Oh the end product turned out great, its by far my favorite tattoo i have got so far and has a lot of sentimental meaning to me so its a keeper, and thanks for the response, and i'm not looking for any new friends when i get tattooed, I have enough friends that i dont have time to see as it is.

Im a 6 foot tall 29 year old drop out that could be accused of partying a little much and getting in a few fists fights here and there, Only work I have ever done is Construction or Metal shops, and from what Iv'e heard back in the day as you guys speak of the kinda guy that got tattooed was kinda like me? so i beg to differ on me getting in a shop back in the day, no hard feelings, i know you guys dont know me.

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.

(A man walks into a tattoo shop he has never been in before, with 450 bucks cash in his pocket ready to get tattooed, not to window shop. he go's to the desk and says "hi i have a appointment right now with so and so", the helper says to the man "oh hes got a quick tattoo to do and he'll be right with you" ok the man says, he sits down on the couch in the shop and waits patiently, not expecting a free rib dinner or a blow job, or a cappuccino or anything like that, he just sits there, about 30-45mins go by, the man notices the helper going around taking orders from the artist for a coffee/lunch run, the man thinks to himself "hmm a coffee sounds pretty good I hope she asks if she can grab me a coffee" , she walks right past the man saying nothing, the man thinks nothing of it at the time because he thinks the tattooer will be done soon, so he waits ... another 30 mins go by and the helper gets back with coffee and food for everyone, the artists take a brake and eat lunch with the whole crew, another 30mins go by, the man still waits patiently, than the artist is ready to tattoo, the man gets tattooed, he very much enjoy's the attitude of the artist and very much likes the piece he did, so the man pays for the piece and tips the artist, he shakes the artist hand and says to him "thank you i really love the piece" and the man go's on his way.

Later that evening the man thinks to himself, oh theres that new tattoo site ive been checking out, maybe if I put up a post about customer relations and how i think it could be better it could help the way customers see artists and the way artists see customers. So he puts up a post.)

- Hey Shawn by you saying that you threw some guy out for yelling "i pay your rent" or something like that, I took it like you were saying I should have been thrown out to, like I was acting like that douche you threw out when you dont even know the way I am, or how my deal went down?

I didnt mean to offend anyone and I guess what I was trying to say came out wrong, or just in a curt way, The real deal is I fucking love drawing and art and getting tattooed so I guess i get passionate about it at times, especially when i pay good money and give good respect, all i expect is the same amount of respect, no free steak dinners or special treatment.

Ive had a few bad experiences but out of all half aint bad, its just a bummer looking down at your arm and remembering some douchebags cool guy attitude everytime you look at ur tattoo, but I guess you gotta get the good with the bad, in retrospect maybe it makes me appreciate the good experiences even more. ya I will go back to the shop that didn't offer me a cup of water, its not gunna make or brake it for me, like i said the tattooer is down to earth and does good work so that is really what matters.

just go full boar and get - "JOBSTOPR"

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh im soooooo scared Shawn, you sound like a badass bro, right on bro!

Ya Shawn everything you said is common sense, as far as you taking what I said personal, not sure how that happened? you yourself said some tattooers see tattooing as a hustle so maybe you should read what i wrote again.

So your saying not having a tough guy punk attitude is selling out to the highest bidder?

Im really not following you man, kinda hard to make sense of your comment regarding my comment.

these are all great but I think if i ever got my fingers tattooed it would be "Taco Love" because damn I love tacos and maybe a taco shop could sponsor me as the taco king or some shit like that, ummm i love tacos:)

right on, thanks for the responses guys.

I guess because I have my own business and I have more than a thimble full of common sense in my head, and I was raised oldschool with this thing called Respect engrained in me that i see things the way that i do, the man with the money is the boss, without the paying customer your rent is not paid, but money doesn't come that easy to me so I appreciate it when I have a customer, shit especially in this economy.

At work I get burned and breath in chemicals all day and i'm happy as fuck to do it when someone calls me to do a job, I dont have some punk attitude to my customers because I want to treat people good so I get referals to other customers.

Maybe the money is just too easy to make for some tattoo artists and they don't appreciate what they are doing, Ya know easy come easy go.

Anyways thought id share my thoughts with you guys, perhaps a customers view for you shop owners to take note and evaluate how you treat the people who pay your bills.

I mean damn I thought getting tattooed was suppose to be fun? The fuckin cool guy punk attitude kinda blows the fun out of it, and maybe offer your customers a cup of fucking water for christ sake? especially if they have been waiting for two hours after they made a appointment to get tattooed.

How can you be proud of the work you do if your just out to hustle someone?

Its called Pride ya know that thing that America was built on.

Just wondering how you tattoo artist view your customers?

i have always noticed a "im too cool attitude" by every artist that ive been tattooed by, I get the feeling that a customer is just a john or trick if you will, kinda like a prostitute views there clients, ya know with a complete lack of respect for there customers and just wanting to get your money.

It seams like all the "artists" that ive encountered sees me as a drawing board with a pocket book, usually the artist is talking to another artist the whole time he is tattooing me and if i participate in the conversation at all I either get ignored or looked at funny and responded to in a curt manor, is this the normal attitude in this industry?

(Take this for instance - i made a apointment with a artist earlier in the week for saturday 12:30, i showed up at 1230 sharp, and the helper said oh hes gunna do a tat really quik than get to me, ok i said", if it wasnt for wanting to get tattooed by this man for years, i would have just left right on the spot, but i stayed and about 45mins go by and the helper is going around asking the tattooers if they wanted some coffee or something to eat because she was going out to the coffee shop, I was thinking boy i hope she asks me if i want a cup of coffee, i sure am thirsty, but she just walked right past me like i wasnt there.

30 more min goes by and she gets back and everyone takes a coffee/ lunch break, the artist takes a break and about 20 more mins go by, by than its been two hours ive been waiting and im pretty thirsty, so i ask the helper if there is a coffee shop near by? she says - "oh hes ready to tattoo you know".

Im not out to bargin hunt some rinky dink skull or sumething, I dropped 300 on the piece and didnt have any requests or stupid placement of the tat, so i know im not difficult in any way.

I am very happy with the tattoo and i even tipped the artist, because i like the piece he did, he was also a nice guy to talk to, and he didnt have the cool guy tude most have.

I would get tattooed again by him maybe just not at that shop, i guess he works at other shops so.)

Its funny how many times I have felt disrespected in one way or another while at a tattoo shop when i really think back on the experiences ive had in the past.

Im almost to the point that id rather get a shitty tattoo but a good experience rather than the other way around, either that or just smack the motherfucker right in his mouth right when i feel disrespected by the "cool guy tude"

For the record I am a very easy going guy, i dont judge peolpe, I dont think im better than anyone, and I am willing to talk to anyone no matter how different they are, but i get the feeling alot of tattooers dont think that way? its like they are in this cool guy society and regular people just are not cool enough to respect, almost like a form of racism against non tattooers?

If I could get your guys take on how you see customers and the way you think they should be treated please do tell? -

i really like this site and most people on here seem pretty cool so hi all.