kylegrey

Freddy Corbin for me takes what is largely generic images of the black and grey genre and always manages to stamp his definitive style on it . Those Scorpions .....
Man for me not only does he make my top 25 ,hes getting 5 places all to himself .All day long .

Freddy Corbin for me takes what is largely generic images of the black and grey genre and always manages to stamp his definitive style on it . Those Scorpions .....
Man for me not only does he make my top 25 ,hes getting 5 places all to himself .All day long .

Freddy Corbin for me takes what is largely generic images of the black and grey genre and always manages to stamp his definitive style on it . Those Scorpions .....
Man for me not only does he make my top 25 ,hes getting 5 places all to himself .All day long .

Freddy Corbin for me takes what is largely generic images of the black and grey genre and always manages to stamp his definitive style on it . Those Scorpions .....
Man for me not only does he make my top 25 ,hes getting 5 places all to himself .All day long .

"We're so engaged in doing things to achieve purposes of outer value that we forget that the inner value, the rapture that is associated with being alive, is what it's all about." - Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

I did find it interesting that that kid got shot down so inappropriately harshly while Ursula's embroidery was so well received.
Both were non-tattooers offering tattoo imagery for sale.
That other kid ended up typing out his life story to appease people, which is a shame. I would have went with a 'hey, fuck off, sport'.
And Gouge- no one will think you're an outsider because folks seem to like you. It's all about who you know... didn't you know that? :D

Tattooing came to Eric later in his life. He was close to forty years old and unlike the majority of other tattooers who become interested in the business and art of tattooing after collecting tattoos , his interest in the art, culture and history and especially the how's and whys of applying beautiful tattoos - came first.
He does have only a couple of tattoos on his arms but on his legs are solid, bold, strong tattoos that he is known for - often as a result of his experimentation early in his career. Eric is a rarity.

there's some amazing stuff in this thread! totally blown away.
anyways here's my back, in progress by Mr. Mike Wilson at Inksmith Jax Beach
obviously this has been worked around an existing tattoo on my upper back

Tattoos on me by Rollo at China Sea, 1989-91.

Don't know if this comes under the mantle of "Black Work " but i guess it could .Mainly i liked it so freakin much i had to post it somewhere/anywhere !!New stuff by Jeff Zuck .

Lowrider Tattoo StudiosWith a little over 3 years tattooing experience this guy is tearing up the West Coast as a part of the Lowrider team.This must seem a world away from the hip-hop store in Dublin but he has transformed (no doubt partly thanks to the cheek of the Irish )to one of the most up and coming guys around .Check out Mikey Doodles stuff !

I love seeing the daily tattoos he post via his twitter account, so impressive! One of my friends in helLA has been getting tattooed by Chuey a bunch lately. Next time I see him I'll try to get some photos of the tattoos Chuey has tattooed on him.

To twist the knife so to speak ,Henry Lewis provides some unique variations .

I've been digging black and grey renditions of the ROA also lately -heres another
Oh also saw a pic of Freddy Corbin tattooing shirtless ;damn if i had that ROA backpiece i wouldn't even own a shirt .

this is on the same kid who I just posted in the Lion Tattoos Thread
Thomas Hooper killing it like always

To twist the knife so to speak ,Henry Lewis provides some unique variations .

To twist the knife so to speak ,Henry Lewis provides some unique variations .

Watched Blood Diamonds the other night worth a look for a drama filled true movie.

Watched Blood Diamonds the other night worth a look for a drama filled true movie.

Greg Irons ships are some of the best in my opinion .Although this beautifully simple piece by Tokyo Hiro may just take the cake for me .

I did end up buying the book! It's amazing and well worth the money I spent on it. At the time when I wrote that post I was trying to be a responsible adult and pay off my debts first. After months of not buying myself anything I treated myself to a new book! I am really really looking forward to that second volume!!

A true traditional tattooer Tokyo Hiro obviously spent his time at Spotlight well ,his panthers have that classic cool look.

heres one i did recently on a buddy of mine

Heres Josh Arments backpiece referred to by Scott elsewhere on here and rendered by Bob Roberts -crazy cool!!

Man, everybody already used my smart-ass answers but the Greg Irons quip was funnier than I could have come up with.
But back to the original question.
This is one of the newer approaches to tattooing that makes me slightly uncomfortable to be honest. Myself and a few tattooers I know and work with have noticed the trend of customers finding a sense of pride in how long they had to wait for their tattoo. As if that makes the tattoo more worthwhile.
With some of the currently living/working tattooers mentioned in this thread, I personally know people (not even on the internet) that have tattoos from all of them. Filip, Horiyoshi III, Shige and Mike Rubendall. Yeah, they had to wait a little while for some of them but not as long as you'd think for others. Mike Roper is a different situation because he makes it deliberately difficult to get in touch with him, which answers the question posed above. But that wasn't really the question that was asked and it's rarely the question that gets asked. The question, or at least the implication, is "who has the longest waiting list' or "who has appointments booked furthest into the future". If I were to be snarky "who gives me the most bragging rights".
For me the hardest people to get a tattoo from are the tattooers who are located furthest away from me. The ones where I have to get off my ass and do something about it. Time is easier to overcome than distance although patience is a different matter. It astonishes me that people call our shop from the outskirts of the city expecting us to change the way we work because they are catching a train to get here. On the other hand, we are humbled and honoured by the people who cross seas and continents to get tattooed regularly with us.
But that's aside from the issue.
Why is it a trend that makes me uncomfortable?
Because I've heard people brag about how long they had to wait for 'x' artist and wear that information like a badge of honour. It feels almost as distasteful as bragging about who charges the most. Yeah, tattoos are for tough guys and tough buys like to brag and maybe that seems harmless, but it makes me uncomfortable and I have trouble clearly explaining why.
Maybe it's because it's a phenomenon spurred on by the internet and the gossipy world of hearsay. Nobody calls and checks with the artists or shops they want to get tattooed at. Nobody travels down to the shop to ask the question. They just ask random strangers on the internet who have a lot of time on their hands and like to talk about something they know nothing about. Then the reality gets lost or twisted and in the end the real information is lost. I see this a lot with regards to the shop I work at. Forums are (or certainly used to be) bursting with 'facts' about how much we charge, how long we take, how far 'x' and 'y' are booked or how long their waiting lists are. Nobody calls the shop to ask and nobody suggests that the person calls to ask.
I know that happens with a lot of things but it seems like this is starting to have a real-world effect, however small. People who wanted tattoos that we would love to do heard that we wouldn't tattoo them at our shop because we were so cool and busy and booked up for decades and rolling around in money 'n' bitches or something. We've heard of this a few times and it seems to be happening more. Yeah, we're busy, you may have to wait a little, maybe not. If someone has contact information, especially a phone number on their website it means that they want you to call.
I'm not really going to touch on the tone of the "are they a fad or are they really worth it?" comment, except to say that if you have to ask, the answer is "no".
Sorry to jump on this fun thread with a rant. I look forward to more witty quips.