Rad Kelham

Just finished healing from Hanna Sandström at Dark Age in Seattle. I forget what kind of machine she said it is.

Unrelated to the last post, here's today's session with Derek Noble on my ass and thigh.

Thanks. Trevor Shea is awesome. Here is some more of his work on my woman.

By Trevor Shea in Vancouver BC. Healed and no filer...seriously. Trevor is the Mike Roper of Canada in my opinion. Bodysuits that you will never see online.

I like you @marley mission.

My opinions are after studying it, not based in ignorance. I own the Amund Dietzel biography and multiple sailor jerry books which i have read and traced and painted cover to cover. I can tell you about Stoney St. Clair and of him being interviewed by Ed Hardy, and Ed Hardy working up in Vancouver Canada way back in the day. I can tell you what "flash" actually means, how it was created, tattooed, traded, and improved upon. I can point out intentional mistakes in Sailor Jerry flash where he tried to protect his work from being copied. I spend 5 days a week in a shop full of classic flash and have 15 years of obsessively reading everything about all styles of tattoos. I've got some friends who are excellent traditional tattooers (who know I don't really care for the style). So call me rude asshole but don't say I have no interest in understanding traditional. I'm well informed and perhaps even more educated on the topic than you (or maybe not). I even have some traditional tattoos and plans to get some more. I just refuse to be a fanboy to them while ignoring everything else. I also know excellent tattooers and other collectors who share the same opinion as me but are too polite to come out and say it. I'm not interested in making friends here, just having the real talk about tattoos.

I'll just put this here again. 26 years old.

@beez, points taken.
People love to say "that's not gonna last" with regard to newer styles of tattoos, and that traditional tattoos will last.
Pardon me, but let's get real folks - that attitude is largely horse crap. Those old traditional tattoos on our parents and older, they mostly look like shit now. Have you seen any real sailor jerry tattoos now? Unrecognizable. All tattoos age and degrade.
On the other hand, here is an Eddy Deutsche sleeve completed in 1989 which I photographed less than a year ago. This piece is over 25 years old at the time of the photo. Dude also had an OLDER Guy Aitchison sleeve on the other arm and it looked equally good.

And I also agree that this place is pretty aggressive. I make some unpopular comments, but they are opinions on tattooing in general. In response I often get personal attacks, like my art is crap and I don't deserve a tattoo machine tattooed on my hand. Now that's just plain rude stuff.

There's mine completed in 2007ish. I now wish it were more detailed but at the time I wanted the biggest back piece with the least amount of time and effort and money. So it goes.

My friend Nathan got a backpiece from Steve Moore after emailing him for ten years. He got a response to his final email which read: "Dear Steve, My name is Nathan and I have been emailing you every few months for 10 years..." Less than a year later he had a killer completed backpiece.

This is an interesting topic. While I typically roll my eyes at all the kids getting face tattoos, I've also seen a few that I like. Here's one done by Boris:
Now about the life consequences part. When I was in my late 20s and doing a fisheries degree at UBC, I went and got a small anchor under my eye. I already had half a bodysuit. Aside from the occasional person asking me about it, there were zero life consequences. I went on to work as a biologist for the federal government in Canada and then the same in the US. Never was it an issue.
I think we often judge facial tattoos because we often see them on street people or really trashy people who are trying to repulse us. However when someone more integrated into society gets one (which is rare), the consequences are often nil.
Before i got my hands tattooed, everyone told me how big of a deal it would be and how there would be "consequences". Afterwards I found there were zero consequences. Then the same thing happened with my neck. I was a dorky college student getting all of these job stoppers while continually getting good jobs (research, consulting, education). It got to a point where I felt it was all horsecrap, so it was as simple as wanting that little anchor and then getting it - and again, no consequences and no problems with job prospects.
Now, getting your entire face tattooed...i think that's bat shit crazy. And I strongly dislike the script above the eye, and also the little trinkets under the eye, which I have haha! Whenever I see someone else with an anchor under the eye I think " oh man look at us unoriginal losers!"

Here is my dome by Jesse Roberts - whether or not this is a face tattoo I don't know. I'm the farthest thing from hardcore and would say nothing has changed since getting it. No big deal! I really liked the cover of the finger wave book so that's why I went to Jesse, as he painted it. I fully endorse people getting their head and face tattooed.

Here is my dome by Jesse Roberts - whether or not this is a face tattoo I don't know. I'm the farthest thing from hardcore and would say nothing has changed since getting it. No big deal! I really liked the cover of the finger wave book so that's why I went to Jesse, as he painted it. I fully endorse people getting their head and face tattooed.

Here is my dome by Jesse Roberts - whether or not this is a face tattoo I don't know. I'm the farthest thing from hardcore and would say nothing has changed since getting it. No big deal! I really liked the cover of the finger wave book so that's why I went to Jesse, as he painted it. I fully endorse people getting their head and face tattooed.

I'm about 3 months into my apprenticeship. Last week my mentor says "Set up a machine and draw up some small designs right now, I have someone coming in for you to tattoo in about 30 minutes."
"Are you sure this is a good idea? Who is coming in?" I asked.
"Just some big biker guy I know."
I was shaking so bad that I could hardly get the machine set up. Hell I hadn't yet been taught how to use a machine. I wasn't sure if this was for real or a joke, but this is definitely the kind of thing he would line up just for the sake of fucking with me. I imagined some gnarly big dude he met at the local dive bar.
I'm sitting at my station frantically drawing a spider and a skull and I hear the back door ring and my mentor say "Hey man come on in, he's just finishing up your drawing."
I walk over to the station shaking and see a grapefruit sitting on the chair.

I'm about 3 months into my apprenticeship. Last week my mentor says "Set up a machine and draw up some small designs right now, I have someone coming in for you to tattoo in about 30 minutes."
"Are you sure this is a good idea? Who is coming in?" I asked.
"Just some big biker guy I know."
I was shaking so bad that I could hardly get the machine set up. Hell I hadn't yet been taught how to use a machine. I wasn't sure if this was for real or a joke, but this is definitely the kind of thing he would line up just for the sake of fucking with me. I imagined some gnarly big dude he met at the local dive bar.
I'm sitting at my station frantically drawing a spider and a skull and I hear the back door ring and my mentor say "Hey man come on in, he's just finishing up your drawing."
I walk over to the station shaking and see a grapefruit sitting on the chair.

I'm about 3 months into my apprenticeship. Last week my mentor says "Set up a machine and draw up some small designs right now, I have someone coming in for you to tattoo in about 30 minutes."
"Are you sure this is a good idea? Who is coming in?" I asked.
"Just some big biker guy I know."
I was shaking so bad that I could hardly get the machine set up. Hell I hadn't yet been taught how to use a machine. I wasn't sure if this was for real or a joke, but this is definitely the kind of thing he would line up just for the sake of fucking with me. I imagined some gnarly big dude he met at the local dive bar.
I'm sitting at my station frantically drawing a spider and a skull and I hear the back door ring and my mentor say "Hey man come on in, he's just finishing up your drawing."
I walk over to the station shaking and see a grapefruit sitting on the chair.

I'm about 3 months into my apprenticeship. Last week my mentor says "Set up a machine and draw up some small designs right now, I have someone coming in for you to tattoo in about 30 minutes."
"Are you sure this is a good idea? Who is coming in?" I asked.
"Just some big biker guy I know."
I was shaking so bad that I could hardly get the machine set up. Hell I hadn't yet been taught how to use a machine. I wasn't sure if this was for real or a joke, but this is definitely the kind of thing he would line up just for the sake of fucking with me. I imagined some gnarly big dude he met at the local dive bar.
I'm sitting at my station frantically drawing a spider and a skull and I hear the back door ring and my mentor say "Hey man come on in, he's just finishing up your drawing."
I walk over to the station shaking and see a grapefruit sitting on the chair.

There's mine completed in 2007ish. I now wish it were more detailed but at the time I wanted the biggest back piece with the least amount of time and effort and money. So it goes.

Remember all the times you were having sex with her but pretending she was another woman. Or waiting until she falls asleep so you can jerk off thinking of other women. Now, go have sex with those other women.

I'm about 3 months into my apprenticeship. Last week my mentor says "Set up a machine and draw up some small designs right now, I have someone coming in for you to tattoo in about 30 minutes."
"Are you sure this is a good idea? Who is coming in?" I asked.
"Just some big biker guy I know."
I was shaking so bad that I could hardly get the machine set up. Hell I hadn't yet been taught how to use a machine. I wasn't sure if this was for real or a joke, but this is definitely the kind of thing he would line up just for the sake of fucking with me. I imagined some gnarly big dude he met at the local dive bar.
I'm sitting at my station frantically drawing a spider and a skull and I hear the back door ring and my mentor say "Hey man come on in, he's just finishing up your drawing."
I walk over to the station shaking and see a grapefruit sitting on the chair.