heathenist

Just requested these books from my libraries inter-library loan:

1000 Tattoos

Stoney Knows How

Vintage Tattoos

Having access to a university library is pretty great.

Go to experienced tattooers like Stuart Cripwell. Not being facetious here- a good tattooer knows how much breathing room to give a tattoo.

Well yeah, in the long run I'm hoping to just have Mario and Nick at CTC finish the arm, with maybe a few smaller pieces here and there by other artists who I like if the opportunity arises.

I have a question that seems appropriate to this thread.

For those who have patchwork sleeves, how much planning went into choosing all the pieces/placements. I feel like I want everything to flow really well and be really cohesive (think the Stuart Cripwell legs), so I've been trying to think pretty far in advance about the pieces I want and stuff and I was just curious about how common this is.

So, this is a painting by Ralph Johnstone, done for Tatts Thomas way back when they were working on south State Street in Chicago. Nick Colella is putting it on my ribs tomorrow, (without the lettering) that should be fun. I'll post up the finished work as soon as possible.

I can't wait to see this.

you did say girlfriend right?

get the eagle she can learn to deal

I mean yeah she would be fine with it, it's not like she would be mad at me. It's just I'd like to think she likes all of my tattoos and she wouldn't if I got an eagle. But I'm thinking I'll be getting one in the nearish future.

hahaha dude, even if the line were a little off, I promise you nobody other than you would ever notice that.

My girlfriend has pretty much no interests in tattoos but is pretty supportive of me getting them, but when I mention in a very distant hypothetical future getting my back and torso done she doesn't seem to be super fond of the idea. I don't even really think that I want to do those things at this point, and wouldn't be financially stable enough for a long while, so it's not an issue really.

However, she isn't crazy about eagles, no matter how many I show her, and I think they are one of the best tattoo images there is. I don't think she'd go as far to tell me not to do it, but I'd hate knowing she doesn't like any of my tattoos (yeah, yeah, I know they are supposed to be for me, but still).

I'm confused, I don't see any color in those roses. But yeah, that sounds really pushy and unappealing if that's how it went down.

Man, that's always been one a my favorite lines..."I hadda get one too, HE was getting one, an I didn't want him to be like all freaked out!"

Hmmm, I need to bring my brother on a trip to Chicago sometime soon.

Honestly, once you have a bunch of tattoos all around it, it's not going to matter that there is a little bit of extra space. Just get more tattoos and worry about filler when you're done.

And it looks like you hit the jackpot with it! That cartoon was in the NEw yorker, wasn't it? I gotta dig, I think I've got an old book of their political cartoons from way back, and that was one of them. If I've got it, and you want it, it's yours. Absolutely heavy first tattoo!

Thanks, I'm really happy with it still.

I don't know for sure, I know it was originally printed in Harper's Weekly, where Thomas Nast did almost all of his political cartoons, but it's possible that it was printed by the NY Times as well. I nearly spent $200 on a Thomas Nast print when I was visiting Boston, but didn't want to spend the money at the time, though, had it been that specific print, I most likely would have.

Don't know his name, but he posts on theb9 message boards.

@heathinist = that's a helluva 1st tattoo.

Yeah, I wanted something big. At the time I wasn't sure how many more tattoos I would want, so I had a go big or go home mentality about it.

my brother has a bunch of tattoos, but a lot of them are pretty shitty. i try to inform him of good places/tattooers to go to , but he never wants to listen. it's only been recently that he's somewhat opened up to what i have to tell him. the dude lives a little over an hour from NYC and still goes to shit shops out in long island. fucking ultimate head scratcher.

This sounds like a certain poster on a different forum who lives in NJ an hour from NYC and after myself and many others encouraged him to take the trip to NYC and get something from one of the best, he instead ignores all of that advice and now has at least 2 really shitty tattoos, and will probably continue to keep getting shitty tattoos. The thing is, he doesn't seem to notice the difference between his crappy tattoos and all of the awesome stuff posted by other people.

I just got my first tattoo 2 years ago, it's a political cartoon by Thomas Nast, a depiction of the downfall of the Erie Ring which was led by Jay Gould who was basically a scumbag of all scumbag capitalist who bribed legislators to pass laws to help create a monopoly in the railroad industry, but it didn't end up working in his favor and led to the dismantling of his group. The story doesn't have any particular meaning to me other than I'm not a fan of big businesses using their power to manipulate laws and the market.

Here's the tattoo:

I still like it a lot, only concern is that it won't age well because a lack of hard outlines, but I lather with sunscreen and keep it out of the sun as much as possible.

I think you need a certain number of posts before making a new thread, but I could be wrong. But, if you have a question about something, trying doing a search for that topic before starting a new thread.

http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-101/713-tattoo-boooks.html

http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-101/2118-traditional-american-tattooing-books.html

But as for what I've personally read, Bad Boys and Tough Tattoos by Phil Sparrow is fantastic ans a super fun read, but it doesn't have flash or anything in it, it's more of a memoir of his time tattooing in Chicago in the 50s and 60s.

Tenure?

Yeah, I believe he said the person was tenured.

I'm working on a Master's and plan on getting a Phd and working in academics. I'm not heavily tattooed, but I plan on at least having one arm finished by the time I enter the job market (5 years or so, lets fucking hope I at least have one arm finished by then). I honestly can't say how big of a deal it is in this profession, I think it differs from school to school and even according to field of study. Liberal arts professor's are likely more able to get away with being tattooed than say someone in the business school. I have to teach as part of my assistantship and nobody seems to care that I have visible tattoos when wearing a short sleeve shirt and I see grad students in other departments who are much more tattooed than myself and I've never heard of any of them catching shit for it. However, I usually teach in a jacket and tie, and would most certainly interview in a jacket and tie, so I never really see it being an issue (hopefully).

Nick Colella told me he has been tattooing a professor that works in Chicago for something like 10 years, and the guy has knuckle tattoos and all, so there's that.

If you put a thumb over his head, sure.

How the hell do you even heal that?

REPOSTED

Wrazz, you live in Chicago, here's a thought. Go on down to Chicago Tattoing COmpany on Belmont just west of B'way, and take a look through the flash, paintings, script samples, and so forth that they have there. If you see something remotely interesting, you could start there, or ask to speak to one of the artists, Nick Colella and Mario Desa, Mike Dalton, they're all outstanding, and I'm sure they'll work with you to come up with something you'll be proud to have.

What he said.

Wrazz, you live in Chicago, here's a thought. Go on down to Chicago Tattoing COmpany on Belmont just west of B'way, and take a look through the flash, paintings, script samples, and so forth that they have there. If you see something remotely interesting, you could start there, or ask to speak to one of the artists, Nick Colella and Mario Desa, Mike Dalton, they're all outstanding, and I'm sure they'll work with you to come up with something you'll be proud to have.

What he said.

This is probably the coolest thread on this entire forum. I could look at stuff like this all day, keep it coming. I'd contribute if I had anything. Apparently I have a much older relative who is covered in tattoos, wish I knew who he was or could get some pictures or something, maybe I'll ask around.

I have a Sailor Jerry butterfly from Mario Desa and I love it, I couldn't care less about it's masculinity or femininity. I'm planning on getting a rose in near future too.

If you're caught up on whether a tattoo is masculine or not, you're doing it wrong.