Bunny Switchblade

Well of course, the only people I would walk up to are the ones who have several tattoos and also who have GOOD tattoos. I think that shows that they like it and they are serious about it. I wouldn't say we have a lot in common with a girl with a tramp stamp and a guy with a tribal band around his arm LOL I think that's pretty straight forward

Gotcha.........

Yeah it's like you automatically have something in common with someone. I have had a few convos with some other tatted people and we shared who did our tattoos

Sometime people don't like to bothered for some reason about their tattoos, not sure why

Please don't take this wrong.....I am not meaning to sound like a bitch...but tattoos do not make people have anything in common with each other any more than you both having brown eyes!

I think the longer you have been a tattooed person, the longer you have had to deal with people just walking up to you wanting to discuss your tattoos and even walking up and touching your tattoos!

I am very willing to accommodate most people who want to do that as long as they respect my boundaries........

I mean it's cool to think of us all as one big family BUT 15 years ago it honestly was much more a family than it ever will be again because so many people are tattooed now!

Also....a visibly tattooed person is a person (in my opinion) that can no longer hide the fact that they are tattooed by pulling down the sleeves on their long sleeved shirt!

Hands/knuckles....necks....face! Everything else can be covered with clothing so heavily tattooed....yes.......visibly tattooed......not in my opinion until you can no longer hide them!

I think it's great people are getting more tattoos and I guess it's cool that they seem to be more acceptable now.....but I rarely walk up to someone and talk to them just because they are tattooed....

Ummmmm.....Paul Booth is the "God-father of tattoo art"???

Glad I read that article....I never knew.....

Got a little impromptu tattoo yesterday!

Had been talking with Carlos Diaz down at Tattoo Charlie's Place in Baltimore about a tattoo idea we had had......and he drew something up for me so I went down and got it!

LMFAO.......

So for those of us that aspire to cover most if not all of the body in tattoos from different people I am interested in how you and I think about

how fast to get covered. It also deals with the concept of why we get tattoos and from whom.

Starting points:

- Would you rather get the tattoos you want as quickly as possible, or wait and spread it out over a longer period of time?

- Do you have a plan as to which areas you cover in which order? Saving the hands for last or getting the worst spots first, maybe getting the visible spots first and save back of the thighs for example?

- If you consider yourself a collector, do you keep areas of your body untouched for fantastic tattooers to appear say 20 years from now?

- Anything else you would like to add or discuss

I am really interested in hearing your perspective on this!

No need to rush to cover yourself.....at least that is my way of thinking!

I never had a plan about which areas to cover in any order although for many years I covered areas first I could hide because I didn't really want a lot of visible tattoos at the time! (work, family, society, etc....all played into the decision)

When I started getting tattooed most tattoo artists would not tattoo someones hands or neck until you had "earned" the right to have such tattoos and they would also ask to make sure you were set in your career!

At least most of the tattoo artists I was around....I am sure there was someone who would have done it though!

Coincidentally my first tattoo (non-professional) was on my hand/index finger......lol

I never put off intentionally getting tattooed to wait for emerging artists 20 years later BUT I am glad it has all worked out this way! I have an eclectic mix of styles and of work from older and newer tattoo artists who do excellent work!

I mean why would you rush it???

Who knows what will be available to us 20 years from now....take your time and leave a little room for what's to come! ;)

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I had a very respected tattooer tell me that I may be getting tattooed a little too fast, and to slow it down. So I am.

If a respected artist tell you this.....then you are doing the right thing by listening!

Yeah sounds like the spot. At that time there were about 3 shops in the surrounding area ; Tux's, Dragon Moon, and Gypsy's; your description fits the shop location Tux had at that time.

Right on man.

yeah it sounds like Tux's place.......

Not sure if Higgs would have been there at the time.....

Not sure if Dragon Moon had moved to the spot they are in now at that point....

Gypsy wasn't in a strip mall kinda thing....

Jack Rudy,Mike Perfetto,Brian Everett,Cap Szumski.I would also like to get tattooed by Dana Brunson,Richard Stell,Debbie Lenz,Sailor Jerry Swallow,Terry Tweed,and a few others.

I do remember checking out a shop near Baltimore around 21yrs.ago.I think it was Tux's shop.The shop was in a small strip mall,and I remember it was filled with all this old time flash all over the place.

I highly suggest you definitely get tattooed by Dana Brunson and Debbie Lenz....well....all of the tattoo artists you listed as well....But I had great experiences at both Dana's shop and Debbie's shop during my Ohio trip two months back!

Not just great tattoo artists but also really awesome people!

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Please please keep this thread going. I'm looking up these names on Google (thankful for this part of technology) and just reading up on the amazing history and backgrounds of these tattoo artists.

It was a really great decision....at least for me.....to seek out these artists who had put in their time and were very happy to just sit in their shops and tattoo whatever walked through the door on a daily basis!

Some of these people were in magazines back in the 70's...80's....90's....but they would have tattooed regardless....and really didn't seek out fame! To them it was a job and a way to support themselves doing something they loved doing!

And it's my opinion that is what tattooing should be about!

I am glad there are people willing to protect me from myself.....LMFAO!

How about this.....I don't drink so therefore my rights are being violated by telling me I have to wait 24 hours to be tattooed!!! I am OUTRAGED!!! (he he he)

And since the rights of ONE person in this country now seem to usurp (that's a big word for me since I am a "tattooed" person....I hope I used it right) the rights of the majority......this just cannot happen! ;)

But....this is also the the same area that kept re-electing Marion Barry as their mayor so it very well could happen......but of course I don't think it will!

You rule Bunny. You have such an awesome outlook and attitude.

Well......I am just me.....not trying to be anything other than that!

But thank you!

Fortunately.....if I ever got to far off track I have plenty of people ready to call me out on it.....LMFAO!

And with doing the apprenticeship/s I have understood so much more than I did as just a "collector"......

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Nobody is gonna top Bunny in this thread

As far as myself;

deVita

Tux

Higgs

Sonny Tufts

I really kick myself all the time for not adding Tux and Higgs when I had the chances too! I have to admit I am jealous...... :)

That is a solid list in anyone's book....it's about quality and respect.....not about quantity!

No competition here.....we all have some really awesome work here and this is a great family to be a part of....we are all equals in our love for this craft/business!

Honestly, I only picked 1985 because the vintage tattoos instagram run by Terry Wrigley's son used 1985 as a cutoff for what was considered "vintage".

That's cool.....I just wondered if for some people they saw 1985 as some pivotal time in tattooing or something and my first professional tattoo was done in 1984 by Juli Moon.....

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I don't really know why or what got into my head one evening BUT.....I just decided that I wanted to seek out some of the people who had been tattooing 30-40 years and begin to add their work to my body! At the time I was not even thinking I would ever pick up a machine and tattoo but to me it truly was my way of being able to honor those people who had put their time in to the craft and community I loved since I did not tattoo!

It really hit home to me that this is what I felt I should do once I was tattooed by Dennis Watkins....the hubby of my now mentor Gale Watkins! Dennis apparently was dying at the time unknown to anyone but himself and had really stopped tattooing totally. I asked a friend to see if he could convince him to do something small on me....and he agreed to do something!

That one tattoo turned into three.....Myself...my hubby....and my son have his last three tattoos!

After his death I asked a few well known tattoo artists who I was fortunate to be friends with who were others who had this kind of time in and got back a wonderful list I have been chipping away at for some time now!

I try not to really draw a lot of attention to myself because I am really no one special.....I have just taken the time to have been tattooed by a lot of really wonderful people who love/loved what they do.....

I really would urge others to do this as well if you are just going for smaller pieces here and there on your body rather than larger mural style pieces!

Cool thread! I've been tattooed by Mike Malone (RIP), Bill Salmon, Bob Roberts, and Horiyoshi 3. I think Freddy Corbin started tattooing just after 1985.

Man, @Bunny Switchblade is gonna crush this thread!

Ha ha ha.......well this is truly what I have focused my "collecting" on!

Can I ask why pick the year 1985?

I am just curious......

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Here are a few off the top of my head.....

There are probably several more but I am not sure they have made it to the 28-30 year mark just yet so i didn't include them......

Debra Yarian

Debbie Lenz

Gale Watkins (my mentor)

Tony Polito

Mike Perfetto

Steve Delgatto

Jerry "Reds" Donohoe

Ronnie Dell'Aquila

Richard Stell

John Black

Tom Beasley

Ritchie Montgomery

Dana Brunson

Jennie Peace

LeDan Peace

Stan Moskowitz

Marvin Moskowitz

Ernie Carafa

Jerry Swallow

Juli Moon

George Benjamin

Mike Skiver

I wouldn't change a thing! I am a patchwork quilt of many styles....and maybe I am just fortunate that it has all turned out the way it has!

I think it was pretty cool of Stewart and a few others to actually take some time to throw out a few answers to this! I have never even thought about asking an artist this to be perfectly honest....lol! I like their work.....I go and get tattooed by them and usually just ask them up front how much I should save up....and I bring the cash plus whatever I am going to tip them with!

This is a great idea, but I am also going to suggest going to Ron Henry Wells because his wolves are super amazing, especially if you want the weirder side of things:

I agree!

I have been trying to get something from Ron for a while now but can never catch up with him it seems and when I do I am already getting tattooed by someone else!

It will happen though.....

If you went to Bert Krak and asked for this....he would draw you up something you would love....I am sure of that! Good luck with your search.....

Nice to see you here Rickie!

Welcome to the forum.....

I personally love my dick!

I also love the 3 vaginas and 2 dildos I have too!

Hmmmm....make that 4 vaginas ;)

So here is my two cents. There are bad tattoos everywhere you look. At least they look bad to me. Here is my idea of what a bad tattoo is...... Poorly executed (blurred lines, poor shading). The I have no imagination (another butterfly on an ankle, more hipster lettering) The other thing I hate is grosse and evil tattoos. A tattoo can be very dark but not offensive. Would you want a devil arm in your daughters wedding photos? How about zombies covered in blood and flesh front and center at a public family event? Don't get me wrong some of the evil and grose work out there is amazing I just wish people would place them in more appropriate places. I don't let me niece and nephews watch horror films at there ages and I should have to have them subject to those kind of images at the local super market either.

I will always remember a quote a friend who is heavily tattooed and also has been tattooing close to 40 years said to me (and I agree 500%)

He said: "I liked it a lot better when I was considered socially unacceptable to the socially unacceptable!"

Pleas don't get me wrong....I am not being nasty or anything.....

I could give a rats ass what others think of my tattoos in public and if they taught their children properly not to stare at people who were different like I taught my kids.....then they wouldn't have to worry about the fact that I have an old shriveled up penis with a peg leg and prickly balls tattooed on the outside of my upper right arm!

I get tattooed for myself and no one else and if the public feels what I have is too profane for them or their children to look at then they don't have to look! ;)

Your artist knows what tools work best for them.....some prefer one over the other....some prefer to use them both....whatever works best for the artist............and every tattoo feels different to the majority of people based on where it is on the body and even where their mind is that day. What is crazy painful to one person is no thing at all to someone else! :)

Most people I know that have used Dr Numb and the like (basically its lidocaine) say that it works for an hour too two depending on how well it is applied...BUT when it wears off it is so much worse than if they had just got into the "zone" and gone with nothing from the beginning! I've heard it refered too as pussy cream.....not meant to offend anyone who may use....just hear it called that a lot! ;)

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People have used all kinds of things over the years to try to make it through getting tattooed with less pain!

I never really cared to much about this......my first was a visible tattoo before tattoos became "fashionable." I don't think I ever "planned" to be this heavily covered BUT I am seeing it happen a lot more now than it was happening 15 years ago! People seem to be rushing to get covered for some reason not thinking what those tattoos are gonna look like in 40 years!

Take your time.....get good tattoos.....and if you are worried about what others think of your tattoos then you probably aren't someone who should be getting tattooed!

(that last comment was not directed at any one person.....just in general)

I just heard from Dave about a week or so ago and he said a friend just opened a shop in Stockton about 45 minutes from him...and they were treating him very well there! I am guessing this is the shop you saw him at!

Who is Dave Gibson huh???

I had to chuckle a little but I can understand how some people might not know who he is now!

Dave gave me a list about 8 years ago.....I asked him for a list of tattoo artists that had 40+ years in the craft that did solid work and he gave me a list of world class artists! I have been chipping away at that list ever since adding as many of these people's work to my body as I can! I owe Dave.....he really is partially responsible for a lot of the wonderful tattoo artists I have met over the last 8 years!

Debra Yarian and Debbie Lenz were on that list and I was tattooed by both of those ladies two weeks ago during my trip to Ohio.....

Yeah.....you met a legend in the craft!

He seemed like he was going to retire and stop tattooing.....I've been on him about not stopping....and I was stoked when he said he was working a day a week again in that shop!

Definitely go get something from him while it is still an option!

And please tell him I said hello if you would! :)

Here are a couple acetates Dave sent me a while back!

I've been tattooed mostly out of his shop right across the river in Covington. I've never been tattooed by Dana but it's on the plans for this fall.

You should definitely get tattooed by Dana if you do get the opportunity.....I think he's been at it 42 years now if my memory serves me right!

His son Jason does some really nice work as well.....as does his wife Dot

PLUS.......there is some real history all over the walls of the Cincinnati shop!

(I have never been over the river to the Covington shop)

:)

I want to be you when I grow up.

Ha ha ha ha!!!!!

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Such a tease @Bunny Switchblade, we want pics!

I posted some on FB & IG.....I will try to add some here in the next day or so......

Went to Ohio from July 10th - 17th and was tattooed by Debra Yarian, Don Yarian, Dawn Marie Cooke & Mike Fite at the Cleveland Tattoo Expo on Friday and Sunday......and went down to Youngstown to be tattooed by Debbie Lenz on Saturday!

Also went down to Chillicothe and saw Matt Griffith.......out to Cincinnati to visit with Dana Brunson......and we stayed with my Sis, Tracy Nicole, in Marion, OH!

Was a really fun week of getting tattooed and visiting with friends and I am looking forward to planning another tattoo road trip somewhere in another couple months if all goes well!