briankelly

the amusing thing is that spelt is the past form of spell used by british people. some say that they even started the english language.

yes, she was really hot. i'm not going to name him in an open forum, but if anyone want's to send me a pm i'll share with you and then show you his terrible work.

i'll finish people's work if they come into the studio and they do not want to go back to the person who started it or can't find the tattooer or something. though i usually suggest they have the original person finish it. when tattooers try to convince someone to let them finish someone else's work, i think that is wrong. i was at a party with a customer of mine and it was filled with other tattooers. when i went to the toilet, another guy approached the girl and gave her his card and said if she wanted more tattoos, he'd do it cheaper. behaviour like that is the lowest of the low to me.

i met a girl who had some white tattoos, little stars on her feet and they looked pretty cool. she said they were "discovery" tattoos, which i liked the idea of, meaning that you really had to discover them after knowing her and being intimate with her body. but i think the problem with people who get white tattoos are that they are never happy, or it never turns out exactly how they want them. i thought her little stars looked fine, but she thought they needed to be done again, and when they got done again, (by an apprentice) they greyed a little. i generally won't do white tattoos.

it's usually people i know, or customers of mine that i've tattooed a few times i used to try to convince people to get one all the time, but i mostly let it take care of itself now.

i met scott harrison at an art opening he had in berlin a while ago. we were talking about neck tattoos, and he said, "neck tattoos are for posers, don't do it", though he has his own neck tattooed. i think a lot of people are in a rush to look tough and cool and get those spots done to prove it. in general, i think people with the neck, face, and hands tattooed are retarded.

oh, and i do this thing where i tattoo an image of my face on people for 20 euro/dollars. and one customer seemed to want to spend a little more, so i also put the brian kelly army around the image and charged him the shop minimum of 80 euro. he was quite happy. i didn't think how i had put my name on him until someone else pointed it out to me.

i'd noticed a long time ago that uncle allan often signs his work. which i thought was a little weird, but i think it's also been going on forever.

in germany we do not expect tips, though it is becoming a little more common lately. but usually quite small tips of 5 to 20 euros, which is great and i do appreciate it because i don't expect it and i don't have to split it with the studio. but tipping isn't about supplementing a low wage. it shows appreciation. i tip the lady who cuts my hair, and she knows me by first name and i get good service from her.

as a tattooer, my own approach to who i have tattoo me would mean that i myself would never have any work. i only get tattooed by friends and people i like. when i decide i want something, i think of who i know personally that can do it. sometimes i don't like getting tattooed from my more booked up friends, because then i have to wait too long.

i was riding the tram the other day with a guy who had two full sleeves of this sort of thing. i think it looks good if the style is adhered to for the whole body, while it is not my thing and i did sit there being very critical of it in my own head. i was thinking things like, that red will never hold up, but he did have a portrait of a womans face in the work that did look quite nice in a technically well done way, and i am of the belief that all tattoos are going to look like complete shit in the future anyway. i try not to bash the work of other's who styles i dislike, because opinions are like assholes. i really don't like noon's work, but i shared an apartment with him and his son in new york for a few days, years ago, and he is a nice guy.

i like a lot of those artists, but don't think i would go to them to have them design my tattoos.

i think it is strange that the tattoos are "by famous artists", even though they are all made by some pretty big names in tattooing.

no matter what you do, and no matter the quality of work, that tattoo is always going to be backwards. it sucks to make beginner tattoo mistakes on your hand.

from my understanding, the term "freehand" really does mean to use no stencil and no drawing, but to just freehand onto the flesh. drawing an image onto someone and tracing it is not really freehand. sometimes i get customers that ask questions like, "did you freehand this tattoo?" while looking at pictures of my tattoos, because they've heard the term and want to seem like they know some stuff about tattooing. they also seem to think that freehand is better than using a stencil.

please visit the BRIAN KELLY ARMY/ tattoo flash to check it out. thanks.

i've read the book and was not very impressed. some of the stories in it are okay.

i just saw this and the mention of berit from tatau obscur and felt like i had to say something. while i don't think i would get tattooed from her, she needs to be respected partly because of her history in berlin. she was one of the first tattooers in berlin to actually know how to draw and helped break the hell's angels control of tattooing by simply refusing to pay their protection fee. jan and fide from fuer immer both worked at tatau obscur before opening their own studio. she is one of the older tattooers in berlin and everyone respects her, including lars uwe who some would think is one of the greater tattooers in this country. she might not be well known, and her style might not be everyone's cup of tea but tattooing in berlin wouldn't be what it is without her.

ok, i'll do one more. this is from 3 or 4 years ago, so the technique isn't great, but i still think it's funny.

i guess i agree with the other tattooer you talked to. your wife is going to have to toughen up if she wants to tattoo. if you cry after fucking something up, you probably need to find a new profession. when i finish a tattoo, all i see are the mistakes i made. i don't cry about it, i try to do better the next time. the very nature of tattoo is that there are going to be flaws. what happens when you're trying to pull a nice clean long line on somebody's ribs who's squirming around and making it impossible. just do the best you can. oh, and i've only been tattooing for about 8 years, but i've never seen an apprenticeship go how it ideally should.

i don't know if she did the right thing, all i know is that there is no crying in tattooing.

i'm only posting my own tattoo, because henry did it first. this is one i did on an east berliner. you can't see the dolphin jumping in front of a sun, but that is behind the shark.

everyone teaches themselves.

thanks for all the help, bigjoe. if any one else knows anyone in brazil, please don't hesitate to send some links.

does anybody know any cool tattoo studio in brazil? i'm soooo sick of berlin winters and want to get out of here this year. any help is greatly appreciated. cheers