Pugilist

My arm isn't done, and I've only really started on one, but I can actually contribute! So I shall. :) Taking pictures of my own arm is hard, and I suck at it. There are individual pictures of these in my gallery, though, anyway!

I was really late in coming to an appreciation of traditional designs (aside from traditional Japanese, which I have always loved). What sold me on traditional sleeves was the interesting way in which individual pieces become more than the sum of each individual tattoo...it becomes this collective aesthetic that I find so fascinating, in addition to being a very cool collection of individual images.
I mention this because I have similar feelings about 'masculine' and 'feminine' aesthetics. (I'm also one of those people who thinks a man or woman can wear whatever the hell they want and still be masculine and feminine if they want to be, but that's a discussion of a slightly different variety. For the purposes of this post, I'm just using the generally accepted definitions of those words.) I think whether something reads as 'masculine' or 'feminine' in the traditional sense depends mostly on general presentation. There are tons of pictures out there of women wearing tough, aggressive traditional work, but they dress or present themselves in a way that's still super-girly and feminine. I think this look is amazing.
Of course, there'll always be people out there who just find tattoos in general 'unfeminine' or whatever, buuut. That's really more about them, imo.

Great thread, Carolyn. Here's my perspective as a non-tattooer:
I used to live behind a street shop that's been around for a long time. I believe it opened in the early 80s, and it probably hasn't changed a lot since then. They don't take appointments at all, and it still runs by the old system where you come in, take a number, and you wait until you get called: you don't get to pick your artist, you get whoever is available next. They will kick you out for using your phone in the shop. The walls are totally covered in flash. There's some really cool stuff there. You can see Jack Rudy flash in the racks through the window, there's great Zulueta stuff on the walls, they have rad old Chris Garver flash, they have Greg Irons flash that the guy who owns the shop bought off Irons in person on the Queen Mary. They also have a load of Cherry Creek pinned up on the walls. Anyway, I became somewhat friendly with the tattooers there and I'd chat with them when I passed by while walking my dog, and what I'm going to say partly comes from conversations with them, partly from my own observations.
One of the tattooers said to me at one point that in the four or five years he'd worked at that shop he'd only had one day that he didn't do a tattoo. The tattooers there have also lamented how business used to be a lot better before a million shops opened up. Once when I was there looking through the flash, one of the tattooers said that nobody who gets tattooed there--and their clientele is very much the "lower-income working class people" mentioned above--looks through the flash and wants things from it, they want stuff they've printed off the internet or have on their phones.
I was getting tattooed a couple of weeks ago at another well-established shop, this one was one of the first custom shops in the city, and a woman came in wanting to get the bird silhouettes. They didn't have anybody available to do the tattoo at that moment, but they happily booked an appointment at a later date with her. The guy who runs this shop used to work at the shop mentioned above and even though he's well-booked out and does a lot of large custom work, he still has that real street shop demeanor and will do pretty much anything the client wants. He's not limiting himself to "his style".
I've seen tattooers at a lot of fancy shops, including ones I've seen mentioned on here as having a particular style (this is what happens when you think that instagram is real life, kids) doing whatever walks through the door. I've seen shops really pushing to be more open to walk-ins, not only because it brings in money, but also because it makes tattooers more well-rounded and just better tattooers. Though, thinking about it, the walk-ins the more high end shops are getting, at least from what I've seen, are more of the script on the ribs type of tattoos.
I guess when it comes down to it, there's a class issue at play here. From my observations, most shops still get walk-ins, but the people going to the fancier shops are better dressed.

Ask and ye shall receive.

Ask and ye shall receive.

Ask and ye shall receive.

Ask and ye shall receive.

Done

When I'm not getting tattooed, I work as a brewer, currently for a chain of brewpubs. Right now, the company is having a brewing competition between the brewers in all the restaurants worldwide where we had to create, brew, and market our own beers to be sold in our individual restaurants. When I got into brewing professionally nearly eight years ago I wanted to gain a little bit of experience and eventually get into writing beer recipes, but it turns out that outside of small brewpubs with very little brewer turnover, the reality of commercial brewing is that you're brewing the same recipes over and over and over (which is a challenge in its own right because you want to same results every single time even though you're working with raw materials that can vary pretty greatly). So it's been a really cool opportunity and challenge to be able to think up a beer, write a recipe for it, brew it, and then serve it to people. Though that last part is a little bit stressful, especially when your peers are drinking it. I'm really happy with what I brewed though. I brewed a Belgian-inspired brown ale--it isn't brewed to any particular style, but I used a Belgian yeast and Belgian malts so I'm calling in Belgian--with a low bitterness that is balanced out with sour cherries. It turned out really well: it has a nice fruity character without being sweet; it's complex without sacrificing drinkability.
Anyway, as this is a competition, I'm also asking for your help and support here. The first round of the competition is decided by public vote and then the finalists then go to France to have their beers evaluated by a panel of judges. The winner then gets to go to the Great American Beer Festival which is being held in Denver, CO (if I win, hello Lifetime Tattoo!). While I would love for all of you to come to Montreal and taste my beer, you don't actually have to try it to vote for me, so if you are so inclined you can vote up to once per day until the end of the contest via this link:
http://maitrebrasseur.les3brasseurs.com
My beer is called The Belgian Cherry. I am the worst at coming up with names. There is a hilarious picture of me in there though, if you need an incentive.

I stumbled across this article this morning, about a photojournalist documenting a dying tattoo tradition in Syria. The photos are beautiful and I love learning about traditional tattoo practices in different cultures (I had no idea that there was a Kurdish tattoo culture!). I thought some of you nerds might find it interesting too!
The Last Tattooed Women of Kobane | PROOF

This was really interesting! I didn't know facial tattoos were a tradition in Syria. But I am familiar with the facial tattoos of North Africa and they look very similar. So I figured there had to be a connection. I found this article about how North African facial tattooing might have originated in Iraq. It's a really interesting read. It's amazing that two regions separated by about 3000 miles share a tradition that was probably spread by gypsy nomads.
Algeria: Tattoos Provide L(ink) to Iraq*|*Yasmin Bendaas

I stumbled across this article this morning, about a photojournalist documenting a dying tattoo tradition in Syria. The photos are beautiful and I love learning about traditional tattoo practices in different cultures (I had no idea that there was a Kurdish tattoo culture!). I thought some of you nerds might find it interesting too!
The Last Tattooed Women of Kobane | PROOF

I stumbled across this article this morning, about a photojournalist documenting a dying tattoo tradition in Syria. The photos are beautiful and I love learning about traditional tattoo practices in different cultures (I had no idea that there was a Kurdish tattoo culture!). I thought some of you nerds might find it interesting too!
The Last Tattooed Women of Kobane | PROOF

I stumbled across this article this morning, about a photojournalist documenting a dying tattoo tradition in Syria. The photos are beautiful and I love learning about traditional tattoo practices in different cultures (I had no idea that there was a Kurdish tattoo culture!). I thought some of you nerds might find it interesting too!
The Last Tattooed Women of Kobane | PROOF

Heck yes!

@Pugilist Ohhh that is a grand idea! On it!

@Mark Bee - this is a real niche market suggestion, but I will point out that this is happening right before Congress, so if either of you are planning on going to that, you could combine a QC/Ottawa road trip and live the dream, so to speak. :)

Aww, this got me right in the heart. So sweet. Great read, @Pugilist.

I stumbled across this article this morning, about a photojournalist documenting a dying tattoo tradition in Syria. The photos are beautiful and I love learning about traditional tattoo practices in different cultures (I had no idea that there was a Kurdish tattoo culture!). I thought some of you nerds might find it interesting too!
The Last Tattooed Women of Kobane | PROOF

I stumbled across this article this morning, about a photojournalist documenting a dying tattoo tradition in Syria. The photos are beautiful and I love learning about traditional tattoo practices in different cultures (I had no idea that there was a Kurdish tattoo culture!). I thought some of you nerds might find it interesting too!
The Last Tattooed Women of Kobane | PROOF

I stumbled across this article this morning, about a photojournalist documenting a dying tattoo tradition in Syria. The photos are beautiful and I love learning about traditional tattoo practices in different cultures (I had no idea that there was a Kurdish tattoo culture!). I thought some of you nerds might find it interesting too!
The Last Tattooed Women of Kobane | PROOF

I stumbled across this article this morning, about a photojournalist documenting a dying tattoo tradition in Syria. The photos are beautiful and I love learning about traditional tattoo practices in different cultures (I had no idea that there was a Kurdish tattoo culture!). I thought some of you nerds might find it interesting too!
The Last Tattooed Women of Kobane | PROOF

I stumbled across this article this morning, about a photojournalist documenting a dying tattoo tradition in Syria. The photos are beautiful and I love learning about traditional tattoo practices in different cultures (I had no idea that there was a Kurdish tattoo culture!). I thought some of you nerds might find it interesting too!
The Last Tattooed Women of Kobane | PROOF

I stumbled across this article this morning, about a photojournalist documenting a dying tattoo tradition in Syria. The photos are beautiful and I love learning about traditional tattoo practices in different cultures (I had no idea that there was a Kurdish tattoo culture!). I thought some of you nerds might find it interesting too!
The Last Tattooed Women of Kobane | PROOF

I stumbled across this article this morning, about a photojournalist documenting a dying tattoo tradition in Syria. The photos are beautiful and I love learning about traditional tattoo practices in different cultures (I had no idea that there was a Kurdish tattoo culture!). I thought some of you nerds might find it interesting too!
The Last Tattooed Women of Kobane | PROOF

I stumbled across this article this morning, about a photojournalist documenting a dying tattoo tradition in Syria. The photos are beautiful and I love learning about traditional tattoo practices in different cultures (I had no idea that there was a Kurdish tattoo culture!). I thought some of you nerds might find it interesting too!
The Last Tattooed Women of Kobane | PROOF