Paul Shachtman

Both guys are heavily Kuronuma-influenced:
This is VERY strong, and I think Brooks' traditional stuff is even stronger:
Log In | Facebook
Brooks paints very well, too.
Lehi eclipses brutality:
http://tattooartistmagazine.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/tim-lehi-2.jpeg

Speaking of reality, anyone see Brooks' interview of Lehi in TAM? Nice to read a streamlined interview. Just the facts, ma'am. Both of those guys are absolute elite echelon tattoo artists. They've done their Japanese homework. It shows.

Um, er, regarding proportionate hydro-propulsion, do you think Nunez is touchy about carp composition because HE did this a few months ago?:
Log In | Facebook
I'm just glad they didn't get Tim Lehi, Mike Rubendall, Mike Roper, Jason Brooks, Filip Leu, Chris Trevino, and Brian Bruno to compete, with Horiyoshi III judging. Those guys fucking suck.

The photos are what matter. I would argue that Tim's and Jason's priorities ("art" over ego) might have something to do with what they produce. Who knows, maybe I'm wrong. All I know is I'm not comfortable around the accolade acolytes.

Anyone care to take a stab at how much Peck pulls in per episode? He's the only legitimate aspect of the show. Helluva tattooer. I've only heard good things about him. Nice guy when I met him, briefly. I bet the omnipresent toothpick sits under his tongue, its end barbed like a chastity belt. How else can he keep from crying with laughter?

Um, er, regarding proportionate hydro-propulsion, do you think Nunez is touchy about carp composition because HE did this a few months ago?:
Log In | Facebook
I'm just glad they didn't get Tim Lehi, Mike Rubendall, Mike Roper, Jason Brooks, Filip Leu, Chris Trevino, and Brian Bruno to compete, with Horiyoshi III judging. Those guys fucking suck.

Thoughts on e2:
Ton Jones isn't "heavily tattooed". He's just heavy.
My fiancee's 81yo Jewish Bubbe used to have the same sunglasses that Chriss Angel... errr.. Navarro is wearing on the car challenge.
Peck calling James "hillbilly" was funny.
Al Fliction's glasses are stupid. As stupid as Al Fliction.
I want to see Peck and Nunez tattoo a pig in a 32* meat locker, pinstripe a car and braid Navarro's hair to match Al's goatee.
I want to eat crawdaddies with James at a hoedown.
I can't believe the producers didn't have a backup for psoriasis guy other than two tons of fun.
I feel bad for having watched another episode.

I hope that my last post does not mean that I have to fight Richard Stell.

A braided beard looks good if you are carrying a sword, and fighting a dragon. Otherwise it looks pretty stupid.

Lots of gems on this page.. personally, I like the angel rape backpiece.

Regardless of the topic, why must every reality show have some douche who says "I didn't come here to make friends".
I'm going to go on a show. I'm going to say "I totally came here to make a bunch of friends, hopefully have sex with someone, and maybe just maybe not look like a big ol' douche on tv."

The lettering on Al Fliction's tattoo made me laugh. The entire thing was awful but the lettering really caught my eye in a bad way. I enjoyed seeing the look on his face as they judges told him his work was garbage. Funny that Dave Navarro had a hard on for that tattoo. I was really hoping Oliver would be a little more brutal when judging. Who knows what they cut out I guess.

It's only a matter of time.
It's cheap to make with a tried-and-tested formula. People like to watch it and people LOVE to talk about it. That's why this type of programming has flooded the schedules over the last 5-10 years. Tattoos are just the most recent application of the formula.
Right now, as I type there's a reality/contest show with a wedding theme on the tv, next it's probably cooking or someone's children. Crappy tattoos are the tip of the amoral tv iceberg.
I'm still waiting for The RunningMan to hit the schedules for real.
I'm just left thinking - A conversation about how good something is lasts 5 minutes. A conversation about how bad something is can last hours.

My money's on B-Tat. Saddest part about it is he's the only one that just tattooed a skull and didn't try and throw his "style" into it. So bad...

For Al Fliction, duh.

Please, Jesus, for one night, grant me numbness from the inherent pain of existence with visions of B-Tat's cherry plum roses.

Anything archetypal that's stood the test of time. Imagery that properly conveys the tattoo aesthetic survives on its own.
When Malone tattooed me, he talked about "flags." When he did the Sacred Heart thing on my chest (brutal, I dry cried throughout) he made a cross in the air and said "A cross, now that's a good flag. Two lines." In my limited interactions with that guy I really paid attention to what he said. He knew what he was doing. His flash is pretty much perfect to me. Not that Jerry's isn't. And Joe Lieber's. I need to look at more of Jensen's crap.

At the same time, I must admit Megan Massacre's contribution to Inked Magazine obliterates what Hardy Marks Publishing has accomplished.
Put the fucking crackpipe down and find someone to teach you something. If an idiot like me can develop somewhat of an eye for tattooing, anyone can. I had no idea what I was doing when I first started getting tattooed (hence, 36 laser removal sessions). However, when Adam Ciferri kept shoving Jerry flash books in my face, I listened. When he strongly suggested I get tattooed by Mike Malone, I did. When he showed me Greg Irons' flash, I looked at it, even though I didn't get it. Ami James? I'm not here to shitbag anyone, but if you asked him to compare his contribution to the evolution of American tattooing to Hardy's, his eyes would look like saucers. They sure as fuck better. Dude's making money. That's it. You see all that aboriginal-derivative "tribal" imagery adorning motorcycle tanks and douchebags' t-shirts? Thank Ed Hardy, Mike Malone, and Leo Zulueta for that. How do I know this? I read it in a Malone interview, in which he bemoaned the fact that no one knows this shit. Ami James is a "tattooer." Ed Hardy is arguably the greatest tattooer in American history. Period.
Wanna see real tattooing? Buy Kuronuma's "Horiyoshi's World." Zeke Owens, Jerry, and Hardy all pored over any 5x7 photo they could get of that guy's shit. He's the greatest tattooer I know of.
I need to leave the coffee alone.

When someone says "nice work", I immediately know they have a great eye for the "ink" aesthetic. They should just fart on my salad and get it over with.
With all due respect, the concept of an exclusionist dialect for "tatterz only" is about as "awesome" as the fact that a bud of mine was not allowed to buy an issue of TAM that his "sik work" was in. Multiple times. In one issue. Wait, my disgusting ass is going to be in an upcoming issue. I'll guess I'll have to kiss some "fantastic" "ink under the pink artiste" ass to get a hold of an "amazing" issue. All tattoos are "amazing." I am an "amazing collector." I hate language. I hate tattoos. God Bless.

Pardon my bile. Tattoo "culture" is just so damn adolescent. It's demeaning to what's legitimate.
Guess what time it is!!! NAME DROP TIME. Freddy Corbin told me that when he worked with Mike Malone, Malone insisted upon calling tattoos "tattoos", to bestow legitimacy upon "the craft." Made sense to me. I think that such a relationship to tattooing manifests when you've been doing it (very well) for a while. At that point, the honeymoon's long over. Infatuation's dead. If you really like tattoos and tattooing, you're going to detest most of what presents itself as such. It's always been that way. Read "American Tattoo Master", or one of Malone's letters to Keith Underwood. Those guys hated everything.

When someone says "nice work", I immediately know they have a great eye for the "ink" aesthetic. They should just fart on my salad and get it over with.
With all due respect, the concept of an exclusionist dialect for "tatterz only" is about as "awesome" as the fact that a bud of mine was not allowed to buy an issue of TAM that his "sik work" was in. Multiple times. In one issue. Wait, my disgusting ass is going to be in an upcoming issue. I'll guess I'll have to kiss some "fantastic" "ink under the pink artiste" ass to get a hold of an "amazing" issue. All tattoos are "amazing." I am an "amazing collector." I hate language. I hate tattoos. God Bless.

When someone says "nice work", I immediately know they have a great eye for the "ink" aesthetic. They should just fart on my salad and get it over with.
With all due respect, the concept of an exclusionist dialect for "tatterz only" is about as "awesome" as the fact that a bud of mine was not allowed to buy an issue of TAM that his "sik work" was in. Multiple times. In one issue. Wait, my disgusting ass is going to be in an upcoming issue. I'll guess I'll have to kiss some "fantastic" "ink under the pink artiste" ass to get a hold of an "amazing" issue. All tattoos are "amazing." I am an "amazing collector." I hate language. I hate tattoos. God Bless.

When someone says "nice work", I immediately know they have a great eye for the "ink" aesthetic. They should just fart on my salad and get it over with.
With all due respect, the concept of an exclusionist dialect for "tatterz only" is about as "awesome" as the fact that a bud of mine was not allowed to buy an issue of TAM that his "sik work" was in. Multiple times. In one issue. Wait, my disgusting ass is going to be in an upcoming issue. I'll guess I'll have to kiss some "fantastic" "ink under the pink artiste" ass to get a hold of an "amazing" issue. All tattoos are "amazing." I am an "amazing collector." I hate language. I hate tattoos. God Bless.

Ok that made my day lol.
I personally HATE the term "tramp stamp"...especially when it is used by tattoo artists. They forget that the lower back started out as a favourite place for guys before girls adopted it....not saying guys cannot be tramps before someone jumps on me lol

I was at an offsite work event yesterday and a woman from our LA office saw my sleeves when I rolled up my shirtsleeves. She has a tattoo of upside-down script on her wrist--in all red--so I already knew how this was gonna go.
"Can I ask you some questions about your ink? Because I just love ink. I wear some myself--but obviously not as much ink as you do. I only wear about three pieces of ink."
Every time she said "ink," I cringed.