Isotope

I have things to say on this thread that will have to wait until I'm done work and have the time to write a proper response, but in the meantime can we try to distinguish between seeing tattoos and seeing pictures of tattoos? Because the two are not the same at all.

Yeah, I think the thing some people need to remember is that these days most people seem to get their tattoo info from a format which involves looking at teeny tiny digital pictures, out of context, unhealed, etc. Instagram is basically bullshit for seeing the quality of people's work. If you've ever been lucky enough to see a Horiyoshi III tattoo in person, you would realize how seriously wrong you are.
(This is kind of a digression, but what I hate about Instagram is that it ends up prioritizing tattoos that photograph well over tattoos that have soul. I'm going to go like, rearrange my crystals now.)

I've been tattooed by some super "famous" tattooers and by some people no one's ever heard of. I am very, very wary of a sort of "starfucker' mentality in tattooing. There are so many amazing people that aren't as well known as they should be because maybe their style isn't trendy, or they're not on social media, or they just don't prioritize instagram like others do, or they don't travel to conventions as much, etc. People who are well known only gets you so much. And that one tattooer is more well known than another is not necessarily because they are "better".
There is a lot of noise in this subculture, and I am very careful to pay attention to what really turns me on, so to speak, about a tattooer's work, and not get swept up in their name, hype, trendiness, whatever. I had a really good chat about this with a fairly "famous" tattooer recently, who said that while they get a lot of "collector" types coming to them, they can immediately tell the difference between someone seeking them out because they are really psyched on their work, and someone who is more interested in their name and adding it to their list. Apparently there is a pretty big difference in the experience of tattooing these different kinds of people. It was a nice conversation in that I sometimes feel self-conscious when people ask me who my stuff is by, or who I am planning to get tattooed by in the future, and this person was basically like: don't worry. If you are genuine in your enthusiasm, people can tell. If you're a douche and just want to cover yourself in big names, people will know the difference. Our true intentions show through, and it's important to me to connect with a tattooer's work in a very primal way. Basically, to this person, there is an upside and a downside to having a "big name".
All of which to say that I think there is an important difference between recognizing, talking about and respecting the work of people who are doing awesome, creative and inspiring things, and getting wrapped up in names and tattoo celebrity. The former is what makes this community so great, but I think the latter is basically poison to any sense of creativity and authenticity. And the line between them can be thin.
I also agree with others that the experience of getting a tattoo, or if I can put it in hippie terms, the vibes that go into it, is super important. At this point I am unlikely to get tattooed by someone that I haven't heard about through someone else as being awesome. Instagram photos are not enough.

Sorry to spam guys... but I am so stoked with how the scales are turning out (Eastern diamondback, Crotalus adamanteus).

Time for color!!

So I think Kelly Edwards was having a little fun with me yesterday. He put the ink cap on the middle of my back... to use on the spot right below your tailbone, right between the top of where your cheeks start. Which so far has been like a rocket blasting off of pain compared to even the rest of my back.
"Now... as I tattoo you, remember, there is an ink cap on your back. A full one. Do...not...move... And I promise, doing this hurts me more than you..."

I'd have to run out of skin before getting anything on my ass unless it was a full Japanese suit.
Of course, my dad told us the same joke for years:
I just had to large M's tattooed on my ass so when I moon people it says, "MoM".
When I roll over and kick my legs up is says "WoW"!

That's the spot...Getting chills allover again :X
Looking awesome though :)

So I think Kelly Edwards was having a little fun with me yesterday. He put the ink cap on the middle of my back... to use on the spot right below your tailbone, right between the top of where your cheeks start. Which so far has been like a rocket blasting off of pain compared to even the rest of my back.
"Now... as I tattoo you, remember, there is an ink cap on your back. A full one. Do...not...move... And I promise, doing this hurts me more than you..."

3.5 more hours of progress last week. total is about 51 hours so far and i'm guessing we have 20-25 more hours until we are finished. Legs and ass are 99% complete. Waiting until it is finished before sharing anymore full back pictures but here is a close up on my ass/leg/lower back area:

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Also I just realized that over the past 12 months I've been tattooed a total of 63 hours (51 on my back and 12 on my front). plus ~100 hours of driving back and forth from Boston to Long Island x10, Boston to Manhattan x1, Boston to Montreal x1, and Boston to Reading PA x1.

More progress... this session was at the Austin Star of Texas Tattoo Art Revival Convention. It was my first time being tattooed at a convention with so many people going through, I was nervous at first, but once the rubber hit the road, it was a lot of fun, and the distraction of all the people was a huge help.

More progress... this session was at the Austin Star of Texas Tattoo Art Revival Convention. It was my first time being tattooed at a convention with so many people going through, I was nervous at first, but once the rubber hit the road, it was a lot of fun, and the distraction of all the people was a huge help.

More progress... this session was at the Austin Star of Texas Tattoo Art Revival Convention. It was my first time being tattooed at a convention with so many people going through, I was nervous at first, but once the rubber hit the road, it was a lot of fun, and the distraction of all the people was a huge help.

So I think Kelly Edwards was having a little fun with me yesterday. He put the ink cap on the middle of my back... to use on the spot right below your tailbone, right between the top of where your cheeks start. Which so far has been like a rocket blasting off of pain compared to even the rest of my back.
"Now... as I tattoo you, remember, there is an ink cap on your back. A full one. Do...not...move... And I promise, doing this hurts me more than you..."

More progress... this session was at the Austin Star of Texas Tattoo Art Revival Convention. It was my first time being tattooed at a convention with so many people going through, I was nervous at first, but once the rubber hit the road, it was a lot of fun, and the distraction of all the people was a huge help.

I'm not a tattoo application specialist...but I think about all the abuse the elbows and knees take, so cramming too much detail on the elbow is not going to hold. My tattooers designed my sleeves to have less ink around the elbow because of that reasoning, the skin is tougher so it doesn't hold fine detail as well. There's still lots of ink in and around my elbow. So I know what an elbow tattoo feels like (and the ditch is faaaar worse). And the design has held up despite almost a decade of elbow batterings. On the flip side I've seen lots of nice elbow roses and other solid ink designs on the elbow. We were having a discussion in the tattoo shop about stressing about tattooing a simple nautical star on an elbow...it's difficult to make it not look crooked, just the way the arm bends. I think it really depends on the skill and experience of the tattooer, not just in applying the tattoo but in the design and placement.
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I watched a dude get a full head tattoo last week - 4 palm sized traditional tattoos. Looked like a tattoo swim cap. All lines, one sitting.
And I've been tattooed by this tattooer quite a bit, so I know how hot he runs his machine with loose big needles for traditional stylized outlines. He's fast as fuck but brutal. Ouch.
I left after 5 minutes. It was gnarly. Buddy froze his skull, but by the grimace on his face, watching the tempo of his breathing and the amount of blood on the first couple lines on the temple...it did NOT look like the freezing was working.
It changed my tattoo desires and I won't be worrying about my wife divorcing me anymore if I showed up at home with a tatt-dome...I think I'm good, no dome tattoos for me...well maybe I'll squinch a couple small ones on the back of my neck/skull still...it was insane, but feel fortunate for the rare opportunity to watch a head tattoo go down. gross.

More progress... this session was at the Austin Star of Texas Tattoo Art Revival Convention. It was my first time being tattooed at a convention with so many people going through, I was nervous at first, but once the rubber hit the road, it was a lot of fun, and the distraction of all the people was a huge help.

More progress... this session was at the Austin Star of Texas Tattoo Art Revival Convention. It was my first time being tattooed at a convention with so many people going through, I was nervous at first, but once the rubber hit the road, it was a lot of fun, and the distraction of all the people was a huge help.

Sorry to spam guys... but I am so stoked with how the scales are turning out (Eastern diamondback, Crotalus adamanteus).

Thanks! Chelsea and Charley are the two who really got me into being tattooed, so I asked them to do my pair o' birds, and gave them free range. Chelsea drew up the Sailor Vern based kewpie, and Charley did the Hot Stuff/Texas Traditional inspired hybrid.
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Love this. Noble's stuff has been on my radar a lot lately. Not sure if he's just getting more visibility, but his stuff absolutely slays.

Texas style devil sparrow, Charley Marquez at True Blue, ATX.

Sorry to spam guys... but I am so stoked with how the scales are turning out (Eastern diamondback, Crotalus adamanteus).

Sorry to spam guys... but I am so stoked with how the scales are turning out (Eastern diamondback, Crotalus adamanteus).

Sorry to spam guys... but I am so stoked with how the scales are turning out (Eastern diamondback, Crotalus adamanteus).

I love this thread.

Thank you everyone here for sharing your journey so far. So much incredible work. This truly is a crucible, and it has really been sinking in more and more just how special it still is.