ironchef

Thanks. I'll head down there to talk with him after the new year. Curious, do you know if he has a long wait list ?

Not sure about his waitlist. Best to contact the shop directly to find out.

Thanks for the recommendations.

I took a quick look at John Sultana's Instagram page. I really like his designs, but I'm not sure about the dotwork style. Looks like it's not just subtle dot shading but the whole tattoo is dots.

The dotwork is just one style and I'm sure if you have a conversation with him or perhaps Zac, they can come up with something that will fit your idea.

Welcome to the forum. There's nothing at all wrong with getting tattooed from flash, though from what you're describing here, I would suggest checking out John Sultana at Saved Tattoo in Williamsburg.

I second @Graeme's recommendation on John Sultana for black/grey geometric work from Saved Tattoo. Also check out Zac Shienbaum from Saved as well for black/grey work and dot work.

I'm going to see if I can make it. It's happening the weekend I get back in town from vacation.

There's this kid I stumbled upon on Instagram from the UK that does AWESOME looking work. He goes by the name Akuma Shugi but not sure if that is just a anime/cosplay moniker or his real name.

https://www.facebook.com/akuma.shugi

AKUMA SHUGI

Instagram

[ATTACH=CONFIG]9855[/ATTACH]

Horitomo cat & my cat :)

Although not a print.

The only thing better than an original from Horitomo...an actual monmon cat tattoo! AWESOME!

New one from Chris O'Donnell. Flaming traditional dragon head.

Looks AWESOME! Was this done at his private studio or down at Kings Ave Manhattan?

Zac Scheinbaum at Saved. I believe he's only 23 or 24.

My second or third visit to Kings Avenue Long Island, I had the pleasure of sharing a LIRR train ride back into NYC with Zac. He's got full sleeve from Rubendall. This was before he started at Saved. I now see everyone's influence in Zac's work from Tamez, O'Donnell and especially Hooper. Really cool kid.

I'm going with Phil from Kingsave. He can't be more than 25. super talented!!

Concurred. Phil Szlosek is putting out some great work and learning from the awesome Kings Ave crew:

Tattoos by Philip Szlosek

Instagram

Now I'm going to be heartbroken about my inability to afford a plane fare to Germany...

Does she ever travel to the US?

Not that I'm aware of. I've followed her religiously on Instagram along with her website and patiently waiting for her "Kingdom of Wenramen" book to come out (I think March 2014). Might have to try and convince a shop to ask her to do a guest spot.

Yeah, I had no idea that Wendy Pham had been tattooing 5 years or less. I've been calling her the lady Grime since I've been following her stuff.

I LOVE Wendy's little creatures and her attention to detail is mind-boggling!

Wendy Pham out of Conspiracy Tattoo in Berlin, Germany

Super detailed and whimsical work.

Instagram

Have not posted for a while but had to show my new piece off!

Done by the very talented Valerie Vargas

I LOVE Valerie's work! This is absolutely INSANE!!! Congrats on a great back piece!

Just incredible, @ironchef. Is the dragon now complete? What's next?

Not just yet. We still have various spikes and the back bone (horns/scales?) the horns on the head, the tongue and teeth, the eyes, some more flames, the pearl/orb and the spikes on the tail end. I'm sure there will also be some touch ups and embellishments as well.

Funny thing, Rubendall had a client in the morning and he was filling in scales on a dragon and then in the afternoon is me and...filling in scales on a dragon. I asked him if it gets tedious or if he just gets tired of seeing the same thing. Mike said he loves it and each one is different. No cutting corners or trying to make due here, just doing what he loves. AMAZING to be part of that creative process.

Another session down on my back with Mike Rubendall. Full report with pics in the Full Back Piece thread.

Friday the 13th tattooing at Kings Avenue!!! Sorta...

Short 4 hour session today with Mike Rubendall at Kings Ave in Long Island. It's been freezing cold in NYC and I braved the train ride out to Long Island to continue work on my back piece. Added more color to the dragon. Here's the report. Enjoy!

Alpha Omega original hanging in Rubendall's room. Details and colors are AMAZING!!!

Straddling the chair and about to throwdown:

And the results from today's work:

Really digging the vivid colors:

Slowly coming together:

And of course I couldn't go home without grabbing these. I have a copy of the Fingerwave Book which these prints were made for. Saw the original hanging in the shop. LOVE the waves and happy that I own some Rubendall waves on my backside, hahaha

This Friday will be my last appointment for 2013 with Mike Rubendall at Kings Ave in Long Island. Going to put more color into dragon on my back piece. Have several scheduled appointments in 2014 to finish things off and possibly start something new. Will post update with pics this weekend.

Great stuff @TaeTae Keep them coming!

100% agree. I love my Japanese very simple with plenty of black.

If the image is a Koi, then it should be with more Koi. Almost makes me cry when I see a dragon, a tiger, a mask flowers all crammed into one sleeve. Maybe an extreme example, but you do it see it.

I always find myself looking through Horitoshi 1 and Hori Kyo facebook pages. Something so majestic about it.

It would be interested to see a piece by Gogue, Shige or an artist of similar style after 20 years. I'm not sure how such intricate designs will hold up.

I've been leaning towards bonji to ring around my 3/4 sleeves like above but seeing some interesting concepts in this thread has me thinking of some other ideas.

Very beautiful. I was starting to think I was the only one who still loved simplistic traditional Japanese. Seems to be more love for this neo modern stuff. Don't get me wrong I can appreciate the skill of people like Shige ect, but it just don't look right to me.

Mini rant over :p

I'm in the same boat as you. I love the works of Shige and Gogue, but I prefer the traditional look. Add to that I used to think I wanted pieces with super details but I've come to realize while small details may be nice, big and bold leaves such an enduring image.

Bonji from Horitada (amazing artist with big bold beautiful work)

Thanks mate, that helps to do some google re"searching".

Are there anymore traditional placement / coverage not included here? Trying to know a bit more about this and how to organically grow vs just slapping things in a spot and forcing a cohesive suit.

I might be wrong but I believe traditional style is to start with a back piece (turtle back) and kind of grow from there. Or plan out a munewari or full body suit unless you want work from different artists. I've kind of pieced my quasi-suit together.