Mel Noir

What I found helps is first finding someone really great you can be tattooed by- then you'll probably realise why you like them, by thinking, "yeah, that guy does a great snake", or "she does a wonderful dagger"- then you could ask them to do something like that, while filling in the space.
Worked for me anyway, just today! :)

What I found helps is first finding someone really great you can be tattooed by- then you'll probably realise why you like them, by thinking, "yeah, that guy does a great snake", or "she does a wonderful dagger"- then you could ask them to do something like that, while filling in the space.
Worked for me anyway, just today! :)

Haha, yeah I sometimes forget about the tattoos on my back! I think the arse is a good place to get tattooed for the size and shape of the place, especially when backpieces go down to there... but I complain enough about healing tattoos enough to have to have a healing one that I also have to sit on!

What I found helps is first finding someone really great you can be tattooed by- then you'll probably realise why you like them, by thinking, "yeah, that guy does a great snake", or "she does a wonderful dagger"- then you could ask them to do something like that, while filling in the space.
Worked for me anyway, just today! :)

Those words alone almost gave me a headache!
While we're on the subject, has anyone here ever met someone who was surprised to hear from you that Ed Hardy is a real person? I've had this happen once or twice, when people have asked if I like the t shirts, and I say I like him and his artwork instead. I thought even people well outside of tattooing would have known he was at least a real person!

last month my lady and i were in Waikiki Hawaii taking a leisurely stroll when we saw a Ed Hardy store. Obviously we're both already familiar with who Ed Hardy is, but never been inside of one of these stores before, so we thought "what the hell, lets just take a look inside to see what it's really about". it's a fcking disco in there, flashy lights, glitter and mirrors, and dance music. i was quickly disgusted, and embarrassed to be seen walking out of such a shit store/brand.

I'd say if you're having trouble going with your gut, Mel's advice is pretty solid.

I said that recently, then remembered that my entire ass is tattooed.
Funny the things you forget sometimes.

What I found helps is first finding someone really great you can be tattooed by- then you'll probably realise why you like them, by thinking, "yeah, that guy does a great snake", or "she does a wonderful dagger"- then you could ask them to do something like that, while filling in the space.
Worked for me anyway, just today! :)

Why do people ask these questions after getting tattooed???? Ask before putting permanent ink into your body!

hahaha in Florida we call it a miami body suit.. dudes with no tattoos except hands and neck...
way to make yourself unemployable and look like a total chode!
i plan on waiting until my art career is a little more secure and i know i won't have to work retail on the side anymore to do the tops of my hands and fingers... plus i still have a ton of room on my legs including both knees and a lot of thigh space

Android fo lyfe.

Well, I've been reading the replies here, and normally I'd probably start to lean towards your ideas of just leaving the whole thing alone, never mentioning it at all. However, since changing my Facebook picture, about six people I know who aren't too knowledgeable about tattoos have asked me what it's about- three of them being people who were going to make appointments at the local studios that aren't much better than Lisa's "school". I wouldn't have normally talked to them (four were people from high school!) so it was cool that that's opened up a little discussion with them and probably saved their skin from the laser treatment place.
A silver lining, even if it is a small one, is always good.

Well, I've been reading the replies here, and normally I'd probably start to lean towards your ideas of just leaving the whole thing alone, never mentioning it at all. However, since changing my Facebook picture, about six people I know who aren't too knowledgeable about tattoos have asked me what it's about- three of them being people who were going to make appointments at the local studios that aren't much better than Lisa's "school". I wouldn't have normally talked to them (four were people from high school!) so it was cool that that's opened up a little discussion with them and probably saved their skin from the laser treatment place.
A silver lining, even if it is a small one, is always good.

I have an Android phone.
Y'all can go to hell.

When in doubt, shut your mouth. This applies to more than just tattoo secrets and I don't mean any ill will from the statement so don't take it as a personal attack. I just mean if you can't understand proper boundaries then it's better to overfilter yourself than to spit verbal diarrhea all over.

Art Talk-Mike Brown
Lot's of history in this.

My girlfriend and I just got approved for adoption on a very sweet, very adorable 6yo Italian Greyhound. It's our first dog. We're both very much so looking forward to him living with us. The paperwork gets signed on Wednesday. During the home visit he was so affectionate and comfortable with us both... can't wait to see his manic side.
Once he moves in, I'm going to flood all of my social networking sites with pics of him in little outfits so all my friends can say aaaaah, but secretly be sick of it.

My girlfriend is untattooed.
She's accompanied me on a few trips to get worked on, but by and large she's not someone who's a 'tattoo person'.
She saw me getting all huffy about the TLC show and asked me why I was so offended. We were able to have a pretty serious discussion about the hows and whys of my anger and I ended up relating it to someone who has no vested interest in tattoo culture. The best thing that can come out of this is honest discussion with people who may not "know what we know".

These are all beautiful! I really love the way one of my friends, Ian Parkin, does lady heads. I think right now this is my favourite. I posted this up on the Inkslingers blog the other week, but more has been added to this, which I saw the other day. I just haven't had the chance to put up the current picture yet. If you check out the blog here you'll see loads more, I even have one of my own from him. Anyway...

These are all beautiful! I really love the way one of my friends, Ian Parkin, does lady heads. I think right now this is my favourite. I posted this up on the Inkslingers blog the other week, but more has been added to this, which I saw the other day. I just haven't had the chance to put up the current picture yet. If you check out the blog here you'll see loads more, I even have one of my own from him. Anyway...

A professional magician once showed me how to perform a trick.
When I told him I thought things like that were secret, he said that a concert pianist can impart tips and hints to a layman because he can never be a concert pianist.
I think that's what Ursula just said.
If a harmlessly curious/nervous/interested tattoo customer asks me why Im doing something or what that nice smelling liquid is, I tell them and often quietly explain why.
When a nosey customer/wannabe tattooer/apprentice asks what needles or ink I'm using, I tell them its a big sharp one and it's monkey piss, or it's red.
I share pretty much everything with my colleagues and peers because that's how I learned almost everything I know.
I guess that's a long-winded way of saying "I agree"

yeah i 100% agree with sharing with those who 'deserve' to be shared with (ie: colleagues and close friends) I also have no problem telling tattooers (who arn't dick holes) what it is because they have no use and well i owe the tattoo community a lot cause they sure have shared a lot of secrets and art with me. I'm not going to post it online though because then anyone can read it..
i mostly was curious is people were gonna say no don't tell them, or yes tell them about the paint but not about the technique or mixing formulas... i was also curious to see if anyone would suggest giving miss-information as i know some tattooers have done to idiots hahaha.... I have no problem telling me what kind of paint, just not what brand...... i havn't had anyone ask about the brushes which is good because it does play a huge role in how the paint goes on...
and just to clear it up a bit the $1000 was not just for learning what paint to buy, it was got a 4 day course which included lessons on map making, finishing your needleworks (like how to finish the edges as well as framing) painting on fabric and all that goes with that, and i also learned a bunch of new embroidery techniques and stitches... i also had no problem telling the people in that class where i get my designs and that kind of stuff, most of them had never seen or really knew of tattoo flash before (i was the youngest by about 15 years and i was 25 at the time).. in return they shared with me their knowledge of the craft and i was grateful for it as many of them had been embroidering since before i was born
most of my painting technique comes from watching my man paint though, so i owe that to tattooing and won't be giving out any spit shading secrets to anyone haha
so everyone knows, i'm not claiming to be the BEST at embroidery or painting... there are a couple others who do amazing tattoo related work... and many many many who do other types of embroidery that are far far better than I.
it's kind of one of those things were yeah i could tell you what paint to use, but you still won't know where to get good reference or know how to mix the paint to the right consistency or what brushes or how to prepare the fabric to be painted... so do i tell them what kind of paint and then laugh at the bad attempts, or so i not even give that much up... but i've pretty much decided to go along with what everyone else has been saying and stick to my rule of not telling anyone unless they are a close colleague or friend

I posted the link to the facebook petition on my blog and for the last two days have had hundreds more visitors then normal... so thanks TLC! included right under that link is the link to this website so hopefully some people will come over here and learn about good tattoos

Don't tell them a fucking thing, and don't feel bad for it either, Ursula! You've put too much time and money into getting to the great standard you're at, telling everyone else how you do it would be pissing it all up the wall, in my opinion. Telling everyone how to do what you do wouldn't be much different to the effects this TLC we've been talking about may have, though obviously on a much smaller and less dangerous scale- you'll have loads of people out there putting out bullshit copies and making money from inferior copies of your work. I think you should just stick with what you've been doing so far. :)