Dan S

Here's where I get flamed...
So, no, this isn't an intricate, beautiful piece, but the style and execution were hot stuff in the street-club "Greaser" culture of the late sixties. This one was put on with a sharpened shoe-nail and boiled ink from a BIC whilst in a "youth home" around 1968 or so.
I've thought about having it covered or removed, but for some reason, just can't bring myself to do it. It was the third tat I put on myself, the other two are long covered.
Oh, and if anyone here is into old watches, let me know-always open to buy/sell/trade for Elgins and other good quality old watches.

Sounds like you're off to a good start. So many people "back into" tattooing, learning the mechanics of it without having the art skills to use those mechanics, that it's good to hear of someone getting the art psrt donw first!
Patience, patience, and lotsa grapefruits!

These are a few of my tattoos. The most recent one is the tree of life tattoo. I'm not exactly loving it. The artist and I failed to connect on my concept for this certain tattoo. I'm supposed to go back in a couple of weeks to make some adjustments. Let's hope it goes well.

Here's where I get flamed...
So, no, this isn't an intricate, beautiful piece, but the style and execution were hot stuff in the street-club "Greaser" culture of the late sixties. This one was put on with a sharpened shoe-nail and boiled ink from a BIC whilst in a "youth home" around 1968 or so.
I've thought about having it covered or removed, but for some reason, just can't bring myself to do it. It was the third tat I put on myself, the other two are long covered.
Oh, and if anyone here is into old watches, let me know-always open to buy/sell/trade for Elgins and other good quality old watches.

Here's where I get flamed...
So, no, this isn't an intricate, beautiful piece, but the style and execution were hot stuff in the street-club "Greaser" culture of the late sixties. This one was put on with a sharpened shoe-nail and boiled ink from a BIC whilst in a "youth home" around 1968 or so.
I've thought about having it covered or removed, but for some reason, just can't bring myself to do it. It was the third tat I put on myself, the other two are long covered.
Oh, and if anyone here is into old watches, let me know-always open to buy/sell/trade for Elgins and other good quality old watches.

Yeah, I basically did that around that age, though it all wasn't in one shot. Shit, most shops were still all cash only so none of this "credit card sleeve" stuff, which, I have to admit, is pretty fucking appealing even as I'm pushing 30. I started getting tattooed as soon as I turned 18 and thank god I was usually broke. But once I got that itch, I had to scratch it, not because I wanted to roll up my sleeves and try to look cool, just because it was always there and I felt like I had to or I would.. die. Or probably something less dramatic. You're right though, the big downsides are experience -- both in life and much more so in becoming familiar with tattoos -- and since I was so frantic, I kind of blew it some of the placement and composition. Don't regret any of it, but there's certainly something to be said for waiting and planning. But at 18, 19, 23, whenever, "patience" wasn't really part of my vocabulary.

Being young and being introduced to all these great artists thanks to the interwebs, I battle with the idea of "go go go get covered now" and then the responsible person in me says "no no". I'm glad I haven't rushed anything quite yet though because my list of artists to get tattooed by just keeps increasing and I'd like to have room for them when the time comes. I'd much rather have smaller pieces enthusiasts and tattooers can recognize and appreciate by great artists then being covered just for the sake of being covered

For me, it's purely aesthetic. I prefer the look of a single, well-composed, continuous piece on the arm. Different strokes, is all.

Just my little 2 cents...
I'm 57, put my first tattoo on myself when I was 12. For me, every piece has had a meaning, whether it was jailhouse hand-needle, or sitting for one of the greats. I never went for coverage, and some of the pieces I got along the way are fairly pedestrian...for someone else!
What I mean is, I do have a few pieces of flash from the wall at the original location of Chicago Tattooing Co., but even the panther head cover-up on my wrist has a special meaning for me...the roses I got when I was engaged to my first wife, the dragon and dagger I got during a particularly iffy stretch of running and gunning, they all meant something TO ME, even if they were "just" flash off the wall.
Other pieces I got with varying deegrees of thought, but always for a reason...mostly cover-ups of jailhouse work, but always with a meaning to me. The demons head on my left forearm is a cross between a standard Japanese demon that was pretty common in the '70's and the album cover of King Crimson's "In the Court of the Crimson King". The cloud dragon on my upper left arm is another cover-up, lots of black, and pieces of a dragon from flash, along with a LOT of hand-drawn stuff from Dale Grande.
When I did finally, about 6 years ago, decide to finish up my right arm, it was with designs that I researched and picked for their relationship to me ancestors. The Runes tell the story of my lifes journey, the knotwork shows the complexity of life, the world-serpent is there, and Wotan supervises it all. To tie all that together with the work I already had took, if I recall, 5 sittings of 5 or 6 hours each.
Thing I'm getting at is I can't even come close to understanding someone who would go out and toss a few grand on the table and say "sleeve me up" to an artist. It's kool, if that's your gig, that's your gig, but for myself, I want to be able to look at every inch of inked skin and remember...
That said, yeah, I have plans for more, but money, don'cha know!!! 6 kids...it really cuts into your ink budget! I have a full backpiece planned, and some other, smaller pieces for my chest, then who knows, maybe someday I'll get ambitious and have Nick take a look at that left arm, see what else could be had there.
As far as keeping fit, well, it doesn't cost anything! I still teach and work out at least 3 days a week. Can't lift as much as I used to, a long life of martial arts and motorsickles has seen to the arthritis thing being there, but I can still get in a ring with the youngsters and hold my own. Give it a try-nothing like the martial arts to keep you going!
.02

Just my little 2 cents...
I'm 57, put my first tattoo on myself when I was 12. For me, every piece has had a meaning, whether it was jailhouse hand-needle, or sitting for one of the greats. I never went for coverage, and some of the pieces I got along the way are fairly pedestrian...for someone else!
What I mean is, I do have a few pieces of flash from the wall at the original location of Chicago Tattooing Co., but even the panther head cover-up on my wrist has a special meaning for me...the roses I got when I was engaged to my first wife, the dragon and dagger I got during a particularly iffy stretch of running and gunning, they all meant something TO ME, even if they were "just" flash off the wall.
Other pieces I got with varying deegrees of thought, but always for a reason...mostly cover-ups of jailhouse work, but always with a meaning to me. The demons head on my left forearm is a cross between a standard Japanese demon that was pretty common in the '70's and the album cover of King Crimson's "In the Court of the Crimson King". The cloud dragon on my upper left arm is another cover-up, lots of black, and pieces of a dragon from flash, along with a LOT of hand-drawn stuff from Dale Grande.
When I did finally, about 6 years ago, decide to finish up my right arm, it was with designs that I researched and picked for their relationship to me ancestors. The Runes tell the story of my lifes journey, the knotwork shows the complexity of life, the world-serpent is there, and Wotan supervises it all. To tie all that together with the work I already had took, if I recall, 5 sittings of 5 or 6 hours each.
Thing I'm getting at is I can't even come close to understanding someone who would go out and toss a few grand on the table and say "sleeve me up" to an artist. It's kool, if that's your gig, that's your gig, but for myself, I want to be able to look at every inch of inked skin and remember...
That said, yeah, I have plans for more, but money, don'cha know!!! 6 kids...it really cuts into your ink budget! I have a full backpiece planned, and some other, smaller pieces for my chest, then who knows, maybe someday I'll get ambitious and have Nick take a look at that left arm, see what else could be had there.
As far as keeping fit, well, it doesn't cost anything! I still teach and work out at least 3 days a week. Can't lift as much as I used to, a long life of martial arts and motorsickles has seen to the arthritis thing being there, but I can still get in a ring with the youngsters and hold my own. Give it a try-nothing like the martial arts to keep you going!
.02

Just my little 2 cents...
I'm 57, put my first tattoo on myself when I was 12. For me, every piece has had a meaning, whether it was jailhouse hand-needle, or sitting for one of the greats. I never went for coverage, and some of the pieces I got along the way are fairly pedestrian...for someone else!
What I mean is, I do have a few pieces of flash from the wall at the original location of Chicago Tattooing Co., but even the panther head cover-up on my wrist has a special meaning for me...the roses I got when I was engaged to my first wife, the dragon and dagger I got during a particularly iffy stretch of running and gunning, they all meant something TO ME, even if they were "just" flash off the wall.
Other pieces I got with varying deegrees of thought, but always for a reason...mostly cover-ups of jailhouse work, but always with a meaning to me. The demons head on my left forearm is a cross between a standard Japanese demon that was pretty common in the '70's and the album cover of King Crimson's "In the Court of the Crimson King". The cloud dragon on my upper left arm is another cover-up, lots of black, and pieces of a dragon from flash, along with a LOT of hand-drawn stuff from Dale Grande.
When I did finally, about 6 years ago, decide to finish up my right arm, it was with designs that I researched and picked for their relationship to me ancestors. The Runes tell the story of my lifes journey, the knotwork shows the complexity of life, the world-serpent is there, and Wotan supervises it all. To tie all that together with the work I already had took, if I recall, 5 sittings of 5 or 6 hours each.
Thing I'm getting at is I can't even come close to understanding someone who would go out and toss a few grand on the table and say "sleeve me up" to an artist. It's kool, if that's your gig, that's your gig, but for myself, I want to be able to look at every inch of inked skin and remember...
That said, yeah, I have plans for more, but money, don'cha know!!! 6 kids...it really cuts into your ink budget! I have a full backpiece planned, and some other, smaller pieces for my chest, then who knows, maybe someday I'll get ambitious and have Nick take a look at that left arm, see what else could be had there.
As far as keeping fit, well, it doesn't cost anything! I still teach and work out at least 3 days a week. Can't lift as much as I used to, a long life of martial arts and motorsickles has seen to the arthritis thing being there, but I can still get in a ring with the youngsters and hold my own. Give it a try-nothing like the martial arts to keep you going!
.02

Just my little 2 cents...
I'm 57, put my first tattoo on myself when I was 12. For me, every piece has had a meaning, whether it was jailhouse hand-needle, or sitting for one of the greats. I never went for coverage, and some of the pieces I got along the way are fairly pedestrian...for someone else!
What I mean is, I do have a few pieces of flash from the wall at the original location of Chicago Tattooing Co., but even the panther head cover-up on my wrist has a special meaning for me...the roses I got when I was engaged to my first wife, the dragon and dagger I got during a particularly iffy stretch of running and gunning, they all meant something TO ME, even if they were "just" flash off the wall.
Other pieces I got with varying deegrees of thought, but always for a reason...mostly cover-ups of jailhouse work, but always with a meaning to me. The demons head on my left forearm is a cross between a standard Japanese demon that was pretty common in the '70's and the album cover of King Crimson's "In the Court of the Crimson King". The cloud dragon on my upper left arm is another cover-up, lots of black, and pieces of a dragon from flash, along with a LOT of hand-drawn stuff from Dale Grande.
When I did finally, about 6 years ago, decide to finish up my right arm, it was with designs that I researched and picked for their relationship to me ancestors. The Runes tell the story of my lifes journey, the knotwork shows the complexity of life, the world-serpent is there, and Wotan supervises it all. To tie all that together with the work I already had took, if I recall, 5 sittings of 5 or 6 hours each.
Thing I'm getting at is I can't even come close to understanding someone who would go out and toss a few grand on the table and say "sleeve me up" to an artist. It's kool, if that's your gig, that's your gig, but for myself, I want to be able to look at every inch of inked skin and remember...
That said, yeah, I have plans for more, but money, don'cha know!!! 6 kids...it really cuts into your ink budget! I have a full backpiece planned, and some other, smaller pieces for my chest, then who knows, maybe someday I'll get ambitious and have Nick take a look at that left arm, see what else could be had there.
As far as keeping fit, well, it doesn't cost anything! I still teach and work out at least 3 days a week. Can't lift as much as I used to, a long life of martial arts and motorsickles has seen to the arthritis thing being there, but I can still get in a ring with the youngsters and hold my own. Give it a try-nothing like the martial arts to keep you going!
.02

Signed up here after hearing that Nick Colella had posted a few pix of old tats of mine. Looked around, saw lotsa good stuff, and thought I'd stick around and maybe throw in my two cents now n then, so feel free to flame!
I put my first tat on myself when I was 12, I'm 57 now, and it hasn't stopped. I did a good bit of old-skool hand-needle jailhouse stuff way back in the day, and most of the work I have now covers old jailhouse pieces.
What else can I say? I like to visit and watch at other parlors, but I get all chauvinistic and shit about who tattoos me...I've never gotten a professional piece anywhere but at Chicago Tattooing, and I can't see that changing now. I first went in there to gawk, man, mabye around 1966, 1967, something like that, and got my first electric tattoo done in there by Dale Grande in something like 1973 or 1974.
That's me-hope to get to know some of y'all.

Signed up here after hearing that Nick Colella had posted a few pix of old tats of mine. Looked around, saw lotsa good stuff, and thought I'd stick around and maybe throw in my two cents now n then, so feel free to flame!
I put my first tat on myself when I was 12, I'm 57 now, and it hasn't stopped. I did a good bit of old-skool hand-needle jailhouse stuff way back in the day, and most of the work I have now covers old jailhouse pieces.
What else can I say? I like to visit and watch at other parlors, but I get all chauvinistic and shit about who tattoos me...I've never gotten a professional piece anywhere but at Chicago Tattooing, and I can't see that changing now. I first went in there to gawk, man, mabye around 1966, 1967, something like that, and got my first electric tattoo done in there by Dale Grande in something like 1973 or 1974.
That's me-hope to get to know some of y'all.

Signed up here after hearing that Nick Colella had posted a few pix of old tats of mine. Looked around, saw lotsa good stuff, and thought I'd stick around and maybe throw in my two cents now n then, so feel free to flame!
I put my first tat on myself when I was 12, I'm 57 now, and it hasn't stopped. I did a good bit of old-skool hand-needle jailhouse stuff way back in the day, and most of the work I have now covers old jailhouse pieces.
What else can I say? I like to visit and watch at other parlors, but I get all chauvinistic and shit about who tattoos me...I've never gotten a professional piece anywhere but at Chicago Tattooing, and I can't see that changing now. I first went in there to gawk, man, mabye around 1966, 1967, something like that, and got my first electric tattoo done in there by Dale Grande in something like 1973 or 1974.
That's me-hope to get to know some of y'all.