SF Dave

or like someone who wants to be a boxer but has never been punched before.

Grime is up!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NebzlNADPtc

Grime - Part 1 - Tattoo Age | VBS.TV

Most recent tattoo (and first tattoo)- Cris Cleen last month. I may post a picture soon; it's a woman holding a mirror on my thigh.

please share! i have an appointment with him later this month too, can not wait

I'm not sure if the people stewart mentioned in his first post are from the shop i'm about to mention but in San Jose there is a shop called State Of Grace where all the artists specialize in japanese tattooing. You can find their website at Horitaka's State of Grace They put on one of the best conventions in the USA and come highly recommended by many of the top tattoo artists in the country.

yup, Horitomo and Horiken both work at State of Grace, very talented team over there. And i can confirm they do tebori, i went there couple weeks ago to pick up a Shige tee and saw a customer being hand-poked. so awesome.

similar topic: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-designs/93-appropriating-ideas-other-artists.html

i've always been a big fan of what the artists at Smith Street NY have been doing. After watching Part 1 of Tattoo Age, what i got out of the episode just affirms what i like so much about these guys, and more. if episode 1 is any sign of how this Tattoo Age series is going to be, then i am absolutely stoked about it.

Thanks to everyone who shared their opinions and experiences, reading some of the posts was reassuring for me. I've only been on this forum for a short time but i just want to mention how great i think this forum is, because of all the cool and helpful people here who are willing to share and be respectful. so, i booked time with my tattoo artist to have the work done. he's a talented and respected tattoo artist in SF (i've also seen his name come up a few times on this forum and its always in a positive light), and he knows about the scar and is ok with it. i'm so f-ing excited to get a tattoo by him. the appointment isnt for a while, but maybe if im not too shy i just might post a photo of it here after it's done.

Good stuff, Iwar. So awesome

i respect the art of tattooing, but honestly i don't know much about the properties of how the skin holds the ink in. Which brings me to my question. I've heard of people getting tattooes to coverup scars, but depending on the size of the scar, i've also heard that it isn't recommended. Would scarred skin cause any problems for a tattooist to tattoo on?

i have a small burn scar on my arm, i got it over 12 years ago from a cigarette burn that my friends and i all did on each other when we were reckless young teenagers (stupid, i know). So the scar itself is pretty old now, fully healed of course and luckily not much discoloration. the skin's texture is just different since it burned. it's pretty tiny (1 cm in diameter) and i'm thinking of having part of my next tattoo cover it up. i'm getting a rose, and i was hoping one of the dark green leaves by the rose could cover the scar. that way when people look at that part of my arm, their eyes will be drawn to the rose and not the old scar (which would be covered by one of the leaves on the side of the rose). i mentioned it to my tattoo artist and he didnt say it would be a problem.

Do you guys think this example of tattooing over a scar would work out ok? Is there anything I should know about tattooing over scars? I've heard that scarred skin could be more "delicate" so that might make it harder to tattoo, but I'm hoping since my scar is so small that wouldn't be a big problem. I'd love to hear anyone's opinion.

I really hope my question wasn't too nooby

I'm visiting Portland for my first time later this year, and I was wondering if anyone on LST was familiar with any good tattoo shops in Portland or if there's any shop that is highly recommended there? Thanks in advance

Thanks for sharing, Kevin. Great choice having Cris do that dragon, it turned out amazing.

last month my lady and i were in Waikiki Hawaii taking a leisurely stroll when we saw a Ed Hardy store. Obviously we're both already familiar with who Ed Hardy is, but never been inside of one of these stores before, so we thought "what the hell, lets just take a look inside to see what it's really about". it's a fcking disco in there, flashy lights, glitter and mirrors, and dance music. i was quickly disgusted, and embarrassed to be seen walking out of such a shit store/brand.

State of Grace uploaded this on their Facebook page over the weekend. the line up is amazinggg

thanks for all the welcomes!

Lochlan,

I had this design in my mind that I would love Cris Cleen to do for me, but i've decided it would look better on my arm instead of chest.

s33ktruth,

it's going to be amazing, try to make it out! it's all weekend long and tons of talent will be there.

New here, so wanted to say hello. looks like there are a lot of cool people here, good topics being discussed, and good info to be found here. i probably won't post much up since most people here are more experienced in tattoo than i am, for now i'm just here to absorb more knowledge. about myself, i grew up in the California Bay Area in the 80s and 90s, traveled around abroad for school and work during the past 10 years, and now i am back in Bay Area again. it's just one of my favorite places in the world (even though its changed a lot), and a lot of cool things going on in the world of tattoo around here. i hope to expand my knowledge of tattoos and artists, and collect some nice tattoos along the way. anyway, i'm booking an appointment soon for a chest piece i want done this summer. also plan on checking out Horitaka's San Jose/Bay Area tattoo convention in Oct. i've never been to a tattoo convention and i'm pretty excited about it even though it's still several months away.

Dave