cltattooing

my favorite knuckles ever. so witty, so fancy, super clean.

This is an original that I bought from Mark last year. I really want to get it tattooed, but that dude is hard to get time with when he travels.

I think you have to get your post count up to 10 before you can post elsewhere, maybe make some in other peoples' introductory threads. As for actual designs, maybe check out the latest tattoo lowdown thread, or the designs, books, and flash subforum to see what styles and aesthetic of tattoos you're attracted to. From there, maybe discuss ideas you have within that genre?

Awesome, well power to ya! And definitely check out those shows, especially the Gypsy Gentleman. Really quality stuff.

Oh, and if you have a smartphone or tablet, be sure to download Tattoo Culture Magazine from the app store/google play. It's free!

Entertainment is entertainment, and nobody can knock ya for that. But just recognize it as such and don't base your personal tattoo decisions on what people in suits think makes good television. I think the best advice that I can give you in terms of getting good tattoos is to spend your time with and take your advice from people who are successful tattooers and collectors. People who really spend a good chunk of their lives around tattooing, those are the people who can give you the best advice. Not TV, not magazines, not your mom's friend's cousin in law.

And I'm really not trying to rag on you dude. I just think you might have a lot of really popularized ideas about what quality tattooing is, and I think a lot of it has to do with the rock star edge that pop culture has spun onto tattooers and the way that tattooing is represented to the masses.

hahaha I didn't notice that they all had her on the cover.

I've only watched a few episodes of NY Ink, and I couldn't stand her personality. To the magazine editors and TV producers' credit, she is hot though!!

Skin Deep is pretty good, but oooohhhh god oh god I hate Inked Magazine. I'm not much a fan of tattoo magazines as it is, so maybe I'll just keep my mouth shut on this one. No offense to you, Dan. They're definitely entertaining for what they are.

Doesn't bother me. If anything, it's good cause it keeps you still instead of talking. And sometimes just lets the artist get into the work zone, which is always good.

True love is also pretty fantastic...although not entirely in English. Most of it is, but there is some narration in Italian.

I'm also on my third time going back through the interviews on this site, which have been invaluable as far as consciousness raising about good tattooing and how to be respectful of it as craft and art from a client's perspective.

Oh man, how cool! Great series, I look forward to watching more. And yeah, the LST interviews are gold. I'd like to download them to have for archival's sake, I'm not sure if that's possible with youtube videos though.

@Mike Clayton unfortunately, those shows are pretty terrible examples of tattooing and are hypersensationalized for entertainment value and ratings. I'd start with the shows I mentioned before, along with the interviews on this site, and the show True Love that tacitapproval posted. All very personal and genuine takes on tattoo history and the process of getting tattooed/making tattoos.

although not true television, I'd like to take this moment to mention The Gypsy Gentleman (Marcus Kuhn's - The Gypsy Gentlemen - Home) and Vice's Tattoo Age (Tattoo Age | VICE). Both very educational shows, and a true testament to how tv and tattoos ought to come together.

Once you can post in other sections of the forum, there are threads that are meant to help you find a specific artist or point you in the right direction of a style. As far as tattoos and money go, don't worry about how much the tattoo will cost you overall. Money comes and goes, tattoos are forever, and you can totally figure out easy ways to budget getting your ideal tattoo.

First tattoo I did on myself, bahahahahahaha

It's so godawful. Light blue outline, oh man...

So this tattoo is on day 4 in the picture. I was advised to leave the wrap on for the whole night, this time being the first I've been told to do so.

I must say I'm pretty amazed. No scabs at all, and no ink even in the peels!!

No matter what "deeper meaning" or statement I was trying to make with my earlier tattoos, they have come to simply represent my state of being at the moment I got the tattoo - the script on my arms says one thing, but the "meaning" has much more to do with the people and places surrounding me than a literal definition. The rose and dagger on my leg pretty much just means "I like good tattoos."

Oh, surely! Basically what I was saying was that I really enjoy when the imagery is crafted with specific intent. I guess a most obvious example would be Robert Ryan's work. Just as in the alchemical illustrations, every image that is depicted was chosen deliberately for a specific intent of illustration or invocation, and I think it's very powerful stuff.

My intention wasn't to discredit tattoos that are chosen specifically for their artistic merit, as I don't think that tattoos need to have meaning whatsoever. I also have tattoos that were chosen purely for the imagery and it's just as you said, they're more of a reminder of what was going on in that time of my life. I don't think there's any real debate as far as which is more valid, it really doesn't matter beyond what it means to the person wearing the tattoo. Pretty much what I was getting at is that I find talisman tattoos to be really exciting and interesting, and I would like to do more work in that vein.

“So, before I left, I had said to people, I really wanna become a better tattooer technically and mechanically. I really want to understand what the fuck I’m doing. Cause I felt bad. The same way I felt like I was a jerk cause I never even had my grade 10, I felt like I’m a jerk cause I’m making a lot of money and people think I’m doing real good, and I am just flailing away. I got no fucking idea what I’m doing, you know? And I thought I really owed it to everything that came before me and I owed it to myself to try and master the craft, and that was part of it for me. For most people, there were other reasons. They were doing their best, or whatever. But for me, it wasn’t enough to be successful and have money – that stuff didn’t matter to me. I didn’t understand why certain needles were doing certain things. I couldn’t even wrap my mind around it.”

This pretty much is the reason why I look up to Bill. Pursuing the craft of tattooing in its entirety is what I signed up for and I just really admire his drive to understand every aspect of the craft simply as a trade. It's a very honest and humble approach, and I think you can really tell when people do what they do because it just makes their soul happy. This rules.

Hello, welcome! That's rad that you want to take the time to do some research and take your tattoos seriously. It's a really exciting thing to do in your life. If there's any advice I can give, I say don't get too intimidated by the caliber of awesome tattoos you see here. If anything, just think of them as examples for the possibilities that await your future art :)

Can we see pictures of the tattoos you have?

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh thank you so much for posting this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I mean seriously, thank you!!! I got my hands on every copy of Machinegun Magazine not long ago, and I am OBSESSED with this man's life work. He is a truly remarkable individual, and I would genuinely say that I owe him a huge debt of gratitude. I'm gonna read the rest of this when I get home and contribute a little more to this discussion than fangirl-ism, haha. But yeah, cheers!

Hey man, well thanks for asking about it! I'm definitely with you, tattoos with deeper meaning are really fascinating to me and I'd like to keep working more with deliberate imagery. I think it adds more of a talisman effect to the tattoo when you can pinpoint exactly what the image means and why it has an impact on your life. I guess it really comes down to symbolism, and pretty much all tattoos in of themselves are essentially symbols. I could talk ad nauseum about symbolism and tattoos, but I'll save that for the right conversation. :)

Awesome, that ship is killer! Welcome to the forum, looking forward to some cool posts. :)

Congrats, Eilin!!

Ahh yes! As a rule, don't judge a tattoo until it has completely healed and all waxiness is settled and gone. When a tattoo is totally healed, it will have the same texture and feel as un-tattooed skin unless it's scarred.

I mean this nice: What is it? I know it's a snake and flames, but what is the rest of it and what is it overall? It kind of looks like the bottle of Shalimar perfume my mother used to have.

It's loosely based on an engraving from this series:

The image itself is an alchemical illustration depicting the distillation of the lapis(or philosopher's stone). The annotations mention three types of distillery: cold, hot, and dry. This one is hot, describing the process as burning the lapis at a high temperature for a very long time. The series shows a homonculoid creature and fire within the bottle, and changes into a snake, which eventually eats its tail(ouroboros).

It's all very metaphysical and dense, but very interesting to read about. I'll take some pictures of the book and the images I referenced when I get home if you'd like to see them.

Thanks, Rob! Much appreciated (:

I really don't think Mike's tattoo is bad either, and there are plenty of images on this forum that could be considered overplayed. It's as classic of an image as the Durer praying hands, the lady Guadalupe, or any other religious theme.

It's fairly common for that to happen depending on the location, difficulty of the healing process, and how the tattoo was applied. Just go see your artist and have them touch it up, it's not a big deal.

I couldnt begin to tell you what this guy was thinking...

...or what the artist was thinking for that matter. Shameful. *sigh*

What a way to advertise.

I'm almost positive that's a temporary tattoo.