Graeme

I don't get it.  Go into any shop and pretty much any tattooer worth getting tattooed by is going to have a sketchbook or binder full of ideas they'd love to tattoo.  Likewise, pretty much any tattooer worth getting tattooed by is going to continually try to push their boundaries and try to improve and be a better tattooer with each tattoo they do.  I know that there's been plenty of experimentation with techniques and materials on my skin, because that's a normal day-to-day part of tattooing and getting tattooed.

If you want to encourage artists walk into a good shop with money in hand.

This just sounds like a bunch of pretentious horseshit.

Good luck.

Cool concept but I do echo the concern of the community. I think primarily because so many people have tattoo's that they hate and the end result is that it impacts their lives in a negative way. You say that you've been always been involved in the body modification community. Tell me more...

If you want to attract scratchers and weirdos this is the right way to go about it.
We're all trying to seek out quality work from decent artists because there are so many people that suck out there! please don't invite them onto your body.
Seek out a decent open minded artist who'll appreciate your approach. There are so many amazing artists who would love the chance to work on adventurous projects with a near blank canvas. 

You can go to an established artist (or an apprentice who works with an established tattooer) and pay them for this.  Though.

you want free tattoos and dont care if they suck
be careful what you wish for Ern

Plenty of us are familiar with conceptual art. This is just a lousy concept.

I don't get it.  Go into any shop and pretty much any tattooer worth getting tattooed by is going to have a sketchbook or binder full of ideas they'd love to tattoo.  Likewise, pretty much any tattooer worth getting tattooed by is going to continually try to push their boundaries and try to improve and be a better tattooer with each tattoo they do.  I know that there's been plenty of experimentation with techniques and materials on my skin, because that's a normal day-to-day part of tattooing and getting tattooed.

If you want to encourage artists walk into a good shop with money in hand.

This just sounds like a bunch of pretentious horseshit.

Good luck.

I don't get it.  Go into any shop and pretty much any tattooer worth getting tattooed by is going to have a sketchbook or binder full of ideas they'd love to tattoo.  Likewise, pretty much any tattooer worth getting tattooed by is going to continually try to push their boundaries and try to improve and be a better tattooer with each tattoo they do.  I know that there's been plenty of experimentation with techniques and materials on my skin, because that's a normal day-to-day part of tattooing and getting tattooed.

If you want to encourage artists walk into a good shop with money in hand.

This just sounds like a bunch of pretentious horseshit.

Good luck.

I don't get it.  Go into any shop and pretty much any tattooer worth getting tattooed by is going to have a sketchbook or binder full of ideas they'd love to tattoo.  Likewise, pretty much any tattooer worth getting tattooed by is going to continually try to push their boundaries and try to improve and be a better tattooer with each tattoo they do.  I know that there's been plenty of experimentation with techniques and materials on my skin, because that's a normal day-to-day part of tattooing and getting tattooed.

If you want to encourage artists walk into a good shop with money in hand.

This just sounds like a bunch of pretentious horseshit.

Good luck.

Here are all of my furry monkeys:
 

We adopted a very sweet 1 year old Plott Hound from a city shelter Saturday and couldn't be happier.
Meet "Molly".

I was just reading this thread and realized that I don't think I've ever put a picture of my little snake on here. It is very different from the rest of what's on this thread, but I love how it sits on my arm. Ron Wells did it a year ago. Both tattoos I have from him feature a lot of solid black and are sort of stealth tribal. Sorry about the bathroom photo.

@sophistre You're making great progress on it!  It seems like it's coming together super fast!  The sessions might suck, but it's all worth it.

I think I'd have to take it by a case by case basis, but in general, I'd say no to this.  I don't like the idea of getting tattooed being used by a business to sell something that isn't tattoos.  The last tattoo I got was posted on the Black Claw instagram to show how good their needles work, and that's cool because that's tattoo-related, but fuck a bunch of "tattoo lifestyle" bullshit like hipster beard pomade or whatever fuckery people pitch at tattooed people.  That seems really vulgar and tasteless, and not what I want from tattoos.

@sophistre You're making great progress on it!  It seems like it's coming together super fast!  The sessions might suck, but it's all worth it.

I had post-Torchbearer beers with @polliwog and I highly recommend the experience.

MANGY (unhappy) PANTHER by Theo Mindell. 
 

I got a little Richard Stell pink elephant when I was at Pair-O-Dice on the 4th. Had fun shooting the shit with Richard and Jen while Jen tattooed me. Elephant is very mangy currently. I shall post a photo when he has healed! Meanwhile, enjoy this photo of me with Richard. :-)

Added this one tonight from Jonathan Montalvo. What a genuinely good dude. 

Alix Ge added this awesome Hannya on my forearm
 
 

I think for most people this won't look like much has been done, but oh well! All of the black/shading, with the exception of some clouds we're going to add, is now done. All of the lining, too. We had to line two more dragon feet and I thought I was going to die. If I never see another liner that size again, it'll be too soon! So now we get to start color after this, and I can't wait. 

Greg Whitehead and all that.
 

Been a while since I have been on the forum...
If anyone is in Brooklyn between now and August 1, check out the Jondix/David D'Andrea show at the Three Kings Gallery on Manhattan Avenue (Greenpoint).  They did a great job pairing those two up, and I got to meet Jondix (I did not manage to play it cool, c'est la vie).  The opening last night was fun.  They have t-shirts, prints and (of course) the art all available.  Everything is very reasonably priced. 

I think it should come back when this place is a tattoo forum again and not a tattoo advice forum.

I would suggest changing how the voting works, if possible.  There was always an advantage to the people who posted their tattoos first.  If you posted a tattoo towards the middle or end of the month you basically didn't have much of a chance regardless of the tattoo.  If it wouldn't be a complete pain in the ass to implement and administrate, what about something like a ranked ballot where, at the end of the month, people can choose their first, second, third favorite tattoos and assign, say 5 points to first, 3 to second, and 1 to third and tabulate that to decide a winner.
 
Could also be fun to run contests around themes like skulls, birds, flowers, or whatever.
 
Healed up and settled in stuff would be cool too.

You're approaching this the wrong way.  Don't look for people who do a lot of food tattoos, look for people who do excellent tattoos, and approach one of them with your idea.  I would suggest Dynamic in Melbourne.