abees

thats real nice of you to say tim, thank you. the shop i worked at before Frith st was owned by a non tattooer and at the time, i left with a real sour taste in my mouth. i wasnt sure about dante since i didnt know him but all i heard was good things from well respected tattooers and really, i was stoked to work at frith st, even for the one day a week i was started on. immediately i realised that this man knew and cared about tattooing more than i did then and probably even now.
He has been part of the tattooing 'scene' for many years now and well respected pillars of the scene call him friend. i'm proud to work there, to call him my boss and to be his friend. there's always an exception to the rule and as a shop i do feel we are one.
I've been long trying to buy my tattoo supplies from either people i know care about tattooing and from tattooers themselves. everyday is an ethical matter in tattooing, every choice you make affects tattooing and i have learnt to pick my battles carefully so to speak

Chad Koeplinger, Frith Street, 28th May 2010, cause i wanted a torch :eek: (also the lettering was at the same time)
the picture's backwards, as it was taken in a mirror. the stars and dots filler were done about half a year or so later when i was also getting some other things tattooed by him (Chad) again.

I know this is the back piece thread ,but seeing Josh Arment's back in person and seeing Cory Lenherrs clients front demonstrates to me the power of this look .American badass with a Japanese vibe.

my friend soap owns a shop called lab monkey in Stirling, Scotland. I learned to tatto in the shop round the corner from his but thankfully he never hated on me for that ;).
anyway reading his blog i came across a good link to a website documenting some of scotland's history of tattooing. ive visited it before many years ago but forgot completely about it, thought some of you might enjoy reading info on it
Prince Vallar - Tattoo Artist

lol petri I made a funny here it is I need to get one of his pictures because I cant get the colors to show

Panther head tattooed on the back of my upper arm by Nick Colella on Saturday.

got this bad boy on Thursday. Earl is the middle name that my dad gave me.

pretty fucking stoked on it.

bus, then coach, then underground - 3 hours or so (one way). to Frith Street.
it's amazing how lazy some people are when it comes to doing basic travel to get the best tattoo.. obviously some people *aren't* lazy like that.. the few people you ever see with good tattoos, normally.

duh cheers !!!

Here are a few that I have been meaning to post up:
Chest Eagle by Chad Koeplinger a few months back at State of Grace

These next few were all done at Smith Street while I was home this summer.
Dan Santoro - Lady Liberty (Bert Grimm Flash)

Bert Krak - Reaper Hand

Bert Krak - Skull (Tony Polito Flash)

Bert Krak - Black Widow

@Duffa Haha not quite that quick. About 1 hour 15 with Chad.
Got a fantastic tattoo from Bert Krak.

Sorry about the crap photo. I'll post another when its healed.

Amund Dietzel lady head. Tattooed by Chad Koeplinger this afternoon.

Bert Krak tomorrow on the other leg. Its a hard life.

Got this one earlier, also from Chad at Frith St.

I ended up at the 'Tattoo the World' release last night in NYC.
I've commented a few times on other social networking posts, but... it's surreal to be the most visibly tattooed person at an Ed Hardy event. They had some of his art on display but no copies of the film. Which was weird for a release event!

I never mentioned anything about 'filler'.
With large sale tattooing (particularly Japanese style) there isn't any 'filler'. The background is an important part of the design and certainly not an afterthought.
Good tattooers will understand how the body can be divided into 'panels'. Then those panels can be joined together. Literally like a suit.
Anyone thinking about getting large Japanese tattoos should check out Taki's book "Bushido", you can buy it pretty much anywhere. It's not too expensive and really informative. If you are feeling cheap, most public libraries have it.

some totally moronic girl i used to know, and her friend, decided it was a great idea to tattoo their fingers whilst drunk - with a kitchen knife.

This one by Chad Coeplinger is one of my favourite tigers

it may not be a popular opinion, but i really don't like those kind of tattoos on the first page.. stuff like that is usually the bottom end of poorly done 'neo-traditional'.
the attached picture by chad koeplinger is great.. i guess it helps it's done well, and is tasteful.

This lovely rose and cut throat razor by Mario Desa, in the ditch of my arm.

And these little buggers on my thumbs by Stefano C.

And a waffle with a scoop each of banana and pistachio ice cream at Amorino before.

I've seen/worked over lazer, with positive results, from:
Tattoo UK (Rayners Lane) - multiple customers
Laserlife (Baker Street) - one customer
Cult Classic (Romford) - multiple customers
I was super-impressed with the way Joe at Cult Classic dealt with the skin before and after the treatment.
Some of my clients/customers have had laser work at other places with varying degrees of success, some with no success at all.

Chad Koeplinger, Frith Street, 28th May 2010, cause i wanted a torch :eek: (also the lettering was at the same time)
the picture's backwards, as it was taken in a mirror. the stars and dots filler were done about half a year or so later when i was also getting some other things tattooed by him (Chad) again.

I was lucky enough to score a last minute cancellation with Valerie Vargas at Frith Street Tattoo on Monday. The design is a 1920s flapper girl that Valerie drew up on the spot for me. Valerie is a genius!
I am so unbelievably thrilled with how it came out. Looking a bit gross at the moment, will post another pic once healed.

Amund Dietzel tattoo done in 1956, 55 year old tattoo still makin the the guy smile.

@abees, fuck you for getting a kickass chad koeplinger tattoo as your first! I hate you! ;)
So, to the folks that have a shitty first tattoo like myself; are you planning to cover it or keep it? I'm actually leaning towards keeping it. Atleast for now.