mario desa

Nick here has pictures of Cliff Raven tribal tattoos from 1965. Leo has mentioned that Cliff was his big influence. And like a lot of things, the Gays did it first! I personally like tattooing tribal designs, and miss doing them as often as we used to.

the convention and my 5 days in sf were awesome! could have been a bit busier, but still had a great time. it was very nice to meet you dari, and everyone else i met.

luckily i was in between tattoos when the power went out, but it caused me to miss out on three more tattoos!

that's some hillbilly shit.

julio....yes!!! exactly, its so obvious when people (a lot of them, too) trace shit right from boog and bj. it looks horrible. script is an artform in iyself and needs to be studied, and referenced continously. i'm lucky to work next to nick, i'm trying everyday to work on my lettering!

i have a smaller pelikan case, and nick and i will sometimes use a large pelikan case together. these cases have NO stickers. that only brings attention. i ALWAYS carry my machines on me.

cool...really interesting frame ideas.

You know what's funny, though? i was at Target a couple of years ago and one of the employees had tribal eyebrows tattooed on his face, and i thought "What the fuck??? I don't wanna look at that when I'm at Target." hahaha...

Obviously, i love tattoos, but, c'mon...

i agree. kinda seems tacked on, and unnecessary. tattoo looks nice overall, though. the girl is already wearing an elaborate mask, i think if it was a simple or "generic" pin-up girl head, then the snake, web and flowers would work.

ran across this card, from when i was there in 1999 (sorry about the cell phone pics)

hyena, i also try to just get a "zen" mindset going...focus on the actual craft and work of what i'm doing and not worry about the design or the money. and keep the smiles and banter going, do a nice tattoo and pay the bills. some people might not want to hear that...they want to think we always just dive in with our artistic expression blah-blah-blah and put our soul into every tattoo...haha...

i hate that, too. i always blatantly ignore the loudmouth know-it-all and talk directly to the customer. then i don't let the loudmouth come past the wall for the tattooing.

i have a portrair of morrissey, traditional style, by seth ciferri..."life love regret" (unbroken). also have an anti-burnout, kinda anti-punk loser tattoo "LIVE SLOW, DIE OLD" in script on my shoulders by nick colella.

nice to see the dead milkmen brought up! i saw them in '89, it was my first show, age 14! love that band.

ha...thanks. btw, it's hogwarts red #47. got it at wal-mart.

yup! gonna send em all your way!

Even sharing info with real tattooers online bugs me. You want info? Pay up fool. Get tattooed or buy art or machines from people you respect and ask them questions. Maybe they'll give you a straight answer, maybe they won't .I have no desire to share info with who knows who. I've personally spent tens of thousands of dollars, travelled all over the states, been to Japan and Europe to get the info I was looking for. The Last thing I want to do is give info to some suck-ass with less than 10 years. IN! Pay Money and keep your ears open and your mouth shut!

exactly!!! so true. i don't give out any free advice. if you're in my chair getting tattooed, you can ask me whatever you want (if you're a tattooer). i get so many emails from complete strangers asking about my pigments, machines, watercolor, etc. even non-tattooer customers who ask what size needles i'm using...i tell 'em a "#6 murphy" to throw them off. they always act like they know what i'm talking about!

even on this forum, i'm keeping my mouth shut on critiques.

i underdstand that...but, it's being elitist in a bad way, it's just tattooer/non-tattooer. too many know-it-alls already.

the first time i saw lungfish, they opened for fugazi. it was a few years before i tattooed and a few months before i even got my first tattoo. it wasn't until later that i realized the connection.

we need a "tattooers only" section, please.

i agree...we need a tattooers only section!!! too much info already out there for civilians!

i was always a higgs fan, and wanted one from him since i started, i just took it for granted that he'd be around. i did see lungfish a couple of times and was lucky to see the pupils!

wrist, ribs, behind the ear, foot. that's all we do these days. mostly lettering or stars and symbols. i miss doing lower backs (i HATE the term "tramp stamp). at least they used to get actual tattoo designs, usually looked good, and paid well.

yeah, behind the ear has been popular for a while now. after the lower back was ruined by the fratboy "tramp stamp" bullshit, women moved on to the ribs and behind the ear.

the torch has been a popular icon for decades. it appears on many many flash sheets of all ages. and of course the owl trend is still going strong, as well as the old school phonograph.

mine is everyone's biggest regret...higgs. met him once, but never got tattooed.