heathenist

I'll be back in NC in July and RVA is only about a 3 hour drive so I'm definitely going to try to make it up there at some point.

RVA is pretty damn cool, and lots of good tattooers/shops there as well. I actually think it's pretty underrated in terms of hots spots for tattooing.

Hold it Down

Absolute Art

and a newer place I don't know too much about, but Rempe is tattooing there now, Lakeside Tattoo Co.

Also, I'm pretty sure Timothy Hoyer got his start in Richmond, might have been like the only person tattooing there at one point.

Here is my elbow from Josh Stephens at Hold it Down, about 2 years old. Also, just noticed the LST shirt I just got in the mail today laying behind me on the bed.

Myke Chambers is obviously a great tattooer, I just don't love the style. It seems too "soft" or something, I have a hard time explaining it. Like not as powerful as stuff that's more traditional in style.

Hey! I finally won one of these! I've been in the running a lot so I'm pretty excited to have finally won. Though I feel a little bad considering all the great tattoos that were posted this month. Thanks everyone (but mostly Matt Arrriola). I always tell people that it's impossible for me to pick my favorite tattoo or what I think is my best tattoo, but I'm pretty sure this is definitely my coolest tattoo.

@hogg that's awesome! What did you get from him?

Iain Mullen

Imperial Tattoo

This.

Oh man I love that tattoo @heathenist, looks so tough and folky at the same time. Just so nice, congratulations...I gotta keep a closer eye on Matt Arriola, such great work!

Thanks man! And yeah his stuff is insanely good. His crawling cats are some of the best in the game. But everything he does is great. Plus he is a really cool dude.

Appropriately posting this one on Easter. I got this one from Matt Arriola a few weeks ago at Spotlight. Photo stolen from his IG:

For reference, it's on the back of my thigh:

Just took a look at Spider Murphy's - Theo Mindell, Paul Dobleman and Stuart Cripwell under the one roof? Ho-lee sheeeit! That could be the start and finish of the tattoo road trip right there! @heathenist, that's a very handy repository - bookmarked. @Hands On, we'll be home at that stage. Likely will be early July to end August we'll be traveling

I think Stuart Cripwell is at his own private studio now, not sure if he still works out of Spider Murphy's.

This isn't comprehensive or up to date entirely, but it's a good starting point: Our Endless Days - North American Tattooers

Pretty solid list so far.

San Fran- Blackheart, FTW, Temple, Spider Murphy's, probably forgetting some.

Colorado (Denver)- Lifetime, Dedication

Texas (Austin)-Rock of Ages

Nashville- Mike Fite

Of course, you probably can't get tattooed by everyone, but still, getting a lot of tattoos while traveling can be tricky, just make sure you take care of them so they don't heal like garbage.

Also, I'm really jealous.

Wouldn't Ed Hardy be a prime example of a Tattooer with an Academic background in Art?

Does he have an advanced degree? I don't think he completed his MFA at Yale and as far as I know never went back. But still, he would be in the extreme minority. Sure, a tattooer with a PhD would be perfectly qualified to conduct research, but there aren't really any active tattooers that I know of who have this qualification. I'm sure there are some, but probably not many.

Get tattooed, talk to tattooers, talk to tattoo collectors, and you might be surprised at what people know. For example, I know this local tattooer named Simon because I used to live behind the shop he works at and I'd stop and talk with him and the other people at the shop when I was walking my dog and they were taking smoke breaks outside. I've since been tattooed at the shop and sometimes I'll have a beer with him at the bar next to the shop when he's done for the day. He's a good tattooer, but he's a real street shop tattooer who doesn't have a preferred style but will do whatever comes in through the door and will do a good job of it. He has no internet presence, I'm not even sure he has a cell phone. Anyway, I was talking with him once, and he mentioned, just in passing, about when he lived and tattooed in the Marquesas. So here's this guy working in a really low-key street shop, mostly tattooing names and bird silhouettes and stuff found on pinterest and what not, and he has this pretty deep first-hand knowledge of Polynesian tattooing because he actually lived and tattooed there.

I don't mention this because I think it's anything particularly special, though I think it is a kind of neat story, but rather because the more I get tattooed, the more time I spend in shops and with tattooed people, artists or otherwise, the more I understand and appreciate the immense amount of knowledge and understanding that there is in your average tattoo shop. Tattooers, at least the good ones--and it isn't worth getting tattooed by the ones who aren't good--love tattooing, they love the history and the stories and the lore of tattooing, and they collect this stuff just as much as they collect tattoos. They know far more about tattoos and tattooing than any academic ever will.

I completely understand this perspective, but at the same time I have to disagree. While tattooers might have lots of experience and knowledge, they still aren't properly trained to do the type of research that academics do. Academics go through years of methodological training (via coursework as well as personal research experience) in order to be able to accurately analyze whatever subject they are studying. These forms of analysis can obviously vary from highly advanced statistics to more qualitative cultural analyses, but the point remains, it takes a lot of training to be able to do this stuff correctly. Sure, if you're just looking for basic history encyclopedia kinda stuff then that's one thing, but much further than that tattooers probably won't be of much use. That's like saying studies of the workplace are useless because you could just go talk to a worker. Workers (doesn't matter the profession) might have a pretty good understanding of the workplace, but that doesn't mean they can produce adequate research on that workplace. As someone who is working towards their PhD, I'm probably pretty biased though.

As far as a college course goes, that's another story, college courses and academic research are two very different beasts and those who have argued that a lot of it would be dulled down rubbish are probably right. Basically, reading the academic research on tattooing is probably a lot more valuable than taking a college course on tattooing.

As a sociologist I sometimes get the urge to study different facets of tattooing, but I think it's probably best to keep these worlds separate. But I'm pretty big on compartmentalization and keeping different parts of my life separate.

im flying to la to start my back with bryan burk next week, appointment got pushed back a couple times, but finally after hundreds of wasted airline tickets were doing it haha. hes flying out that night so my appointment got moved to 10am. oof. going to be dead tired and after have no where to go until my friend gets off work at 8pm hahah

I have a feeling I know what you'll be getting, and it's going to rule.

My thoughts exactly. Are you in LA @heathenist?

Nah, just visiting.

First one since June (aside from a little Halloween special). Matt Arriola.

There's a tattooer in town with a Roper back but I still haven't seen it in person.

I haven't posted in forever, and I guess I never entered this one from Steve Byrne that I got over the summer in Austin.

This is still the best photo I have of it, but it healed nicely. Arm is just about done other than very small gap fillers.

Based on this World War I German propaganda poster about the dangers of Bolshevism that I saw earlier that day in a World War I exhibit in town.

My new filler from Johnny Domus done on his guest spot at Dublin Ink today

I love that.

Rose morphs were the first thing to come to mind, but they rule so it's not really a bad trend. However, I think we often overestimate how popular traditional tattoos actually are, sure they are hip right now, but in the larger scheme of things, are they really that popular compared to other styles? Like among tattoo collectors, the punk scene, etc. traditional tattoos might be pretty popular, but like in the general public I don't think many people give a shit about them. Whereas things like black and grey portrait work and even Japanese traditional are actually pretty popular in the general public.

Any chance you'd be willing to share a picture? @Mick Weder

Has anyone ever seen webs used as background for a sleeve? I remember seeing a thing one of the dudes from Smith St. Did these scale looking things for background but I'm not sure I've seen webs.

Oh man @heathenist, that is just so so good! Got a spot with him at the London convention in September, seeing this makes me all the more excited! Congratulations on such an amazing tattoo.

Thanks! What are you getting? He is super friendly and even though he moved his schedule around to work me in and the shop was near closing he took his time to make sure the drawing was perfect.

Also it was cool being in the shop after closing because I got to see Thomas Hooper tattoo Tony Hundahl, he was getting this crazy pattern tattooed all over his neck upper chest and back area, it looked fucking tough.

Got this from Steve Byrne yesterday, super excited about it:

Based on this World War I German propaganda poster about the dangers of Bolshevism that I saw earlier that day in a World War I exhibit in town.

There needs to be a separate rate thread for Valerie Vargas backs.

Got an email back from Tim Hendricks about doing my chest. Needless to say, I'm pretty excited. Anyone know what the deal is with him and the classic tattoo parlor in Fullerton? Will he be working there or just helping run it?