Rikhall

@DeathB4Decaf No he said it'd just turned up before he had to fly, il upload healed pics in a few weeks, mine is a battle royal which I've been after a while so very happy.

Went to the Calgary convention today and picked up a piece by Todd Noble and a bulldog by Shaun topper, both really nice guys, my partner got a native girl head by Todd and I can safely say it's one of the best I've ever seen in person, met a few other artists aswell and was good just to have a look around and catch some of the local talent at work

Went to the Calgary convention today and picked up a piece by Todd Noble and a bulldog by Shaun topper, both really nice guys, my partner got a native girl head by Todd and I can safely say it's one of the best I've ever seen in person, met a few other artists aswell and was good just to have a look around and catch some of the local talent at work

I say find a tattooer that you are really into, like I mean really into. Like every single tattoo they do is fantastic. Then put a deposit down for that tattooer.
I always have really general ideas and placements in mind, then let the tattooer do the rest.
My .02

I always wanted one dark arm and one American traditional, because that's what I thought was cool when I was 16, so eleven years later that's exactly what I have.

@mmikaoj - thanks for kicking off a good thread, with a lot going on in it.
I would think most of us can get behind the OP's premise that sometimes big name culture can be a poor guide to who to get tattooed by. If the reason someone is chosen as an artist is because they HAVE that big name, not because of what earned it for them, then that's, as @Pugilist said, something like starfucking.
It's not even the same as people who get tattooed by Ami James because he's on TV... It's actually different because it's masquerading as something more like connoisseurship, even though it isn't.
I've been in a couple of shops where I think, objectively speaking (if such s thing is possible) the newer tattooers that were being brought along were clearly going to outstrip their teachers eventually. Jondix and Horiyoshi III must have been rookies and then journeymen too at some stage. There must have been a tipping point somewhere where people getting work from them knew that they were lucky to be in the seat at that time.
Where this thread falls into controversy is when Eddie and Horiyoshi III were somewhat roughly evaluated. I don't agree that Eddie Deutsche has even remotely lost it, FWIW, and in the case of Horiyoshi III I don't know enough to comment. I concluded a while back that his instagram photos were not a good guide, full stop, but a tattooer whose opinion I trust told me he thought that health problems were taking their toll on his tattooing. I would get tattooed by him because of who he is, but I wouldn't go in there expecting it to be like a tattoo done in his prime.
On the whole taking offence / smack talking thing... I don't think anything in this thread has crossed that line yet. So far all I see are honestly held opinions, misguided or subjective perhaps, but no full-blown smack-talking.
I DO want to know where the local shop with tattooers as good as Shige, Horiyoshi III etc is... I'm guessing Rock of Ages or something

I wouldn't say that man. You're just new around here. Alot of us are not new to tattoos at all and we spend alot of our time around them. I think honestly, if we knew a little more about you, and the things you like and don't like, that would be a much broader and less trolley approach. I've been tattooed by Eli Quinters, like a lot of people on this forum (and people here have been tattooed by Shige and Horiyoshi 3) so it's a little like slapping us (and some really rich tradition and history) in the face.

So, uh... what's the name of this local shop and where is it??

Hmm... In another thread you recently wrote that you're new to tattoos, so posting a bold statement like that is kind of odd. I'm not saying you don't have great local tattooers, I just thought that was a really weird thing to write.

I can't get past the Eddy Deutsche "lost it" comment.

I really want to do a sheet of wrestling flash after reading the conversation that stemmed from this... Like, Goldberg tribal has to be involved in some way. I also came across my old ECW shirt from high school recently (which fits again, thanks to healthy-ish eating), which is helping to fuel the urge.

Got this chest eagle off Steve Byrne last week

Don't think I posted these either
Fudo of Stewart Robson

Leopard off Valerie Vargas

Scorpion off Valerie too

And this mad skull off Andrea Furci

Never posted on this before but here is my barbershop quartet done by Steve Bryne at rock of ages Austin last July, it's not going to win but thought I'd share it with people

Seems like shirts are banned at the convention. :)

I feel that he posts on Instagram every so often saying that he has availabilites...just looking now there's a post from a couple of days ago saying that he's going to work some extra days over the next couple of weeks and wants to do some fun one session tattoos.
I think there are very few tattooers who are really that difficult to get in with if you really want to get tattooed by them.

That's what I've got can't go wrong at all, great choices

That's what I've got can't go wrong at all, great choices

Cheers man! I don't have a clue what i'm getting from Bert or Eli, just planning to pick things that fit the spaces tomorrow.
As for my thighs i've asked Brad for a ROA on one and a rose of no mans on the other!
I've asked for the ROA first, so we're doing that on the 16th.

I'm pretty much going to England just for that tattoo, like my family is there but I said I'd only go back if I could book in with her, got a 6 hour session booked gonna be intense, and Todd is coming to calgary for the convention so I couldn't resist, a few other artists I like are coming so you never know,
Done for the year? Just wait till a opportunity comes up

I see this all the time. I wanna scream, "Tattoos don't have to mean anything!" but there's no use with some people. And I don't mean for that to sound harsh. I just mean that some people have their minds made up and nothing I could say would change that.

As it's payday my deposits finally went down for Todd noble and Valerie Vargas, :)

Never posted on this before but here is my barbershop quartet done by Steve Bryne at rock of ages Austin last July, it's not going to win but thought I'd share it with people

A big panther head would do the trick like

Filler fun c/o Nick Oaks (from yesterday).

Never posted on this before but here is my barbershop quartet done by Steve Bryne at rock of ages Austin last July, it's not going to win but thought I'd share it with people