Duffa

By Robert Ryan at Electric Tattoo, Bradley Beach, NJ
http://robertryanofjudah.tumblr.com/image/70126340846

You would be correct good sir

My wife got a bit more work done on her back. Started some shading and coloring. A bit dark up there because she is covering up a righteous old piece!
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I got a bit more work done too. Getting close.

Not just yet. We still have various spikes and the back bone (horns/scales?) the horns on the head, the tongue and teeth, the eyes, some more flames, the pearl/orb and the spikes on the tail end. I'm sure there will also be some touch ups and embellishments as well.
Funny thing, Rubendall had a client in the morning and he was filling in scales on a dragon and then in the afternoon is me and...filling in scales on a dragon. I asked him if it gets tedious or if he just gets tired of seeing the same thing. Mike said he loves it and each one is different. No cutting corners or trying to make due here, just doing what he loves. AMAZING to be part of that creative process.

Jordan Teear from Frith Street is someone to note:
Instagram

In the storm of crap, sometimes it's nice to recognize the newcomers who are doing well and give us things to look forward to for the future of tattooing. Here are some tattooers who have been at it 5 years or less and are doing some really great work. Feel free to add!
Olivia Olivier
Mom's Body Shop, San Francisco



Austin Maples
Idle Hand, San Francisco



Alex Matus
Oakland, California



John Lupo Avanti
Brisbane, Australia



Hannah Louise Clark
Rain City Tattoo Collective, Manchester UK



Maud Dardeau
Tin-Tin Tatouages, Paris

I'm a few sessions into my front piece with Horitomo. Here's the latest. And yes, everything in this picture is to scale.

Have not posted for a while but had to show my new piece off!
Done by the very talented Valerie Vargas

Hello everybody, my name is Matthew Welch. I'm a tattooer since November, 2004. Currently traveling, I began working in North Florida and have been on the road since August of this year, after living in Southern New Mexico from 2011-2013. I enjoy many styles, and focus on traditional styles of tattooing and painting. I like to be an active and welcoming part of the tattoo and art community. I'm here to share art and discussions in the forum, network with other artists, and be involved, in general. I'm also inviting anyone to find me on Facebook, or take a look on my instagram, @matwelch if interested in my work or travels. Maybe we'll get to meet in person someday, have a little fun, who knows:cool: thank you!

Well you seem to be getting many great pictures, but if you would want to more I asked my wife what those beads are called in Japanese, and received the answer of juzu. So just image searching juzu irezumi on good brought up some good/bad results. the kanji for it is "数珠刺青."

Friday the 13th tattooing at Kings Avenue!!! Sorta...
Short 4 hour session today with Mike Rubendall at Kings Ave in Long Island. It's been freezing cold in NYC and I braved the train ride out to Long Island to continue work on my back piece. Added more color to the dragon. Here's the report. Enjoy!
Alpha Omega original hanging in Rubendall's room. Details and colors are AMAZING!!!

Straddling the chair and about to throwdown:

And the results from today's work:

Really digging the vivid colors:

Slowly coming together:

And of course I couldn't go home without grabbing these. I have a copy of the Fingerwave Book which these prints were made for. Saw the original hanging in the shop. LOVE the waves and happy that I own some Rubendall waves on my backside, hahaha

...so on wednesday i flew out from germany to poland to meet up with one of my favorites, rich hardy. he started my back piece...and i`am more than glad that i chose him - i`m absolutely in love!

one the one hand it was such an amazing and satisfying experience for my mind but on the other hand it was so horrible for my body. i wouldn`t call myself a pussy when it comes to tattooing but this time i was almost ready to start crying and stopping this whole thing; but somehow i made it through. :)

Morning LST, after a long trip I made it home. As promised here is a pic of my finished (for now) back. Not the best pic but I'll see if I can get a better one ASAP. Completed over 5 sessions by Horinao at The Catclaw Tattoo-z Kyoto... I'm going to go pass out for a bit lol.

@MadeIndelible check out https://www.facebook.com/GominekoBooksPage you will find what you seek ;)

Came across this by Bunshin Horitoshi

Morning LST, after a long trip I made it home. As promised here is a pic of my finished (for now) back. Not the best pic but I'll see if I can get a better one ASAP. Completed over 5 sessions by Horinao at The Catclaw Tattoo-z Kyoto... I'm going to go pass out for a bit lol.

Morning LST, after a long trip I made it home. As promised here is a pic of my finished (for now) back. Not the best pic but I'll see if I can get a better one ASAP. Completed over 5 sessions by Horinao at The Catclaw Tattoo-z Kyoto... I'm going to go pass out for a bit lol.

Sorry for the very late response. Holiday, sickness, work, laziness. You name it, it all applies.
So to answer your question about resource material, unfortunately Shige did not give any books which have been translated into English that anyone can make use of. Obviously he doesn't need the translated versions. That said, personally, I've noticed, once you find the name of figures in a woodblock, it's fairly easy to find a description of the stories on the Internet. But of course, NEVER trust the Internet for all facts. It's crap. Full of BS by people who know nothing or romanticize to the extreme. It can be useful to determine the bare bone basics after reading multiple descriptions and discerning the relevant information but it's up to each person to dive further. After all once you know the name of the subject you can also search for potential books which can contain more reputable sources. One example is the samurai "Taira no Kiyomori". There's information on the Internet. Being wary of red herrings there's enough for you to learn his general history and background. Enough breadcrumbs to then be able to search for translated books on him as well. By the way, Kiyomori was an uber badass back in the day.
In regards to prints/stories he talked about, there were a few interesting ones. One was in regards to I believe it was the Goddess Izanami-no-Mokoto who helped create the Japanese islands, I'm really not too sure. He showed an image where she was in a cave and thus in darkness so it alluded to Japan being in darkness. There was a whole story to it but that's an extremely abridged description. Kind of cool. Sorry to be vague but I'm not too good with stories that far back.
A second print was related to Taira no Tomomori. Everyone typically knows his story with regards to the battle of Dan no Ura where in defeat he jumps off his ship with an anchor tied around him or afterwards depicted as a ghost. Shige lamented no one ever gets another image he is depicted in. One where just prior to jumping off the ship he is depicted with broom in hand sweeping the deck of the ship cleaning it. There's a Yoshitoshi print of this. Anyway, many people might think this is a weird image but it's very Japanese with regard to pride and maintaining an appearance. By cleaning the ship and having his enemies seeing it's pristine cleanliness in the midst of a raging battle he is showing them his pride and honor as a samurai even when all is lost. It's a very cool story just as interesting, possibly more so if you think about the meaning behind it, than other depictions of him.
Shige also mentioned Tomomori's father who is vastly of more historical importance than his son. Taira no Kiyomori. Most people know about the shogun in regards to Japan and samurai power. Kiyomori, however was the precursor. He was the first samurai to gain power over the nobles and seize power in Kyoto the seat of the central government. Without him who knows if the Minamoto would have been able to take over after and become the first shogun. Anyway being such a powerful figure there is a story (and print) where he instructs a large if not impossibly long spanning bridge (for the time) to be built. He was so powerful a figure he is depicted as preventing the sun from setting till the bridge was completed. Like I said earlier, Kiyomori really is a badass for his day. If you've seen prints of him they will likely be ones showing him on his death bed hallucinating with scenes of hell or where the background garden is depicted as skulls. At the time he died he supposedly had a fever so high it burned people to touch him so the stories go.
The last story was related through another one of his back pieces. It depicted a Uesugi Clan Princess ( I forget her name) taking a magical protective helmet across Lake Biwa to her lover a Takeda Prince (I think it was Takeda Katsuyori). There's more to that story but the point was to bring up the Takeda of Kai and Uesugi of Echigo. Both were powerful clans during the 1500s with legendary leaders who actually once met eachother and dueled during a battle (the 4th battle at Kawakajima, a really popular print subject). Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen. The Dragon of Echigo and the Tiger of Kai. Dragon vs Tiger. Heaven vs. Earth. (Sidenote: I almost chose them dueling as my backpiece had I gotten my sleeves paired as dragon and tiger rather than phoenix and dragon). Shige basically described how they were historical badasses that really existed even if the story about the helmet may be mythical.
Well that's all I have. This was a very quick and extremely abridged, possibly slightly inaccurate description of some of the things that were talked about with a bit of my own bits of knowledge thrown in. Not to be taken as gospel. Always dig deep and do your own research for peace of mind and even then go to someone who knows better and has the knowledge.
BTW, check out this link:
Kuniyoshi Project

Gomineko is the treasure trove

This is my "Ghost of Oiwa" tattoo done by Chad Koeplinger:

It is based on this Kunisada woodcut:

& http://woodblockprint.com.au/images/s3654.JPG?471
You need to check out Hide Ichibay´s work! I think he makes the absolute coolest ghosts. Do you agree, @Iwar?

The little bracelets of masks are super rad.

Believe it or not, these beautiful beads (and the butterfly) were done by Stuart Cripwell a few years back. Not his usual style!

Who: Shawn O'Connor shawnocconor.ca
What: bad assfrog (Sailor Jerry flash!)
Where: Ink Machine, Edmonton, AB Canada
When: at a touchup appointment...station was already setup, however i wasn't in the mood for a minor neck touchup.
Why? because it's a god damn sailor jerry battletoad! we were shooting the shit and i was flipping through a jerry flash book. i was like yeah buddy that's a sweet frog! shawn is like yeah buddy i've never done a frog before! we looked at each other and than said let's go buddy! add some pink in the belly! done on whim! took like 15 minutes lol
RIBBIT :cool:
this retarded little frog tattoo captures everything i love about the tattoo experience. the best.
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also got this cool headless owl from Jon Gray (from Hamilton, ONT...guest spot at Lucky Strike in Edmonton, AB).
It was from Jon's own painted flash. 2hrs. Ollie walked by and turned up the volts on the machine and Jon was flying. it was funny. good time and good tattooer!
<nuff side ass, en joy>

Chad Koeplinger made this on my upper arm when he visited Oslo in October. Hard to get a good picture because the tattoo wraps around my arm, but you get the idea :)