PopsBdog

I've only had one serious relationshit in my young life. When we started dating, I had two tattoos. I have one that is placed on top of my shoulder, and some times it peeks out of a t shirt collar. Every time this happened, she had to change her underwear. That was awesome. However, she also insisted that I didn't get anymore tattoos. Maybe this is because I made the mistake of bringing her to an appointment? Long story short, about a year into the relationshit, we pulled a Ross and Rachel and "took a break". I came back to school after Christmas break with a new tattoo. She saw it and started crying, while yelling at me for not telling her. This was the moment that I discovered that no boobies are worth not being "allowed" to get tattooed. As far as dating someone goes, I'm super attracted to tattooed women, but I'm a man, so in the end, a beautiful woman is beautiful inked or not. I just need to be able to do whatever the hell I want to do with my own skin.

David Flores post got me thinking. I know we're talking relationships in regards to SOs, but my family relationships around tattoos have always been more conflicted. Both of my younger sisters were tattooed before I was and none of their tattoos (save for the sugar skull the oldest got here in town from Ezra Haidet at Triple Crown through me) were done in great shops. The cherry on top though was when I opened Facebook one day and saw pics of my sister and brother in law getting tattooed in my Mom's KITCHEN by some "tattooer" friend of the older sister. My brother in law was about to ship out to Afghanistan and wanted something before he left, so my sister arranged this 'tatt party' at my Mom's. The fact that my parents who have given me so much shit about my choices allowed this to go down in their house reinforced my opinion that they just don't like me very much as a person. Familia es familia, but I got to say, it's pretty frustrating when the stuff I say about tattoo quality and sterility falls on deaf ears.
Luckily, my son's being patient and he'll get his first real tattoo in a real shop in November

Check this out, my wife is going to a bachelorette type party for one of her co workers, but only four girls total including bride. They decided that part of the party will be for all of them to get tattooed. My wife and her friend Nicole have a handful of tattoos each, the other girl shayla has a couple poorly done tattoos from vegas and the bride has no tattoos. At first my wife and Nicole suggested our shop, because I work there and they have both been tattooed there many times and I wasn't crazy about the idea because trying to get them all tattooed in one afternoon could be a task, seeing as the one girl hasn;t been tattooed before and the other girl fancy's herself a bit of an artist and they all want different things and trying to get them all to stop in for a consult. But ultimately I agreed to make it happen, after all I had almost a month to get their ideas together and get organized.
Fast forward a week, they decide they want it to be a true girls night out, and want to find a shop with some ladies that can tattoo them. Now my first thought is that I dodged that bullet, but after I thought for a minute there is only a few really good female tattooers in town and finding a shop for them that has two good female tattooers available on somewhat short notice is more of a task then just doing the tattoos. Making one tattooer do four custom basically walk in tattoos would not only take twice as long, and it's still going to be a tattoo shop not a day spa just because a women is tattooing you.
At first my wife didn't believe me and told me I have issues against women, so I had to show her what I was talking about. I went through about 20 shops web sites and showed her some of the stuff people are passing off as tattoos, then pulled up some of the portfolios of good women tattooers in town and some other examples of good tattoos in general. Also I told her that some of these women are in high demand and might not be available or interested in doing something like this on semi short notice, so they should keep their options open if they couldn't book with the women I suggested. I also told her that I wouldn't be too happy if she got a substandard tattoo just because she had to get tattooed by a woman, mostly because I just don't want to give hacks our money, especially when I know so many good tattooers. Her response to me was, "well you go to businesses run by Mexicans to support Mexicans and Latinos.", my response "We are not talking about Carne Asada here."
By the end of the conversation I think everyone got what I was saying and understood that I just want them to get good tattoos but it was quite exhausting in the process.

Dudes, sometimes I feel like it would be nice to date someone who wasn't into tattoos, because as it is, my partner and I feed off of each other in the worst ways possible. He only started getting tattooed recently, but caught the bug hard, and initially I thought that watching him get tattooed constantly would take the edge off for me, as I'd be living vicariously through him. As it turns out, it doesn't work that way--each time one of us gets work, it leaves the other jonesing for more--such that I think we're both acquiring tattoos at a much quicker rate than we would if we were not in relationships with total enablers. We brainstorm ideas together a lot, so in that sense we do "approve" of each other's tattoos, but it's not really so much about asking for permission, but rather that we trust each other's opinions and rely on each other to work through ideas together.
And of course I am totally joking in "complaining" about this--it's actually pretty fucking awesome.

Had a nice little fight with the GF this morning about my tattoo session tomorrow.
First a little background...she spent the weekend in Red River with a bunch of people she knows for the motorcycle rally there. I wasnt exactly thrilled about watching my GF ride off to another state on the back of some other guys bike (really nice guy, not worried about cheating or anything, just felt...weird). We had a fight about it last month, and I realized I was just being a selfish, jealous whiner. I really didnt want her to go, but we are both adults, I trust her...so..off she goes for the weekend while I had to stay in Denver (previous commitment).
Anyhoo...she asks what I am having tattoed tomorrow "Skulls" I reply. She gets PISSED. Leaves the room. Comes back in 10 minutes saying, "I cant believe you are getting a skull (bad time to point out skullS I think). I dont like it at all. I hope you dont expect me to like it or talk about it or ANYTHING". I'm thinking, damn, thats awfully republican of her...and I'm thinking, she didnt give a fuck what I thought about her going on a 4 day weekend with bikers out of state, and now shes bitching about a SKULL tattoo? And really, bottom line is, I dont give a fuck about what anyone thinks about my tattoos except me.
I cant wait to get tattooed tomorrow. :cool:

they/we mostly like to talk about cost before plans are made. Pretty much the same as anything you buy. If you can't afford it, you don't buy it. Easy.

Im less than no one in the tattoo world and even less in the celebrity world. Yet going to saved a bunch of the past year or 2 plus and having good talks with Chris made it pretty easy to get an appointment. I did get in right before the new cut off, but still....nothing beats going to a shop and having interaction with the artists and getting along.

I am such a huge fan of Valerie Vargas' work. Her waiting list is currently closed. She does take bookings at conventions, or for last minute cancellations, which are announced on twitter.
I developed a seriously geeky system in order to monitor any twitter announcements, which includes alerts set up on my desktop and work, and text alerts on my mobile, for all tweets from Valerie or Frith Street Tattoo.
Ah, one day.... In the mean time I'm saving up all of my best spots.
I sound like a crazy fan girl, don't I?

Man, everybody already used my smart-ass answers but the Greg Irons quip was funnier than I could have come up with.
But back to the original question.
This is one of the newer approaches to tattooing that makes me slightly uncomfortable to be honest. Myself and a few tattooers I know and work with have noticed the trend of customers finding a sense of pride in how long they had to wait for their tattoo. As if that makes the tattoo more worthwhile.
With some of the currently living/working tattooers mentioned in this thread, I personally know people (not even on the internet) that have tattoos from all of them. Filip, Horiyoshi III, Shige and Mike Rubendall. Yeah, they had to wait a little while for some of them but not as long as you'd think for others. Mike Roper is a different situation because he makes it deliberately difficult to get in touch with him, which answers the question posed above. But that wasn't really the question that was asked and it's rarely the question that gets asked. The question, or at least the implication, is "who has the longest waiting list' or "who has appointments booked furthest into the future". If I were to be snarky "who gives me the most bragging rights".
For me the hardest people to get a tattoo from are the tattooers who are located furthest away from me. The ones where I have to get off my ass and do something about it. Time is easier to overcome than distance although patience is a different matter. It astonishes me that people call our shop from the outskirts of the city expecting us to change the way we work because they are catching a train to get here. On the other hand, we are humbled and honoured by the people who cross seas and continents to get tattooed regularly with us.
But that's aside from the issue.
Why is it a trend that makes me uncomfortable?
Because I've heard people brag about how long they had to wait for 'x' artist and wear that information like a badge of honour. It feels almost as distasteful as bragging about who charges the most. Yeah, tattoos are for tough guys and tough buys like to brag and maybe that seems harmless, but it makes me uncomfortable and I have trouble clearly explaining why.
Maybe it's because it's a phenomenon spurred on by the internet and the gossipy world of hearsay. Nobody calls and checks with the artists or shops they want to get tattooed at. Nobody travels down to the shop to ask the question. They just ask random strangers on the internet who have a lot of time on their hands and like to talk about something they know nothing about. Then the reality gets lost or twisted and in the end the real information is lost. I see this a lot with regards to the shop I work at. Forums are (or certainly used to be) bursting with 'facts' about how much we charge, how long we take, how far 'x' and 'y' are booked or how long their waiting lists are. Nobody calls the shop to ask and nobody suggests that the person calls to ask.
I know that happens with a lot of things but it seems like this is starting to have a real-world effect, however small. People who wanted tattoos that we would love to do heard that we wouldn't tattoo them at our shop because we were so cool and busy and booked up for decades and rolling around in money 'n' bitches or something. We've heard of this a few times and it seems to be happening more. Yeah, we're busy, you may have to wait a little, maybe not. If someone has contact information, especially a phone number on their website it means that they want you to call.
I'm not really going to touch on the tone of the "are they a fad or are they really worth it?" comment, except to say that if you have to ask, the answer is "no".
Sorry to jump on this fun thread with a rant. I look forward to more witty quips.

And customers often make the assumption that the person booked out the furthest is the best!
I used to work in a shop with 6 other tattooists. We were booked according to seniority at the shop. So, inevitably some were booked out further than others.
A customer would come in only to be told that Joe is booked out for 6 months and Jim for 3 months and 2 months out for Jay and John but You can get in with Deb TOMORROW! Customers assumed then that if you weren't booked you weren't worth waiting for, usually not taking in to account that Jay only booked 1 appt a day or Jim only worked every other week.
People are weird, they like the hard to get, the over priced .

You can't nail him down because so many people have nailed him up on a tattoo cross.

Higgs is pretty hard to nail down too ;)

Always pay in cash and never had any qualms carrying cash with me. I agree something symbolic about paying cash for tattoos, it feels right. Personally, wouldn't feel right paying with a card. My tattooist only mentioned price once and that was with the Giger portrait, he asked if had a budget, told him tattoo fund was at max and he laughed and said no budget then. He knows how much I have in my max tattoo fund that have with me (subject came up when first started seeing him regularly last year). Though never have reached anywhere near that. I have a plastic envelope which I decorated that I put money in for tattoos and, top it up when get paid. It is just for tattoos, that way I know what I have. The remainder from each session stays in it, so just need to top up. Yes am that fucking organised. I find it makes things easier when getting regularly tattooed.
I decorated another plastic envelope (differently of course), to keep money for hotel stays in. Because I travel to see mine, 50 miles and public transport is shite after a certain hour, I stay first night in a hotel. So the money for the hotel stay goes into my hotel envelope. Even if not getting tattooed hotel money, goes into hotel envelope. My OCD likes to be organised.
We don't tip over here, but I am a crafter and have plans on making him something, just to say thank you. Even though I gush that I fucking love him after every tattoo, but you know what I mean (I hope!)

I would say it depends on the tattooist and the tattooed.
We never had an issue. I've always felt I was treated more than fair.
Doing our first wedding tattoos with Dan, I think we asked just to get a clue.
There was nothing weird asking. It is a matter of comfort.
If you don't feel comfortable asking, you should probably leave.
Getting the 25th anniversary tattoos, I didn't ask at all. I assumed it was going to be pricey.
It was less than I thought, and it was less than the time spent by the hour.
We were there 7 to 8 hours total and got charged for 4.
Though as Freddy said "he had fun". I want to go back to just hang out.
We were honored he took the job and I think he was honored to keep the continuity.
Back to this: It depends on the tattooist and the tattooed.

Has anyone ever thought maybe the reason Dann Higgs doesnt want anything to do with tattooing is the crazy Dan Higgs posts and sometimes creepy hero worship like the ones that happen here and everywhere else his name is mentioned. I mean ive never been tattooed by him nor met him, but i would think that its all pretty overwhelming.

Eagle battling a snake by none other than Chad Koeplinger, finished in 3 sessions, outline in Denver, shading and color in Austin. Sorry about the glare in the photo, my apartment has the worst lighting of all time.

Once people quit tattooing, or in rock n roll die, they become more desirable due to the "unobtainable factor" Never got tattooed by Dan Higgs either but lived and worked close to him and met him on more than one occasion. So I guess I didn't want one that bad. And back then Higgs was an anomaly rather than an unobtainable ghost leading a pack of confused newbies looking for a place in tattooing. No offense to anyone on that. we all start somewhere knowing nearly nothing.

Ooh, I love that book with the blue cover!

Oh man.
As a bookstore worker I hear "you must sit around and read" at least once a week. It is a nice job, but...nope. Seems like a lot of these envious comments are directed towards people who essentially work manual or retail jobs.
Re: loving your work, that's only ever made it harder, in my experience. The expectations you set for yourself tend to be higher.

And some people don't really know how to articulate their compliments and phrase what they want to say well. This was a case of that.
"Man, it's cool you guys found something you're passionate about."
"Man, it's rad how much fun you have at work."
"Man, this doesn't even seem like a career, just a hobby."
One of those doesn't fit the other two in terms of how it sounds. Also, if you think I'm looking for something wrong in what people say to me, or have a negative disposition, then you don't know anything about me. My signature and my username sum me up pretty well.

The girlfriend or the tattoos?

..so how DO YOU really feel about them?

With a process as important as getting a piece of artwork permanently drilled into your skin, how could you NOT use a professional tattoo designer?? Online of course. Face to face interaction is so last generation

So I have been away for over a week on vacation, no internet. Logged on today, saw that there was a bunch of posts in this thread, and started to catch up. Got halfway through @mmikaoj 's post and decided to leave it until tonight after my son's soccer practice.
While there I was talking to my buddy's wife, who apparently hasn't seen me in shorts since December. So I proceeded to answer just about every single question on here - pain, cost, meaning, where, why, etc., etc.
Started out like this:
Her- "Whoa, when did you get that?!?
Me - "December"
Her- "What's the meaning??"
Me - "It means I have an awesome panther on my leg. With a sword. And some roses."
Her - "Oh, three roses! For your wife and two kids.
Me - "Uh....OK"
I felt like the conversation was happening because of this thread.