sophistre

Tattoo number two today! With Greg Whitehead again, photo from his instagram...not a great shot but it's good enough!

Sounds like I'm coming back in a week to put a rose on my elbow, too. I'm guessing that one's gonna be fun.*
*not fun

Tattoo number two today! With Greg Whitehead again, photo from his instagram...not a great shot but it's good enough!

Sounds like I'm coming back in a week to put a rose on my elbow, too. I'm guessing that one's gonna be fun.*
*not fun

Tattoo number two today! With Greg Whitehead again, photo from his instagram...not a great shot but it's good enough!

Sounds like I'm coming back in a week to put a rose on my elbow, too. I'm guessing that one's gonna be fun.*
*not fun

Tattoo number two today! With Greg Whitehead again, photo from his instagram...not a great shot but it's good enough!

Sounds like I'm coming back in a week to put a rose on my elbow, too. I'm guessing that one's gonna be fun.*
*not fun

Tattoo number two today! With Greg Whitehead again, photo from his instagram...not a great shot but it's good enough!

Sounds like I'm coming back in a week to put a rose on my elbow, too. I'm guessing that one's gonna be fun.*
*not fun

Tattoo number two today! With Greg Whitehead again, photo from his instagram...not a great shot but it's good enough!

Sounds like I'm coming back in a week to put a rose on my elbow, too. I'm guessing that one's gonna be fun.*
*not fun

Tattoo number two today! With Greg Whitehead again, photo from his instagram...not a great shot but it's good enough!

Sounds like I'm coming back in a week to put a rose on my elbow, too. I'm guessing that one's gonna be fun.*
*not fun

Tattoo number two today! With Greg Whitehead again, photo from his instagram...not a great shot but it's good enough!

Sounds like I'm coming back in a week to put a rose on my elbow, too. I'm guessing that one's gonna be fun.*
*not fun

Tattoo number two today! With Greg Whitehead again, photo from his instagram...not a great shot but it's good enough!

Sounds like I'm coming back in a week to put a rose on my elbow, too. I'm guessing that one's gonna be fun.*
*not fun

I think this is probably in reference to what I wrote about being ashamed.
I can say that I'm not such a sensitive snowflake that I was all those years ago. Back then I had low self-esteem and another nasty little disorder that made me very critical of myself and sensitive to peoples negativity. I'm still no where near as mentally strong as I want to be, it's a work-in-progress and will be till the day I die, but I'm getting there, hence why it took me 15 years to get another tattoo and start to commit to becoming heavily tattooed, and being prepared to give the middle finger to anyone that stood in my way or made any negative comments.
As I've mentioned before, my close girl friends have zero interest in tattoos. I caught up with one last weekend and she asked me if I had any coming up and I almost fell of my chair. She also asked how far I was going to go with it. When I mentioned an idea for a chest piece her face screwed up, she grunted and said "Urgh, don't ever, ever get your chest tattooed! They look disgusting" I said to her "Well thank god you don't have to live with it then! I'll do what I want!" and that was the end of the conversation. Boy did it feel good to say that though.

Tattoo number two today! With Greg Whitehead again, photo from his instagram...not a great shot but it's good enough!

Sounds like I'm coming back in a week to put a rose on my elbow, too. I'm guessing that one's gonna be fun.*
*not fun

Tattoo number two today! With Greg Whitehead again, photo from his instagram...not a great shot but it's good enough!

Sounds like I'm coming back in a week to put a rose on my elbow, too. I'm guessing that one's gonna be fun.*
*not fun

Tattoo number two today! With Greg Whitehead again, photo from his instagram...not a great shot but it's good enough!

Sounds like I'm coming back in a week to put a rose on my elbow, too. I'm guessing that one's gonna be fun.*
*not fun

i met this man at a friends 21st birthday, Tony"The Face"Cronin he is the former bodyguard of Chopper Reed a famous criminal we have here in Australia, despite his appearance and history he is a really nice dude, he was cool enough to let me look all over his head at the little details within his tattoos.

I think for ease, I'll divide this into sections:
1. History I've learned
2. New art forms I've discovered
3. Cool people I've met.
4. LST
Although I got my first tattoo back in the very early 90s, it wasn't until about 4 years ago that I started seriously looking into the history of tattooing. Since then, I've discovered a rich and deep worldwide artistic practice. From Japan, to the American carnival, to Scandinavian sailors, I have learned a great deal about how different cultures have appreciated (or denigrated) the art of tattooing.I've seen WWI records of soldiers inductions, complete with detailed descriptions of their tattoos. Fascinating! A trip to Great Lakes in Chicago led me down the rabbit hole of tracking the post-war era of American tattooing, (Tatts Thomas, etc), which I quickly fell in love with. It must be the historian in me.
2. Originally I thought of tattoos as simply a mark on the skin. As I've become more and more involved in the tattoo scene, for lack of a better term, I started looking into how different cultures' styles developed and spread across the world. It also opened up a new way for me to understand complex cultural markers and how we relate to them and respect them. Tattooing has opened my mind to being ever more interested in how other cultures mark themselves and express themselves through art.
3. All the cool people. This cannot be overstated. I have met interesting, talented, funny, smart, people from all walks of life by spending as much time as I do in the shops and in the surrounding areas. I've met tattooers with amazing stories of travel and adventure, and tattooed people who share the same passion and fascination. This has had the benefit of getting me traveling more than I had been over the last decade. Montreal, Chicago, and beyond!
4. The LST community. 'Nuff said. You are good people.

great thread idea!
as a result of wanting my tattoos to heal nicely i've gotten into eating significantly healthier and crossfit/weightlifting so my ass will look nice on instagram #tattooedmanbutt #instamanbutt #buttgram
i'm more willing to travel if there are tattoos involved in the trip. visited nyc, austin, montreal, and burlington vt for the first time as a result of tattoo collecting.
i also hangout with more canadians than i did prior to tattoos

I feel like it's good to have a super posi thread every now and then!
@Graeme and I talk about this a lot - that being into tattoos has not only gotten us, you know, some amazing tattoos, but that it has also broadened our horizons in about a million different ways. This is thanks to the fantastic people we are privileged to interact with and the amazing knowledge and insight that they've shared with us. I had no interest at all in Japanese/Chinese/Tibetan/etc. art before we started hanging out in tattoo shops, for example, and now it feels like an amazing world of art has been opened up to me. Tattoos have also led me to learn more about Buddhist practices and indirectly influenced both of us to learn how to meditate. Basically it's turned us into goddamn hippies, which I am super down with.
I'd be curious to hear about ways that getting tattooed has led you to learn and experience new things, beyond the joy of a needle in your ass crack. In the age of Inkmaster, I think it's worth talking about how rich tattoo culture is, and how connected it is to other amazing cultural, artistic, spiritual, etc., movements and practices.

got this little herbert hoffmann-design as a tribute for my omma - which is a colloquial expression for grandmother (oma) in my area of germany///@alexwildtattoo

Have not had to much time for painting lately, trying to paint more often.

Finally finished. Ever since my first "off the wall" flash tattoo in 1989, I have always dreamed of a full back tattoo. It was a year long experience that I'll never forget. I'm happy it's done and really happy I won't be in a constant state of healing anymore!

I think it's also worth noting that the "labour of love" thing is also often used as a cover to underpay/overwork people, i.e. if you are doing it because it makes your soul sing or whatever, then that is reward enough. Loving what you do does not mean you don't deserve to be properly compensated for it! You get a lot of that shit in academia too.

It comes down to how YOU communicate your expertise. Your in the prime position to help educate.
The average collector/ enthusiast without any understanding or artistic knowledge needs to seek their ideas from somewhere.,.dont they? Do you just expect them to come in with a blank idea and you magically come up with the same interpretation, or expect to only tattoo what you want to put on their skin. That comes with time and trust.
It's like an old time piece of flash, it's been duplicated a million times. Isn't that plagiarism to a degree? A panther is a panther is a panther.
I understand to a point what your saying, a custom one of a kind piece, well maybe, but pieces say things to people and can capture exactly what that means to that individual as well, so it could mean more than just wanting a copy cap design.
It's like my smoking wizard with the starburst from the pipe as the background. I had wanted a wizard for 20 years, but no wizard captured that exact pictorial message, until I came across this wizard on the net. I took that picture in to my tattooer and said...man, after all these years I found the one. I can understand if you need to change it, but it's emulates something quite specific. His response, and knowing me for years was...man, your right, it captures you perfectly, I couldn't make it any better. We slightly changed some aspects like hat band & colour, but why try and reinvent the wheel on this occasion? It was perfect. Is this wrong? Fuck you to anybody who thinks it is, this is one piece out of my entire suit that had already been captured, it speaks volumes, it's my favourite tattoo next after my back tattoo.
There's also been times I've taken an exact design in and said ...man, something like this...and from there we come up with a complete new transition, sn even better custom piece.
Maybe next time someone comes in with an exact picture and turning them away (only to have it tattooed by someone else without any education) you can say...man, that's a great design, I can see why you chose this. What's it's meaning to you?...dig a little, become a consultant, tap into that individual a little and say, ya know man?...leave it with me, I reckon I can come up with something even better for YOU without doing s copy.
That person may just walk out of there with a little bit more knowledge than they did prior to them entering, and maybe you EARN a loyal and devoted customer for years to come.
I'm no tattooer, I'm also no artist, but I've learned a lot from my tattooer over the years because he actually took the time to help me understand. This is the 1 reason that he has been responsible for my entire suit, and the rework of everything he didn't originally do.
I'm just offering a different perspective on this subject, not having a dig. We all help educate each other, because my tattooer had mentioned to me the same, that over the years has learned to appreciate where his clients come from also.
"Booze, Blues & Tattoos"

Well . . . maybe not so "traditional" . . .

OK so I tried to put this post up about three days ago but whilst I was doing it a power line nearby got struck by lightning and we lost power for a while. So that was the end of that. Now that we have power again and I have a bit of time I will try again.
I had the fourth session on my back last Monday. I was hoping it would be the last session of outlining but that went straight out the window when Ian started the session by asking me "How do you feel about Tibetan skulls?" Luckily enough I think they are cool and the design that Ian had drawn up was pretty killer so we went for it. The result is that I now have a Tibetan skull on my my ass cheek and the back of my leg. I love it and am very happy to have it on there and we definitely have only one session of outline left. So after 12 hours of work so far my back looks like this. I have included a close up of the skull as well.

Did Andre Malcolm make it to this list? His peonies are quite nice too...
ANDRÉ SKULL&SWORD: Work