David Flores

Hi everyone,

Hope you don't mind me posting a question that relates to this thread.

I started my back piece with Chad when he was visiting London, now the time has come for me to visit Rock of Ages to continue working on it.

I can only really manage 7-10 days off work and as I am traveling very far was hoping to do 3x3 hour sessions (3 hour sessions is all I have ever known since getting tattooed 12+ years) and I get the impression that is how Chad likes to work. Before I call the shop to book in, I wanted to be a bit more clued up in regards to 3 sessions in a week being perceived as doable from the clients point of view and if so do I do them in a row or space out a day or 2 in between. It's just as I am coming all the way from England I want to get as much tattooing done that I can handle whilst I am there to reduce the amount of trips I will have to take to finish the piece.

Hope it's ok posting this in here. Cheers!

I feel like this is something you need to discuss with Chad or with the staff of Rock of Ages. Anything is possible, but everyone works differently and sometimes situations will dictate how things go as well. I would shoot them an email and explain the whole situation, it's much easier than trying to have this conversation on the phone while customers around.

As far as on your end of being able to take it, you probably know your body better than anyone. I also feel like when people have to get this stuff done they find a way to work through the pain. Me personally would probably shoot for like 2 4-5 hour sessions on the day after I got there and the day before I left type of thing, but like i said it all depends on the design and what the tattooer says.

I only ever see Bald Eagles these days but back in the day Golden Eagles where popular in the U.K. As anyone seen any Golden Eagle designs knocking about in recent times? I'm thinking about mixin it up a bit :D

I basically have the eagle off the mexican flag tattooed on me, but I imagine you could do a lot of fun things with golden eagles and even Hawks.

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Ashley has a few of these hawks designs drawn up, this one someone is doing on their rib.

There's so much black in the sleeve, some bright colors would really pop.

I still haven't seen this tattoo so I don't know what advice I would really give you, as far as how to fix it, nor can really say if this guy was trying to get fancy with it, or just didn't know what he was doing. Even though a tattooer might tattoo hundreds of people a year, I think most people want to put the best product out there, because it's there name. Listening to the tattooer most of the time is going to get you the best tattoo, giving them more control is going to be better than micromanaging the experience.

Not everyone has to connect with a tattooer on a personal level, but I find getting most of my tattoos by the same person has helped, because we are very open with each other about likes and dislikes in tattooing on a daily basis. Feeling comfortable enough to say you're not into something, but at the same time knowing you can trust them to give you a good product is a good feeling to have. I have many other tattoos, I'm not totally stoked on, but I feel like have no one to blame but myself. I didn't know exactly what I wanted and I didn't know the right people to go to, so i got what I got. They are all pretty cool tattoos, but not the tattoos I would get today.

So, it is not uncommon to come away with something a bit different than what was expected? Man, it makes me lose a little bit of trust for all tattooists in general. I understand that it's them putting the ink in, not me, so we will always be at their mercy as far as final product, which is kinda scary! Especially for a large piece. How can a person ever know exactly what their tattoo will come out looking like?

I think 99 percent of the time you come away with what you want as long as you do your research and pick a good shop. In my case a friend just decided he was going to try to tattoo like his boss does, and because I work at a shop and we are friends, he know i'm going to trust him. If was a normal customer I think he would have listened to me more. I have other tattoos by him that are perfect.

I think sometimes what you envision a tattoo to be in your head may not envision it in real life and most people these days are hesitant to reproduce stuff brought to them verbatim. I know when people come into the shop with messed up pictures of messed up attempts at traditional, and we try to redraw this stuff to look better, often times they are bummed, cause they saw something in that design they liked. Sometimes we realize that the customer wants exactly what they brought in. Some people have different opinions, but giving the customer what they want trumps our ego most days, as long as its doable.

Too excited about how cool this looks to not share it. Please excuse the redness and peeling. This was the progress from my second session with Henning. About 11.5 hours total now. One more short session needed to color the tiger and the last few leaves.

I was getting excited reading the young tattooers post, but it only takes one Henning piece for me to remember the some of the best advice about getting tattooed. Don't ever get tattooed by people under 40. Obviously not literally, but to see how someone has perfected his craft over decades, it doesn't get much better.

I have a couple of questions and I guess here is a good a place as any to ask.

My tattoo peeled normally with a few scabs over the first week, and now appears to be rather smooth and slightly tender. Today is day 8 since it was done. It looks like it is going to peel a second time, this time just small white colored flakes. Is a secondary peeling normal?

Also, this tattoo did not come out as the final product I'd envisioned. I'd been to the tattooist before and was happy with his work. His stencil looked great, straight and perfect. The final product tho, is not as good as I thought he was capable of. Some spots look crooked, some parts not in symmetry, not the realistic look I was going for. Its not a bad tattoo, really it's not. At a glance it's really pretty good. I guess I expected him to copy the image I brought but he didn't, he took his own artistic liberty, or the limit of his skill I guess, I don't know. I just am so confused about admitting to him I'm not crazy about it, asking him to fix it, or just not going back to him at all. I'm disappointed all the way around because of my disappointment in this (my perception of) imperfect tattoo and I don't know if I should just try to love it or what. I want to love it, but I just don't get excited when I look at it. Does everybody get what they would consider an imperfect tattoo, by virtue of the human aspect of tattooing and/or being a canvas? How can I start to love this one?

Ill second the healing part seems normal, the white stuff is probably just new skin that is growing back.

As far as being satisfied with the tattoo, I think pictures would help us see what you are talking about. Seeing what you brought in vs what you got, there may be some reasons why he did it, we might have some advice on how you could handle it in the future.

I find the best advice if you aren't stoked about a tattoo is get more tattoos around it and pretty soon it will blend in. That being said I'm having a tattoo fixed that was done at a very reputable shop a couple years ago.It's not a bad tattoo, he just approached it in a way that I didn't like and I even addressed that beforehand, but getting tattooed by friends can be even tougher than being a client off the street. So you don't always have to love it.

the recent tattoo trend of non latinos getting massive amounts of chicano style tattoos is….odd. Its different from japanese art, in that chicano art history has a strong street gang background. So when suburban white guys/gals get huge chicano murals that you would have only seen hardcore NF or EME guys wearing…..well, its just weird. my opinion only, so go get whatever tattoo you like! in the end, you're the one wearing it.

I think certain tattoos fit certain people better, but just because people have been wearing Japanese, along with other asian styles and Maori inspired tattoos longer doesn't make it any less weird at times. White guys with no tattoos getting Japanese sleeves, always a little weird, but I don't blame them, cause it's cool stuff, way better than the first tattoo I got and I'm not japanese, or a biker, or a sailor, so what do I really have to say about it. I think it's more plausible for a white kid from california to associate his life experience with a culture that is really prevelant in his region and happening right now, versus a culture from thousands of miles away and many years ago.

People are going to get what's popular, the smart people will find the best imagery in popular styles, the rest will be stuck with crappy lettering tattoos.

Perhaps not. I have been looking around as well asking around and I ended upon this place:

Xtremetattoo.be

They seem to be doing it pretty well. They have done some real good tattoos as you can see on their Facebook page/website.

@forum, should I go to another subforum for these type of questions? ( tattooshops etc. ) I don't want to mess up the subforum about wolves...

Thanks again for the responses!

It's weird to me that shop would be the one that stood out to you. Honestly next to the stuff people have suggested this stuff looks a little amateur. One of the guys has more of the client in his pictures than the tattoo, and the shading in a lot of these tattoos isn't very smooth and in some cases, not there it's more like black and white than black and grey. All I am saying is if you don't like the suggestions so far I would keep looking.

Scab Vendor is another classic.

These signs hang at Atlas Tattoo in Portland

Just so you know I'm still in the game. Ashley Howell did this piece on me a few weeks ago.

well I'm not about to forfeit a $650 deposit, so what other choice do I have?

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The inner star had been done previously by someone else. It had gotten infected. I asked her to fix that star after it healed, and add the outer star. She drew the outer star on my skin with a pen (no stencil) and I didn't notice what was wrong with it until after it was done. Even then, I thought it might just be some crazy swelling or something. But it's long since healed, and the mistakes are clearly visible. I have my next appointment with her a week from today, I'll bring it up then and see what she says.

That makes a little more sense, it was a coverup and trying to freehand a star, I honestly was just at the park with my son thinking no one would try to free hand a nautical star, that would be ridiculous. That makes things kind of complicated for sure. The argument could be made that she did the best she could or something of that nature. As far as forfeiting the $650 deposit, situations like this are the reason you don't leave $650 tattoo deposits, it's just not a good idea, but it sounds everything is on the up and up and your other tattoos should turn out fine. Worst case you are just going to have to get a bunch of tatoos around it so it blends in.

These are two other tattoos she has done on me recently, both of which I am happy with, both of which were done after the star and are covered by the $650. I just don't know how or when I should bring up about the star. I don't want to offend her to the point she asks me not to come back before my other pieces are complete, but I'm worried that if I wait too long she might say I have to pay extra if I want it fixed. So what do I do? Should I ask her to fix it or cover it? Granted she made the mistake, but is there a limit as to what I should expect her to do to make me happy?

Those tattoos look fine, I don't think she would want it floating around, I would just say bring it up, you don't have to be a jerk about it just show her your concern. It's not like time is going to affect the symmetry of the tattoo, so I don't think that is an issue. She seems like she can put on a clean tattoo, so I don't really understand the star, unless she pulled a stencil out of the drawer that was drawn badly or something. I understand your hesitance for sure, but she should know and that tattoo is jacked up and she should do something about it, I would leave that up to her whether to cover or fix it.

She didn't ask for the whole $650 at once. It was part of my income tax return, and I decided to put the whole thing down at once because I wanted several pieces done and we agreed on a price for everything, so I gave her the whole amount. The star had been done prior to this, but I did not notice how uneven it was until last night. The star was not covered by the $650, but had been paid for separately. Trust me, if I had noticed what was so wrong with it, I would not have gone back to her. Once the pieces I've paid for have been completed, I will be going elsewhere.

$650 in tattoos could equal thousands in cover ups or laser treatments. I guess the real question is how did this happen and can this person put on a good tattoo? Was this a freak accident or does this person suck. I know there are a lot of people with very little skill and huge fan clubs out there. I would never take or give that amount to someone, cause it just makes no sense and I don't want to be responsible for holding money for people or giving that much money back if they don't want to get tattooed. I would watch out if they make you less of a priority or start giving you excuses about why you can't get your work done. I have seen more than a few people come in over the years with unfinished tattoos that they pre paid for and suddenly the person was unavailable. It could be innocent but I would just be weary.

I think it goes beyond the price haggling and complaining, you have to size someone up as they walk in the door, how they are dressed, what they drive up in, what kind and how much source material they have with them, what their other tattoos look like and how they conduct themselves as a person. If they act like a cartoon character or try to come off as super cool or do they interact with you like a normal person. My main red flag even if they pass the other tests is when someone says they would never get something off the wall, that means they might be more likely to be difficult when it comes to the drawing. But we try not to turn away business and deal with most people, i would say price haggling is the only real deal breaker and once a number is thrown out there it never goes down. If someone is going to be a pain in the ass, you should at least get paid what you are worth for it and price will weed out a lot of crazy and hopefully avoids the scenario of losing your cool on a customer. But don't be mistaken, some people need to be kicked out of a tattoo shop, but most people don't they are just sensitive yuppies who need a little extra attention.

This is a recent tattoo that I got. The inside star had already been there. The outer star was added later. The artist drew the outer star around the inner star with a pen. From my point of view, it looked fine. It was not until I saw a picture of it that I saw how asymmetrical it is. Should I ask the artist that did it to fix it (if it can be fixed), should I go to another artist and ask them to fix it (really don't want to spend more $$ on it and don't have any right now), or should I get it covered (can it be?). If I do ask the artist that did it to fix it, should I keep the red, or would it hide the mistakes better if I got it filled in all black? Really upset about this. The artist has done two other tatts on me and they've both come out fine. Located in lebanon, pa. Really need some good advice here.

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Should I expect my artist to fix this for free? They already touched it up. I did notice one point of the star being bigger than the rest, but thought it was just some crazy swelling. I'm afraid my artist will get mad and ask me not to come back if I bring it up. I've put a deposit of $650 down for some other work and I can't afford to lose that deposit or go elsewhere at this point.

$650 deposit? Ive never heard of someone asking for that much down, especially someone who doesn't notice their star is that wonky. I think you should point it out to him and if he doesn't offer to fix it, I would try to get your deposit back, I don't see how anyone could not fix it or understand your dissatisfaction.Nor would they want this picture circulating around the internet with their name attached.

Its been awhile, but thought I would stop by here. I think ultimately you have to pick and choose how to deal with the situation. Our shop we try to show everyone a design that is about 75% drawn before we set the appointment. Sometimes that is not possible because of people traveling, and walk ins we try to just draw on the spot, as long as it feasible. No artwork leaves the shop and we don't allow people to take pictures so they don't price shop with it. I think subconsciously if you make people wait to get tattooed and don't show them the drawing they might be less likely to have you make changes, but on the other hand, but having to reschedule their appointment to redraw something and not making any money is not an ideal scenario either or even worst bumping your evening appt who had no problem cause you had to redraw your afternoon appt.

On the other hand letting people go home and think about your drawing, sometimes backfires as well, you end up with someone who stops in every day the week before an appt with a new idea or something they saw on the internet and you have to try to bring them down to earth and keep them focused. Ultimately the goal is for everyone to be happy with their tattoo and the shop to stay busy and profitable. Redrawing tattoos is going to happen no matter what, so it's just a matter of how a shop or tattooer chooses to deal with it. As a customer I would encourage people to be reasonable and listen to the tattooer, but always speak up before the tattoo is applied, because afterward is too late.

713 Tattoo is a good shop, I know it used to be Cory Rodgers shop (maybe still is, but some good stuff coming out of there) Lana Gooding tattoos there, but she is more traditional, but saw some pretty cool black and grey stuff on their facebook.

http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/crazy-tattoo-stories/1270-race-get-covered-vs-desire-still-able-get-tattooed.html

This was my opinion in 2011, not sure how i feel about it now, still as confused and as torn as ever, just a bit more tattooed.

How the heck was that a quote of my post? I have no opinion on Myke Chambers.

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Sorry butchered my post editing.

No worries, I just had to think back to how much I had to drink, to not remember saying that.

I'm not sure everyone would agree that Myke Chambers is one of the "truly talented".

How the heck was that a quote of my post? I have no opinion on Myke Chambers as to being one of the greats tattooers, but I will say I like a lot of his work, but I don't know if I want a tattoo from him.

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How the heck was that a quote of my post? I have no opinion on Myke Chambers.

This may sound like a double standard, but I think the tattoo rescue show is far worse than Inkmasters. Inkmasters takes average tattooers with inflated egos and brings them back to reality through weeks or ridicule and harsh critiques, in the hopes they may achieve a low level of celebrity. Let the shops fail in Tattoo Rescue, they are the shops that we all bitch about that are ruining tattooing, and making it harder for everyone else. If you need someone to come in and tell you to keep your shop clean and act professional, you don't deserve a shop. But honestly I didn't watch the tattoo rescue show, but once so that is just what I saw on that episode.

I think the show and the competition is complete shit, worthless, but the one thing that I think has come of it is using the guest judge category to put the spotlight on quality tattooing, cause the contestants sure can't accomplish that.

But the show even misses the mark with the guest judges IMO. Christ, they have Cory Miller, Hundahl, Denning, etc. on and they give them like 30 seconds of screen time. All the time they fill up with fake drama could be spent spotlighting the guest artists, etc.

It's a shame.

Someone please bring back Tattoo Age

We all know the show is shit, I am just saying that at least using your level of celebrity to get peoples name out in the general public that deserve it. You know anything useful that they say isn't going to make it to air, and most people watch the show for drama not for the tattoos, but along the same idea as Stewart said, who else would you want representing the tattooing professionals in shows like this. How much worse would the show be if some hacks were

getting famous and promoting themselves weekly on television.

I would love to see Tattoo age come back, but I understand projects like that aren't as easy to make happen as green lighting a television show with major network backing and a list of sponsors.

I think the show and the competition is complete shit, worthless, but the one thing that I think has come of it is using the guest judge category to put the spotlight on quality tattooing, cause the contestants sure can't accomplish that.

It really doesn't matter what I think of Oliver, and as much I feel like I wouldn't care for most other people that do what he does, I think he does more good for tattooing than bad. I think putting on the Elm St convention really sealed it for me. There are so many shitty tattoo conventions that are selling tickets by promoting z list celebrities and runner ups in shitty tattoo shows as headliners, most of these things run by non tattooers, and often people with little interest in tattooing, except the amount of money it could put in your pocket, but Oliver decides to put on a quality convention with only top tattooers, there is ever opportunity to have some big company bank roll some tattoo convention shit show, where they would pimp out his celebrity and those on the show to try to sell tickets to juggalos and reality tv junkies.

Ultimately I don't think it matters what I think anyway, but that is a small snip it of how I see it.

Robert Klem did Sleep's first album cover, doesn't look anything like his tattoos though.

So looks like I can actually catch the Portland Tattoo Expo. We're driving to SF, so we're going to stay in Portland overnight.

Is it worth checking out? If I make that pit stop we'll arrive in SF at like midnight. So I'm a little torn. :)

I wish life decisions were always this fun.

Dont' waste your time with the convention, It's not run that great and there isn't hardly anyone there this year and all the big names are always booked out and crazy busy. Kundell doesn't attend the convention usually he just sends the other guys, but that is the booth I have hung out at last few years. I am not saying there isn't some people worth getting tattooed by, but it's out in the middle of nowhere, there is no food, beer is expensive and it really is not a good representation of Portland. It's not worth putting yourself behind schedule to see the convention, especially if you don't have time to get tattooed. Stop by Atlas, or AWR or Scapegoat and check out the real tattoo scene in Portland if you do stop, plus at least there are cool stores and restaurants by those shops.

I am not saying this to be a curmudgeon, it's not the people that suck, it's the show. I really like a lot of people that tattoo here in Portland, but year after year less people do the convention and most that do show up, have their booths compd, or else they wouldn't be there.