dari

You know where there are better references than the internet? Tattoo shops. You know who has a shit ton of flash/books? Tattoo shops. You know who is well acquainted with these collections? Tattooers.
Do some initial poking around, then find a tattooer or shop, then go say, "Hey, I saw this Jerry wolf, the full body one with his tongue hanging out," or whatever you want, and they'll say, "Oh yeah, lemme see, was it this one?" And more than likely, they'll pick out one of the SJ books they've undoubtedly got and flip to the page and you'll say, "Oh yeah, that's it, that line drawing is way better than the one I found online."

I don't have an opinion on this, but I'd like to share a lingering resentment. I was at the Salt Lake City convention a few years ago, and had just gotten a tattoo by the fabulous Mike Wilson. I was trying to read the ingredients on this alledged aftercare product when this shmoozy sales guy proceeded to ask me who did the tattoo, pretend to know who Mike was, and in a very condescending fashion tried to edjumacate on how to heal a tattoo. As far as I could see, this asshole didn't have a single tattoo anywhere on his body. For the rest of the day, I could hear Brad Pitt muttering "Don't condescend to me motherfucker" in my head. Actually, I can still hear it now.

Interesting discussion, kinda wish Dan Higgs would weigh in.....

Interesting discussion, kinda wish Dan Higgs would weigh in.....

Interesting discussion, kinda wish Dan Higgs would weigh in.....

Interesting discussion, kinda wish Dan Higgs would weigh in.....

Interesting discussion, kinda wish Dan Higgs would weigh in.....

Interesting discussion, kinda wish Dan Higgs would weigh in.....

Interesting discussion, kinda wish Dan Higgs would weigh in.....

@WideOcean, can't you just go back to the polite and serious plumber? I think humility and sensitivity go an awful long way. If your chinese is terrible, maybe he could speak with you in private instead of in front of other customers? I also expect my tattooers to know which elements will and won't work. My husband (who won't tattoo me 'cause I'm a pain in the ass) will be the first person to tell me if I'm "trying to shove 3 lb. of shit in a 2 lb. bag." Or he'll ask "How big do you think your arm is?" when I'm telling him my ideas. I'm sure the tattooer meant no harm, maybe it was a culture/language thing, maybe he misunderstood what you were asking about the added element? Either way, I'm not sure it matters if he's pompous or you're paranoid, you need to be comfortable. Customer service matters. I've never gotten a tattoo from someone I didn't like, enjoying someone's company and conversation make the time go faster. (Unless you're married, then dinner and a movie will go much better than a tattoo.)
I say go back to the plumber or find another plumber. You don't need a souvenir of an unpleasant experience covering valuable real estate. That's like hanging a picture on your wall that you don't like from someone you don't like just in case they visit your house. How about just not letting them in? Go get the positive experience you deserve.
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@HaydenRose, that color thing would've made me insane. Mr. Color Guy should know what looks good. I made a tattooer back out some lime green on something and replace it with pink, and you know what? The lime would've been cooler. If my dentist asked me to pick the shade on a fake tooth to match the others, I'd find another dentist. Of course I'll ask for certain colors/ color themes, but it's their job to know their stuff, my job is to shower, brush my teeth, and not jump around all over the place.

Interesting discussion, kinda wish Dan Higgs would weigh in.....

To answer the original question, if the shop you're in doesn't have the aforementioned Higgs flash, then you're probably in the wrong shop.
Or just say you want a "Higgs mummy" or "Higgs druid" or "Higgs bat", etc. I'm hoping the tattooer will know what you're talking about.
At the same time, I would want someone that's stoked on Higgs to do the tattoo as well, or like others mentioned, someone that may even know him.
There are tons of tattoos I want in the new Eleven Fourteen book, the Zeis book, the new Great Unknown book, 400 Flash from Rodin and Miller, etc. I haven't bought those books, but I wouldn't lift any of those images off the Internet neither. If I see flash that I really like, I'm just gonna track down that tattooer and get tattooed by them. Or hopefully the shop I'm at has the books and I could just pick out an image from there.
Totally rambling at this point.

@BrianH With my rose morph I didn't supply Chad with any pictures. I told him that I wanted a panther rose, kind of like that famous Hardy backpiece, knowing that he would know what I wanted. Chad drew it on me with Sharpie. It was pretty amazing to see him just draw something like that on with no reference, but that's why I wanted Chad to do that tattoo.
Basically, I agree with @CultExciter here about wanting to promote the best in tattooing. Sure, people are bringing in things they printed off the Internet to get tattooed, but there are also tons of people who want words tattooed upside down and I don't think we should talk about and promote that as an idea here either. And sure, there's plenty of grey area here too. Sailor Jerry stuff is maybe one thing, but the mention of "modern flash" in the original post bothers me. Anyway what I think about this stuff doesn't count for much.

I think this is an very interesting topic. I think most of us agree that online photos of modern flash is a no no. But what about old traditional flash that is seen everywhere and has been repainted hundreds of thousands of times? Which category does Higgs' flash fall into?
What if I want an Ed Hardy inspired dragon? Do either the artist or I need to own legitimate copies of the flash to follow proper etiquette? What about a rose/panther morph? Do I need Ed's permission? Does he get a percentage of every rose/panther morph?
Disclaimer: @Graeme your rose/panther morph is awesome and don't take this as a personal attack, just trying to stimulate quality discussion and I know I can count on you to make well thought out post.

If your artist doesn't know who Higgs is or doesn't have any of his/her own reference for it, and it's probably not the right artist to get the piece of Higgs flash from. The right vibe just won't be there.

At the risk of sounding like a savvy turd, I've been living here for enough years to know that this is not a "cultural thing" that I have to understand. Chinese are, in principle, much more worried about keeping up a standard of formalities and a strict customer-service provider relationship. This also goes for tattooing (and I had this experience the first time) where the collector respects the artist for his craft, and the artist respects the customer for the flattery of his trust. And, absolutely, for his money, that he wants and deserves.
Despite accomplished tattoo artists actually being called "master", by employees as well as customers, they are fully aware that they're selling a service and that a forthcoming and polite service attitude is of the utmost importance. If you're selling something in this country, you need to be convincing people that it's amazing, always, or potential income is out of your door before you know it. In principle.
For example, my first tattoo artist gave his apprentice a massive amount of shit for not answering the phone politely enough, when I was there. This is not Japan or Korea, but relationships and formalities still can have a very artificial look to the Western eye.
My grasp of the Chinese language is far from terrible, but the fact that I was speaking Chinese with him actually made it worse, because it's not common for an expat to speak it. I should have actually stuck to English, but then again his English wasn't competent enough to understand something like "I don't like water splashes too pointy and transparent." Me speaking Chinese made everyone more curious about the words coming out of my mouth.
You know, screw it, maybe he was having a bad day, maybe I was having a bad day. It just didn't work. He's a fine artist and I'm sure he's going to make a lot of people look better.
Someone earlier said I don't have to like someone to get tattooed by them. I couldn't disagree more. He's not my nurse, he's not my doctor. It works both ways: I don't need his tattoo. I just don't feel like making someone richer with my money, if I don't like them.
That story with the roses... speechless. Thanks for sharing.

The Tim Lehi tiger wraps around the front of my shin and the tail goes up the front of my thigh. I love Tim's tiger's so much, they make me angry. Grez did that Durga on me earlier today, I'm waiting for the swelling to hit. He's real light handed, so I'm sure tomorrow will be worse than getting tattooed. I know pic isn't amazing, I took it myself with iPad, heels touching, and toes turned out. If I just stood straight on, they could see each other, but we couldn't see them.
That picture really does a disservice to the tiger, you can't see the awesomeness of the colors of the face or how it flows, but it's probably better that way. I know it would only make @hogg angry.

@WideOcean, can't you just go back to the polite and serious plumber? I think humility and sensitivity go an awful long way. If your chinese is terrible, maybe he could speak with you in private instead of in front of other customers? I also expect my tattooers to know which elements will and won't work. My husband (who won't tattoo me 'cause I'm a pain in the ass) will be the first person to tell me if I'm "trying to shove 3 lb. of shit in a 2 lb. bag." Or he'll ask "How big do you think your arm is?" when I'm telling him my ideas. I'm sure the tattooer meant no harm, maybe it was a culture/language thing, maybe he misunderstood what you were asking about the added element? Either way, I'm not sure it matters if he's pompous or you're paranoid, you need to be comfortable. Customer service matters. I've never gotten a tattoo from someone I didn't like, enjoying someone's company and conversation make the time go faster. (Unless you're married, then dinner and a movie will go much better than a tattoo.)
I say go back to the plumber or find another plumber. You don't need a souvenir of an unpleasant experience covering valuable real estate. That's like hanging a picture on your wall that you don't like from someone you don't like just in case they visit your house. How about just not letting them in? Go get the positive experience you deserve.
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@HaydenRose, that color thing would've made me insane. Mr. Color Guy should know what looks good. I made a tattooer back out some lime green on something and replace it with pink, and you know what? The lime would've been cooler. If my dentist asked me to pick the shade on a fake tooth to match the others, I'd find another dentist. Of course I'll ask for certain colors/ color themes, but it's their job to know their stuff, my job is to shower, brush my teeth, and not jump around all over the place.

The Tim Lehi tiger wraps around the front of my shin and the tail goes up the front of my thigh. I love Tim's tiger's so much, they make me angry. Grez did that Durga on me earlier today, I'm waiting for the swelling to hit. He's real light handed, so I'm sure tomorrow will be worse than getting tattooed. I know pic isn't amazing, I took it myself with iPad, heels touching, and toes turned out. If I just stood straight on, they could see each other, but we couldn't see them.
That picture really does a disservice to the tiger, you can't see the awesomeness of the colors of the face or how it flows, but it's probably better that way. I know it would only make @hogg angry.

The Tim Lehi tiger wraps around the front of my shin and the tail goes up the front of my thigh. I love Tim's tiger's so much, they make me angry. Grez did that Durga on me earlier today, I'm waiting for the swelling to hit. He's real light handed, so I'm sure tomorrow will be worse than getting tattooed. I know pic isn't amazing, I took it myself with iPad, heels touching, and toes turned out. If I just stood straight on, they could see each other, but we couldn't see them.
That picture really does a disservice to the tiger, you can't see the awesomeness of the colors of the face or how it flows, but it's probably better that way. I know it would only make @hogg angry.

@WideOcean, can't you just go back to the polite and serious plumber? I think humility and sensitivity go an awful long way. If your chinese is terrible, maybe he could speak with you in private instead of in front of other customers? I also expect my tattooers to know which elements will and won't work. My husband (who won't tattoo me 'cause I'm a pain in the ass) will be the first person to tell me if I'm "trying to shove 3 lb. of shit in a 2 lb. bag." Or he'll ask "How big do you think your arm is?" when I'm telling him my ideas. I'm sure the tattooer meant no harm, maybe it was a culture/language thing, maybe he misunderstood what you were asking about the added element? Either way, I'm not sure it matters if he's pompous or you're paranoid, you need to be comfortable. Customer service matters. I've never gotten a tattoo from someone I didn't like, enjoying someone's company and conversation make the time go faster. (Unless you're married, then dinner and a movie will go much better than a tattoo.)
I say go back to the plumber or find another plumber. You don't need a souvenir of an unpleasant experience covering valuable real estate. That's like hanging a picture on your wall that you don't like from someone you don't like just in case they visit your house. How about just not letting them in? Go get the positive experience you deserve.
- - - Updated - - -
@HaydenRose, that color thing would've made me insane. Mr. Color Guy should know what looks good. I made a tattooer back out some lime green on something and replace it with pink, and you know what? The lime would've been cooler. If my dentist asked me to pick the shade on a fake tooth to match the others, I'd find another dentist. Of course I'll ask for certain colors/ color themes, but it's their job to know their stuff, my job is to shower, brush my teeth, and not jump around all over the place.

There was a lot of discussion about not talking about finances on LST in the early days, can we consider this thread respectfully semi-closed? Every shop/city/local tax board has different customs, you can always ask helpers if unclear.

There was a lot of discussion about not talking about finances on LST in the early days, can we consider this thread respectfully semi-closed? Every shop/city/local tax board has different customs, you can always ask helpers if unclear.

There was a lot of discussion about not talking about finances on LST in the early days, can we consider this thread respectfully semi-closed? Every shop/city/local tax board has different customs, you can always ask helpers if unclear.

@WideOcean, can't you just go back to the polite and serious plumber? I think humility and sensitivity go an awful long way. If your chinese is terrible, maybe he could speak with you in private instead of in front of other customers? I also expect my tattooers to know which elements will and won't work. My husband (who won't tattoo me 'cause I'm a pain in the ass) will be the first person to tell me if I'm "trying to shove 3 lb. of shit in a 2 lb. bag." Or he'll ask "How big do you think your arm is?" when I'm telling him my ideas. I'm sure the tattooer meant no harm, maybe it was a culture/language thing, maybe he misunderstood what you were asking about the added element? Either way, I'm not sure it matters if he's pompous or you're paranoid, you need to be comfortable. Customer service matters. I've never gotten a tattoo from someone I didn't like, enjoying someone's company and conversation make the time go faster. (Unless you're married, then dinner and a movie will go much better than a tattoo.)
I say go back to the plumber or find another plumber. You don't need a souvenir of an unpleasant experience covering valuable real estate. That's like hanging a picture on your wall that you don't like from someone you don't like just in case they visit your house. How about just not letting them in? Go get the positive experience you deserve.
- - - Updated - - -
@HaydenRose, that color thing would've made me insane. Mr. Color Guy should know what looks good. I made a tattooer back out some lime green on something and replace it with pink, and you know what? The lime would've been cooler. If my dentist asked me to pick the shade on a fake tooth to match the others, I'd find another dentist. Of course I'll ask for certain colors/ color themes, but it's their job to know their stuff, my job is to shower, brush my teeth, and not jump around all over the place.