Dan S

That's some sick shit right there! If your knee was anything like mine were, you ain't feeling any too sprightly about now!!! Don't wanna come on like some comp geek, but you don't need to use the insert image function, that's where ya got the extra ubbc hash from...delete that an your pic will still come up.

Hey Kodie...I mentioned this thread to an artist from Oz, hopefully he will check it out and maybe be able to point you int he right direction. Whatever you do, don't let some scratcher have at you, and be careful about where you wander in to ask about getting something done...I hear tell it's some funky places there these days!

Hi Kodie...welcome to LST, hope you enjoy yer posting here! What type of thing are you looking to get for a memorial?

A swim in Lake Michigan? Now???? Man, you sure you're from Wisconsin?

Man...imagine setting up the outline on a plastic stencil. You really wouldahaddawanna!!!

As an old fart, I gots to agree. I had my left ear pierced when I was 12 years old, and have worn a stud in it since then, got my left nipple pierced when I was 18, it's still open, but I don't wear anything in it. My oldest gauged his ears out when he turned 18, but figured it out an leaves em empty. I've offered to take a tin-snip to 'em, but for some reason, he won't let me...they're closing up anyhow. I know, I know. Back in the day, when I got my ear pierced, the oldtimers (like me) were telling each other how faggy and shitty it looked. Every generation has it's own thing, maybe the next big fad will be plates in the lips. I do believe the Mursi are the present masters of this, but it's been around quite a few African-and even one Easter-Euro culture for quite some time. All that said, hey, if it's your thing, go for it! I've done too much wrong in my life to be judgemental of anyone else, whether it's how they look, who they sleep with, or what they do to their body.

Send 'em out west on a road trip...I know some "sweet" parlors they could maybe score a guest spot in.

Very Kool!!! A slight variant of the "new-style" Black Cat logo, color spots on the whiskers are a bit different, edges roughed-up...most excellent! I like mine better, but hey, that's just me! Congrats on a righteous piece!!!

Must have been a slow night...go in there on a late Saturday when there's a fresh batch graduating from Great Mistakes, then you'll REALLY see it jumping! And believe me, they can handle any action that walks through the door. As noted elsewhere, that 'hood was stone ghetto not too very long ago, and once upon a time, there was a firearm very much in evidence when a stranger walked into the shop. Gotta love that place.

Major out of context, for sure...just a small yank of the chain there! I wouldn't go to a "boutique" shop, my only point is that maybe you want to go one step up from the arcade shop. Again, a lot of it is in the definition of "porn". I'm talking hardcore here, I don't think Maxim or Playboy are on anyone's radar, and I don't think one mag stuffed in a pile is a big deal. If I see that the SHOP is subscribed to, for instance, Hustler, yeah, I might have second thoughts. But again, as I said elsewhere, if I saw a bible in a shop I'd have second thoughts! I agreee about CTC completely. They are a stone old-skool shop, they get all kinds of people in there all day and all night. Loud music, rough talk, but I've never seen any skin books laying around, not in any of their locations. Guess it's all a matter of degree. I would never presume to tell someone how to run their bidness, I am only pointing out that to be seen as a professional outside of your own trade, you may have to make a few adjustments.

Gots to disagree on that, but hey-a lack of uniformity is a good thing. Loud music, cussing, locker-room convo in general, all of that is different from real-live hardcore porn. Again, I'm not talking Playboy, all of that genre, but Hustler type stuff. To me it's pretty simple. Tattooing, as a whole, has moved out of the shadows and arcades of the world and into the supposedly "legit" business world. If you run an "underground" shop, one that caters to those who by choice are outside of societal norms, i.e.; hardcore scooter tramps, tattoo aficionados, and others who are part of one "scene" or another, then you can put out anything you want and you probably won't lose too many customers. All depends on what your definition of "too many" is! If you want to have a guy walk out who is willing to spend thousands on some serious coverage, well, I wish I had your money! IF you run a shop that is "professional", and caters to a diverse crowd, then it's probably better for you to have a professional atmosphere, at least in your waiting area. This is where people come in and form an impression of your shop, of you, and of your work. This is where they whup out that long green and hand it to the person at the counter. Not the place for crotch-shots and fuck-you's. Here's the thing. I'm what many describe as a "biker", am fairly heavily tattooed, engage in all sorts of behaviors that others may view as a bit sketchy, and I've even been know to look at porn now and then. All that said, I run a business, and when I'm working at my business, even if my tattoing is visible, which it usually is, I don't use profanity, and no way in hell would I ever allow a porno mag to come out of the shop area and into the offices. It's all what you want. You want a big, fancy, wide-open shop, then you had best to be at least a tad professional about it. You want a more underground vibe, then hey, do what you will! As a last note, I guess I never realized I'm an "uptight pain in the ass", thanks for setting me straight on that.

Neat stuff. 3 of my earliest pieces were done from stencils, and pieces of the 4th. Talk about a pain! One kool part is that one of them, a parrot, is still at Chicago Tattooing, and my sons are planning on getting it on themselves. I'd watch Dale outlining on a stencil-design, and wonder howinhell he could possibly see what he was doing. Somehow, it always seemed to come out right.

The bible? Really??? I always thought that the bible was the Spaulding catalog.

I wouldn't hardly call Playboy porn, but that's just me. Something like Hustler, yeah, that I'd say keep in the back room. In light of another thread running on here, I think I'd leave a shop even faster if there was a bible laying out in the waiting area.

They're all cute and cuddly until someone gets hurt!

This post is most emphatically NOT about a legendary tattooist, but mayhap a legend of tattoing? So, many moons ago, when I was yet a youngster, we went to Walter's Barber Shop, out near Mannheim and Ogden. This was a real-live, old-time guys barber shop. You know, True Magazine, Esquire, pinups on the wall, racing sheets available, the whole drill. Walter was probably in his mid-sixties at the time. One day, I must have been maybe 12, I was in getting a haircut, and for the first time, it registered that he had tattoos on each arm! Actually, a sailing ship on one forearm, and a nekkid pin-up girl on the other. Both looked to have been done, probably during the maiden voyage of the Ark. Nice, even greenish ink, I"m sure you've all seen the stuff. Anyhow, I asked him about them, and he tells me "oh sure, I used to do tattoos right in the backroom here!" Well, I had to see it, and he took me back to his storeroom, and sure enough, he had all kinds of tattooing gear there. Machines, hand-needles, flash, all kinds of stuff that I didn't recognize but knew I wanted! "No, it isn't for sale, I guess I just like to have it in case I ever decide to use it again." That, and he didn't want my pops to come looking for him with a baseball bat, I'm sure. So as we talked, it turned out that he had tattooed in that area for maybe 15-20 years, pretty steadily, and had made a nice bit of extra change at it. Back then, in Illinois, you could get a tattoo as a minor if you had your parents permission. You can guess the rest. He did a full chest-piece of a sailing ship on a young lad who presented a note from his dear old Mither saying he had her blessings, and wouldn't you know the little rascal was only 14 and had forged it!!! End of tatttoing in LaGrange. Walter escaped any serious repurcussions, but had to hang-up his tattooing shingle after that. Still had the sign there, too! Don't know what his last name was, I'm going to do a little digging, see if I can track him through his Barber's License. Who knows what stories the man could have told, or what the equipment was?!

And they don't play well with cats and such. A few years back, we had a fox try to nosh on a youngster down the road, now they're strictly shoot on sight. Sorry guys...life in the country!

Yeah, but the teeth really bite, too. We've got a den about a half-mile up from our place, damn thing just dropped a fresh batch of kits. Time for more target practice!

Definitely some killer work there...

Don't wanna make none of them there fox paws... (faux pas)

Ya know...since it WAS Mario, it's just possible he was!!!!!

Very Kool!!!

Just wow!

How 'bout them Cubs?!

Understood. I thought it interesting that there were still issues, albeit few and far between, with inks. I had trouble keeping red under my skin until the inkmakers changed from the iron-oxide formulas, and thought it all fixed after they did. Note that the article states the complaints they have investigated are all about cosmetic tattooing. And I think the OP just needs to tturn the machine around so the needles point at the client, not himself.