Dustingormley

I booked for Mike Rubendall. TJ (his awesome crazy mustached assistant) said his wait was 3 years, but I could get one year since he looked me up and I was an artist. I waited that one year and got an awesome tattoo. I would gladly wait 3 years for a Mike Rubendall tattoo. Hardest working dude I've ever met. He's in that New York state of mind ;)

Wow. Clearly something went wrong here. How little did you clean it?

I was working at a pizza shop and let flour and stuff get on it. Not the ideal situation! I thought for sure it would be all messed up, but thankfully it healed up fine. I cleaned it a couple times a day, but work had me in a dirty environment.

Here's a nasty one. Pretty sure I let it get infected, I'm not real sure. It ended up fine amazingly.

Here's during, directly after, and healing photos. Remember to clean your tattoos! :D

That chart was probably made by someone who hasn't gotten many tattoos or didn't do any research.

Armpit/inside upper arm sucks (closer to the armpit the worse it gets.)

Back of the lower leg sucks

Side of torso is wicked

Parts of my back sent shooting pain down my arms (around the spine.)

Ankle wasn't too awesome

The easiest was my forearm for sure.

Cant wait for my chest, I know I'm going to be in pain city.

Sounds like burnout in any other field. Is there something specific to tattoo burnout that you are interested in?

You're probably right. I just hate to see the spark die and I want to do everything in my power to never let it happen to me. Here's a good question: what keeps you guys interested in tattoos and or tattooing? What do you think kills the flame?

I have a whole bunch of artists I like. Here's one that I find interesting. Knaley Gav. He makes tattoos from his flash which are awesome. What I find interesting and I think most people find interesting about him is that he does the same damn design like hundreds of times on people. He will even paint the flash sheets a whole bunch of times. He does these awesome cats with different things in their mouth (pizza, watermelon, birds.) So awesome https://instagram.com/knarlygav/

Sometime I come across artists that just aren't into it anymore. Churning people in and out of shops and not doing everything they can to make the tattoos perfect. Taking a lot of shortcuts and not doing anything new or trying to improve.

I don't have any specific questions, I just wanted to get other peoples opinions on the burnout phenomenon.

Thanks for the replies. All good advice

Yeah she wont need to use the laser if she gets something with black in it, or any dark color. The bigger and darker it is the better and it will hide the scaring. Good luck and have fun!

I remembered he had a Bill Hicks drawing and in 5 minutes we decided to do the late great American Rebel who I have been a fan for about 10 years. He loves to do stuff like this, so I just let him do what he wanted and choose the picture he wanted. Have fun with it. Its now about week old.

We will expand it to a sleeve and then start another sleeve. Next up is Carl Sagan.

https://instagram.com/lekkeri_wct/

If you can guess what part of his act its from, 10 points! We weren't shure and I checked, well, funny shit ;)

That Hicks tattoo is fantastic. I love me some Bill Hicks, what a rebel.

My ol lady head tattoo. She's not the prettiest girl in town, but I love er

These are a few paintings I've done over the last few months. They just aren't there yet and I'd like to get some advice from the people on this site. Also if you have any advice on how to stay motivated to make art every day, that would be a plus.

Thanks

I'm an apprentice as well. It's cool that we can all talk here. I wish there was a forum that we could really get into tattoo discussion so that we might share knowledge of the craft, but I suppose we can't give it all away on the interwebs!

Welcome!

My first tattoo (24 yrs ago) was a small yin yang with fish, one black and one red. It's certainly not my best, but no regrets....you gotta start somewhere!

I totally agree with that. My first tattoo was the book cover of the catcher in the rye. It's not my favorite, but the first one opens your eyes to tattoos and what it means to have a tattoo. I think ying yangs are over popularized, but the idea behind them is pretty cool.

I wish more people would post what they ended up getting. I'd love to see people from here influence the general public into getting a good solid tattoo.

It's kinda like getting a healed picture

I would totally take a course on tattooing (as long as the person teaching it had a great interest in tattooing.) I took a sociology class that talked a little but about ancient tattoos. BUT just because I'd take it doesn't mean I'd want other people to take it. It sounds strange, but I enjoy the fact that I know more about tattoos than most people. If everyone knew about it then it wouldn't be so sacred.

Tattooing is my church, and I don't want to go to church with yuppies.

It's better than what you had for sure. I wouldn't get it, but if you like it that's what matters. In my opinion the tattoo isn't really good or bad, it's kinda in the middle.

Eagles are always a good choice. Did the laser treatment hurt? Was there a lot of black in the USMC tattoo? I hear color is harder to laser.

You have some pretty awesome work. I'll agree with everyone else and say that oni is excellent

These stories are fantastic. I'm in an apprenticeship now and the guys at my shop treat me well. I was prepared to be fucked with, but I guess that's not how they do it (which I am fine with.) I'd rather not clean up wolf piss and get shot at with stun guns. I clean stuff, set up, break down, make needles, take out the trash, line draw, set up appointments, and answer the phone.

In a way I kinda want the whole rites of passage thing, but I'm sure I wouldn't be saying that if it was happening.

Rides Of Passage is really awesome. I also have some about folklore and myths which I hope will help me create some cool compositions.

An experienced artist should be able to draw everything up rather quickly. Most tattooists start their careers with walk ins which trains them to be efficient and make great artwork with the fastness. 26 years is a great amount of experience, I wouldn't worry. :)

No one will be able to give you much advice without a description of the tattoo, or better yet a photo. If you want something done to your tattoo you must ask the artist and tell him or her your vision.

My best healed tattoo was when I left the bandage on for a full 12 hours and then let it dry and cleaned it regularly. After that I used Aquaphor for like 2 weeks. Its a large tattoo and I swear it barley even flaked. I think the healing has more to do with the application of the tattoo than the ointments used after. Keeping it clean is the main part of the aftercare.

My IG is @Dustingormley it's just flash paintings for now. Any painting tips are much appreciated!