smiling.politely

Not one I'm getting, but my fiancee is fortunate enough to live in Limerick, and as a result has an appointment with Oliver Peck Tuesday. She'll also get to say hello to Koeplinger while he's there... she got tattooed by him his last visit to All Star.

I tattooed a lady who helps run art shows monthly at the local Masonic Home today, and she said she's spent a lot of time talking to old timers there about tattoos, and has been considering asking them to photograph them. If anything comes of it, I'll share anything of note...

@Blizzard, I find it amusing how you seem to willfully ignore anyone who points out that the original poster did indeed break the board's written rules, not any unwritten rules of tact. It clearly states in the rules of the board that any questions about the mechanics or specifics about the act of tattooing are prohibited. However, as you are so set in your ignorant conclusions, I feel pointing this out is like trying to kick water uphill... it's just not going to work.

Thankfully, shoddy work in the literary field doesn't result in a horrible looking mark on someone's body, cause potential for infection due to poor practice, or show disrespect for those who came before you. In tattooing, it's difficult to get any information without earning it first. As someone who has supposedly nearly earned a doctorate (again, you are just a screenname, so we don't know if you're being honest or not), you should understand how much hard work it takes to earn your way into a group that shares that freely. would you loan a first printing of a rare book that you happen to acquire to a Freshman 101 student for study as readily as you would someone who has the same level of experience as you? Or would you be worried that they didn't respect and honor what they would have in their hands, and treat it with the delicacy it would deserve? For all we know, the story of someone's apprenticeship and/or job status at a shop is a lie, so that people will take them seriously. They should be asking their mentor or co-workers, or even someone they respect and get tattooed by, not strangers on a forum. EDIT: Also, for someone who is going to quote rules at other members of the forum, you should probably read all of them. In fact, @Jake made it rather easy, with the very first response in the thread. Do not start threads asking about specific tattooing equipment or techniques, LST is not here to teach anyone how to tattoo. Ask your own tattooer, the next time you are getting tattooed. Maybe they'll answer you, maybe they won't. Do not start threads regarding closely guarded trade secrets - this will keep LST a much more welcoming place for everyone, tattooers and enthusiasts alike.

go to Instagram and sign in, then add the username of any of the people you follow. roughly 600 pixel squared images instead of smartphone sized.

my frontpiece goes through my nipples. Haven't finished shading/coloring entirely, but i haven't had any issues yet.

little painting i did a few weeks ago. my friend Jimmy wanted this tattooed as part of his weekly support of my apprenticeship, but opted out of the flames.

slayer answered the question perfectly, but i have a thought to add. as someone who knows graphic designers, i know many get very frustrated, very quickly, when their clients won't listen to their suggestions and take advice on what they, as experts, know will work better. if that friend is anything like that, then he needs to realize tattooers feel exactly the same way. sometimes, people need to understand that they don't know better than the person they're hiring to do a job for them, and understand that it's generally for their own benefit.

1.) Best LST Thread: tie between Latest Tattoo Lowdown, the monthly tattoo contests, and the Full Backpiece thread. consistently amazing. 2.) Worst LST Thread: negative ones, or ones that are 30+ pages, but of the same monotonous 15 posts repeating themselves. 2 possible solutions... PMA and reading what came first. 3.) Favorite tattoo you got this year (pls say by who and what shop): for a completed piece, it'd be the big skull/roses/razor on my arm by Ulrich Hueber, then of Bullman's Tattoo Studio in Limerick, Ireland. the eagle on my head isn't finished yet (by Josh Cruse, JP Cruse Professional Tattooing, Wichita, KS), but i love it just as much. 4.) Favorite tattoo another LSTer got this year (pls say by who and what shop if you know): everything Phickey has posted. it may sound a bit creeper-ish, but it's cool to see someone you don't know learn about tattoos from scratch and get amazing work from the start. especially as quickly as he has. 5.) Favorite tattoo artist you discovered through LST: Ron Henry Wells. i'd seen his stuff here and there on the few good tattoo blogs out there, but checking his website and Instagram after seeing him post here... man. i know of at least two spots i'm saving for him in the next few years. also, Stewart Robson. thankfully, i have a bunch of friends in London who would most likely be willing to let me couch or floor surf to save money on hotels if i need to, because i will be making my way over the ocean for some large thigh work. 6.) How'd you find LST: I can't remember if i happened upon the Tim Hendricks interview on YouTube first, or if Matt Headley of Red Sea Tattoo in Wichita, KS posted about the site on Facebook first. either way, a few things led me to check it out, learn a quick lesson when i first posted here, then slowly and respectfully post more as time went on. 7.) Favorite part of the site: General Tattoo Discussion and Tattoo Designs, Books, and Flash. 8.) Area of the site you spend most your happy time at: same answer as numbers 1 & 7, with interviews thrown in. 9.) What do you want more of: see the last answer... 10.) Sum up the year in one word: Cornerstone. everything is coming together for my life, i.e.: moving my fiancee here from Ireland, in terms of my apprenticeship, and in building a new chosen family in the city where i work, where i was born, and where i will soon call home again. BONUS: Favorite quote of the year...... another tie. "If you do not pass first grade, you do not go to second grade." -Oliver Peck, in one of the few truly great moments to come out of Ink Masters. "I like tattoos that look like tattoos." loads of people, but in this instance, Thom de Vita in his Tattoo Age episodes.

calling potential clients names seems counter-productive to getting them in your door... naming names and pointing fingers rather than focusing on hard work, educating people, and positivity within tattooing (or life in general) seems a bit high school for me... i tried to avoid that mind set back then as well, but i see more and more people in all walks of life that seem to be stuck there mentally.

one of my co-workers and I are going to be ordering this within the week. super stoked to add it to our shop's library... and when my pockets aren't as light, i'll probably order a copy for myself as well.

Only the ones that have eyes.

My boss said a few months back that I needed to, at some point, do a backpiece painting as homework... his specific instructions were to make it my "apprentice masterpiece." i don't know about that, but this was the second one i did for him... the first didn't live up to my expectations. after a print by Kuniyoshi

prime example of a style that would look okay on canvas, or as a t-shirt design (and in those cases only sparingly), but not as a tattoo. even if applied in a way that's technically sound... eh.

@Donn and @David Flores... I wasn't speaking on that gentleman's situation, nor to any one person in particular. If it came off that way, it was unintended. Just making light of people's hyperbolic statements that pop up in this thread over and over and over. Neither of you made said comments, mind you, but this thread is lousy with them.

Jesse has some sort of chest tattoo that tries to make it into daylight when he has a few undone buttons, and i think something on the bottom of his chin. if i recall he has a couple on his legs as well. but, i do agree that at this point, he should have found someone who's style he enjoys enough to get some more done. also, did Jamie say he had been tattooing for 17 years? he looks like that would have made him an 8 year old tattooer at one point.

nah, man. there's no good tattooers that have stayed for decent amounts of time at Three Tides... or Frith Street, or New York Adorned for that matter. Just a rotation of flaky, inexperienced tattooers... right?