Pugilist

Actually, I don't think anyone has. You are shitting on a pretty important part of the tattoo world (and a tradition that yes, people on this board love, for good reason!) with little to no interest in understanding it, which does not bode well for your supposed future career as a tattooer. You have been doing this for weeks, including insulting people's actual tattoos on here. Your attitude is both misinformed and rude. It is not stimulating any kind of worthwhile critique. Please just try to add to the discussion like a civilized human being.
I am bummed that what was a positive and interesting thread turned into this shit show. I will say that when I first started getting tattooed, I didn't "get" traditional either. I didn't understand how beautiful its simplicity can be. Seeing the work of some amazing tattooers in person really opened my eyes (I had a real "a-ha!" moment the first time I saw Chad Koeplinger tattooing at the Montreal convention, when I still only had one tattoo). Now it's most of what I have. It is interesting how it takes a little bit of time and learning about tattoos to "get it", but I think the world of traditional is rich and diverse and like @cltattooing said, we are really lucky that there are some amazing folks out there right now doing cool things with this style.

I'm not sure I understand your point here. Eddy Deutsche is a traditionally trained tattooer who had also branched out in subject and style but keeps within the technique. Also the credo isn't exactly "traditional is better" it's "bold will hold."
I don't know. This thread has gotten kind of ridiculous. If you have a chip on your shoulder, don't engage other users in a negative or confrontational manner, go start a thread that promotes positive information and education on the tattooing that you like.

@polliwog - I agree with you that "A lot of the most fervent defining seems to be done by people looking at the tattoos, rather than the actual tattooed person." The article is a thoughtful read, but it also needs to be understood in the context of what the vast majority of tattoos are, i.e. those tiny infinity symbols and whatever. The kind of work folks on this board get is not the norm, and so our reasons and attachment to tattoos is probably not going to conform to that data super well either.
I do often get tattooed to mark particular moments in my life or transitions. I have many tattoos that to me did feel like alternative rites of passage where there were no "mainstream" ones (getting a tattoo to mark finishing my PhD, for example), so I can relate to some of what the article is saying. But I have two principal issues with it nonetheless. First of all, I hate these strange studies of "identity" because they make it seem like this rigid, easily defined concept. I mean, I feel like I have a strong sense of who I am and am searching for who I am at the very same time, and I imagine that is true for most people. I find their discussion of that stuff very over-simplified. Second, I am fucking sick of all these millenials articles, and I am not even a millenial! But like seriously, the desire to cast each new generation as a bunch of iconoclasts with no connection to the past is insane. Millenials are not a fundamentally different kind of person than the rest of us, and writing like they are some kind of alien culture that must be studied makes me crazy.
Like we live in a weird world where we are increasingly less and less attached to communities that traditionally defined us. So yeah, we're all searching, and maybe tattoos help us with some of that searching and maybe they don't. We invest a huge amount of time and money (and blood!) into them, so obviously they mean a lot to us and impact our identities. DUH; I would have a hard time disputing any of that. But trying to turn it into some kind of "definition of a generation" psychobabble is a bit much.

Some people's tattoo worlds seem really small... (In my own world, there are lots of cool different ways to get tattooed.)

Loose clothes and take some arnica (pills, not cream) before/during/after to help reduce swelling. AND HAVE FUN!

Some people's tattoo worlds seem really small... (In my own world, there are lots of cool different ways to get tattooed.)

@beez - Everyone else has said what needs to be said, but I just wanted to chime in with some love and support - that is a stupid, shallow, hurtful thing to say to someone you care about. It is always a very painful experience to find out that someone we held in high esteem is not the person we thought they were, but man, that was some garbage. And I am sorry someone you love was so cruel to you. Xo.

Before we let this drop, does this mean there's an American inside all of us Canadians and Irish getting trad one shots...?
I have an American leg at any rate. Totting it up I don't know if it was that cheap so far though.

hey folks - lets remember that this thread is about throwing down your latest and greatest
lets get back to that huh

Some people's tattoo worlds seem really small... (In my own world, there are lots of cool different ways to get tattooed.)

Some people's tattoo worlds seem really small... (In my own world, there are lots of cool different ways to get tattooed.)

Some people's tattoo worlds seem really small... (In my own world, there are lots of cool different ways to get tattooed.)

Some people's tattoo worlds seem really small... (In my own world, there are lots of cool different ways to get tattooed.)

Some people's tattoo worlds seem really small... (In my own world, there are lots of cool different ways to get tattooed.)

Some people's tattoo worlds seem really small... (In my own world, there are lots of cool different ways to get tattooed.)

Some people's tattoo worlds seem really small... (In my own world, there are lots of cool different ways to get tattooed.)

Some people's tattoo worlds seem really small... (In my own world, there are lots of cool different ways to get tattooed.)

Hokay, cross-posting by request, cos SeeSea is such a flatterer. I was going to wait until Greg posted the pictures he took of the new stuff, but he may not. Sun came out today when I was about to head to the gym, so I tried to get some myself.
I got a diving girl, and we started a cobra, though we didn't finish it. They're looking a little bit foggy/chalky because I peel fast; they'll probably start flaking by tomorrow. It makes it hard to see the blue details in the diving girl, sadly. Sorry for the terrible angles!


These links are just an overview of the whole thing, before we added the cobra.
https://instagram.com/p/1gugZ7TBPK/
https://instagram.com/p/1guZOxTBO-/

I feel like it's good to have a super posi thread every now and then!
@Graeme and I talk about this a lot - that being into tattoos has not only gotten us, you know, some amazing tattoos, but that it has also broadened our horizons in about a million different ways. This is thanks to the fantastic people we are privileged to interact with and the amazing knowledge and insight that they've shared with us. I had no interest at all in Japanese/Chinese/Tibetan/etc. art before we started hanging out in tattoo shops, for example, and now it feels like an amazing world of art has been opened up to me. Tattoos have also led me to learn more about Buddhist practices and indirectly influenced both of us to learn how to meditate. Basically it's turned us into goddamn hippies, which I am super down with.
I'd be curious to hear about ways that getting tattooed has led you to learn and experience new things, beyond the joy of a needle in your ass crack. In the age of Inkmaster, I think it's worth talking about how rich tattoo culture is, and how connected it is to other amazing cultural, artistic, spiritual, etc., movements and practices.

I mean, I know that tattoos hurt, sometimes a lot, but I had some medical shit happen to me in the past year that was among the worst pain I have ever experienced, like pain that makes you vomit uncontrollably (for which I was prescribed far LESS in terms of painkillers than what some people are describing in this thread), and it's made me have a low, low tolerance for otherwise healthy people (i.e. without chronic problems that exacerbate what it means to sit for a tattoo!) not being able to grin and bare it through a tattoo. It really sucks sometimes, I am not disputing that, but we all deal with it. And we are doing this voluntarily. We are feeling the pain because of something we want, not because our body is telling us that we are ill. The pain also stops as soon as the needle does. If folks want to use painkillers or muscle relaxants to make the process easier, that's up to them and their tattooers--I have never found it worth the side effects, and I really resist the notion that it is ever "necessary". Like do whatever you want, but let's remember that just because something is really painful, doesn't mean that we can't just... deal with it. We all like to complain about how much tattoos hurt as some kind of bonding exercise, but we wouldn't still be getting tattooed if it really required sedation to survive!

got this guy from Lee Knight yesterday, was meant to just be a consultation but he had space that afternoon and was blown away by what he was sketching up on the spot so went straight for it.
Sits between the last two i posted the other day, on my shin

All right. For those who've seen it all ready, for those who've been waiting, for those who don't know what the fuck I talking about, for those who don't care: here is my back now.

Finished this Saturday at the annual Scottish tattoo convention in Edinburgh. Iain Mullen and Rudy Fritsch converged for the first time since we did the lines in June, to do some two machine shading on the lower part and add some extra detail. One more touch up session with Iain in Stockholm and then this experience is over. It's been a great ride on so many levels and if I were to explain how happy I am about the result I would have to invent some new words. Both Iain and Rudy rules and everybody who has the chance to get the chance should really consider getting something from them.
I will post a longer write up on this thread full-back-piece-experience-thread.html shortly, perhaps tomorrow. Right now I have a bad fever to pull through. One good thing about getting tattooed is that, if you do it right, it teaches you how tough you really are. Peace!

Hey dudes, maybe listen to women when they say they find something insulting, instead of telling them how they should take it. It's an infantilizing, objectifying and therefore misogynist thing to say, even if you "mean it" as a compliment. And I agree with @SnowyPlover, it's a nice reminder of why being a woman into tattoos can kind of suck.

Yeah you definitely need to leave and pursue other options. The idea of undertaking a tattoo apprenticeship from someone who doesn't tattoo is... nonsensical. By the sounds of it, you have too much potential for this clown and he doesn't deserve to have you around. It kinda just sounds like he wants a shop bitch who will make him easy money, and that's not what tattooing is about. I know it's hard to have the confidence at this level to put your foot down and say "hey fuck you man! I'm leaving!" (you don't literally have to say fuck you ;)) BUT YOU SHOULD! Even if you have to keep learning and studying on your own time, it will still be time saved not learning bad habits and bad business practices. And yeah what Kevin said, go hang out at other shops, be polite and respectful, keep your ears open and your mouth shut. Get tattooed! It will work out :)

Welcome to LST. As much as I am sure you want to be a tattooer, it sounds like you need to get the fuck out of this sketchy apprenticeship.