Julio Avila

A friend in Santa Cruz tattooed this young woman that passed out in front of the shop on the side walk. She knocked one of her front teeth out

I'm sure I will never see that broad ever again.

If she sees me on the street, I'm sure she will turn around and walk the other way

Word Mario. That was a good trip. Going into that shop was like going into the sistine chapel. Except we got tattooed there

i know you guys have em, so lets hear em.

hell they dont even have to be apprenticeship stories. just crap youve witnessed or put up with at a shop.

i apprenticed under this methed out biker fellow that claimed to be related to charles manson. he did look like him and was a nut job just like him as well. i didnt even know about meth til i started working there. he once decided to teach this guy to tattoo in exchange for this huuuuge rock of meth that he brought with him from kansas city. then he figured it would be a good idea to cut it and start sellin it out of the shop. kansas city guy is now dead.

after a few day binge, bossman was doing an american flag on this truck driver. he outlined it, shaded in the blue where the stars are then proceeded to fill in the red stripes. he did the first two stripes, then onto the third. while doing the third, he started going down as opposed to across. i was watching him do this tattoo but was very much a newbie. i didnt say anything figuring he knew what he was doing. he did a little more then tells ol dawg "lets take a break, you can go outside and have a smoke" he does and bossman starts walking to the back of the shop. i follow. then he says,

"holy shit dude, i just fell asleep doing that tattoo!" he did a couple of bumps and downed a mountain dew.

came back to the tattoo and proceeded to black shade the shit out of it! truck driver never questioned him and left a happy customer.

to me it was just another day in the shop.

there are tons more stories, but lets hear somebody elses.

Dean and Scott, i KNOW you got some!!

fredriksson, you got your very first tattoo at 222?! you lucked out big time

Sometimes tattoos outlast a marriage

gut instinct is usually correct

About a month ago I was tattooing this young lady. Tattooed her young husband several times before. Good people. So I'm tattooing her back and she's sitting in a chair. Her husband and work friend were there for support. We are all hangin out and having a good time when the friend starts babbling some numbers. I stop tattooing and look over and chuckle, "what?!". I see the look of panic in her eyes and realize she's saying a phone number. She mumbles," call my husband, call my husband". Her voice was really faint like she was a mile away. She stands up and goes into a full epileptic seizure. I put my arms under her arms to guide her down so she doesn't hit her melon on anything. She's sitting on the floor still freaking out with her back pressed up against my shins. Then I see the puddle start to form under her ass.

Somebody calls the fire dept, they do nothing, and she finally comes around. She doesn't believe us that she went into a seizure bla bla bla.

Oh yeah, what did the friend do while this was happening? She ran out the shop crying!!

Ok I'll go....

The shop I worked at right after my apprenticeship was run by this dude that was very money motivated. Get em in get em out. Make that cake!!!

Saturdays were walk ins only! You put your name down and wait for it to be called.

I called this gentleman up. Actually he turned out to be a pushy prick. He wanted a portrait of himself!! He brought in a tiny ass picture of him FROM THE 70'S!!!!!!!! It was now like 1997!!! He wanted me to "update" his look and have him raising a black power fist. I don't do portraits now and tried to explain to him I had no business doing them back then. He wasn't hearin it and neither was my boss. Boss wanted the money and dude wanted his portrait transformation. Being a newbie and feeling the pressure from both ends, I did it. Some of the longest two hours of my life!! Haha. Did it come out good? Probably not. But I guess he got what he wanted.

I've since learned that it's ok to say NO to people. And refuse to be pressured by anyone I work for.

Are these stories we should be keepin away from people that don't tattoo?

I hate when fools show up 15 minutes late and don't say SORRY. Give me a lame excuse and acknowledge you were late.

get rid of the couch! just gives them an excuse to "make themselves feel at home"

before moving out to california, i would fly 2000 miles out there to get tattooed. it really bugs me when people feel they cant drive 20 minutes out of their way to get a good tattoo. i guess some people deserve the crappy tattoos they get.

after moving to california, i would drive an hour to and an hour back when i got tattooed. that drive back suuuuucked!!!!!!!

but i did get some bitchin tats from scott sylvia, derrick snodgrass, grime, mike lucena.....

starting a new trend.... good tattooer with good tattoos!!!!!!!!!!! but i guess thats a whole different topic

Magazines have played a huge roll in letting me know who was out there.

I guess they still do. Internet, especially social network sites, help spread the word a lot quicker these days

Uh no. Not really

Haha

Haha

I love that response and use it often.

I'm really bummed out that I won't be attending again this year. Just doesn't make sense money wise with the familia and new house. But one of these days...

I love what Freddie has done in this biz!! Haven't seen him in person with his face tats but that jack Rudy Jesus on his throat area is insane!!!!

And I'm glad he's good at tattin' cuz his actin' wasn't all that haha. Love you mr. Nice Guy

Who's the guy?

i keep that bandage on overnight if i can. no joke.

then unscented fragrance free curel.

keep it simple

my last tattoo was done by somebody that doesnt tattoo. its an old skull design. sorry no photos

the guy who did it is a local painter by the name of fred stonehouse.

look him up. good stuff

he was sweatin bullets when i told him i was the next appointment and he was doing the tattoo! good times

You're sooooo alternative!!!! Haha.

I hear what you mean about the whole playground thing. I forget I have tattoos until somebody brings it up.

It was this show on TLC I believe. They get two tattooers to do a similar tattoo and are judged at a convention. Kinda like that biker build off show. It was really good but short lived. Episodes included Leo zulueta vs rory keatong, guy aitchison vs Aaron Cain, Michelle miles vs Seth ciferri, rubendall vs bugs. I think that may be it. You can probably look them up on YouTube.

Ok bad tattoo... A co worker tattooed this guy with cliché tattoo images. He got a lower sleeve with a taz, barbed wire, a sacred heart, tribal, blah blah blah. The dude is an awesome tattooer so it's drawn tattooed very well. I know he got it as a joke, but now the jokes on him. Forever.

DIRTY!!!!!!!!!! haha

this dude came into the shop with a home made tattoo on his chest. it said PIZZA but the A was an anarchy sign. haha sorry no photo.

i think misspelling of words is up there.

also, backwards tattoos. you guys see that TATTOO WARS show? it was awesome!!!!!!!!!! you see the one with mike rubendall up against bugs? i like the way they showed mike doing his homework researching his design and doing some sketching while bugs went to his mechanics place to work on a hot rod. come tattoo time, mike did an INCREDIBLE job. bugs on the other hand decided to just draw his design on. and drew it BACKWARDS!!!!!! thats some crap you learn in the first week of an apprenticeship. not 20 years into your career.

i never really cared what people get or where people get tattooed.

i can tell you that it is weird talking to a person with their mugg tatted up. difficult to look in their eyes when all you can look at is the 8 tear drops they got.

honestly, i have yet to see a cool face tattoo.

just my opinion