Pugilist

Voted!

I don't understand people who make sweeping generalizations?? Sometimes we get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the shop and little things slip your attention. Misspelling a tattoo isn't a justifiable error, however we are human and we make mistakes and what with most tattooers having decade-long careers, the probability that something like this will happen is high. This thread feels very bitchy and ranty overall. Everyone needs to accept responsibility on both sides.

Browsing around the board just now, I was struck by how often folks asking questions about tattoos they want to get or tattoos they have gotten end up getting similar responses, as their issues often correspond to a fairly narrow set that come up again and again. I thought it could be cool to have a thread where we list our generally accepted "tattoo advice" and wisdom in one centralized location. We could point people to it when appropriate.
For example:
1. Thou shalt never haggle in a tattoo shop.
2. Thou shalt not try to force a tattooer to tattoo an exact replica of an image you've brought in. If you are going to a skilled tattooer, you will always be better off letting them turn your idea into an actual tattoo design that will work for this medium.
3. Thou shalt consult with your tattooer for questions re: design, sizing, placement, ideas, aftercare instructions and any touch-ups.
4. Thou shalt not stress about how your new tattoo looks until it is fully healed.
5. Thou shalt accept that flaking, scabbing, swelling, itching, and a whole bunch of other uncomfortable stuff is all totally normal when healing a tattoo. Thou shalt only be concerned if it doesn't get better after weeks, or if it smells or looks infected.
Next?

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

@Graeme's parents are staying with us right now and kind of freaked when they saw his fresh tattoo yesterday. His mom asked "what will your children think???" and Graeme said that he was actually doing his parents a service, since us having all these tattoos means our kids will for sure think they're lame and they won't want any. I am not sure this won her over.

Are you sure it was a dream?

I've been looking at pictures of my own back/ass on my phone at work. If i get caught, I can't get in trouble for looking at my own ass right?

I haven't been able to post here in far too long. Getting tattooed in a couple weeks by Kevin Collins at Van Ness & Fellows in Raleigh. Taking my kneecap for a plunge. <shudder>

Are you sure it was a dream?

Are you sure it was a dream?

I too had a tattoo nightmare...last night in fact.
Myself and a crew of tattooed motherfuckers from LST were chopping heads off zombies (we've been watching a lot of Walking Dead lately...). I haven't met any of you in person so I only recognized your tattoos.
@Graeme and @Pugilist had this particularly deadly tag team strategy with battle axes lol

You should know that I got a text from @Graeme in the middle of teaching the other day, and I looked down at my phone to see a photo of your butt.
(PS holy hell that is a great start!)

When me and @Pugilist went to Electric it was on one of their walk-in Saturdays, and they do everything. It's rad. I got a vajra sword from Tom Yak, the next tattoo he did was a sergeant's chevrons. We lined up before the shop opened to make sure we could get a spot, and it was really cool because the shop gets all kind of people wanting all kinds of stuff, from people who were specifically going to Robert Ryan to get his stuff, to names, flowers, standard walk-in tattoos. I was talking with Tom about it while I was getting tattooed and he was super into tattooing like that and just giving people good tattoos. I got the impression that even though some of the tattooers there are pretty well-known and that people (like us!) will travel to go there, that it's the good local shop and it's just where you go to get tattooed if you live in the area.
Instagram really skews things. I've been tattooed at some really fancy big-name shops and even there very few of the tattooers there exclusively do "their style". I've read on here about tattooers who are super hard to book and will only work in their particular style, and then I've seen these same tattooers in the shop doing simple script on the ribs and that kind of stuff. The internet isn't real life.

You should know that I got a text from @Graeme in the middle of teaching the other day, and I looked down at my phone to see a photo of your butt.
(PS holy hell that is a great start!)

good idea! i forgot about the dm feature.
edit: i can't fit it all in the little instagram square so here it is for all the internet

I know! Plus I just google mapped it and apparently Richmond is only a 10.5 hour drive away? AND we have friends there AND good eatin'. I am seriously so into this idea.

I know! Plus I just google mapped it and apparently Richmond is only a 10.5 hour drive away? AND we have friends there AND good eatin'. I am seriously so into this idea.

Like I said, LST meetup. I'm close to both Towson and Richmond y'all!

@Graeme - road trip???

A brief update here: @Pugilist was spending some time with her mom yesterday (who still doesn't know that either of us have any tattoos at all) and she was trying to push Anna to get me to cut my hair because I "look like a bum". Then she said that at least I don't have holes in my ears. Oh, how little she knows.

OMG @sophistre !!! You arm is blowing my mind!

Agreed completely with this, especially about how placement is often the difference between good tattoos and GREAT ones. I think not only is it a hard thing to explain here, other than that it's one of those things where you'll know it when you see it, but it's something that really requires seeing tattoos in person because photos don't give a very good sense of placement, or of the movement of tattoos. Placement is something that is kind of irrespective of genre too. If you've seen Filip Leu's tattoos, I mean in real life, not in pictures, they way they sit is incredible. They look like they were meant to be there and that they were always there. My wife @Pugilist had her back done in a folky Americana style by Stephanie Tamez and it's the same, even though the style is totally different than Filip's. What was neat about seeing that tattoo come together was how immediately it looked like the tattoo belonged there.

OMG @sophistre !!! You arm is blowing my mind!