Duffa

i think this is what tipped them off:
Exercise: Daily
Daily diet:Keep it Healthy
Smoking: Occasionally
Drinking: Just socially
Living situation: Live alone
Have children: No
Want children: No
i've got to go do a tattoo or i'd point out the specifics as to why! haha

you're not getting anywhere with that, they won't understand half of what you're talking about...especially when using words they do understand in quotes.
try this:
yo dawgs, why u's buggin? delete my account n' shit, i was tryin to hook up wit some dem sick methhead bitches u gotz on yo site. don't hate tha playa hate da game ya'll, best b hookin mines profile back up b4 i getz pissed!
peace out bitches!
d-thugaloostello

This will come into use for my ICP dating site.

Any time someone says "I hate (insert music genera here)" I now respond with "You know Neil Diamond invented it right?"
Im bored at work.

Solly

I'm not going to get on here and scream about how you shouldn't be a tattooer, even though that's a preset gut reaction nowadays and it's totally valid. After all, I'm a fairly new tattooer in the game and why should I be telling people what they should or shouldn't do. However, what I will bring up is something that continues to plague me at every turn, and it's something that I struggle with every day.
Think and consider a few things most people don't before they just "decide they want to be a tattooer". Such as the effect you have on the craft and it's craftsmen/women. Specifically in your area. With every new tattooer the pieces of the "tattoo pie" get smaller and smaller. The pie being the personal benefits of tattooing. Not just financial, but all the benefits. The more tattooers, the smaller the pieces of the pie. Less money, more people doing desperate things to try to grind more loot out of tattooing, especially in the slower seasons, like tons of random discount days, undercutting the previously established shops prices to steal clients, etc. Think about what you're doing to the people who've already been there, who've already worked their asses off to establish a clientele, and a relationship with their neighborhood. Think about the taking you will be doing.
That's not to say that you should not become a tattooer. What I'm trying to say is this: before you start on your journey to take from this craft and the people who held it on their shoulders through all it's iterations and think about how you're going to justify your actions and their consequences.
How do you justify making everyone's pie smaller? How about by becoming lots more pie to those people.
Get tattooed by righteous tattooers. A LOT. Blow loads of money on them. If your sitting here reading this thinking that " I can't do that because tattoos are too much money and I'm broke, which is why I want to be a tattooer in the first place dudes!" then you probably shouldn't be considering becoming a tattooer.
On the other hand, if you are thinking "well, shit I'm broke, but if I get this second job and stop dropping a bunch of money on sneakers and beer then I could afford lots more tattoos, so now let's look and see who is good and figure out how I can throw bunches of money at them frequently", well then maybe you might be an asset to tattooing.
I won't give anyone any advice beyond that. Tattooing is a career and if you become a tattooer that's a lifetime of taking. Maybe start evening the score early by giving back to it first. If there is any hesitation in your mind about that at all, don't even try. Save us all the next money sucking middle achiever. We already have enough of those.
I'm not saying any of these things to be harsh. My mind is heavy with these thoughts all day long. I spend hours working my ass off, trying to make my clients as happy as possible but that's no where near enough. I spend all my money on tattooing. I buy tattoos, machines, pigments, supplies, flash, prints, paintings, books etc from righteous tattooers. I owe heavy debts to the guys that brought me up and I will never be able to repay it. Anytime I get a compliment from anyone on my tattoos I let them know who taught me. It's important to pay to your lineage no matter who it was. I spend time conversing with as many tattooers as I can that I admire just to hear what they have to say. I have a list of tattooers in every state and I frequently refer people to places to get the work they desire. Al that and I still feel like I owe tattooing everything. I expect I will always feel the need to justify my existence here among the people that I respect and admire by paying them heed in any way that I can. They do deserve it after all.

HAHA best intro to a video.. "it says you fucking like bluegrass, you don't mind amphibians and you definitely get high."

I work in a bar. One of our bartenders just hit bottom a few months ago and is totally clean and sober now. He logged into FB today to see everyone slagging the "fucking addict"... the same friends who "supported" him during his giving up alcohol. He pointed out that when they were talking about her, they were talking about him too. He was powerless over his addictions too. He went to rehab. He gave up drinking a million times but went back to it. When he almost died, he realized enough was enough.
When people say things like she deserved it, they mean he deserved it too. As do all of the people who fight addiction. It's horseshit, and it's being cruel to be cool.

some progress on my backpiece!

Just got back from London. My wifes second session with Stewart Robson at Frith Street Tattoo. Fuckin gorgeous.

On the way back checked out some nice artwork at Swindon Station. Who said Swindon is a cultural dessert.

Unknown Artist.

A16 « Occult Vibrations


I've been having issues with my conversion software but managed to get this little chompie today.

Hey Mask0311,
First off, I would love to see everybody sportin great tattoos wherever I go but unfortunately there are fewer people out there "keepin it real" and if I go to WalMart I can see a store full of bad tattoos these days.
As far as this guy "blowin you off", it's an old game, as old as it gets with "runnin' the scam", some will spot you and size you up to start something at a high price that they never intend to finish when they have a string of butterflies they can knock out and make more on when you may have already paid in advance, basically you will get shuffled to the rear like you got treated at the 9pm bell. NYC went crazy with those scams when it opened tattooing back up and on this subject I could go on and on.
As far as the tooth hurting thing, RUN!!! should have been your instinct and this leads me to tell you that there are tattooers out there who relish a challenge of turning bad tattoos into good ones, so don't worry about having someone else drive over the mess you have started.
As far as your expecting better treatment/respect for being home from the military, your absolutely right, the military has always been our staple in tattooing and when everybody's home and the wars are all over we will miss that amount of biz and it goes from steak to pork chops for us tattooers and this is not to mention that there are those of us out here that understand your service to Uncle Sam.
So, as far as "keeping it real" and to prove that not all of us are like this disgrace to our trade I will fix and finish your dragon at no charge with the stipulation that you provide the steaks that I will personally grill for you at my country home where I have a rifle range that I will provide 500 rounds of ammunition for you to shoot through my legally owned and registered machineguns after we are finished with the tattooing, on this deal you have my word. Your only hitch is to make it by land sea or air to Illinois and provide the bovine. It can be fixed and finished and picture posted to this thread should you come through on your end of this bargain and I mean all of this most sincerely.
I can't do this for every person that's received your treatment or I would work myself into the poorhouse but this is my offer to you.
Thanks for your service and I apologize for the hack who misrepresented our trade and culture and I hope to hear from you.
Sincerely,
-Hawk- of
Hawks Tattoo's

Heres a couple of mine. These were done 1970/71 when I was 15/16. The skull, my first ever tattoo is over 40 years old. The reds have gone from both of them but they are in pretty good nick considering. The artist was a guy called Steve who had a shop in the city of Bath, England. I think it was in Broad Street. Don't know what became of him. No appointments or bringing in artwork in those days. All walk ins. You just sat and waited your turn. The clients were bikers, skinheads and low lifes like me. I remember him tattooing and smoking rollups.

Lina Stigsson from Admiraal Tattoo Amsterdam does gorgeous work

Ben, Watchmaker Thats funny, haha. "Dammit Jim i'm a tattooer not a watchmaker" (says like bones from star trek)...

finished my stomach the other day, still think it's the worst spot I've been tattooed.

"If you come at the king you best not miss" - Omar

Lina Stigsson from Admiraal Tattoo Amsterdam does gorgeous work

A tattoo shop should only and always be referred to as "Ye Olde Tattzappery."