Diehardonvhs

Actually, about that "women have a much higher tolerance" thing - I have been researching an article about pain, how the body handles pain and how each person handles the pain of getting a tattoo. I have always heard the "women have a higher pain tolerance than men" trope, and it was a given as far as my assumptions pre-research - turns out it is not strictly true!
Here are a few links with some information - prob best used as a jumping off point, but interesting and helpful, to say the least!
Gender Differences in Brain Responses to Pain
Do men and women feel pain differently?
How Women Work
I know as far as pain and tattooing go for me, I concentrate on my breathing and everything is fine. It becomes warm after the initial sharp feeling, and that's that. I actually started this research because the last time I was getting tattooed one of the artists said he couldn't believe how calmly I could sit regularly for 6 hours at a time. (Really it never occurred to me to do it any differently! Hah!). I responded with the "women have higher pain thresholds than men" answer, and filed it away to research. He said he uses meditation to get through pain, and he can sit for about 4.5 hours before he's done.
Hopefully it will be an interesting article when all is said and done. If anyone has cool pain info, point me to it, please!

Little write up on this I saw on the TAM blog this morning
Art Theft | TAM Blog

You really shouldn't be getting tattooed at 16.

My back. Finished with Chris O'Donnell. Couldn't be more stoked on it.

You really shouldn't be getting tattooed at 16.

Don't get tattooed.

So the shop got this gem sent to our facebook yesterday...

I'm tattooed damn near all over, and I can safely say that the ribs were far and away the worst for me. Way worse than the ass, spine, kneecaps, and feet.
Listen to what Killercook76 says in the post above this one. All of it.
But hey, you're 16, and as such, probably don't give a shit what a bunch of old strangers on the internet have to say.
Signed,
An Old Stranger on the Internet

Why would an artist disrespect their client by letting another tattooer do that same custom design? Please let's keep this forum to real-life things instead of strange flights of the imagination.

The fact that I won't get to see your Grime back piece is pretty good reason to be mad at the guys who copy custom pieces. I seem to recall seeing an ass-peony that was a big tease and was looking forward to seeing the final product. I'm sure other artists are wary about posting work online for the same reason, so it sucks for those of us who just enjoy looking at photos of good tattoos.

I think the majority of responsibility lies with the artists, I'm not absolving clients who say I want exactly this tattoo, but I suspect most of them think what they are getting is more original than it is. Instagram needs a #shouldhavegonetoshige hashtag.

Well shoot... I've never had any problems with having tattoos and finding people to date. Living in the bay area, it's actually more uncommon for someone to NOT be tattooed. Pretty much over the whole idea of romance during this period of my life though. Everyone I've met over the past two and a half years has had their head so far up their ass that it's just not worth it. I would rather spend that time, effort, and money on my work.
Also something that really grinds my gears is how tattooers are often treated like trophies in the love game. Totally sucks.

Heavy hitters already this month...
Done by Stefan Johnsson @ California Electric

Thanks. As you may or may not be able to tell from the photo I am black, so that provides an extra bit of a challenge to the artist, but as you can see things worked out well. I'm probably around Chris Brown's complexion but A) I have better tattoos and B) I'm not a total douchebag. I thought it was worth mentioning since the issue of how tattoos come out on darker skin seems to come up on the internet a lot. Maybe I should dig up that older thread on here that I saw about the topic.
This is awesome. The last year of looking at tons of tattoos has really given me an appreciation of traditional work that I didn't have before.

Or fathers/father figures need to teach boys how to be men; this stuff starts early. Just my .02

chewing gum helps me actually ... I don't pop bubbles.. just better than grinding my teeth.. Most tattooers don't want to hear why you are getting a particular piece.. This is not Miami ink.. haha

Absolutely. Accessibility and ease is no excuse for a lack of integrity. There's lots of literature available online too. That doesn't mean it's not plagiarized if you rewrite it in your own handwriting and change the name.

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.

I would love to see quality shows like those in tv, rather the garbage that's in there at the moment (City ink/best ink/ink master)

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.

I'll give this a shot. Done this past April.
Jamie Macpherson Unity Tattoo in Vancouver.

I feel like you are trolling (or being sarcastic) but I have to ask... What did tattoo tv shows teach you about good tattoos?

What I was trying to get at earlier in this thread is that you need to be able to develop the skills to look through those pictures and be able to tell yourself what is or isn't good tattooing.
Guen Douglas wrote a great guide on how to assess a portfolio for the Tattoo Artist Magazine blog, read it: Guen Douglas: How to Properly Examine a Tattoo Portfolio | TAM Blog
Read the thread here about http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/2396-what-makes-good-tattoo.html
Look at the tattoos posted here in the Latest Tattoo Lowdown, in the monthly contests, and compare and contrast them with the work those shops are putting out.

I tend to agree. I had this journal entry I wrote when I was 22 and got my first tattoo...all about what it "meant". I was drunk when I wrote it and in retrospect it was pretty much cringe-worthy bs. Like you need some kind of back-up reasoning to have the tattoo. You don't! You can just get one (or 20). Liberating. While the symbol may have meaning, universal or just to you, it seems to lose some value when explained. If someone wants to know, I prefer to keep it simple: "interpret it how you wish," or, "I like it."

I personally can't stand when people try and crowbar deep and pretentious meanings and symbolism into tattoos, simply because it often compromises the design in the first place. If there's a meaning, keep it simple and obvious! I look at how awesome the tattoo is, and never read the meanings behind it.