David Flores

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.

$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.

Scott's was the worst. From what I can tell, the area in general is fucking horrible to have tattooed. Scott managed to finish the tattoo in a little over two hours. God damn it was fast. Freddy's was still miserable, but much easier to get through.
@SStu here is a really shitty pic of the two semi-together. It's hard to get a good shot on both sides of the belly. (excuse the shitty tape marks).

A myth is a widely held but false belief or idea.
The Tattoo scene is so backwards, right now it is like the wild west where anything goes. On one hand, the right of personal freedom and self-direction demands that anyone should be able to tattoo if they want to, but it really it should be the on par with a hobby painter who practices painting to gain skill, then when their work is of sufficient quality, they put on a few shows and take on professional commissions if their work is worth it. If they are good enough, they can paint full time to support themselves professionally. Anyone can buy paintbrushes and paint supplies. Just owning paint brushes does not make someone a professional painter, that leap in reasoning is unreasonable. A professional painter is someone who has technical skill within that medium and artistic vision sufficient to produce art, even still there art is only in demand if they produce something worth having.
Also anyone should be able to play music if they want to, but it should be the on par with a hobby musician who practices to gain skill, then when their work is of sufficient quality, they put on a few shows and maybe record a songs and if they are good enough they get signed in a record deal and can be considered a professional musician, again only if their work is worth it. If they are good enough, they can play music full time to support themselves professionally. Anyone can buy a guitar and play music. Just owning a guitar does not make someone a professional musician, that leap in reasoning is again unreasonable. A professional musician is someone who has technical skill within that medium and artistic vision sufficient to produce original music or skillfully replay someone else’s music, even still there music is only in demand if they produce something worth listening to.
Unfortunately the myth of the professional Tattooer has taken hold and we are all suffering for it. Tattoo equipment does not make a professional. What makes a professional Tattooer is the combination of three things: (1) thorough trade specific medical and hygiene understanding for everyone’s safety; (2) Technical proficiency in use of Tattoo equipment and application techniques; (3) visual arts background to comprehend reproduction or creation of visual art projects. Without all three of the above, it is a recipe for permanent disaster.
Really great Tattooers become proficient in all three qualities and then push the boundaries of each, producing safer, longer lasting great art for their clients.
No two artists are the same, each has a unique combination of taste and experience that potentially allow for a creative rendition of even familiar subjects which may wonderfully unique or masterfully refined and precise. Each Tattooer should be measured by their accomplishments, held responsible for their actions and praised only when deserving.
The cure to bad tattooing is twofold, an educated public making conscious choices and educated Tattooers who strive for perfection and mastery of tattoo art and application.
Supporting Tattooers who deserve your support makes more of them, alternatively supporting bad Tattooers makes more of them too, so think twice about who you commission for your next art project, the consequences affect us all. Each time you support an artist who deserves it, there is one more good tattoo in the world, which helps to reshape society’s collective view on the Tattoo Scene for the good of us all. The black eye on the reputation of tattoo was created by a bunch of seedy characters and can be slowly erased by the decisions each of us make and who we support for applications of Tattoos.
Here in Nova Scotia Canada the tattoo Scene is quite a circus, I made a similar post on our local Nova Scotia Tattoo Forum:
http://home.novascotiatattooforum.ca/index.php/topic,749.0.html
...but have had no response as of yet.
What say you World Tattoo Scene?

We used to listen to a lot of rocksteady and reggae Jimmy Cliff, Derrick Morgan, Toots and the Maytals, then it was like Buzzcocks, Sham 69, Cocksparrer, Uk Subs, Last Resort, then it was Neil Young, now it's the Animals, The Zombies, and The Sorrows.

I believe the correct term should be turtlenecked ? Who thinks of this stuff.

One thing that is weird that seems to bother me and some may find it a little strange is when people say they want to incorporate something into their tattoo. I don't think there a heard single good idea after the word incorporate as far as a tattoo is concerned. I find most people use this word because they want some lettering hidden in something or some other weird thing that doesn't make a very good tattoo. But I also hate when people use the word awesome, well i would say overuse it. Because think about what actually is awe inspiring vs what people refer to as awesome but that my weirdness on the matter.

Over the years plenty of people come in to the tattoo shop and friendships are bound to develop. I feel like a lot of friends I have started out as customers in the tattoo shop, or me patronizing their business, which is great. We all seem to be able to still do business with one another, with no real issues, because everyone respects the friendship and each others business enough for the two to co exist.
On the other hand a person doesn't have to be my best friend to be a good customer. There are plenty of people that come in get tattooed, we have a nice conversation and we never see each other outside of the shop. They show up on time, sometimes even take your design advice. Some people don't say two words and just want to get tattooed, that's cool too.
I guess what I am getting at, is there is a group in between that seems to give me the most trouble. People who maybe have a couple tattoos, they really like their tattoos and or the vibe of the shop, and they think because they spent a little money they have achieved VIP status. They will call about coming in on a certain day and not show up, then call the next day and ask if there is any walk in time and not show up again. I won't make appointments over the phone, it's always first come first served, but still it's annoying when people flake.
In certain cases I have allowed a person (a friend) to drink a couple beers (2 maybe 3 at most) while getting tattooed, I don't advertise it but if someone asks I am usually okay with it as long as they are of age and take their empties with them. Unfortunately a few people have interpreted this as show up drunk and drink a whole six pack during your tattoo and not be able to sit still and have to pee every five minutes. I am not their mom or their bartender and it's hard to tell a person who is drunk that they are cut off especially mid tattoo. Recently a guy who was tattooed by my boss who pulled the get drunk thing, and a 3 hour tattoo took just under 5 hours to complete. There were a couple spots in the black that needed to be touched up and honestly he didn't get to blend all the colors' in the tiger as he would like to and the guy came in for a touch up, after calling three different times saying he was going to show up, finally showed up three hours later and was really not very pleasant, he expressed he wasn't happy with his tattoo. So my boss took him to the side and explained that he would be happy to sit down and finish the tattoo free of charge, but explained to him that he just became really hard to tattoo while he is drinking and he would need him to not do so in the future while getting tattooed. The guy seemed to understand but then was kind of pissed off because he had to come back in an hour to get it fixed because my boss was in the middle of a walk in tattoo on a friend who didn't keep him waiting for 3 hours. A half hour later he shouted some stuff from the door way about customer service and stormed off in his car with his girlfriend. My boss stopped him in the parking lot and had another talk with him, but he just wanted to talk about how much money he spent and that he deserved to be treated better.
I don't know, I think the guy got treated fairly. I am interested in people's thoughts on this. I really everyone to feel at home at the shop, but it seems to me like some ass holes just ruin it for the others.

I can't imagine having that many tattoos at age 22. I had no money when I was that age for one and I spent from 25-33 getting tattooed very regularly and have not run out of room, nor have i tattooed my face, hands, or neck.
My prediction he will go the route of the reformed white supremacist and have it all removed by let's say age 28. Modeling career can only last so long and the popularity of tattoos fluctuates between generations, so I can imagine being a former tattoo model with no marketable skills be a very lucrative future.
On the other hand I can't give the ladies a pass either. I think every third girl in Portland is a tattoo model or in beauty school, or a tattooed model in beauty school that does roller derby on the side. I don't know what the future brings for them either.

I think tattoos have not only changed my life, but they have swallowed my life whole.
It's weird but I don't hold any special meanings for my tattoos, but the more I think about that it suits me to a tee. I am not a sentimental guy, I don't keep pictures, I throw most of my shit away when I move, and only collect two things, one is tattoos and the other is beer which is consumable. I don't think I changed that much with tattoos, i just found a way of getting tattooed that suited me and in turn has given me something to focus on.

If you have more tattoo machines than clients, that is too much.
Guy who tried to be a tattooer I know, worked one day a week had to bring his own clientele, always had a new machine to show off, never had anyone to tattoo.

If you have more tattoo machines than clients, that is too much.
Guy who tried to be a tattooer I know, worked one day a week had to bring his own clientele, always had a new machine to show off, never had anyone to tattoo.

I don't think this thread could teach someone to tattoo, but if someone came in an requested to get tattooed by a rotary I would be besides myself that they thought they had a say in the matter. Why can't tattoo machines, be magical devices conjured up in secret lairs with parts unknown to modern man. I have been tattooed by a rotary machine and i guess at times it was less painful than a coil, but not rainbows and unicorns better, and after two hours it sucked just as bad. Tattoos hurt

Natural progression. Eagle is to Owl as Octopus is to Jellyfish. I really don't have any evidence to back that up, but it sounds nice.

This tattoo was done on my boss Ross Ferrie by Pinky Yun in 1982. Ross always tells this story of getting this dragon along with many others of Pinky. Pinky basically dipped a toothipick in some black ink gave himself a few reference points and just started tattooing on his arm. Ross admits he wasn't so sure at the time but the end result turned out.
The other photo is Ross and Pinky in 1982 and a painting our friend Ashley did for Ross shortly after Pinky's death. Note Ashley painted this while in New Zealand only from what he remembered it looking like.

Natural progression. Eagle is to Owl as Octopus is to Jellyfish. I really don't have any evidence to back that up, but it sounds nice.

Natural progression. Eagle is to Owl as Octopus is to Jellyfish. I really don't have any evidence to back that up, but it sounds nice.

This is a tattoo by Ross Ferrie, taken from the logo of the first shop he owned "The Pinup Parlour" in San Jose circa 1994. Chris Conn worked at the shop for awhile and created this logo for the shop. Ross has the original hanging up by his station and every once in awhile people insist on getting it. There have been different variations over the years but this is the original.

Natural progression. Eagle is to Owl as Octopus is to Jellyfish. I really don't have any evidence to back that up, but it sounds nice.

My Mike Malone, eagle from Ross Ferrie.

I can't imagine some dude telling me to come back in a month so I could talk about getting an eagle on my forearm. A japanese back piece or sleeve, yeah I get it. But it's seems like most of the top people these days would take five minutes talk to you about what you want and set up your appointment and do the drawing the night before or just draw it on with a sharpie. I am not saying you won't get a good tattoo, just wonder how this became the process to get tattooed by some people. I think some people put on an act cause they want to seem busier than they are, meanwhile people who are actually busy don't care how busy they look and most of the time work harder to try to tattoo more people and make people wait less. I have no idea who you booked your appointment and whether this is the case for them, but really a consult for an eagle?
I could proably spend a month in Chicago and get a sleeve at Great Lakes from most of the top tattooers in the country, no consult needed. That is if I had any room left on my arms. Everytime I buy into thinking all the good tattooers are booked, I call the shop and they make me feel weird for booking an appointment so far in advance(two months), Spider Murphy's was like of course you can get tattooed by anyone you want if you book two months out, don't know if it's still the case by was last summer.

Get the guy who did the jimi Hendrix portrait and wrote Bob Marley below it to do it.

Forgot about this tattoo I got a week and a half ago from my friend Josiah at Imperial Tattoo here in Portland. Almost healed, shitty photo, but really shitty spot to photo as well.

We are all one face tattoo away from a lucrative modeling career.
I kind of like this thread, gives me something besides an avatar to associate people with.

I don't condone copying people's tattoos, but I am not really digging this thread. One it's not really any of my business to call out people for this kind of thing. Second, I would be hesistant to do so, because there is so much reference material outside of tattoo realm, that I couldn't be sure that two people weren't copying a piece of art from another genre as a tattoo. Third I have never gotten a tattoo that I expected to be or thought in any shape or form would be custom. I like running into people that have the same tattoos I do, I like the look of traditional tattoos and I am under no delusion that I am somehow "special" despite what my mother told me. I don't worry when someone tells me they are going to draw something for me, and they really just go trace it from the Ed hardy flash book and pass it off as their own, because I know most people aren't familiar with the design. Even is someone does copy the tattoo you have, it doesn't change the fact that you have a badass tattoo that most people would be jealous of and want to wear and you will get no sympathy from me, in fact i might make fun of you for complaining about it.