Bart Bingham

thanks. I've had one 2 hr sitting since. i havent been counting the hours but i think its hover somewhere around 10 give or take. its going very quickly. here it is now.

i'm getting a blow fish from shinji/horizakura.

thanks. I've had one 2 hr sitting since. i havent been counting the hours but i think its hover somewhere around 10 give or take. its going very quickly. here it is now.

Dan Martin of Houston TX. I used to work for him before i left Texas. he is a fantastic illustrator and he does really nice tattoos. He was the first Really good tattooer i worked with/for. I gained a lot from that experience and dont think i'd be the tattooer i am today with out it. and i am grateful. he is a member on this forum as well.

i just got tattooed 3 times back to back last week on my thighs because i'm trying to get it over with so i never have to get tattooed again. i personally will be happy when i'm done and can get no more.

i did this fun one just the other day

poor Dan. he left and tried to distance himself from tattooing and persued music only to find himself playing and looking out on audiences packed full of tattooers that look just like him. dude cant get escape.

Just get a tattoo and watch how it ages.
If a tattooer has large work in their portfolio, such as backpieces etc, it's a pretty safe bet that some of it will be at least a year old.
Most of the problem here comes from the fact that once we've finished a tattoo, particularly with one-shot tattoos, we rarely see it or the client again.
Some of the photos on my website or blog have healed work next to the fresh stuff.
Thomas Hooper occasionally posts photos of his work when it's settled into the skin.
If you're talking about colour portraits, they look like shit 5+ years later unless they have a strong outline and plenty of black. There's many reasons for tattoos to look like tattoos.
Another way is to visit conventions and see what people with healed tattoos look like. Remember: look but don't touch.

Darcy Nutt at Chalice in Boise
Eric Payne at Ink Vision in Boise
Matt Arriola is from Boise and does guest spots at Ink vision sometimes
I did a guest spot in Boise at darcy's place a little while ago. It's a great little town in my opinion.

Darcy Nutt at Chalice in Boise
Eric Payne at Ink Vision in Boise
Matt Arriola is from Boise and does guest spots at Ink vision sometimes
I did a guest spot in Boise at darcy's place a little while ago. It's a great little town in my opinion.

Oliver told me in Richmond that he's in it for the money.
Hi. I'm Shawn and I ruin things.

.....and just cruise facebook for 10 minutes. holy shit people will post and show off tattoos and paintings they've done that aren't as good as my 8 year old's sketches....... i mean its like a comedy act.

dan's pretty right on with his analysis. every tattooer wants to be the traveling cool guy and loves the attention they get from the people blowing him at a convention or "guest spot". i remember when someone coming to do a "guest spot" at a shop meant a good ass tattooer was coming to work. now its whoever is willing to come by to sit and rape the town with 9 round outlines and dogshit ethics to make a buck. when we have had a "guest artist" at my shop, we have a good tattooer doing custom work on people from all around (scott sylvia, rassier, lehi, stell, hori taku, Higgs, whitehead, etc...... those are "guest artists". when i need someone to sit in on a shift, that aint a "guest artist", thats a working tattooer. and the idea of working at a shop whenever the hell you want and traveling whenever you want is mind boggling. i mean i guess its fun to do the same 5 or 6 tattoos in every city you travel to but dong the same shit everyday doesn't make you a great tattooer. how about paying some dues and actually doing what all those good tattooers have done instead of sucking each other off and riding each others dicks. but hey, to each his own. right?

I dig Jason Phillips a lot, and don't hear too much about him over here on the East Coast

That kid probably never even touched a cassette tape.

i did this fun one just the other day

i did this fun one just the other day

i did this fun one just the other day

1) while those tattoos do not reflect who i am any more i do not regret any of them. they reflect who i was and where i came from artistically and i remember everything i learned from every one of them. i learned more about tattooing from getting tattooed by good tattooers than from anything else. i do wish i had room for more tattoos however. but not because i regret what i have but because i love tattoos and as i said previously "people who are into tattoos get tattoos" and that desire doesnt go away when you run out of room.
2)this isnt a discussion about saving a spot or two for future tattoos its about not having any tattoos.

He tattooed a little portrait of James Brown (!) on my friend's shoulder blade in the late 80s. When he was done, he said, "There ya go--that's a damn fine Little Richard." Kinda freaked my friend out, but the tattoo was cool (and actually of JB, not LR).

i did this fun one just the other day

i did this fun one just the other day

people who are into tattoos get tattoos whether they are tattooers are not. if you're not tattooed then you'll never convince me that you are really into them.
my experience has been that non tattooed tattooers dont love tattooing, they love money and they think tattooing is an "easy" way to get some they are "artists" who cant make it as an artist in the art world so they become tattooers because it the only way they can figure out to make a living illustrating.
sidenote: Ursula, while the majority of the time you'd probably be correct it is not always true about tattooers being covered in the stuff we like to do. especially with people like myself who've tattooing for a long time. the 90's was an exciting time for tattooing and i am covered head to toe in tattoos that do not reflect who i am artistically at all anymore.because tattoos are permanent they do not change as our taste does so I have a biomech sleeve even though i havent done any biomech tattoos or had any interest in biomech at all since the late 90's.

people who are into tattoos get tattoos whether they are tattooers are not. if you're not tattooed then you'll never convince me that you are really into them.
my experience has been that non tattooed tattooers dont love tattooing, they love money and they think tattooing is an "easy" way to get some they are "artists" who cant make it as an artist in the art world so they become tattooers because it the only way they can figure out to make a living illustrating.
sidenote: Ursula, while the majority of the time you'd probably be correct it is not always true about tattooers being covered in the stuff we like to do. especially with people like myself who've tattooing for a long time. the 90's was an exciting time for tattooing and i am covered head to toe in tattoos that do not reflect who i am artistically at all anymore.because tattoos are permanent they do not change as our taste does so I have a biomech sleeve even though i havent done any biomech tattoos or had any interest in biomech at all since the late 90's.

i did this fun one just the other day