polliwog

Yeah, you really never see opinions as well-considered and informed as @cltattooing 's pop up in these discussions. There's a lot of excellent writing about social justice-related topics online, and a lot of people who seem to show up for these discussions mostly to parrot or police other people.

It's an entirely personal decision for me. I'm sticking to Western traditional tattoos for the time being since it's what feels comfortable to me, as one of the whitest people around. Doesn't mean I won't be thrilled for any of my white pals if they decide to get a full Japanese sleeve. (I don't have any white friends who are that cool, though.) Or that I can't admire white tattooers who produce top-notch tattoos in non-Western styles. I will admit to feeling a little uncomfortable about Native American pinups, but they're also part of the tattoo vernacular. I'm sure there are plenty of progressive folks who tattoo, but the kind of shouty "social justice" that's practiced on Tumblr (which often seems to be about white people trying to outdo each other with regards to who can be the "best" ally) and tattooing seem sort of like oil and water to me.

Nothing to add to this thread - because I expect to break any rules about this I make now - but @HettyKet, your arm is looking great.

Ooh, I would like to also suggest the Preacher series and "Air" by G. Willow Wilson. And Lynda Barry's Marlys and Freddie stories, which are published as approachable little books. The latter totally blew my mind recently. Lynda Barry is one of my all-time favorite humans. The Best American Graphic Novels thing that comes out every year offers a taste of many graphic novels, some of them pretty great. Have fun! You're making me want to read more comic books :)

I posted something here, and then realized that I really don't want to feed this thread. But the gist is that, as a client, I only really want to see computers assist with tattooing if they're helping an injured tattooer do his or her job. The delete button is my friend.

The Burning Lotus lady was born in 1960. Not a senior. Anyway, off to go do Pilates now.

I asked him to tell me if he genuinely found it unattractive and he said it was "fine." Which is not a great word to use in discussions about your relationship.

My boyfriend has zero interest in getting tattooed or really even setting foot in a tattoo shop. I think he feels slightly alienated by and uncomfortable about the whole thing, though he seems to have turned a corner and mostly just makes (gentle) fun of me about it now. I can see how it would be pretty intense to watch your partner willingly submit to something painful & permanent if you're not into it. We're already a bit out of the ordinary to onlookers since we're an interracial couple of a type you don't see that often, and he's older than me, so nobody's going to notice whether or not we're both tattooed. His mother will never ever see my tattoos. It's reassuring to see that so many people on here have untattooed partners. I'm a little concerned about his reaction down the road, but for now we're fine. And I'm still the better one at money management :p

I liked this Princess Mononoke tattoo by Melissa Baker. I've seen a lot of really illustrative Miyazaki tattoos that don't do much for me, so this is a little different.

I think this might relate to something I posted earlier (if not, well I guess the following is pretty self-centered). I want to clarify that I personally am not about to march out tomorrow and get a tattoo that isn't purely, uh, results-oriented, though I'm more likely to return to a good tattooer who I also feel comfortable with. But I can understand why people might get tattooed for reasons other than, or in addition to, getting a great-looking tattoo. Perhaps not coincidentally a lot of the people who get tattoos that are as much about the process as the result are often involved professionally with tattooing in one way or another, from what I see (i.e. deliberately crappy bro-tats and stuff). No can of worms; hopefully everyone should understand where you're coming from.

I think what bothered me most about this article wasn't so much the author's navel-gazing (I can be guilty of that, though I don't try to publish it), but more that it appeared in the NY Times and that these are always the sorts of articles that appear in places like the Times. So all Millennials are narcissists who get pretentious Latin tattoos, or so you might conclude from reading these sorts of pieces everywhere. Then we get to read the inevitable op-eds about that. It's just lazy and dispiriting.

Aww, poor girl. (I slept until 1:30 today also...) The babies have finally hatched on the Raven Cam. Not much going on right now, they're just wee pink things. I'm just happy to see they've made it so far.

That Rock of Ages is really beautiful and unique. The lotus is such a cool choice and the waves are perfect. ::has tattoo envy::

Yup.

...hasn't fully thought through the consequences of having words on a very visible part of her body beforehand: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/13/opinion/sunday/mark-my-words-maybe.html Maybe someone should start a thread dedicated to questionable tattoo-related articles? I wanted to share this but it seems unnecessary to have a thread for each new article...there are so many of them...

Thanks. I thought it might have come across as disrespectful. Returning to the original subject, what I notice when I'm out now isn't so much bad homemade tattoos, or badly applied tattoos - most tattooed people in the Boston area don't seem to have these - but simply how many tattoos are unreadable. Lots of designs that seem to be applied with technical skill, but that look pretty muddy in a dim restaurant. People seem to be a little afraid of bright color, open space or simplicity. Or making the design large enough.

Jumping on the YA thread here, another buzzed-about book that I liked lately (actually more than TFIOS, which is kinda hard to totally divorce from the hype around it) was "Eleanor and Park" by Rainbow Rowell. It's wish fulfillment, but deliciously so. Outsiders-falling-in-love books for teens annoy me sometimes, because I think they can peddle a sort of false comfort that ultimately makes you feel shittier about yourself, but this one was better. For young adult dystopia, the Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness is cool and isn't a Hunger Games ripoff. Also "Graceling" by Kristin Cashore, which is more fantasy/romance.

He has a "name" but one of the things that convinced me to go to Ron Wells was seeing a picture he did of a bunch of walk-ins last summer. They weren't in his "style" but he did a beautiful job with them and put evident care into them. I certainly appreciate that. Another reason why people might choose to go to folks who get mentioned a lot here is just being too new to getting tattooed to fully trust their own judgment. I don't think this is an *entirely* bad thing. It can be following the crowd, of course, but it can also happen because you respect the opinion of the person who recommended that tattooer to you. - - - Updated - - - @SeeSea, in my nonexpert opinion your back looks great. There used to be a lot of drunken bullshit here but I edited it out.

Yup, I have the teenaged mistake piercing gun business going on, too. (Thanks to my beloved aunt, who convinced me it was a good idea.) Makes me wonder if so many of the issues I've had with the piercings are down to that. Probably time to get re-pierced by a professional.

I have a hard time laughing at most garden-variety bad tattoos, it's not really my bag. As for judging the person, it depends on how s/he's behaving. I will admit to shaking my head a bit at very young people with very visible, not-so-good-tattoos. But these are usually the sort that are small enough to be covered. It's interesting what you said in your original post about choosing tattooers over quality tattoos. As a newcomer to this whole thing I feel like a bit of a poseur saying this, but I would be pretty happy to get a tattoo from someone I admired just because I liked that person, or from a friend starting out in tattooing. I'm pretty into the meeting-people side of things (not that they're necessarily into meeting me, but hey). I really enjoyed getting tattooed by Greg Christian not only because I love my tattoo, but because it was just a cool and subtly different experience to be tattooed by someone who's been doing this for a little while.

Being able to see evidence that it was made by a human is part of the appeal for me. I was pretty freaked out by all the little funky things I could find in my first tattoo, but it doesn't matter so much anymore. I can actually find flawlessly clean tattoos a little cold, sometimes - depends on the subject matter, but I feel like I've seen a few things that seem to have more technical ability than heart. They're impressive but would feel wrong on my imperfect self. Kinda like when you get a new couch and everything else in the room looks shitty. I suppose this is elitist. Enough things in my life are mass-produced that I don't feel the need to have tattoos be one of them. I don't want tattoos that look anonymous, not because I'm a special snowflake but just because it wouldn't be fun anymore. I could see this saving people from really badly rendered flash, maybe. - - - Updated - - - I think the distinction you draw between elitist/non-elitist might not fully hold, either. I understand you are referring to a mindset, and not a person's circumstances (though good tattoos are expensive, and I am frankly shut out of getting certain kinds of work at the moment, possibly for life). In the circumstances sense of the word, though, I'm sure plenty of folks from non-elite backgrounds want the best work they can get...even the best shops in the world are someone's neighborhood shop. I think appreciation is capable of knowing no class. In the mindset sense, well, LST is available to anyone with an internet connection and a willingness to expand their horizons a bit. I'm a numpty and I found my way here (and proudly proclaimed that I thought flash was "boring" in my 3rd post or whatever). Sorry to go on, and to keep updating this thing. It does chafe a little bit to see art appreciation referred to as elitist when some of the folks dearest to me are a living refutation of this.

I'm sure everyone with Instagram has seen this, but Chris Cautillo and Ron Wells just opened The Torchbearer in Pawtucket, RI. Instagram Looks like it's in a beautiful old converted factory. Pretty excited that this is close to me.

Also, hot guy, amazing tattoos, adorable cat. Just sayin.'

You have just about the cutest cat ever.

Nice work!