Lady Heads

[gougetheeyes]

It's funny how when you pick just one basic design the possibilities are endless. So since we're talking about panther tattoos, tiger tattoos, etc., what do you like in a lady head? And who do you like for a lady head? Contemporary tattooer or past tattooer?

I'm not a tattooer myself, but I like dark eyes/eyelashes and the heavy makeup/color thing. And lots of dark hair.

Bailey Robinson does some really great ones..

http://copperbeehive.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/a-piece-of-you-for-a-piece-of-me/face/

http://copperbeehive.wordpress.com/2010/04/20/i-have-no-idea-what-i-meant-to-be/lady-2/

On the other end of the spectrum I also like Todd Noble's softer ladies:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=497092566067&set=a.468392576067.266608.620436067

[Chad Smith]

Chris Conn is definitely one, I like the way Nick Ley does them as well.

[gougetheeyes]

Oh man, forgetting Chris Conn deserves a smack to my dickfor. This list could really be neverending..

[hambone]

whats a dickfor????? hahahaha

[Julio Avila]

valerie vargas

[Avery Taylor]

Eli Quinters, Bart Bingham, Cory Lenherr

[Bryan Burk]

I'm a little biased on this one, but I work with a kid named Adam Warmerdam who draws and paints some pretty ladies

[Bryan Burk]

Miguel "Uzi" Montgomery also does some really awesome ones He's on Facebook, tattoos in Lodi and Sacramento

Last shot is of Uzi & Adam together

[Avery Taylor]

This is a great lady by Uzi. I would love to see it in color, or in person. He also does a ton of cool flash.

[gougetheeyes]

YES to all of these

[mario desa]

really...it goes back to chris conn! a few of those mentioned above are highly influenced by him. they're just doing "conn girls", really.

[OaktownFunk]

I'm a pretty big fan of Nikko Hurtado's lady faces.

[Avery Taylor]

Here is a "Conn Girl" that was posted on the Blackheart blog. His work is hard to find online, so thanks to those guys for posting it. There is also one of his pin-up girls on their blog.

[Perez]

Cory Lenherr.

End thread.

[Julio Avila]

yeah i think chris conn what a huuuuge influence on everybody. but you can take it even further than that. outside of tattooing, you can go with Gibson.

[mario desa]

if you guys ever see a magazine called "illustration" (i think), check it out. it's probably hard to find but it focuses on illustrators from the 20th century, and a lot of pin-up and advertising stuff. you'll see where all the tattoo lady heads were appropriated from.

[Bryan Burk]

All that being said, I think it takes a lot of hard work to get good at doing it on the level of the people mentioned in this thread. It's a kind of tattooing that doesn't allow much room for error, and I respect the amount of work all these people have put into getting ladies faces down

It's a little more complicated than copying chris or things from magazines. I can guarantee that for every head we see that looks "good enough" or "looks like a Conn girl", these guys did 3 or 4 that they weren't happy with, that are living on people as we speak

it's easy to say that someone just "copied a piece of Sailor Jerry flash" onto someone, but if you've ever tried it, you know it's a little harder than it looks. I've fucked up countless girl heads trying to even get in the ballpark of people like Valarie or Uzi, and in the end I always come to the same conclusion: they've simply put much more time in with the pencil than I have

Garver, Jack Rudy, Cartoon also do really great ladies

[Avery Taylor]

About six or seven years ago I went to Chris Garver and asked him to do a tiger 3/4 sleeve on my arm. The tiger was from his flash on tattoo elite international. He asked me to come back the next day to start. It was my second tattoo, and during the three months it took to do the tattoo he became a television star. Since that tattoo I have sat through about 60 hours of tattooing. In that 60 hours I have never had someone work with such ease. Tigers, girls, snakes, black and grey, color, Japanese, Americana. He is one of the best, and an incredibly nice guy along with it.

[Bryan Burk]

I totally know your tattoo! it's a sleeve with peony background, right? I remember stopping you at ink & iron asking if i could look at it

[gougetheeyes]

Well said, Mr. Burk. And thanks Mario for the magazine tip. Ill also add Theo Mindell to the list.

How about design essentials? I think a good nose is key. Just like in real life.

[Avery Taylor]

I totally know your tattoo! it's a sleeve with peony background, right? I remember stopping you at ink & iron asking if i could look at it

Yeah that is me.

[mario desa]

by the way...i in no way was trying to put anyone down or imply that they don't do an amazing job because they were appropriating anything!!! ladyheads are hard to do and i still work hard everytime to get it right!

[xjamestravisx]

I like Russ Abbott's ladies. I also love Valarie Vargas' and Dawn Cooke's.

[The Hyena]

Probably my favorite thing to do ever. I love it. Lady heads and tall ships are my two favorite things t do ever, and they are fucking HARD. It's always a swing and a miss.

[The Hyena]

Cory Lenherr kills it though. Issac Fainkujen does some great things with female heads.