dari

I for one have had my tattooer come back to lurking after I told him I drove 3 hours to get specifically tattooed by him based on a reference from this site. I also have come to realize how lucky I am to live in Virginia and have a love for tattoos, especially old school stuff.

One day when you have a sleeve or two and 30 other tattoos you'll be able to say 'this was my first'

I am new to this. I am still trying to figure out the format, so I have not dug very deep yet. Most of the things Ive read do sound like counter talk. I get enough of that and have nothing to add. Some of the threads i have read(the ones i get the most out of) are a little out of my league and if i had something to add, its already been added. I do have some things to discuss, but they seem to come too close to giving away information to whoever may be on here. I own and am the sole tattooer at my shop and I am at a turning point in my ten year career. I have a customer base that needs education, but shows potential. I have nobody around me to take advice from, but I know I have a chance to bring real tattoo culture to my town. I am hoping this site fills some of those gaps for me and, in turn, I can find folks I can trust with advice i have to give. I am a tattooer and i am here, learning the ropes and waiting for my turn to contribute. Thanks for this.

Since there are obviously going to be far more tattoo collectors in the world than tattooers (especially good ones!) then as time goes on and the site grows the posts by tattooers will become (relatively) fewer and farther between. That's even if every one of them was as active as they were when the site first started out which for reasons already mentioned is unlikely.
I for one am always excited to log in knowing that there is going to be good discussion of quality tattoos going on. That there's a chance one or more of the best artists in the world has shared or contributed is a bonus and is what makes this forum great.

Hello everyone, this is my first post here on LST, I'm a tattooer from California and have been curious to come on the LST forum and see what it had to offer. I do believe a controlled and open-minded forum is such a great tool to educated and enlighten folks to some of the nuances of the tattoo community.
As I began to read this post, I hoped, that I would find there are still tattooers with a voice contributing to this site. I find it absolutely refreshing to see that, not so far into this Post, a well respected and talented tattooer, @StewartRobson posted an articulate and well thought out reply. I look forward to 'exploring' the forum more and also contributing where I can.
Thanks!
Joe

I can only speculate, but most of the people who have gone, have had things happen in their life that make their life a lot busier. A lot of people have gotten married and or had kids (grandkids), some people have become much more in demand as a tattooer, others have other projects that occupy their time.
I agree that the dynamic has become the same as the tattoo shop, and that is why I usually am on in the morning and not so much at night. Usually someone has sucked the life out of me by the time I get home from the shop, and i am done talking about tattoos for the day.

This brings to mind a question for tattooers: If an aspiring apprentice has said $15k, would they be better off
A. Following the above advice and finding someone who will apprentice them for cash. Or,
B. Using $3000 to get a bunch of tattoos from great artists and using the balance to get 'unbusy', then work on drawing and painting all day everyday?
I'm interested just because we're on the topic, not at all for myself as I have no interest in being a tattooer. I would choose option C - use all $15,000 to get awesome tattoos!
I also think it would be likely that the shops most willing to take cash for apprentices are the ones prospective apprentices should be most wary of (with exceptions I'm sure).

UGH. Crazy busy day, dealing with an a-hole attending and a pager that just wouldn't stop beeping. However, after a backrub from my sweetie and 4 martinis life is feeling much better (and slightly more spiny).

Do you live in mainland europe? If not, make the most of it and get the 2hr flight to Barcelona and get tattooed by Jondix. That's what I would do.

That letter was amazing.
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This thread reminds me of when I occasionally eavesdrop on my kids from the next room. Sometimes if I don't get involved in their arguments, they figure out how to work it out themselves without me running in and yelling at everyone. I'm not saying that you're like children, I'm saying that I'm so proud of how LST has grown. You guys are awesome.

That letter was amazing.
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This thread reminds me of when I occasionally eavesdrop on my kids from the next room. Sometimes if I don't get involved in their arguments, they figure out how to work it out themselves without me running in and yelling at everyone. I'm not saying that you're like children, I'm saying that I'm so proud of how LST has grown. You guys are awesome.

That letter was amazing.
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This thread reminds me of when I occasionally eavesdrop on my kids from the next room. Sometimes if I don't get involved in their arguments, they figure out how to work it out themselves without me running in and yelling at everyone. I'm not saying that you're like children, I'm saying that I'm so proud of how LST has grown. You guys are awesome.

That letter was amazing.
- - - Updated - - -
This thread reminds me of when I occasionally eavesdrop on my kids from the next room. Sometimes if I don't get involved in their arguments, they figure out how to work it out themselves without me running in and yelling at everyone. I'm not saying that you're like children, I'm saying that I'm so proud of how LST has grown. You guys are awesome.

If I drew this, I swear I would frame it.
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Actually, I think this should be entered into the next contest. Despite @Pugilist's commandments, I'm bringing this image to my next appointment.

That letter was amazing.
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This thread reminds me of when I occasionally eavesdrop on my kids from the next room. Sometimes if I don't get involved in their arguments, they figure out how to work it out themselves without me running in and yelling at everyone. I'm not saying that you're like children, I'm saying that I'm so proud of how LST has grown. You guys are awesome.

That letter was amazing.
- - - Updated - - -
This thread reminds me of when I occasionally eavesdrop on my kids from the next room. Sometimes if I don't get involved in their arguments, they figure out how to work it out themselves without me running in and yelling at everyone. I'm not saying that you're like children, I'm saying that I'm so proud of how LST has grown. You guys are awesome.

That letter was amazing.
- - - Updated - - -
This thread reminds me of when I occasionally eavesdrop on my kids from the next room. Sometimes if I don't get involved in their arguments, they figure out how to work it out themselves without me running in and yelling at everyone. I'm not saying that you're like children, I'm saying that I'm so proud of how LST has grown. You guys are awesome.

That letter was amazing.
- - - Updated - - -
This thread reminds me of when I occasionally eavesdrop on my kids from the next room. Sometimes if I don't get involved in their arguments, they figure out how to work it out themselves without me running in and yelling at everyone. I'm not saying that you're like children, I'm saying that I'm so proud of how LST has grown. You guys are awesome.

Tim Lehi

Okay- i'll start my own morning column here.
Ha ha.
Thank you for the kind words

You've always been one of the more thoughtful posters here, @Deb Yarian. We're happy to have you post as often as you'd like.

I recently apologized for my inactivity here.
I still enjoy looking through and reading new posts - but haven 't contributed or posted as much as I used to--- I don't know if it's because I'm old or just an old tattooer --- but I felt like many of my responses lacked empathy and came off impatient or preachy.
Sorry, i'll try harder

@kylegrey perfect response. The crux of the matter is that this site is only as good as the things people here say. Lets ALL try to be thoughtful and help others be thoughtful too.
Although I can't say I speak for all tattooers... "we" - meaning tattooers, tattoo artists etc. were busy before we joined this site. We're still busy. That's not why we don't post.
Switch the focus from 'busy' to ' interested' and think about what keeps people interested. If someone can be entertained by, benefit or learn from someone else, they are interested. Otherwise it's a one-way-street. Entertainment is easy to find on the internet, so that leaves the other two if we're talking long-term.
Tattooers is peoples too.

Thank you, @Shannon Shirley and @Stewart Robson for starting this thread and adding to it. I agree that part of what attracted me to LST is that some of my favorite artists posted here, along with other artists that I've come to be familiar with thanks to LST. And the passionate, knowledgable collectors here are unrivaled. I'd love to see more great tattooers post here. I know that Jojo Ackermann, Bryan Burk, Juan Puente, Mario Desa, Nick Colella, Doug Hardy (to name but a few) have posted here in the past, but don't much any more. I mention them by name not to call them out, but because I genuinely admire their work as well as their opinions. And of course, they all have great, great stories!
For my small part as a moderator, I try to help LST be the kind of place where tattooers feel welcome and want to share their knowledge, tell some stories, weigh in with considered opinions, and of course, bust a few chops here and there. Non-tattooers can only benefit from that kind of community. I am very grateful to everyone else who has the same goal.

@Stewart Robson, thanks for chiming in. Apologies for the forum running slowly. We are hopefully moving to a newer and faster server this week!
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We have grown quite a bit on LST and that can be a good thing because we have had some great new members contribute, but like any situation, there are going to be some members you don't mesh with.
Our goal of LST is to help people understand how to get good tattoos. To do their research beforehand. To educate on the good artists vs. scratchers. Also educate that you sort of get what you pay for and tattoos are not something you want to start bargain shopping for.
We are going to get some noobs that do not know where to start but if we send them to Stewart, Valerie, shannon, Scott, Tim, etc. (too many to list) instead of some cheeseball, we have done a good thing.
Regarding noobs asking the same question: we have started to create a welcome PM that has some FAQ's directing them to more common noob threads like "is my tattoo infected?", "what lotion/ointment should I use?", etc.
Would love if we could get some input on this FAQ so we can put it in one place for noobs to read.