wtjon06

The 21st Annual Richmond Tattoo Arts Festival will be held on Nov 22-24 2013 at the Richmond Convention Center. Please be sure to check out the website Richmond Tattoo Arts Festival - November 22 – 24, 2013 and the facebook page for updates, artist listings, show schedules, and hotel information. Look forward to seeing you there.

Ahh. I'm in Richmond, VA. A CNBC "poll" listed us as being the #rd "most tattooed city" due to our shop/population ratio. And as of about a week ago, two strippers (sad but true) are opening a shop here. And to top it off, it's only two doors down from the shop Jessie Smith works at. I think our total number now is around 55-60 shops. And that's not counting the kitchen magicians and trailer tradesmen.

them lettering book are a "stepping stone" to what can be done. the truth is, if you trace the letters directly out of the book, it totally shows. there is nothing like hand drawn letters.
even when i do OE letters, ill tape tracing paper over the original style and then redraw my version of them directly on top. hand drawn letters have much more soul in them than any traced letters will ever have.

i have always been a huge fan of lettering. even before tattooing. ive always noticed the lettering in cool old signs and window season displays.
once i started tattooing, first time i saw some dave gibson lettering and some jack rudy letting i was FLOORED!
you guys remember the old National tattoo convention posters that jack would design? each poster had like 9 different styles of lettering in them. all of them amazing.
that being said, if you want to be good at lettering, study the shit out of it! i notice it and space draw it all the time. for some reason, i always see good lettering at the movie theater. like right before the movie starts when words come up telling you about no smoking and popcorn and shit like that. when you cant think of anything to draw, draw letters. and i dont mean write letters, i mean DRAW letters. there is a difference.
i could go on and on with this subject.
ms rad, if you want good lettering, look for sign painters manuals. also, look at other peoples letters. see what you like and learn how to do it. and then add your own spin on it.
tattooers here in milwaukee HATE doing lettering. ill do it all day long. word
edit..... favorite style of lettering for tattoos..... SCRIPT AND PIKE STYLE LETTERS. done correctly, they will always look classy and timeless
worst style of letters for tattoos...GRAFFITI. ugh. just ugh

the indomitable Tim Lehi. Interesting to see an American image of an eagle with the Japanese background

i was taking a peek at ross nagle's wordpress just now, such killer stuff...
he posted this eagle that is on his own neck, done by tim hendricks. i thought it needed to be shared here, 'cause it's really cool.
hope you don't mind the stolen material ross?! thanks dude!

A few of Richards Bald Birdies... Animals: Eagles, Snakes, Big Cats... Most of his favorite subject matter to tattoo...

A few pics of Richards. . .

So we've got a lady head thread, how about an entire lady body thread!
Here's one that I've always liked! It's by Mike Wilson. And if you knew the guy in the photo, please know I mean no disrespect by posting this, he was a friend of mine to, and he had and did some awesome tattoos.

I really like the simplicity of the design. The shading is so minimal yet so effective.