guiniveretoo

What are you running from?

Zombies.

"I'm Gay as a Unicorn."

Though some unicorns might take offense at that.

... just because a first-timer didnt go to 5 different shops doesnt mean they should wear a piece of shit. hell, some of the general public that DO go to different shops dont even know what to look for while browsing a portfolio. some people just see a bunch of pretty colors but none of the essentials and are fooled by smoke & mirrors.

Thank you!

I've really just started being interested in tattoos and researching artists in my area over the last few weeks. It's REALLY REALLY hard for me as a beginner to tell the difference between an okay artist and a fantastic artist, especially about the more traditional and stylized tattoos. A koi fish is a koi fish to me.

I can see shit (Ugliest Tattoos, anyone?) - but I can't see greatness just because I haven't seen enough greatness.

All that said, I'm also looking for an artist that blows my socks off; if y'all think he's crap, at least I like him. :)

...draw and redraw this ship until you can almost make an exact replica of it. By that time the image is so instilled and fresh in your mind that by the time you need to draw a ship you dont have to look for much reference. You've just kind of implanted the foundation for a ship and from there you can put your own spin and style on it to make it original as possible. For me it's worked. It gives you the opportunity to keep every drawing new and fresh. So everytime you do it, make it better then the last time. Maintaining progression so to speak.

^ THIS.

Refreshing an old thread with a link to a related video series:

Everything is a Remix

Not specific to tattoos, but about the inheritance of all art and invention. May be interesting if you're interested :) - each part is about 15+ minutes, so a little over an hour if you watch all four back to back.

Coming from an architecture and design background, you can't avoid copying - it's part of the training. In order to learn a style, it's essential to copy other's work over and over until you can get it right. Until you've absorbed the style so completely that you can create your own unique work in that style.

That said, selling those copies as your own work is a big no-no.

Still deciding on my design, but I'm contemplating a belly-rib-shoulder tattoo of a half real, half chrome vine of passiflora. Or maybe anemones.

I'd like Todo to do it I think, but I haven't talked to him yet. No money and probably a year or more before I can save up enough. :(

But hey! I'm researching, I've found an artist I like, and I'm on a tattoo forum talking to people about it. Right? :o

is it offensive if the pics in the national geographic look like this?

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff211/xombierocket/rediculous.jpg

Not as long as she gets to bite his head off when it's over. :p

I'm pretty sure you're judging people and insulting them in the one or 2 posts out of 3 you made since joining this forum.. but maybe calling someone a fuckhead and calling someone a sleazeball because there's a playboy mag in the same shop that 10 other people work in isn't considered judging other people.

Heh, sorry Irezumi; didn't catch the sarcasm in the first post the last time around. I was responding to a post written by "fuckhead," that's why I called him that. I don't want to judge or insult anyone; I'm just making a point about impressions made on outsiders.

If tattoo artists want to be considered professionals, they need to act like it. Porn in the lobby is not professional.

I keep seeing repeated references to how much the view of tattoos are changing in the public eye; more people are getting tattoos, and they're being viewed with less and less negativity. What that means is that there's a huge untapped customer base of people out there who want a really great tattoo, and who don't have the "bad ass bitch" persona to go with it. Classy ladies can get tattoos too.

If you're a tattoo artist this might be something to pay attention to.

What if you're using it for reference material?

Do you also have National Geographic laying around? How many tattoos have animals or nature as the subject matter vs porn?

I can tell by your language that you are a lady of class and breeding and easily offended.

I don't want to be the person that puts a crimp in everybody's style. And porn itself is not something I'm going to judge; it's just that there's a time and place for everything. Professional people don't try to offend 50% of the population as soon as they walk in the door. This is a forum about tattoos, for chrissake. You should know a thing or to about people judging based on outward appearances.

There is a well known and respected shop (on this board) where I was the other day that had Playboys laying around. What of it.

I'm more interested in the art & artists that a shop has to offer. If they need to distract people so badly from their bad art that they leave porn lying around, it's probably not worth being there. Sorry, fuckhead, but if they are that awesome, they don't need to supplement their bad-assery with poor "art."

As a woman, porn in a public area is pretty off-putting; if I wanted to hang out in a bachelor pad I'd go down to the frat house. I want to work with a professional artist, not some sleazeball who'll jack off in the bathroom after my session.

New to the forum, new to the idea of getting a tattoo, but really really excited about learning!