Julio Avila

Yeah. Fuckers are holdin out

ida bounced that bitch out the shop.

and then id burn that fucking flame shit doofus is wearing

What?!?!?!

i have always been a huge fan of lettering. even before tattooing. ive always noticed the lettering in cool old signs and window season displays.

once i started tattooing, first time i saw some dave gibson lettering and some jack rudy letting i was FLOORED!

you guys remember the old National tattoo convention posters that jack would design? each poster had like 9 different styles of lettering in them. all of them amazing.

that being said, if you want to be good at lettering, study the shit out of it! i notice it and space draw it all the time. for some reason, i always see good lettering at the movie theater. like right before the movie starts when words come up telling you about no smoking and popcorn and shit like that. when you cant think of anything to draw, draw letters. and i dont mean write letters, i mean DRAW letters. there is a difference.

i could go on and on with this subject.

ms rad, if you want good lettering, look for sign painters manuals. also, look at other peoples letters. see what you like and learn how to do it. and then add your own spin on it.

tattooers here in milwaukee HATE doing lettering. ill do it all day long. word

edit..... favorite style of lettering for tattoos..... SCRIPT AND PIKE STYLE LETTERS. done correctly, they will always look classy and timeless

worst style of letters for tattoos...GRAFFITI. ugh. just ugh

Ribs and knee cap. Both suck

Yeah I'm going with mike as well. Got one and wish I could have gotten itten times as big and on the front of my thigh so I could have watched him tattooing it more.

In fact, I'd get the exact same tattoo by him again.

Dammit Gia!!!

You have a new job... Search for photos!!

Especially Hector dressed as a woman!

Word me too!!!

i have about six or seven artists portfolios full of tattoo drawings. i should start labeling them by years. so who knows where that thing is. he used to be on myspace maybe i should just look for a photo of the actual guy!

this guy rolled through the shop in san jose once. kinda rockabilly type with is rockabilly girl.

he did have a mustache and goatee going on. but under the mustache you could see he had a mustache TATTOOED on him!!!!!!! it was kinda in the shape of the pringles guy.

he wanted a day of the dead sugar skull of him and his girl with a dagger. i drew one with the silly mustache. he never came back to get it tattooed. i think i offended him with the funny mustache on the skull that represented him.

just last week the top of my tattooing hand was completely numb. not the fingers just the top. i kinda bugged about a bit. i just kept massaging my hand til it went away a day or so later.

a hair stylist friend said she gets the same thing on a regular basis and sleeps with a wrist brace. i think im gonna look into that. another thing is how you sleep. i usually sleep with my hand under my head. im sure thing cuts off alot of circulation to the hand while its supposed to be resting. so ive been more concious about that as well.

ahhhh the fabled almighty "balance" of clients. that shit is haaaaaaaaaaaaaard.

work at a flash walk in only shop and youll dream of doing big custom stuff. get too good and let all your clients know you can draw and you are drawing every night for tattoos only. work work work. then you dream of doing a shitload of kanji and script names.

thanks bunny!

i dont think all info should be shared with everybody. loch, you dont tattoo but tattooers feel comfortable letting you in on certain stuff. thats a huge privilege. i dont think just anyone deserves that kind of invitation.

if it becomes a free for all, i think it would deter some tattooers from posting here. me included

Is there a section for tattooers only for info like this.

another pet peeve is clients that are no it alls.

They don't need to know what we use or where we get it from. As long as they are happy with the results.

I gave a years notice from the last shop I worked at.

Sometimes I think two weeks is not enough time. If you are leaving on good terms, a month seems like a cooler amount. Here in Milwaukee is really hard to find a good tattooer to replace another. A month prepares the owner to put the word out or possibly get used to the fact his income is going to be that much smaller.

i sat for a few hours while rassier and jesse tuesday ranted about how much of a genius yngwie malstreem is. or however you spell that fucks name.

seeing as the drawing part is on the simple side (and i dont mean simpleton side) keep the color scheme simple too. keep it a good simple tattoo. no need to bust out any color tricks and chrome shit out.

i mix my pigments naked so its impossible to get any on my clothes

Did the one woman pull out a pocket watch and wave it in front of her swirling eyes?

I hate when people moan about a song. Like it's really the worst three minutes of their lives. If it's a customer that complains I tell them they don't have to listen to it. I'll call them back into the shop when the songs over.

i could probably listen to van halen all day long haha

really for me its all about the shuffle on my ipod. i have a huuuge selection. most good some bad. all three of us at the shop have ipods there. i can pretty much listen to everything if the ipod is on shuffle. each song is only a few minutes long. if i absolutely hate a song, another less shitty one will be on in a few minutes.

i have noticed that ive bene trying to eliminate certain songs from my ipod. or i just change them as soon as they come on. the rap group UGK has a song that i LOVE. however, everytime it comes on, it never fails a group of soccer moms roll through with some kids. the song is called BITCH YOU KNOW YOU LIKE THAT. yup thats what its called.

another song that gets me is that guns n roses song ONE IN A MILLION. i like it and it doesnt bother me but in that song axl calls out on "niggers" and "faggots" and it never fails as soon as them lines come on, a black woman or some gay dude or a lesbian will roll through. its just embarrassing to me.

everybodys got some bullshit on their ipod. i got linda ronstandts spanish cd on my shit. im 35 and ill listen to whatever the hell i want! and on occassion ill make you suffer with my musical tastes haha

i like cha cha chas on upper haight. good cuban food and really good sangria by the pitcher

i also like ali babas on lower haight. its quicker and more low key. but their chicken kabob plate is really good. lots of food for the buck.

on the junk food end i like the metro. its on filmore and haight. thier cheese steak with hot and sweet peppers and chili fries... foregetaboutit. but there really isnt room for a bunch of tatbros to sit down in there. really small.

one thing though, the convention is near the airport with is in like south city. the actual city is a handful of highway exits up. i dont know shit about south san francisco

Woooord

Hey everybody... This dude does some of the tuffest eagle tats ever!

back in the late nineties broads used to call the shop trying to get beauty marks tattooed on them. ala cindy crawford i guess.

once such woman came in the shop and asked for one. i said NO. the boss was all.... come on dude. itll take you 2 minutes to do. i held my ground and said no. he said fuckit and did it. a week later she came back in wanting it bigger. a week after that she came in wanting it darker. a week after that she came in wanting it lighter haha.

i looked over at the boss and asked him if the $50 he made that dumb shit was worth it.

im positive all that weirdo did was look at herself in the mirror and critique that little spot on her face. fuck her and her fake ass beauty mark

hahaha.

wait til you mix dark purple...