dari

I told him the same thing about what he's doing on my ribs. I fear it may never get finished.

I wear some myself. I got a weird one a few weeks ago regarding my Ganesha tattoo. Her: I love Ganesh! Me: Me too! (matching her enthusiasm) Her: Obviously not as much as you. Um, okay.

Hello Andrea and welcome! I'm in North Oakland, so we're practically neighbors. Have you been tattooed in any of our local shops?

oooh, Sharks vs. Zombies would be good. Tim Lehi painted an amazing number featuring a T-Rex vs. a Robot that I really love. And my 5 yr old son had an idea for a Battle Royale that I think could be amazing- a dragon vs. a eagle vs. a really old lady.

Thanks JAllen!

Damn, I'm always running off in the wrong direction! Good thing I have smart friends.

I can't imagine he has openings, but if it were me, I'd run to Thomas Hooper at NY Adorned. ADORNED

My favorite part of this type of article is ALWAYS the reader comments. The "writers" never seem to do their research, True Tattoo isn't a new shop, it's been there for years. Although the writer did say that Oliver Peck looks like a cartoon super villian, I suppose that is that is pretty factual. Some of the comments are the usual white trash/dirty whore stuff, some are more thought out. But any press is good press, right? I'll be keeping an eye on the comments, I'm sure they'll continue to entertain.

Just in case you were wondering about Hubert Blackman's case: Buster | The Smoking Gun

Ms. Mikki, The website and the shop both look beautiful, much love to you my friend.

Before we had kids, we had a huge sword just sitting on a table. My girlfriends, who both had two yr olds at the time, called our house the "House of Swords."

As always, the comments on the Vice article are more telling than the article itself, thanks for sharing it. I think that there are a lot of terrible tattoos everywhere in America, that's part of what makes this country great. To each their own.

Conor blue eyes, great article. Thanks for posting it on here. And Frankie D, I'm certainly not trying to pooh pooh your dreams, just answering your question as honestly as I can. I don't know you, I just know how hard it is and how many years of sacrifice are required before someone can earn a living tattooing. I can't draw for shit, I feel confident that I'd finish med school before I'd be tattooing professionally. There's a full suitcase of everything I would need to start tattooing 3 feet from where I sit right now, but if I invited the neighbors over and started tattooing them tonight that would make me a jackass, not a tattoo artist. Please don't start tattooing people in your home before you find a teacher. Dispite your best intentions, you could accidently give someone something far worse than a bad tattoo due to lack of sterilization equiptment.

Frankie, I'm sorry, I'm with MsRad. I know many, many talented tattooers, can't think of a single one with an apprentice. You will have to draw for many many more years, not months, and you should wait until you feel like you ARE a great artist before you approach anyone. And for the amount of time it's going to take to get from where you are now to earning a living might take longer then becoming a doctor or a lawyer or a airline pilot. That article on building a portfolio is great regarding building a portfolio, not sure its a surefire way to get an apprenticeship, but I bet it'd get you into art school. Wonder how they came up with the "Time Required: 1-2 Hours?" Maybe that's how long it would take the average person to walk to and from the art supply store to buy the portfolio? Here's a thread that I love, you might find it eye opening: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/war-stories/62-apprenticeship-horror-stories.html

The dagger or the strip of bacon?

Um, really? Cause that's my favorite story so far.

OMG, that Kore Flatmo backpiece is mindblowing. Thanks for finding these.

Loch, that's Tomas Tomas at Into You in London, I hope to get tattooed by him someday. Tattoos by Tomas Tomas

On the bright side, it won't be hard to cover someday. Was it a "buy an outfit, get a free tattoo" special?

Oooh, I'm going. Any art show featuring the Wizardry of all of Tattoo Thirteen, including Austin, is gonna be good! I have two little thirteen tattoos, one on each ankle, from two different Friday the 13th tattooing parties. One's from Hector Fong, the other's from Chummy Alexanian. I'm glad they're having an art show instead this time around, I'm out of ankles.

If you're in Oakland, and want to sweat, $20 for 10 classes at Flying Yoga Shala. Flying Yoga Shala Deal of the Day | Groupon San Francisco

FLiP, I admire your skill in self-promotion. I think we could all take a lesson from you, or at least I could, my self-promotion skills are pretty lacking.

My username is Darilove22. I just tried to add you Dhopper, but I've got too many games going. I'll add you as soon as I finish one of these other games, I have two w/ my hubby, my mom in-law, and a few others. Dan Kersey, you might not want to add me, two kids and my teaching schedule makes me one of those annoying people who take to long to play.....