Dustingormley

5 + years later update. What an absolutely wild ride tattooing is. 

5 + years later update. What an absolutely wild ride tattooing is. 

5 + years later update. What an absolutely wild ride tattooing is. 

5 + years later update. What an absolutely wild ride tattooing is. 

5 + years later update. What an absolutely wild ride tattooing is. 

5 + years later update. What an absolutely wild ride tattooing is. 

5 + years later update. What an absolutely wild ride tattooing is. 

Fly tattoo from Dietzel on my boss. 1964. $5. About the size of a golf ball.

Looking to find original reference for the crying heart
Hope someone could help me in the right direction?!
Sorry can't find how to post threads**

i've heard it called the bent back girl or bent back skull. first time i saw it was in this animation called "The Devil in Denim."

oldest reference i've seen is from Milton Zeis, Tattooing As You Like It.
there are some awesome versions of it. this DETH version tickled my fancy, so i copped it. can't remember the title of this piece at the moment, but i'll track it down.

I do it for the fame, and the sex.

I recently finished a short documentary that profiles Norwegian tattooer Morten Transeth. I also added English subtitles to the best of my ability, so remember to switch captions (CC) on if you need 'em :)


Go to http://instagram.com/morten_transeth to see more of his work.
Thanks for watching!

Dude I know what you mean. Spare time is few and far between.
Looks like my first tattoos were total crap. Luckily most of them were on myself. The good that came of that was having a slight understanding of what those needles were doing, so watching my mentor afterward was more beneficial. I've done a few more now and am really trying to buckle down and get this technical stuff down. 7 days a week working, drawing, reading, tattooing, and asking questions.

Dude I know what you mean. Spare time is few and far between.
Looks like my first tattoos were total crap. Luckily most of them were on myself. The good that came of that was having a slight understanding of what those needles were doing, so watching my mentor afterward was more beneficial. I've done a few more now and am really trying to buckle down and get this technical stuff down. 7 days a week working, drawing, reading, tattooing, and asking questions.

We have a client who I've tattooed for 6 years now. I've seen him through girlfriends, drug problems, etc. I've spent years covering up all his hateful skinhead tattoos and we are almost all done. Reecntly, I've seen him meet the love of his life, with almost all his history covered on his skin, and he just had a baby. I tattooed him on his 365th day of sobriety just recently. I almost get teary eyed at the thought of what a difference he has actively made in his life and he went from being a difficult, cancellation-crazy customer to someone who I just wqnt to hug when he's on his way out. When he leaves, everyone in the shop has smiles about how this guy turned his life around.
I love that we all get inspired to be better people through his hard work. Such a great guy.

Hahahaha! Those are great. Oh man...a treasure trove, indeed.
Reminds me of a story that an old friend of mine told me. He was getting tattooed by Chris Trevino around 1991, when Chris and Sean Degan still had Perfection in San Antonio. A guy comes in with his girlfriend and says, "I want this." It's a horrible likeness of his girlfriend with the words "SWEET CHILD O' MINE." Chris says, "Yeah, I could do that, but I won't put that drawing on you. I'd fix it up first." At which time his girlfriend interrupts and says, very angrily, "No! I DREW THAT! That's how it has to be."
I think they went someplace else.

my most hated requests are from people who want "concepts" - literally people who come in and want "something to depict strength without saying strength." or "can you capture elegance and frailty, but nothing figurative or organic."
im kind of over trees and owls, but its kind of my bread and butter at this point, so i just suck it up and try and push the design as far as i can.

It's all the same to me. Little tiny circles and blood.

scott, i agree. i just wish some people would realize that before they sit in the chair or make an appt.
also, i like doing and designing tribal as well. but most people want the most generic tribal ever. i try to lean them towards some leo stuff but they just dont get it. most people get tribal because they just cant commit to any kind of imagery.
aaaaand i just outlined 31 baseball logos on this dudes arm. do i think its a dumb idea? yeah. but i can do it, so i did.

Well i pretty much do what ever people ask me to do. even the celtic tree that "should feel like strenght and love" what the fuck is that suppose to look like.....oh crisp and bright. right. when i get all upity about my job i just remind myself its not my tattoo my ego only extends till im done then its thiers for the rest of thier life. even if you got john mayers sleeve tattooed on you. haha.but i did that shit tight. seriously ill do it all i actually love tribal shit and people think im kidding but i do like it ,just not most of the people who lend to it, much like the anal retentive people who like celtic. but what can you do? i dont believe everyone should be tattooed, shoot me but this aint for eveyone.

I once did 17 lines around this dudes arm. Different colors. I will never do not a single line/stripe around any one ever again. Stupid sweat sock arms

man, julio, you hit it on the head! haha. ever notice the dudes getting superman logos are never tough? they can never take the pain.

Hardly anyone is naturally good at anything. Someone who's observant or has a lot of manual dexterity might be more INCLINED to be a good artist, but it still takes tons of work. You don't see all the time someone puts into improving their art, so you assume it comes easy to them. I've been making art for fun since I was about 11 and decided I wanted to be able to draw pretty pictures, and I'm FINALLY, 13 years later, getting to the point where I look at something I made and think "Hey, that's not too bad." And I'm not even doing it as a career, imagine how much more work it takes for a professional artist with higher standards. In my opinion, being able to draw well is the foundation for a good tattoo artist so you can never excel without mastering that first step. Practice, practice, practice...

I would say that technique aside I'd be really bummed if any of those were on me, but the truth is if you showed me your drawings I'd refuse to be tattooed by you so it's a moot point. @CultExciter offered you excellent advice above. Those people would be a lot better off with some simple Sailor Jerry flash because at least it would be drawn correctly. Trace classic flash. Take up drawing from life to understand how things work and go together. Always use reference. Traditional style should be about taking objects and distilling them down to their essence: look at Scott Sylvia's roses. They're simple but they fully capture the elegance and beauty of a rose. Work hard to draw like that.