Jake

When a shop is looking for a tattooer usually there is some fine print about no scratchers no wannabe apprentices , must have 5 years experience. So maybe that is why your story about tattooing a strippers rib with a kit you bought from the mall with no supervision as your first tattoo didn't win them over.
Reading your posts you come off like a guy who is really trying to be cool and justify the path as a kitchen magician that you have chosen and gain some sort of acceptance in the tattoo world. But the more you talk the less people think of you, my only advice would be to talk less, listen more.

TO me the following examples are traditional daggers. Nothing wrong with yours just doesnt invoke much of a response. I dont know what can be done technically to ehance your tattoo and I would suggest not going back if you felt overcharged and unsatisfied. dagger by stewart robson frith st. london
matt beckerich kings ave ny

I see what you're saying, and I agree on all counts. But I'm wondering if the lower part is a partial coverup?

Just noticed one of my new tattoo's is up on frith street's instagram so thought ill share with you guys
Done by the very talented Valerie yesterday.

Also, the tattoos on the Temple site do not do justice to what kind of stuff comes out of that shop

I've seen some of Freddy's work and it's held up fine over time. My tattoos from him are still relatively fresh but I'm pretty sure that guy knows what he's doing and is gonna lay down a tattoo that'll last ;)

Also, the tattoos on the Temple site do not do justice to what kind of stuff comes out of that shop

Horiyasu:

I'm stealing these from a friend on facebook, too good not to post here.. They are on his granddad who got them from Paul Rogers and R.L. Connelly (not sure who did which) sometime between 1952-53 in Jacksonville, NC. This is after 50 years of working in construction.

This is the exact reason I stopped being so descriptive with posts on my blog.
I'm not trying to fish for hits from people who will print my photos, I'm trying to show my work to people who want to get tattooed.

My friend and I were looking over Google Analytics and noticed there was a huge surge in the search term "Traditional Tattoo" in February of this year, especially in Australia and New Zealand. I expect to see more of this soon...

You'd get more luck asking at the places where an apprenticeship could happen. Hint: it's not the internet.
But first, you need to get tattooed.
I guess that means you need to wait.
My honest no-bullshit advice would be to get a real job first. You'll learn more about people, money, hard work and responsibility there than at a 'Tattoo Academy'.
That 'Tattoo Academy' just swindled a chunk of money from a child. I'm sorry, but you wasted your time there.
Good Luck.

Hey Doug, welcome to LST. There are heaps of great resources here to check out and to soak up if that's your goal. Check out the newbie guideline section and do a search for anything that interests you :)
First of all, I'm not a tattooer. I do have the privilege of knowing some amazing ones, and of having learnt a lot from them, this great site and other places. If they where answering the question, I'm sure they'd say - draw & listen. Your still young so spend the next few years drawing your ass off, maybe TAFE or Uni for art, and once your old enough find a great tattooer who's stuff you like and go and start getting tattooed by them. DON'T go to a scratcher or let some friends do it. Think ahead, work out your plan and then attack it. Get reference books and build your library - both tattoo and non-tattoo related and study your ass off.
Once you've started getting some sweet tat-zaps (sorry small joke) from your soon to be mentor (they won't know this yet) start making yourself indispensable around the shop and show them that you have a real and honest desire to learn the craft, respect it and above all give as much as you can back to it. "If you look after tattooing, tattooing will look after you". Plus by this stage with hard work your drawing and painting will be off the hook and they won't be able to say no to you.
And check out Scott's interviews, you'll learn a lot from them ;)
One question - WTF is the Australian Tattoo Academy? And why does the thought of it scare me?..
I'm kinda glad I got in before you potentially got roasted (not supposed to ask about apprenticeships etc... but you asked for advice, not for one I guess) The fact that your 16 and trying to get your hustle on I had to respect, so I hope this helps and I hope some actual tattooers will chime in and give you some sage advice.

This is a picture of me getting tattooed in Chicago last week. This is one of the strangest and most uncomfortable positions to get tattooed but seems to be the most effective to get your inner upper thigh tattooed. Thanks to Gilly Smash @ Family Tattoo for being such a good sport as it is a pain near the ass (among other things) spot.

Dan Rick:

You want honesty? That's nothing I'd want on my hand.

i'm 34 and if you want something bad enough you will make the sacrifice, maybe have to be some ones bitch.. and as a career graffiti writer i can tell you nothing has happened to that scene remotely close to tattooing. graffiti isnt or ever will be about a dollar.
edit when i say career writer it isnt be cause thats what i did for money, its because i dedicated every day all around the country for over 15 years to nothing but that.

is it rude to just flat out say... fuck this bullshit?!

I giggled
Yorkshireman has 15 Miley Cyrus tattoos | The Sun |News

@mblx If you're in the States, go see Thomas Hooper at Saved Tattoo in Brooklyn.
If you're in the UK, Duncan X at IntoYou, London.
I think someone at Blut & Eisen in Berlin, Germany does stuff a little like that too.
Look outside tattoos or tattooing for reference images.
Good luck.

Been a while since I last posted, but yesterday I finally, finally, finally got to start my ROA backpiece.
First session finished and the main part of the outline is done! I meant to get started on this tattoo at the 1st of April, but got sidelined with some back and hip issues.
It's a crappy cellphone pic and I wasn't exactly standing up straight, but you can get the general jest of it.
The ribs and lower back portion hurt like Hell, but it was well worth it. I'm pretty stoked about it.
Tattooed by Paul Pearson at Tried & True Tattoo in Smyrna Tn.

(and there's a cover-up of an old 101st Airborne tattoo going on in there too).

Holy cow June was insane for tattoos and votes though the winner is @Iwar with his panther by Timothy Hoyer (post #5), congratulations!!!!
Thanks for all who partook and here's July.......bring em on!!
Iwar PM me shirt size

Super fun day yesterday, my friend and I went down to Gold Rush to get tattooed by Tim Hendricks...

I went first and joined the spider/web club with some filler in my armpit


My buddy was going to get a rose and one of Tim's Cholo girl heads but only had time to do the rose, he'll go back sometime soon to get the girl...
Drawing it on..



Unfortunately I didn't get a pic of the finished rose but I doubt I need to convince anyone how great it looked.
All in all it was an amazing day. Tim, Lindsey and the rest of the Gold Rush crew were great people to be around and the whole shop was on a super positive vibe. It was a great tattoo experience that I'll remember for a long time....

For all you Chris Conn fans, compliments of Lindsey Carmichael... this is original flash painted by Chris in '96 and yes, Lindsey gave me permission to post it :D

BART is fine. I've been here my whole life and never had a single issue. @Bubbleberry is being a retard.