Newbie

[JVandal]

Hi Everyone,

I got my first tattoo a couple of months ago, after seemingly years of deliberation, and now I can barely wait until I have pulled together the cash for a second. I am located in Chicago so there are a lot of great artists to choose from, which doesn't make it any easier to wait. I am interested primarily in collecting american traditional and japanese inspired tattoos and I came across the site while digging around the web for background information. If anyone can recommend an informative reference book/website on japanese tattooing I would appreciate it. Some of the better ones I am currently aware of are GODS of Japan, A-to-Z Photo Dictionary of Japanese Buddhism (Buddhist & Shinto Deities), which isn't directly related to tattooing per se, but does have a lot of background information. Also, I have heard good things about the book "Bushido: Legacies of the Japanese Tattoo" by Takahiro and Katie Kitamura. Anyways, I think that probably covers introductions.

Cheers,

Joe

[Graeme]

Hey, welcome to LST. I recently bought Bushido and haven't say down to properly read it yet but it looks pretty good in explaining the context of traditional Japanese tattoos, especially in relation to the samurai ethos, and there is a lot of good general information about the Japanese tattoo there. It really heavily focuses on Horiyoshi 3 and there are a lot of photos of his tattoos as well as some of his paintings. It's inexpensive and I think worth owning.

There's a lot of good information here:

http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-designs-books-flash/3435-japanese-symbolism.html

And your best source for books about Japanese tattoos and reference is Gomeniko Books:

Japanese Tattoo Art Design Book Magazine Gomineko Japan

Crystal Morey does the convention circuit and brings her books with her and she has so much cool stuff. She also gives seminars.

[JVandal]

Thanks Graeme, I just read through the Japanese Symbolism thread, which was great. I will definitely be picking up Bushido in the near future, and checking out the Gomineko books as well. I also like Stewart Robson's suggestion about checking out Japanese art on iTunesU.

[CultExciter]

Welcome! Another helpful book is this (I just saw what this is going for, I should sell my copy...whoof!):

Amazon.com: Symbols of Japan: Thematic Motifs in Art and Design (9780847823611): Merrily C. Baird: Books

And with that said, let's see some tats!

[Graeme]

Thanks Graeme, I just read through the Japanese Symbolism thread, which was great. I will definitely be picking up Bushido in the near future, and checking out the Gomineko books as well. I also like Stewart Robson's suggestion about checking out Japanese art on iTunesU.

Ah, thanks for reminding me about the iTunesU suggestion!

[JVandal]

Here it is, not healed though, only pic I have at the moment.

[Janerae]

Welcome--I'm new as well and really considering driving up to Chicago to have some work done, I swore I would only have 1...now I want at least 4-6 more :)

[Dan S]

For traditional, you can't get better than the people at Chicago Tattoing Company. I get all my work from Nick Colella there, and his specialty is traditional American tattooing, but he, and the other tattooers there, do all styles of work. Check them out.

The Chicago Tattooing and Piercing Co., Inc. 773-528-6969 1017 W. Belmont Ave.

Also, if you are getting into Oriental-style work, particularly Japanese, you can't ever go wrong with Miles Maniaci...great guy, great tattooer.

{ Miles Maniaci }

There are a buncha scratcher shops in the Chi, be picky about who pokes you!

- - - Updated - - -

Welcome--I'm new as well and really considering driving up to Chicago to have some work done, I swore I would only have 1...now I want at least 4-6 more :)

Come on up! What type of work are you looking at?

[Janerae]

I've got a few ideas--I can't wait til I can make a post. I've got general question and ideas for cover ups. I think more traditional. I'm wanting my wrist letter covered with a rose(s) and vines, a motherhood celtic knot, something to cover up my awful back tat...still trying to cement what I want. I'm about 4 hours south in Macomb (2 hours from Peoria)

[Dan S]

Way down yonder...

Really, it's not too bad of a drive. Nick is killer on that type of work, his roses are a trip, and he has done a lot of knotwork and other Celtic designs. CTC has always specialized in coverups...almost all of my work is just that.

You can post, you just can't start a thread for awhile. Dig around, and take part in a few discussions...before you know it, you'll be able to.

What kind of specific questions do you have...mayhap we can answer a few for you!

[JVandal]

So, I just had a second sitting on my tattoo. During the initial appointment the artist (Johnny McDevitt, Insight Studios) and I weren't sure about leaving skin breaks in the banners. He was very cool about it and didn't rush me to a decision on the spot. He just said to wait and see how it healed up and make a decision then, and if I wanted to fill them in he would do it for free. After it healed I debated for a couple months, since I really liked the effect in the top banner, but I didn't think it worked in the lower one. Anyways, earlier in the week I emailed him that I had decided to fill them in. He was really cool and got me into the schedule tonight. What was really cool about the whole experience is that instead of just filling in the breaks in the banner he went the extra mile. He reworked a couple of lines that hadn't healed very well, and he went over all of the blue in both banners. I have run across the sentiment on the forum a few times most recently in the Jeff Cribb interview that people would "rather get a shitty tattoo from a solid dude than a great tattoo from a shitty dude", but if you get a solid tattoo from a cool dude then so much the better, right? I guess I just got lucky since I got tattooed from Johnny as a walk-in during a charity event. Just wanted to give a shout out to a solid tattooer.

Insight Studios Online - Johnny McDevitt