The Hyena

I second Bob Wicks. Also my favorite of all time. I only have small pics of his shit, but I have seen a few originals in person and I'll say this, if those things were released tomorrow they would still be ahead of their time. Seriously good.

So heres 3 tattoos by Ralph Johnstone done at what i figured was the 400 S State Street shop that he and Tatts worked until they changed the law to 21 in 1963 and everyone closed shop..
This guy said he was pretty young when he got tattooed by Johnstone but said he was always very nice to him despite the super scary guys that hung out there. He said Johnstone introduced him to some mob guys that used to hang out in the shop when he was there claiming that one of them was Capones brother.

These two where on a guy who came in the shop who was pretty wasted. He said he got the dagger in Lake Geneva at Greg May's first spot "you know by the train tracks before he moved upstairs" that had to be in the late 60s, he said it like it was common knowledge..
not sure about the Playboy bunny

Don't obsess about it. It's on your hand. Looks fine.

I finished this about a month ago. Just got prints made through Shirts and Destroy.
Ron Henry Wells | Webstore

Before the creation of "The Marlboro Man" all Marlboro ads featured men with hand tattoos. Fucking crazy. I have a few clipped. Also, that shit up there is upside down. Hahaha

I finished this about a month ago. Just got prints made through Shirts and Destroy.
Ron Henry Wells | Webstore

I finished this about a month ago. Just got prints made through Shirts and Destroy.
Ron Henry Wells | Webstore

Before the creation of "The Marlboro Man" all Marlboro ads featured men with hand tattoos. Fucking crazy. I have a few clipped. Also, that shit up there is upside down. Hahaha

Before the creation of "The Marlboro Man" all Marlboro ads featured men with hand tattoos. Fucking crazy. I have a few clipped. Also, that shit up there is upside down. Hahaha

Before the creation of "The Marlboro Man" all Marlboro ads featured men with hand tattoos. Fucking crazy. I have a few clipped. Also, that shit up there is upside down. Hahaha

i'd rather just tattoo in my kitchen than work for a non-tattooer, or a piercer. i don't fault others, i know we all have different situations and it is very hard to get the perfect job, but i just couldn't do it.

I like to think that I've had some help getting started correctly (thanks, 12oz guys).
Nice to see you around these parts.

It's easy to write off dissenting opinions as "hating" or "ego maniacal". Don't make that mistake here. Look at how you approach us instead once in a while. We are this harsh to ourselves, and each other bye the way. Not just in critiques. If you are looking for the "passive happy information machines" go somewhere else.

I finished this about a month ago. Just got prints made through Shirts and Destroy.
Ron Henry Wells | Webstore

OK here's the thing Bubbleberry. You aren't a tattooer. Not that your opinion isn't valid, but try to understand things from this perspective:
Among craftsmen, information is the true currency. It's why master woodworkers, calligraphers, metal smiths, violin makers etc. guarded their secrets. It's keeps the things that you do special. When everyone knows everything, what is special? Thats why the Stradivarius violin is what it is and not just some normal violin.
When I was in my apprenticeship my teachers told me things. Very valuable things that helped me in my journey. Things I still think about today. One had been tattooing 14 years and the other 9. They had accumulated a lot of experience. They made mistakes, figured some things out, talked and worked with other tattooers, and had a chance to see a lot of things they did age and make adjustments to compensate. When they taught me stuff, they put their faith in me that I wouldn't just treat the things they passed on as just stuff to talk about or things to say when you want other dudes to know that you know what you're talking about. It was truly valuable and needed to be seen and treated as such.
I had very good friends working at other shops in town on their own similar beginning adventures in tattooing, and I never told them any of the shit my bosses told me even if I thought it would help. Which was hard, but here's the thing. It wasn't my secrets to tell. As much as I would like to help someone out that I think might benefit from a hint or two, it's not my information to tell. I couldn't betray that. It's what keeps it valuable and helps keep that bond between student and teacher sacred. I truly believe that. That's maybe why so many of us are up in arms about the tattoo school thing. Because we may have gone through the student/teacher apprenticeships, and value that. I'm proud of my lineage. They aren't huge name dudes or anything, but I think that are some of the best tattooers I know. My stuff has a look to it that you can trace back to the people I worked with and learned from and that's important. It keeps things rich. It's the best way to cultivate and nurture tattooing as a whole. My stuff may not be the best stuff out there, but it's mine, and what's mine is a combination of the people who taught me, and I'm proud of that.
Think about your wife. She's going through her very own apprenticeship. What about the accumulated knowledge that her teacher is passing on to her. Should she not hold that in truly high regard? Shouldn't she keep his secrets and put them to good use? She is now part of his lineage. That's not something to take lightly. That information is valuable and she should treat is as such.
That's not to say that you can't ever mention it. Trading bits of information between craftsmen is another way to honor the value of the knowledge, AND that gives me the privilege of being able to go back to my teachers and tell them what i've learned as a part of the way you can pay them back for giving you so much in the first place.
As craftsmen we meet up at conventions, guest spots, shop visits on vacations, writing to each other, and we can sometimes trade portions of information to each other and we can in turn use these in our own ways and it helps keep tattooing robust and alive. It helps us form bonds between each other. However even in those situations I try to hold back certain aspects of the info, as do the people on the other side. It keeps the level of mystery, not in a mystical sense, but in the sense that we now have to figure out the key to unlock this particular piece of knowledge, and sometimes we find our own key and use for it.
Tattooing is different than most things in that it's still a largely master/apprentice craft. True a lot of tattooers came in through different means but most of them respect the apprenticeship as the proper way, and although more tattooers than not shouldn't actually be giving apprenticeships since they aren't really cut out for it, and we have too many to begin with already, it's still the proper way. That is part of the tradition that, at least I hold in very high regard.
Ursula, if you're paying for info, that you've in turn used to help you create something unique, then yes you should see it in that light. Hold it back. People ask and ask, but that shows you just how valuable and special your stuff is. Let them find their own secrets. Now if you are meeting up with other people and can trade parts of things for more info, then good on you.
I could write more on this subject but I think I need food right now. I'm sure smarter people than me can expound in a better way.

It's easy to write off dissenting opinions as "hating" or "ego maniacal". Don't make that mistake here. Look at how you approach us instead once in a while. We are this harsh to ourselves, and each other bye the way. Not just in critiques. If you are looking for the "passive happy information machines" go somewhere else.

It's easy to write off dissenting opinions as "hating" or "ego maniacal". Don't make that mistake here. Look at how you approach us instead once in a while. We are this harsh to ourselves, and each other bye the way. Not just in critiques. If you are looking for the "passive happy information machines" go somewhere else.

It's easy to write off dissenting opinions as "hating" or "ego maniacal". Don't make that mistake here. Look at how you approach us instead once in a while. We are this harsh to ourselves, and each other bye the way. Not just in critiques. If you are looking for the "passive happy information machines" go somewhere else.

I finished this about a month ago. Just got prints made through Shirts and Destroy.
Ron Henry Wells | Webstore

I finished this about a month ago. Just got prints made through Shirts and Destroy.
Ron Henry Wells | Webstore

Those are RAD

I finished this about a month ago. Just got prints made through Shirts and Destroy.
Ron Henry Wells | Webstore

this is rad, I was thinking of staring a thread like this bit figured everyone would just shit all over it.
anyways, glad to see it's already here..
This is what i'm currently working on (unfinished at the moment)
It's hand embroidery and paint on fabric. It's going to be a patch for a denim vest.

I've also been making what I'm calling embroidered talismans the past week, here's one of them
It's also hand sewn and is about2.5"

I'll put a few more up. These are on my Bookface page anyway.
Page I painted for Nick Colella:

One I did for Mike Shishmanian: