titforatat

I like just how off the map this style of tattooing is. It takes a decent amount of artistic vision to do something like this well and I feel that it definitely has to match the personality of the client. I know for sure that it would never suite me but I can understand the appeal of it.

Had this Jason Butcher piece done and some filler :)

Nice! For me the actual tattoo on the foot was worse than the healing. I'm not much of a sweller (is that even a word?) but I think a lot of that is because I drink lots of water. I didn't have pain problems after either. The knee was worse, felt like I had road rash for a couple days.
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it should be written vertically - top down. And the stroke direction of how you write a character can change the meaning.
You should know though there are actually 2 "alphabets" which are phonetic and don't include a number of english sounds, as well as roman script and the Chinese Kanji characters in Japanese - so 4 ways to write one thing - each having different implications. Hiragana is the script for native Japanese words, and Katakana for foreign words.
So if I was writing my name in Japanese I could write it 4 ways - Erin, エリン(elin- a foreigner), えりん(elin - if i was born in Japan - also how my name was written on my bank stuff), or 英鈴 (Ei-lin which translates to English Bell - if I was a Japanese national).
Be careful with tattoos of a language you don't speak - or have a native speaker to correct for you. I lived in Japan and speak some Japanese, and still don't trust myself. I have a Kanji as part of a larger tattoo on my back for my Japanese astrology, the year of the ox (or ushi). Google and most tattoo flash said to use the Kanji 牛 but my native speaker friend, who is also a calligrapher said the symbol for the year was actually 丑、as 牛 basically just means cow - like on a menu. Always double check.
Also things do not always mean/ translate to what you think- for example my stepbrother named his dog what he thought was "child of the forest" in Japanese - what he actually named her was Kuniko- it means mushroom.

If you mean the Japanese writing system using Chinese characters that is called 'kanji' in Japanese, then it can be written and read both vertically and horizontally. Make sure you don't get a tampon advertisement tattooed.
P.S. Vertical would be the more "traditional" thang.

I dunno - It seems like a reasonable thing to discuss on a tattoo forum. Its just people comparing notes on their experiences.

My pirate/gypsy girl is About 2.5 years old And one of my favorites its done by Ronny Ris a Great Artist. His Son Jamie ris is Also a Great Artist does Great color Work.
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I'm curious how Amanda Wachob's tattoos will age. I don't say that to be snarky, I'm genuinely curious. I think that because a lot of her tattoos are abstract that they might not do too badly in the long run, relatively speaking, because they don't require the structure that, for example, a watercolour style hummingbird like the one posted earlier in this thread would need to keep it readable over time as a hummingbird. I have to wonder about the craftsmanship here. I feel that I often hear people talking about how this is a "new" style and how nobody knows how it will age, and I think that's total garbage. The Music & Sea Tattoos issue of Tattootime has an article by Doc Webb from 1982 where he says "[many] have gone to extremely thin line, no shading. This had happened before. The many who stayed in business long found when the colors faded, as they seem to do, if you only had a faint outline and no shading, you had no tattoo." It's been tried time and time again with the same result every time. Either people are doing these tattoos without an understanding of the history of tattooing, which is a problem, or they're giving people tattoos they know won't hold up essentially because there's a demand for it, and that sits really uneasily with me. Are people who want these tattoos being informed about this? I hope so, but if you google "watercolor tattoo" after a couple of pinterest/tumblr links there's a website from a guy who seems to do these tattoos saying that they'll age just fine. I guess when it comes down to it, I fundamentally agree with you that it's people's skin and money and if that's what they want and what makes them happy, then they should go for it, but for me, I think for the most part this kind of thing isn't what I would consider good tattooing. Different strokes, etc.

I think you can do soft, painterly application of color inside solid lines that looks good because I've seen tattoos like this - I don't mean tebori necessarily, but taking the texture of watercolor while adding some structural black and keeping the color within these defined areas. (The tattoo that Rus did on my arm has a light pink pigment overlaid with some darker red to imitate the watercolor illustration it came from, which in turn conveys the texture of the flower petals.) It may not last as long as solid, densely-packed color, but when it fades you'll still have the structure of a real tattoo.
I like texture.

Rodney Raines posted this yesterday. It's a good example. Not the oldest tattoo in the world (17 years), but it shows what is going to hold everything together.

Check out Duncan X Thomas Hooper has done some similar stuff too, although often with finer detail and some grey shading.

I had my lower arm done by Dan Henk about 5-6 years ago? although lacking outlines, the color is still incredibly bright and I get compliments constantly on that alone. Of course, I did go to someone who knew what he was doing and on top of that, they are two skeletons wearing draped robes and the tattoo only has black and grey, blue and green. I am sure the minimal use of color helps a lot.
That being said, it is the one and only tattoo I have lacking outlines and will remain so.

I have a variety of different stuff, including black and grey fineline (9yrs), crazy brightly coloured "new school" traditional (7yrs), black and grey traditional (4yrs) and colour hyper-realism (5 months).
So far I have been really happy with how everything has aged, I know none of it is particularly old but I haven't experienced all that much fading or bleeding of lines. I know there are questions about the longevity of realism stuff but it's a risk I was willing to take. I got an awesome tattoo by a fantastic artist and I couldn't be happier with it. It is the tattoo that draws the most positive comments and has the biggest "wow factor" - not that that matters particularly to me personally, it just illustrates the talent of the guy who did it.
I live in the grey and drizzly land of Northern England so sun damage isn't a major concern, if ever I have cause to expose my tattoos they are covered in enough high spf sunblock to make them appear hazy. If I feel my realistic piece sucks after a few years then I know it was a bad move in a time when realism was trendy...if not, well bonus for me! All this being said, the artist who did my tattoo recently put a recent photo of one of his early portraits on Instagram and it still looks as good as new at over 4 years old.
I like traditional work (obviously, or I wouldn't be on this site), and I want to get a fair bit of it in future... but it seems to me like tattooers of all styles are constantly improving and making tattoos which look better for longer, there should be no reason why realism can't be a part of this too...

This is a blog Dan Henk wrote for Tattoo Artist Magazine blog recently. In it he discusses some of the issues with super realistic stuff and aging. I was just wondering what other people may think of it.
Dan Henk: Sometimes The Old-Timers Are Right « TAM Blog

Gonna have some devil heads drilled into my knuckles this weekend. Faaark yeah.
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agreed with @BrianH regarding Senor Ortega. If you're wanting a more realistic approach then go with Nate Beavers in Houston.
I don't know anyone around here who specializes in the "painterly" style, per se - generally any realism specialist can reproduce.
Liz Cook in Dallas might be another to look into.

It would be interesting to know. Having grown up here (and hence, around a lot of Mormons) I do know that tattooing is quite taboo in LDS culture and I would imagine that tattoos are extremely rare among individuals who have always identified with Mormon culture. It's actually something that can be used as a cultural differentiator even here in SLC.
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Mainstream LDS are definitely anti tattoo (I think it might be in their doctrine). Not sure about RLDS/CoC but I bet it's the same doctrine on tattoos.

Mormons are super-dooper anti-tattoo, aren't they? I think (really, really don't quote me on this) I remember being told that both major denominations of the Mormon church strictly forbid tattoos.

I kind of miss the days when tattooing was the underbelly of society. Tattoo shops weren't labelled "boutiques", they were found on the fringes of the city, down the backstreets & alley ways, well out of view of mainstream population.
I became part of this culture because I didn't fit in with mainstream & nor did I ever want to. I loved the mysticism & the secrecy behind it.
With it becoming so mainstream these days, it def has its benefits. There's no way I could be in the position of work I am now, 20 years ago. I can turn up to executive meetings with my hands, fingers & neck sleeved in & be judged on my performance, not my looks...so it also gives me the opportunity to educate mainstream pop in a round a bout way that tattooed people "do know their shit, & can talk the talk". I love blowing peoples pre conceived misconceptions.
The side to it I don't like is that elitism status. The, "I'm too kool for skool" attitude I see a lot of these days.
Once upon a time, tattooed people had that special understanding of respect. Now it appears to have created cliques.
I believe that when I strip down at a show & am on stage with other tattooed people...we're all the same, no matter what the work is, no matter how old it is. I don't look at designs, I look at overall effect.
I believe when we're together, we should be treating each other with that old time respect (old skool is used to loosely), that acknowledgement, that understanding that we've been to the "same place" that most citizens will never understand.
I don't expect to be sized up & judged by my own, which sadly happens a lot these days.
So, I'm kind of hoping that it takes a full circle. That the superstars, the beautiful people & sports stars don't find it trendy anymore, & we can give it back to the people who understand it.
Just a bit of my 2 cents on how I kind of view it.

I wonder if any LSTers will have their work saved in formaldehyde after they're long gone.

Healed whispering devil and fresh heel tattoos (and dirty feet). All by my pal Iain Mullen, Imperial Tattoo Stockholm. I am happy I finally decided to get this devil done, had been looking at the sketch in Iains box for a year all ready. It's actually facing inwards, against common tattoo-logic. If you follow around the leg you can see that it's point towards another tattoo of a sleeping lady head, by Jaclyn Réhe.
edit: about the heels, the mouth with yin yang was my idea but made to fit by Iain. The other thing, whatever, was drawn on by him. We think it might be a satellite and/or one of those things alchemist brew their stuff in. Either way I think it's just right.

Okay, here's mine.

I got it when I was 17, less than a week after I decided I was getting a tattoo. For extra shit points, it's an album cover:

The guy who did it started it and then said, "Wait, are you 18?"
"Uh... Yeah."
"Okay, I just have to ask."
I actually found his portfolio online not long ago and I'd never realised how lucky I was until then. My tattoo was one of his much better pieces. The top isn't bent like that, I took the picture at a weird angle.
I hated it for a long time but I don't think I could ever get rid of it now. It's old school as fuck.

Since @Gregor 's post of Joey Ortega's alternative entry has expired, I'm taking the liberty of re-posting it:

The first bit of my new sleeve is booked in for the 5th of April. A big baphomet on my inner forearm. I have another tattoo further up my arm that I got about a month after I turned 18 and I've been planning on getting it fixed since about a week after I got it. Really happy to finally be getting started now.

gotta love the artists who are "heavy on the black"