Lance

Shoot me if I don't go!!! Just heard Shige is doing the seminar this year. Hope they allow non-tattooers to register for it like Horitomo's a couple of years ago.

Interesting topic, @ironchef!

I don't have too much time to post at the moment, but it brings to mind a few things I've been chewing on for awhile now, mainly: what impact do the images you permanently mark yourself with have on your life/life energy, if any? Robert Ryan had some interesting things to say about this in his interview in the most recent Tattoo Culture Magazine (voodoo symbols and a guy dying soon after the tattoo was finished) (I'm writing this quickly, forgive me for any sloppiness!), and I remember at some point, somewhere (don't remember where!) reading that Horiyoshi 3 was tattooing his son and had not finished either one of the symbols or some of the characters...dammit...I don't remember and now I will be looking for this article to post here. The point is that something wasn't finished, something 'bad' or unlucky happened, and once the characters were finished the imbalance was righted.

Soo...this is a good topic, and I will look for more interesting and specific references before posting again. And I'm definitely looking for the Horiyoshi article, grrr!

Forgive sloppiness and quick posting! Will right THIS imbalance soon enough!

If I'm not mistaken, Beez, the story you're referring to regarding Horiyoshi III and his son's tattoo was from Jill Bonny's book: Studying Horiyoshi III: A Westerner's Journey into Japanese Tattoo. I can't remember exactly either about the specifics, but I think his wife's eye swelled up like Oiwa and other things happened to Horiyoshi III and his son also.

This is an interesting topic @ironchef, thanks for sharing. My experience was a little dis-similar from yours but I understand your path and appreciate it. Instead of superstitions influencing tattoo choices, being Japanese, I looked to traditional subjects and supposed "rules" to dictate some of what I have. Like maintaining a specific season and the idea that water elements are on the lower body, air elements are for the upper, and specific pairings of creatures. As such I have a koi/peonies on my leg, a phoenix and dragon on my arms, and a soon to be finished image of Oda Nobunaga for a backpiece. The koi/peonies is a quasi memorial to my mom who loved flowers. My dad loves koi ponds. And I grew up watching samurai/yakuza movies with my Dad and Uncle. So my history/heritage influenced me too but in a different way. A bit more generically I suppose. My whole family is a bit gringo-fied so superstition and religion didn't factor in as much. So no superstition, but influenced in other ways pertaining to culture. It's interesting to hear how yours was. I rushed through this so hopefully this all made sense.

I think everybody associates impulsive with "right then and there", so mine may not be as impulsive. A friend of mine says, "you should get something that says i'm from florida, like the gators logo". i say, "that would be mad cheesy, but id get a sick gator tat!".......a month later i have a giant gator on half of my body by Seth Wood

Woah! Saw that on IG. You do not joke around!

NICE!!!

Uh oh! There's another "Lance" on here. We're multiplying! If he's a clone, perhaps I'll try the traditional route w/color this time rather than black & grey japanese. Ooooo, I wonder what backpiece subject I'll get???

Ha! Just messing around. Don't mind me. Please continue NOT talking about quatities of money on a public forum.

Updated full back progress pic. Pretty much healed up from my last session. Will be seeing Rubendall again in May to finish shading the back of my left thigh. Probably start some color too!

My mind is blown. good job Sir. I have that combo as my left and right sleeves. It's times like this though when I wish cloning oneself was possible so I could get multiple back pieces each with a new subject inspired by art, stories or what I see here.

BUMP!

When receiving full neck to thighs, what does one wear? I was thinking I can get a disposable lab coat from work and just wear it backwards?

I usually bring along an extra towel to wear/cover as needed or loose fitting boxers that can be rolled up.

Plenty of time to plan a trip! ;)

That is pure gospel! Taki, and Jill, and the rest of the Shop Crew don't know just much I and many others owe them. The books they've published, what I've learned from reading them, as well as being tattooed by Jill, and just being in the shop has enriched my life in subtle ways. Great knowledge and greater respect in that place!

...And as frustrated as I am to wait for this show, I was talking to Jill and Taki, and they were explaining how a year is really a very brief amount of time in order for this exhibit to be organized. Especially for the artists involved, having to finish the tattoos. I know Jill's trying to work on mine and a couple others so they can somehow be a part of it. If possible it'll be an honor to be a part of this in even the most passive of ways.

Thanks @Stewart Robson too for your contributions here and being a part of this exhibit. This show should stir up a lot of excitement.

Edit: Oops, meant to reply to Stewart's post but yes, a year's time is plenty of time to plan a trip. So now there's no excuse for anyone not to plan a vacation!

The most frustrating part is the wait. 1 year away.

Does she like cars and burlesque pole dancing? Ha ha! The only part I think is 18+ might be the latter. At least from what I've seen. Is she a well behaved 5 year old and interested in pictures and shiny fenders and custom pin striping? If so she might be able to hang. I went with a 38 year old adult who couldn't and I had too leave after about 2 hours because they were bored and whining like a 2 year old.

Personally even I get overwhelmed at this convention though. It can be a little over stimulating on the eyes for me as there is so much going on. I don't know if there's really a kids outlet there. There's been a couple spots though that I've glossed over and didn't pay much attention too. Hope this helps a wee bit.

Another one down, 6th session.

Some serious progress being made! You're going full speed. I might have missed it but how long have your typical sessions been?

Also what's on the lower portion of your left leg? It looks like a family "mon" but can't really tell for sure.

For InK 'n Iron, I've always just showed up the day of and bought a ticket. It might be cheaper if you purchase it online though. I can't remember for sure.

This is slightly off from the question but still relatable. This idea of "Japanese" is a funny one for me. I've always loved the traditional Japanese style growing up. Without getting into details I was less fond of tattoos I'd seen around the neighborhood. Both in terms of subject as well as how they looked. Traditional Japanese stuff always looked clean and cohesive, the neighborhood stuff were blotches. I didn't know spit about anything. That's straight out fact. I attributed bad tattoos as American. But even then I did develop a discernable eye for recognizing traditional Japanese on a subconscious level. When japanese influenced tattoos started becoming increasingly popular or more readily seen in the US circa the kanji craze, it never looked really "Japanese". I would flip through magazines see the images and would be able to blindly point to images saying,"American, European, American, Chinese, European, European, Japanese.". Then I'd look at the tattooer's names. 90% of the time I'd be spot on. There seemed a time when it was very discernable between the traditional Japanese style, American Japanese, and European Japanese. American stuff often seemed busy, sometimes cartoony, blue water almost definitely signaled American, but also solidly packed with colors. European stuff almost seemed delicate with smooth shading. Chinese was painterly(???). And Japanese stuff had balance between detail and legibility or if the detail took over it seemed that the point was to create texture or patterns on the wearer's skin. I don't know how else to describe it. This was all just by looking at them and not taking into account stories or any of that. Again this was during my ignorant phase, pre-tattooed but looking, when I still couldn't appreciate an Ed Hardy piece.

Skip to today years later, however and looking around it's much harder to pull up a magazine and call out traditional, American, or European. So many artist's works from outside Japan these days look more traditional than artists in Japan and same with the opposite. So many artists in japan are flipping tradition on its head and giving a fresh breath to things w/ western influences. I've come to figure it's all good. There's room for all. After hundreds of years of the same thing traditional Japanese can probably stand to take in a fresh breath.

I am still intrigued by people when I hear them say things are traditional only if done by hand or if they have a hori title and all that vice versa those who don't think it matters. An interesting debate to see viewpoints.

Just to be a stinker, lets just remember traditional Japanese is not even the same in Japan. What I mean is there are families. The rules of one family are not necessarily the rules of another. Then you have variations by regions too. It's all very interesting and overwhelming. Okay nuff said I'm just rambling. Btw, all the above, take it with a grain of salt. I'm no tattooer, historian or anthropologist on the matter. Just a random guy giving you his personal and I stress personal history, recollections and experiences. Rip into me if you will.

Awesome new episode! As usual it did not disappoint. But...

...Shige, Horiyoshi III, Genko, En, and a bunch of dudes swinging swords! Yup, just peed my pants. Like full on loss of bladder control.

Can not wait!

Half my tattoos were my idea, the rest were suggestions by my artist of what pairs well with them. For instance I have a Phoenix on my left arm. When asking for suggestions of what paired off well with it, my artist suggested a dragon. Made sense as the 2 are often paired together in imagery, so I had that done. Same with my backpiece. I selected the subject but wanted no background. When I decided to add background I looked to my artist again and namakubi worked well so with that suggestion, I rolled with it and it's coming together quite nicely. I have a koi and peonies on one leg. It'll be interesting to see what I pair off with it on my other. Probably koi swimming in the opposite direction, but we'll see if there's another suggestion.

Apologies if this might have been said before. Good or bad, the Buena Vista stuff always reminds me of the graphics from an out of print magazine publication from the '90's called "Raygun", so it may be (or not really) quasi interesting to see something different that I would not get, personally for myself, this stuff is not cutting edge or artsy at all but dated, defunct, and done before.

I can see how some sub-cultures (goth) might find this cool though. To each their own.

- - - Updated - - -

I guess I'm a bit of a sucker for some of this stuff - it just looks so different. I didn't know it had a label so I googled trash polka when I saw that. Is trash polka commonly done in red & black ink? Seems everything that came up on google images was red & black.

Thanks to reading this thread I'm wondering if I'd still like this style 10 years down the road... perhaps not. Thinking I will stick to some of my more traditional ideas.

If I'm not mistaken, "trash polka" is specifically the term coined by Buena Vista Tattoo for their style of work. Their work if memory serves, tends to be black and red or black and orange or some such.

Personally, I'm currently going to 1 artist.From LA, I fly up to SF and drive over to SJ for each of my sessions these days. Jill Bonny at State Of Grace has done both of my sleeves, my lower right leg, and is currently working on my backpiece. I dig her work and my tattoos are all traditional Japanese so it makes sense to have been tattooed by 1 person so far. I'm lucky though. The shop in general has an amazing group. If I chose to get Japanese stuff from others, Taki, Horiken, Colin, and Horitomo are all there. Even if I switched to traditional western style, Dan Wysup is there too. And recently a few more artists have joined the shop. All are solid. It'd be hard for me to go to another shop. That said I really like Grez's work. And Darkhorse Tattoo is a 5 minute drive from me too, so sometimes, I'm tempted.

It's an individuals choice to go with one or many. Some want work by varied specific individuals known for a specific style or "their" style or take on a style, while others enjoy the comfort level and personal interaction they have with an artist they know. Mad props to both choices.

@Lance, if you have a chance to get tattooed by Horitomo...well, you know how this sentence ends. Have him do your front. Hell, get a big Fudo from him, munewari be damned! You're already weird; embrace it.

I might as well jump in here. It's not very recent, but it is my latest. I finished this up with Stuart Cripwell (based on a painting of his) in December, but I never got around to taking pics of it. And I'll just add a disclaimer that it is damn near impossible to photograph a knee tattoo. I swear it doesn't look crooked in real life. :)

Big ol Fudo huh? Like this one? Damn good!

.@horitomo_stateofgrace | I tattooed eyeballs today. #fudo#fudomyoo | Webstagram - the best Instagram viewer

I saw that! Looks so killer, @Lance. You must be getting...close?

Thanks! Yes, it's getting there. 1 more namakubi to shade on my bum and the cloud background on my left thigh/bum/lower back area. I figure maybe a short 2 hr session for the head and maybe couple more slightly longer sessions for the background.

I'm close enough that I've begun thinking about the future. Is this it or do I take a break to replenish funding? Do I continue to slowly add w/ ribs or chest panels? Or just admit to myself, what everyone else tells me and go with the munewari style? Or go quasi-western/eastern with the front perhaps? That Phoenix chest piece she did was amazing. These are the things that occupy my thoughts. Then there's the talks I've had with her where I'd like to get something by Horitomo, but does he take over or just do one offs? I tend to be loyal so this rattles my mind. HA HA!

Happy to have seen Jill Bonny yesterday. Always grateful.

.@stateofgracetattoo | Namakubi by Jill today. @Jillbonny | Webstagram - the best Instagram viewer

Bam

Panthers! Daggers! Cobra! Roses! Oh my!!!

That is jaw dropping good! It looked solid w/ black only on IG. The color is icing. I bow down before you a humbled man.

Too much good stuff going on!!! Everyone's been gifting themselves with some great Christmas presents! With all the recent posts, I'm seriously itching to get back into it. Thanks guys!

I do have to say getting my ass tattooed was not bad at ALL! Very weird....

...so for you it's not "a deep and searing pain that lasts for days, a memory that lasts a lifetime.". Ha ha!

Good on you! I think maybe I was really excited to get my backpiece added to the first time so my adrenalin was pumping. The last time however I knew what to expect so I psychologically made it worse. Funny how attitude can affect you. I have to learn your zen techniques next time around.

He's 63. For his first tattoo he should get a badass eagle chest piece ;-)

I've never understood the annoyance with colorful shop chatter or an artist running a little late. I mean it's a tattoo shop, not some retail or do it your way burger joint. Non-PC conversations are part of the package deal. And as for delays, it's not like if you have a 4 hour session and they start an hour late, they still charge for 4. They charge you for what they worked. Am I wrong? In the mean time, while waiting I get to flip through all the artists books which is never tiring. Now, I haven't been tattooed for too long a time, but I think people too often think shops are retail establishments to do their bidding. All things within reason, I figure the shops are the way they are because they want it that way. Otherwise they'd be working 9-5 office jobs like others. Let it be. And be jealous that they can.

Great show as always! I'm jealous of all of you who got tattooed! Thanks for posting photos. I'm living through you. It's a constant battle for me going to this Convention as there are always so many fantastic artists to get work done from. Alas I'm still holding on to the idea of cohesive work by Jill Bonny so walking the floors with that awesome vibe in the air tempts and tortures me. That said, I'm happy I was able to walk away with a few new prints and reading material. I was hoping to score an original ink on handkerchief drawing from Mary Joy at Tattoo City but I showed up too late. There's so much good stuff there it's crazy. Can't wait till next year.

@hogg, I saw you a couple times at the show, but you were busy talking to people so didn't want to interrupt. Sorry, I didn't get a chance to say hi. Ha ha, I really need to get better at introducing myself to people since I didn't get to meet more LST people ;-)