mario desa

if you guys ever see a magazine called "illustration" (i think), check it out. it's probably hard to find but it focuses on illustrators from the 20th century, and a lot of pin-up and advertising stuff. you'll see where all the tattoo lady heads were appropriated from.

good suggestions, dan! especially the fresh breath! also, shower and wash your feet if the tattoo is there!!! don't tell me about any depressing shit...like all the dead people your tattoo is for or whatever. sorry, but i don't need to hear about that 5 times a day i just want to do a good tattoo. not get bummed out. i know that sounds cold, but i do probably a thousand tattoos a year and every other person wants to tell me about the deep deep meaning of their tattoo...it's a bit much.

really...it goes back to chris conn! a few of those mentioned above are highly influenced by him. they're just doing "conn girls", really.

i believe 70's.

thank you!!!

right...california doesn't have crack heads and ghetto bastards.

damn julio. bummer!!!

good book! i really enjoyed it, couldn't put it down!

legs hurt a lot more, i hate it. as for easiest, believe it or not, the sides of my neck.

the panther has sex and violence all over it! the s-curve body and claws....

lochlan you just described the trannies by our shop!

everything is sex. sex is the main motivator in everything we do. evolution.

that panther across the neck was on ralph johnstone. so tough. same dude who had the christ head on top of his dome! i think tatts thomas did a lot of his work.

i wasn't just being a wise-ass! that's really what that symbolyses...at least sub-consciously. it's also why we all love flowers and build giant phalluses called skyscrapers. not dissing it at all...

daggers are penises, flowers are vaginas. a dagger through a rose? sex.

we used to NEVER get requests for rib tattoos. 95% of the female customers, up until 3 or 4 years ago got lower back tattoos. it was awesome. they look good, it's a good area to work on and they are priced right. then fuckhead jocks started the "tramp stamp" bullshit and gave women a complex about the location. i really miss tattooing a lot of lower backs.

that's part of a large mural that is on permanent display there, it's awesome. a lot of those pieces are part of the permanent collection. i love hitting up that museum a couple times a year, and it's free, just runs on donations and government support. i always send people visiting chicago their way!

about two years ago i got fed up with the owl craze! i stopped doing them for about 6 months. the week i decided to stop 'em, i got 5 requests for owls! people understood and i was able to tattoo other things on them, fortunately. it seemed once i told them why i stopped, they didn't want the owl anymore anyway, since it was so popular. i just got sick of drawing them, and honestly couldn't conceive of any new or different way to do them, it was so out of control.

it's funny how people want to be so unique and singular, yet want the trendiest tattoos. perfect example: the finger mustache. every single person who's requested it has a hubris about them when they say what they want, and they are visibly bummed out when i don't burst into laughter and congratulate them on being a comedic genius! when i say "ok, cool, we do a lot of those", they act surprised and try to say they never saw it before and say how bummed they are because they didn't think anyone else had it. seriously?!?!? then, they change their minds. out of all the requests, i've only actually done two. and those people started off with "i know it's been done, but...". people are funny.

mens medium thanks!

this is what i did for a travel armrest: go to a camera shop and buy a small tripod. go to a craft store and buy a block of wood, some foam and vynil cloth. you'll also need a strong glue and a staple gun from the hardware store. put the foam on the wood block, wrap the vinyl around it and staple it down. glue the padded block onto the part of the tripod that clips into the part where the camera goes. you're done! weighs about 3 lbs. but is sturdy! make sure you get a good tripod that is small but made to hold big cameras!

first thing i ever won, sweet!

the sub is at the museum of science and industry. i didn't see the lincoln/juarez exhibit, we were crunched for time, but i plan on making it back there soon!

that book is great! leo is only 3 and a half hours from here, i gotta get out there and get tattooed! i don't have any "tribal" on me, but i want one from him!

i go here every year http://www.nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org