irezumi

Yeah me too. I'm doing a guest spot in Bmore this summer so that should give me a chance to go up to NY and see that.
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Skulls | California Academy of Sciences
May 16th to November 30th.
If any of you in SF decide not to see this I'm gonna slap you when we meet in real life. I'm gonna be making a visit later this year specifically to see this and bring a sketchbook.
Tomorrow the admission is free.

March 15, 2014 - September 8, 2014
Bodies in Balance: The Art of Tibetan Medicine
The Rubin Museum of Art
150 West 17th Street
New York, NY 10011
The first major exhibition to present the origins, history and practice of a millennium of visual history, Bodies in Balance explores the guiding principles of the Tibetan science of healing represented in medical paintings, manuscripts, and medical instruments. A multi-media installation shows how Tibetan medicine is used today.
Approximately 140 objects dating from the 9th century to the present day demonstrate the advancement of Tibetan medical knowledge as it was codified in medical texts, illustrated in art, demonstrated by medical tools, and made evident by examples of medicines compounded from natural ingredients and applied in practice.

Keepcalm, it's entirely possible you won't be a lucky as to have an artist or situation where you feel you don't need some input. Like above people said, personally I have never changed a design simply because I approached them for their style.
99% of most clients are not like that. That's a special breed. Ok maybe 97%.
I have been stuck redrawing something a bit too many times and it does get aggravating in some cases. It happens but thankfully not often. It's kind if part if the deal; we try to make you what you want, with the exception of professional judgement calls of technical aspects such as design structure. But if it's as simple as "I'm not sure I like the way those wings look, it's too ____ for me" then it's part of the job to try to make it more appealing to you, without the ego of "this is what I wanted to do so that I can get a picture of it.". I would rather re-draw the wings and make you happy than have you go to a different shop later and say "this isn't what I wanted".
The other day I drew up a bird and roses and banner for someone brought in some shitty JPEG that they liked. I took down what they wanted, made an appointment, and then spend some time making a drawing for that tattoo. When he came in for a follow-up before the actual tattoo he looked at it and I could tell something bothered him. Apparently the bird I used (thanks Jerry) wasn't to his liking, he wanted it closer to the lame one on the JPEG. To me it looked rad because it was a classic looking bird. To him he just wanted a different style, and there's nothing wrong with that, it's just a matter of personal taste. I was a little bummed, but I gave him the kind of bird he wanted. And he left super happy. Which means he'll be coming back and bring his friends and maybe one of them want the 'cooler' bird.
Don't be scared to speak up. You live with this tattoo until you're dead. I will see that tattoo maybe once in my life at the most. You should be comfortable with what you wear, I often hear that they didn't want what the artist wanted to do. Well if you don't speak up then it's not our fault!
Be assertive and make sure that if you don't like it then don't get it.
Edit; Siri made all kind of blunders here, Apologies for odd sentence structure or the use of wrong words.

Just because you got something stabbing through your head doesn't mean that you're having a bad time

Oh I've got a few, some laughable some not, but I'm definitely not ashamed of this one

First tattoo I ever did, at Tux's studio in '99. I was so nervous telling him & his wife the night before; I asked them to meet me for coffee and got it off my chest that I was ready to do this. He tried to talk me out of it by mentioning no heath benefits, no retirement pay, high-risk occupation, "why don't you be a vet or something, much easier. That's what Alex Herman did after quitting the biz". I could not be swayed. So he said"OK, show up at the shop tmrw and you can tattoo yourself". That really surprised me, I was not expecting that. I was prepared for "what the fuck, you shouldn't be doing this get the hell outta my sight". He had a legit rep for being rather brash and didn't pull punches. Chased a few people out of the shop looking for apprenticeships.
When I got there I realized I had no idea what to put on myself. That part had not even crossed my mind, just "Holy shit Tux is gonna let me tattoo myself". So I said, "what should I pick?"
He handed me this one and said "That's the first one I did on myself" which may or may not be true (once upon a long time ago he did the borneo scorpion on Higgs and told him he drew it himself hahaha what a classic fibber) but I didn't ask twice. He set up 2 Percy Waters, loud as hell, told me they were worth more than my life, showed me some basic info and turned me loose. That was one of the most exciting moments ever up to that point in my tattoo experiences.
Best design ever? no. Best job ever? No. Some good blowouts? Yup. Something I'm proud of? Most definitely.

Oh I've got a few, some laughable some not, but I'm definitely not ashamed of this one

First tattoo I ever did, at Tux's studio in '99. I was so nervous telling him & his wife the night before; I asked them to meet me for coffee and got it off my chest that I was ready to do this. He tried to talk me out of it by mentioning no heath benefits, no retirement pay, high-risk occupation, "why don't you be a vet or something, much easier. That's what Alex Herman did after quitting the biz". I could not be swayed. So he said"OK, show up at the shop tmrw and you can tattoo yourself". That really surprised me, I was not expecting that. I was prepared for "what the fuck, you shouldn't be doing this get the hell outta my sight". He had a legit rep for being rather brash and didn't pull punches. Chased a few people out of the shop looking for apprenticeships.
When I got there I realized I had no idea what to put on myself. That part had not even crossed my mind, just "Holy shit Tux is gonna let me tattoo myself". So I said, "what should I pick?"
He handed me this one and said "That's the first one I did on myself" which may or may not be true (once upon a long time ago he did the borneo scorpion on Higgs and told him he drew it himself hahaha what a classic fibber) but I didn't ask twice. He set up 2 Percy Waters, loud as hell, told me they were worth more than my life, showed me some basic info and turned me loose. That was one of the most exciting moments ever up to that point in my tattoo experiences.
Best design ever? no. Best job ever? No. Some good blowouts? Yup. Something I'm proud of? Most definitely.

Oh I've got a few, some laughable some not, but I'm definitely not ashamed of this one

First tattoo I ever did, at Tux's studio in '99. I was so nervous telling him & his wife the night before; I asked them to meet me for coffee and got it off my chest that I was ready to do this. He tried to talk me out of it by mentioning no heath benefits, no retirement pay, high-risk occupation, "why don't you be a vet or something, much easier. That's what Alex Herman did after quitting the biz". I could not be swayed. So he said"OK, show up at the shop tmrw and you can tattoo yourself". That really surprised me, I was not expecting that. I was prepared for "what the fuck, you shouldn't be doing this get the hell outta my sight". He had a legit rep for being rather brash and didn't pull punches. Chased a few people out of the shop looking for apprenticeships.
When I got there I realized I had no idea what to put on myself. That part had not even crossed my mind, just "Holy shit Tux is gonna let me tattoo myself". So I said, "what should I pick?"
He handed me this one and said "That's the first one I did on myself" which may or may not be true (once upon a long time ago he did the borneo scorpion on Higgs and told him he drew it himself hahaha what a classic fibber) but I didn't ask twice. He set up 2 Percy Waters, loud as hell, told me they were worth more than my life, showed me some basic info and turned me loose. That was one of the most exciting moments ever up to that point in my tattoo experiences.
Best design ever? no. Best job ever? No. Some good blowouts? Yup. Something I'm proud of? Most definitely.

Oh I've got a few, some laughable some not, but I'm definitely not ashamed of this one

First tattoo I ever did, at Tux's studio in '99. I was so nervous telling him & his wife the night before; I asked them to meet me for coffee and got it off my chest that I was ready to do this. He tried to talk me out of it by mentioning no heath benefits, no retirement pay, high-risk occupation, "why don't you be a vet or something, much easier. That's what Alex Herman did after quitting the biz". I could not be swayed. So he said"OK, show up at the shop tmrw and you can tattoo yourself". That really surprised me, I was not expecting that. I was prepared for "what the fuck, you shouldn't be doing this get the hell outta my sight". He had a legit rep for being rather brash and didn't pull punches. Chased a few people out of the shop looking for apprenticeships.
When I got there I realized I had no idea what to put on myself. That part had not even crossed my mind, just "Holy shit Tux is gonna let me tattoo myself". So I said, "what should I pick?"
He handed me this one and said "That's the first one I did on myself" which may or may not be true (once upon a long time ago he did the borneo scorpion on Higgs and told him he drew it himself hahaha what a classic fibber) but I didn't ask twice. He set up 2 Percy Waters, loud as hell, told me they were worth more than my life, showed me some basic info and turned me loose. That was one of the most exciting moments ever up to that point in my tattoo experiences.
Best design ever? no. Best job ever? No. Some good blowouts? Yup. Something I'm proud of? Most definitely.

Oh I've got a few, some laughable some not, but I'm definitely not ashamed of this one

First tattoo I ever did, at Tux's studio in '99. I was so nervous telling him & his wife the night before; I asked them to meet me for coffee and got it off my chest that I was ready to do this. He tried to talk me out of it by mentioning no heath benefits, no retirement pay, high-risk occupation, "why don't you be a vet or something, much easier. That's what Alex Herman did after quitting the biz". I could not be swayed. So he said"OK, show up at the shop tmrw and you can tattoo yourself". That really surprised me, I was not expecting that. I was prepared for "what the fuck, you shouldn't be doing this get the hell outta my sight". He had a legit rep for being rather brash and didn't pull punches. Chased a few people out of the shop looking for apprenticeships.
When I got there I realized I had no idea what to put on myself. That part had not even crossed my mind, just "Holy shit Tux is gonna let me tattoo myself". So I said, "what should I pick?"
He handed me this one and said "That's the first one I did on myself" which may or may not be true (once upon a long time ago he did the borneo scorpion on Higgs and told him he drew it himself hahaha what a classic fibber) but I didn't ask twice. He set up 2 Percy Waters, loud as hell, told me they were worth more than my life, showed me some basic info and turned me loose. That was one of the most exciting moments ever up to that point in my tattoo experiences.
Best design ever? no. Best job ever? No. Some good blowouts? Yup. Something I'm proud of? Most definitely.

Oh I've got a few, some laughable some not, but I'm definitely not ashamed of this one

First tattoo I ever did, at Tux's studio in '99. I was so nervous telling him & his wife the night before; I asked them to meet me for coffee and got it off my chest that I was ready to do this. He tried to talk me out of it by mentioning no heath benefits, no retirement pay, high-risk occupation, "why don't you be a vet or something, much easier. That's what Alex Herman did after quitting the biz". I could not be swayed. So he said"OK, show up at the shop tmrw and you can tattoo yourself". That really surprised me, I was not expecting that. I was prepared for "what the fuck, you shouldn't be doing this get the hell outta my sight". He had a legit rep for being rather brash and didn't pull punches. Chased a few people out of the shop looking for apprenticeships.
When I got there I realized I had no idea what to put on myself. That part had not even crossed my mind, just "Holy shit Tux is gonna let me tattoo myself". So I said, "what should I pick?"
He handed me this one and said "That's the first one I did on myself" which may or may not be true (once upon a long time ago he did the borneo scorpion on Higgs and told him he drew it himself hahaha what a classic fibber) but I didn't ask twice. He set up 2 Percy Waters, loud as hell, told me they were worth more than my life, showed me some basic info and turned me loose. That was one of the most exciting moments ever up to that point in my tattoo experiences.
Best design ever? no. Best job ever? No. Some good blowouts? Yup. Something I'm proud of? Most definitely.

Just because you got something stabbing through your head doesn't mean that you're having a bad time

I have a friend who for the past week has been crying on his FB about mean girls and the last one that dissed him and how she could've been great blah blah
Get over it and go meet some new women. Bitching about something that didn't go your way is just pissing into the wind.

^all it does is bleed
*not that I've tried; I just know better

Not re-pressed yet but worth seeking out is the Eye Tattooed America book. For some reason I just assume everybody has the same books I have. I'm kind of in the same boat as Ed in that respect of not realizing how popular they were. When I heard they were reprinting Tattootime I said to myself "I thought everybody has those books?"

Just because you got something stabbing through your head doesn't mean that you're having a bad time

@scubaron If we are talking about the last 17 years then the only significant difference is more companies making it. The basic formulas themselves and for the most part the material that makes up the pigment particles haven't changed much. The only real significant change in the last 30 or so years is the introduction of synthetic binders. Without getting technical or saying more than this forum calls for I can sum it up into the difference between natural or synthetic ink.
There are a lot more companies making synthetic ink with bright shiny packaging and sponsorship deals, tv appearances, etc, so to someone it might seem like there's all kinds of new technology and brighter colors but that's not really accurate.

you can find a lot of his old sheets from Spaulding still available. Color them yourself!

And/or fire.

Just because you got something stabbing through your head doesn't mean that you're having a bad time

aka The Blastover

That'll be a fun one for the kids to see at the water park! Last time I went I was getting a nasty look from a parent for a nekkid pinup on my leg at eye-level with their son & daughter.... This'll trump that.

That'll be a fun one for the kids to see at the water park! Last time I went I was getting a nasty look from a parent for a nekkid pinup on my leg at eye-level with their son & daughter.... This'll trump that.

That'll be a fun one for the kids to see at the water park! Last time I went I was getting a nasty look from a parent for a nekkid pinup on my leg at eye-level with their son & daughter.... This'll trump that.

The best and most durable inks are still made with powder pigments and natural binders.
I just made some last week. My mentors all use the same thing. I'll bet 95% of the tattoo that get the most 'likes' on this forum are made with these types of ink.
The 'Newer' types of ink (pre-dispersed) are made with synthetic binders (plastic for lack of a better word) and are completely unnatural and have many many more allergic reaction problems with many clients.
I could go on and on but he tech info isn't really what I'm trying to get into. Just trust that the powder inks we're talking about are still the best to use.
Lets see if the skin candy dude pops up here in this thread to talk about that crap he pushes.

Got 2 art shows coming up later this year and have plenty of work to finish by then. 2 guest spots in GA and Bmore this summer and 1 or 2 other trips as well to SF and NY as well. Gonna start getting my back done real soon, that'll be a long time coming. Whole lotta shit going on and I'm spending too much time on the internet these days. So much so that I'm blundering into careless posts; I have curb a couple of forums for the sake of not being tempted to waste time. Not being able to post will actually be an awesome thing I'm doing.
Hopefully I've been able to be a mostly positive/helpful presence here and all that. The folks here that I know or follow me, I'll be in touch when I'm in your city and/or when those 2 shows come up.
Keep it up here everybody, it's been good!