briankelly

it's probably the machine operator and not the machine.

i can't see the tattoo you want covered up, but i would suggest a tattoo of a man. with a big black beard.

that taz was awesome!

I got a full sleeve done around some existing pieces by Miles Maniaci when he was at CTC, maybe ten years ago. I walked in thinking I'd have Dale Grande do it, but he had stopped tattooing regularly and said "I've got thie amazing young guy working here now, and I think he'd go nuts on this". Excellent choice. Miles did a tracing of my arm, took the plates I brought in with the specific elements I wanted incorporatd in it, and called me back in a few weeks and asked me to come in and take a look. I did, and ended up having the wholepiece outlined that evening. Every two weeks we did another chunk, up to about six hours, until it was finished.
He told me a flat rate-which was far less than anything being talked about here, but also was ten years ago. I apid it as we went, and made sure to leave a good tip at every session.
Miles left CTC, went to Taylor Street Tattoo, and I heard from people trying to book work from him that he had a one-year waiting list. Wow. Now he works at Deluxe, and I never have heard anything but the highest praise for his work. Don't know if he's still booked out like that, cause I'm still hung-up on CTC.
And that's a bitch! Shit, I had to wait two day to get Nick Colella to work on me once-it was turrible!
I think way too much of what is going on now in parts of the tattoing world is celebrity/media driven, and that has resultied, IMHO, in inflated prices, long waits, and tattooers who are competent being billed as rock-stars. Of course, there are the genuine artists - tattooists - who are worth waiting for, but I think not that many.
.02

everybody has their own way to do this stuff. i've been convinced by much better tattooers than i to wrap it for 3 days. first day, leave the wrap on til morning. wash, let dry, no ointment, re-wrap. leave on until morning. repeat. after the third day, the tattoo is healed on the surface and begins to peal. i found this to be a nice way to deal with my knee and crotch being tattooed, which could have been quite uncomfortable at work. the problem with this method is getting the customer to do it correctly. so i only explain it to ones who i think are smart enough to follow directions and are getting bigger work in uncomfortable spots.

y'know, i like the squid pant's name for leg tattoos. i don't even like the term sleeves for arm tattoos. sure there are proper sleeves worked out on someone as a full arm tattoo. but if i'm out somewhere and somebody says, "ooh, can i see your sleeves?" i think, "fuck off, retard", unless it's a hot girl, but i would still think she is stupid, but i would use her stupidity as an edge to get her to sleep with me. because you have to be pretty stupid to sleep with me. and customers that come in for a "sleeve", or thinking "i want to get a tattoo here and turn it into a sleeve someday", annoy me to. they're just tattoos.

Cory Lenherr.
End thread.

well, what the hell...
"Flaming Sperm Whale Barfing Up A Skull" tattoo by OllieXXX, Lucky Strike Tattoo
Edmonton, AB Canada 2012

Not a dragon but this shows what is possible - Tim Lehi Blackheart Tattoo S.F.

Björn Liebner

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.

I saw this thing recently by a fellow named Judd Ripley. Check out how soft and buttery those blends are! Pretty impressive.

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

Here's a picture of my back after my first session with Jeff Zuck at Name Brand in Ann Arbor. I've had a few more since then, but haven't gotten pictures after any of them. I'll try to get the lady to take a new one and post that up soon.

And Jesus wept.

i put this on a guy when i first came to berlin and was doing a guest spot at fuer immer. the appointment was booked before i arrived, and i was a little unsure if i should do, because, believe it or not, the drawing he had brought in was of even lower quality. after some contemplation and discussing it with one of the owners who said he would probably do it, i decided to do it. when the customer came in, i asked him about his design. in poor english he explained that his old roommate had painted it on his shower curtain years ago and he loved the image. he didn't seem retarded, so i went for it. he came back to me a few months ago for another tattoo, which was also weird, but maybe not as weird, and says he still loves the penis. also, his english seems to have improved.

i really like these two from bjorn leibner.

doing this tattoo made me think i had to get my own knee tattooed. it probably isn't right to inflict so much pain on someone without having gone through it myself.

americans are very loud and use the word "awesome" to describe everything.

americans are very loud and use the word "awesome" to describe everything.

Got this Panther of No Man's Land today, by Ashley Howell, Acme Tattoo, Portland Oregon, Good times.

doing this tattoo made me think i had to get my own knee tattooed. it probably isn't right to inflict so much pain on someone without having gone through it myself.

doing this tattoo made me think i had to get my own knee tattooed. it probably isn't right to inflict so much pain on someone without having gone through it myself.

um, i don't have a lot to share. i've only been painting with watercolours for a few years. i pretty much use whatever watercolours i have and try out different paper quite often. i destroy my brushes all the time, but i use davinci brushes quite often too. i prefer to use a no. 2 or no. 3 for doing lines. the only technique that is a mainstay in what i do is that i use liquid acrylic for the black. watercolour black is not very black. liquid acrylic is also water fast, so i can then paint over it with my colours and not have it turn into a mess. everytime i paint i do something a little different. i believe in chance.

when i lived in ireland, i used to get a lot of hagglers. one of the best things i had heard was to use the question, "how much did those shoes cost? and you're going to wear them for 4 months?" the shoes usually cost more than they were willing to spend on a tattoo for a lifetime.