dari

Sad. They should sue the lady for cruelty to animals. Fuck her sim card.

Maybe tattooing is a real job? I get by.

On my slightly less hodge-podgey arm, I've got a three-eyed tiger head from the good Dave Wallin. My actual elbow is where the third eye is. Damn, sorry for the shitty photo.

How the hell do you not notice that before it's too late? Seriously, sounds like he deserved it.

i hope that was done on Charlie Sheen himself...

Done and done. Apologies to whoever had the high bid before, because I just jacked it up another 50 pounds. :)
Thanks, Stewart and Valerie. This is a great project and I love the sheets.

no one does a better rose than scott sylvia.

Mods- Please move or delete if this violates the rules....
Japanese Earthquake Relief
From now until June 1st, 2011, I will donate 100% of the proceeds from the sale of all of the 3 Japanese colors I sell. These colors are J. Orange, J. Red and J. Pink.
You can get them on the website at Waverly Color Co. or from me directly at the Baltimore Tattoo Museum. ( Please call ahead of time if you are coming to see me in person.)
The 2 oz. bottles are $ 30.00 and the 4 oz. bottles are $57.00. Thanks for your support as always and dig deep! I can't imagine the lives of people that have been changed overnight by a natural disaster.
I'm heartened by the outpouring of support in the tattoo community and I see this as something I can do to get money there relatively quickly to the people who need it now. All money will be forwarded to the Japanese Red Cross as it comes in to avoid delay.
Have a great day and please repost and pass on this info as you see fit.
Bill

Robin,
Thanks for joining us, your collection is awesome. If you do make it back to SF, let us know, we could have a little LST get together while you're in town. Thanks so much for sharing your gallery!
Dari

Just got back from this. My wife's favorite piece was by (drum roll please) Lizzie! That was awesome! Please post a pic of it here so everyone else can appreciate it.
I also saw the California condor you did on Ms. RAD in person the other night. That thing is killer. Props to Lizzie Week in SF.

Great story. Turkeys can be pretty fierce, a wild one attacked my car last year right before thanksgiving, he was pissed!

Deb,
first off, yes big weight lifted and i feel so much better!
i told him about the 2 that i already have, but i failed to mention anything about future tattoos, is it too much to hope that he will put 2 and 2 together and assume that since i started getting tattoos that im just going to keep going?!
i am hoping that the response i got last night was kind of his way of saying that im an adult now and no amount words that he could say would change my mind, so he just didnt use any at all! he raised me to be a very responsible person and i think really hard and research things really well that i want to do before jumping into them.

I find myself liking tattoos that are bad more than tattoos that are good.
Handpoked stuff (Fuk it, Michelles A Bitch), weed leaves, reapers, decks of cards, wolves. Stuff like that. Names. Punkrock stuff. Poorly rendered, badly healed, impulsive physical graffiti. I think it says more about a person that really deeply considered, high end tattoos.
I think tattoos have become so good that its refreshing to see someone sporting really shitty homemade stuff. Catches my eye.

I really, really hope they play VH at my funeral!

Dammit! It's impossible not to be trendy, just got an outline on my solar plexus/bottom ribs. Guess I should've kept with my original idea, microscopic text in the shape of a robot behind my ear.

OMG IMO FTW = what you said first

it was so nice to meet you Hogg! i love that these meet ups feel almost like great family dinners. good stories and lots of laughs.

I was 15 or 14 when I walked into a shop... Deep Ellum, it was a Sunday afternoon, my folks were always super curious types... They had me and my little sister with them after like a big weekend, Texas vs OU, or Fair Days, or Art Fest....
We tried to walk into Pair O' Dice, my mom and sis wanted a piercing from Skin and Bones... Stace wasn't at the counter, but I can remeber Richard Stell, standing up with Deb on his left, and him ye.ling to get those fucking kids out of the shop.... Hahaha, my Dad being taller then Richard popped off something back, and we were out of there....
Years, YEARS later, I had been coming in watching Richard tattoo, and he finally was like, I like you, you should buy the piercing shop and be my new partner.... After all was said and done, lease signed... I asked, "That's always been your station right?"
His reply, Yup...
I said, well.... funny how life works out, you kicked me out when I was like 15... I come back and bought half the place....fucking small world. It was a Sunday when you kicked me out, you're usually off... So it was either a shitty day, or something was wrong, either way it didn't keep me away...

My first one done when I was 15 years old

Not bad for a 40 year old tattoo
My latest two weeks ago

Ms. RAD is also known as Ms. UNBELIEVABLY NICE. Jake is a very cool guy, too (which is good, as I hate it when assholes have great tattoos I'm jealous of). And of course Scott and Dari are awesome, but Scott would be much awesomer if he would embrace his inner steampunk.

Oliver will be guesting at Allstar Tattoo here in sunny Ireland April 10 - 15th!! If you are wanting some work from him while he is here call the shop 00353(0)61409439 or email [email protected]
Don't miss out people
Thanks
Ross

My name is David Hernandez, but since I’m in the U.S. Navy, people have started calling me Navy Davy. I’m currently stationed in San Diego, CA. I have been actively seeking a proper tattoo apprenticeship, with no luck. It’s okay though, through introducing myself to the local tattoo community and getting tattooed, I’ve been meeting great artists and have gotten nothing but great and encouraging comments on my portfolio. The only issue I’m having is that I can’t devote 100% of the time, due to my Navy schedule being in the way, which I can understand. Also, the problem is that with so many hacks and posers asking for apprenticeships, no one is being taken serious anymore. So when I ask for an apprenticeship after the posers asked, the artists are in the negative mindset and they don’t even take the time to look at my portfolio. It sucks man!
Luckily, the few tattoo artists who take the time to look at my portfolio are genuinely impressed, but because of my Navy job being so unsure if I’m moving or staying in the area, they are hesitant to commit. I get it: “Give you my knowledge, and then you bounce,” makes sense why I’m not being considered for an apprenticeship. However, those same artists are cool enough to let me hang out at their shops and share some knowledge with me. I’ve been pretty frequent at some shops paint nights and I’m making great friends in the industry, so I can’t complain. I’m even selling and trading some of my flash!
I love tattoos. I love the history. I love the closeness of the tattoo community. I love where it’s going and I’d like to think that down the line, I could be part of a lineage that goes back to the early days of tattooing.
I want to take this time and forum to thank some people that have accepted me as an artist and not just another hack.
I’d like to thank:
- Fip Buchanan of Avalon II, for being the first person to deny me, but actually looking at my portfolio, then recommending I go see Mike Martin, which I did.
- Mike Martin of Flesh Skin Graphix and all their crew (Susan, La Green Eyes, Crow and Drew Linden) for all the painting knowledge he’s shared with me and for the great conversations we’ve had. His apprentice Drew Linden, who introduced me to Arches Watercolor paper and a certain website (wink wink).
- Luke Wessman at Lucky’s Tattoo, although he’s a busy ass person, he continues to squeeze me in for some chair time and tattoos me for unbelievable prices and his work alone continues to inspire me to pursue a career in tattoo.
- Dan O’Brien of Nite Owl Tattoo and his crew (Andre Servin and Nikki), First person to invite me to paint nights at his shop.
- Nemo of Midway Tattoo, who believes in me and is willing to vouch for me, only after seeing my flash for 15 minutes. It’s still hard to believe he actually said that, but he did!
- Last Sparrow Tattoo for allowing me to be a part of such an amazing forum specifically for the community and industry. Best site ever!
So many to thank!!! but I didn’t want to make this long, which I did. So I’ll end it now. Thanks for reading,….if you read this far that is….
-David "NavyDavy" Hernandez

I think I should clarify... I DO NOT think she is chubby in this pic. What I LOVE is that she gave permission to publish an untouched photo of her real ass, cellulite and all, little rolls of back fat that we all have, imperfect skin, stretch marks, uneven tan, etc. All the things they usually Photoshop out of a bikini pic. Even that ever so tiny curve of her tummy on the left and the ever so tiny curve of her muffin top on the right would have been Photoshopped out. I just love the reality and the ballsyness of it since these are things that have a small potential to negatively impact her career. It is a "Fuck You" to the beauty industry's demand for perfection in my opinion.

Morimoto is the coolest! He oozes creativity. I always thought it'd be hilarious to get a japanese tattoo with morimoto as a samurai cutting up a dragon into sushi rolls.

Hi from Queens NY.
I'm 44 and just got my first tat this past December. Could never figure out until recently what i wanted on me forever, but now i'm working on my second.
Thanks to NY Adorned for their guidance and work on my ink, and their direction to here. :)