Suggestions for artists doing Black and gray dotwork tattoos near Montreal?

[mblx]

Does anyone know artists who have been working on developping this style in the Montreal area? My favorite that I have found so far is Christian Lanouette (Christian Lanouette tatouages). There is only like 3 peices of dotwork, I was thinking of contacting him to ask if he has been doing more of them.

[Graeme]

Do you mean like Thomas Hooper style? Just go to Thomas Hooper, he does it far better than all his imitators.

There's not really anybody in Montreal who does that style adequately. The only person I can think of who might, though I've never seen him do anything like that, is Jean-Michel Manutea at Imago though he seems to do more straightforward tribal. He is amazing though. Cory Ferguson in Oakville, Ontario does really nice blackwork/dotwork and I think he'll be at the Montreal convention. Mikel in Victoria, BC, same thing.

[Joe Shit]

Jessi Preston has an example of dot work on the site.

[mblx]

Do you mean like Thomas Hooper style? Just go to Thomas Hooper, he does it far better than all his imitators.

There's not really anybody in Montreal who does that style adequately. The only person I can think of who might, though I've never seen him do anything like that, is Jean-Michel Manutea at Imago though he seems to do more straightforward tribal. He is amazing though. Cory Ferguson in Oakville, Ontario does really nice blackwork/dotwork and I think he'll be at the Montreal convention. Mikel in Victoria, BC, same thing.

Yeah I meant like Thomas Hooper, that was my plan initially but he seems sooo busy. His site says he is not currently taking more appointments and he is so popular these days its understandable! I saw your tattoo in the other black and gray thread made by him, its so goooood! How long did it take you to get an appointment with him?

[Joe Shit]

eroby

[Kahlan]

This is in Vancouver, and been definitely wanting a piece by Katia.

All she does is dot work and it's absolutely beautiful.

Rainfire Tattoo - Rainfire Tattoo Studio - Vancouver

[David Flores]

Daniel Albrigo what about this guy?

Everyone and their mother in trying to dotwork or mandalas or whatever you want to call them, but I think the thing that most people miss is that Thomas Hoopers work is a lot more than a bunch of dots, lots of strong imagery, with the gemotric stuff in the background, I think it's that imagination and creativity and knack for layout and flow that set him, and the few others that do that style well , apart from people who are just doing a bunch of geometric shapes on people

That being said it is very frustrating when someone you want to get tattooed by is virtually unavailable. There are hundreds of people who do good traditional, Japanese, portrait work, not so much in this realm, but that doesn't mean there aren't people out there that are flying under the radar. I would keep trying to book with hooper, but keep your eye out as well.

[Graeme]

Daniel Albrigo what about this guy?

Everyone and their mother in trying to dotwork or mandalas or whatever you want to call them, but I think the thing that most people miss is that Thomas Hoopers work is a lot more than a bunch of dots, lots of strong imagery, with the gemotric stuff in the background, I think it's that imagination and creativity and knack for layout and flow that set him, and the few others that do that style well , apart from people who are just doing a bunch of geometric shapes on people

That being said it is very frustrating when someone you want to get tattooed by is virtually unavailable. There are hundreds of people who do good traditional, Japanese, portrait work, not so much in this realm, but that doesn't mean there aren't people out there that are flying under the radar. I would keep trying to book with hooper, but keep your eye out as well.

I agree with a lot of this, and a lot of what I find uninteresting with everybody trying to do this "style" now is that it becomes too much about putting a certain technique up on a pedestal instead of using that technique, and many others besides, to create a powerful tattoo. It's the same thing with these guys I see on Instagram who are all about doing super whipshaded traditional. Technique is there to serve the art, not the other way around.

And that said, you'll never get tattooed by somebody if you don't ask them because they "seem" busy.

[David Flores]

I agree with a lot of this, and a lot of what I find uninteresting with everybody trying to do this "style" now is that it becomes too much about putting a certain technique up on a pedestal instead of using that technique, and many others besides, to create a powerful tattoo. It's the same thing with these guys I see on Instagram who are all about doing super whipshaded traditional. Technique is there to serve the art, not the other way around.

And that said, you'll never get tattooed by somebody if you don't ask them because they "seem" busy.

that stiple shading stuff looks good if you use it in moderation, but I don't see why you wouldn't want a whole tattoo comprised of it, and why a wonky badly drawn design somehow becomes bad ass when it is shaded in that manner.

Also I would agree that you have to try sometimes to get tattooed. Even a simple email may not always cut it. Call the shop, be polite to the help and just ask what the situation is, since getting tattooed by him means you are going to travel anyway, maybe their is a convention or something that you could book into, or if you can squeeze your way on the cancellation list that could work too.

[slayer9019]

While I am always all about going to the guy who is the trend setter and original I can say that after a 3 year wait on the list I still haven't even gotten a consultation. It seems he really isn't taking new clients at least in my experience. It doesn't hurt though to reach out and try your luck. He is a very nice guy to deal with even though I gave up.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

[SnowyPlover]

John Sultana is at Saved Tattoo now

John Sultana

[TrixieFaux]

I tried to reach Thomas Hooper, too... E-mailed him and Saved a couple of times and eventually got a really polite e-mail back from Saved saying he wasn't taking any new clients but thanks for my interest. It would have been difficult, anyway, being on the west coast but we do travel east from time to time. I ended up getting some mandalas & dot work incorporated into my black and grey sleeve and I couldn't be happier with the outcome, seems like it was meant to be.

[el twe]

I tried to reach Thomas Hooper, too... E-mailed him and Saved a couple of times and eventually got a really polite e-mail back from Saved saying he wasn't taking any new clients but thanks for my interest. It would have been difficult, anyway, being on the west coast but we do travel east from time to time. I ended up getting some mandalas & dot work incorporated into my black and grey sleeve and I couldn't be happier with the outcome, seems like it was meant to be.

Farther away from Montreal, but maybe helpful for you: I believe Thomas Hooper will be tattooing at Rock of Ages in Austin, TX soon...

[mblx]

Daniel Albrigo what about this guy?

Everyone and their mother in trying to dotwork or mandalas or whatever you want to call them, but I think the thing that most people miss is that Thomas Hoopers work is a lot more than a bunch of dots, lots of strong imagery, with the gemotric stuff in the background, I think it's that imagination and creativity and knack for layout and flow that set him, and the few others that do that style well , apart from people who are just doing a bunch of geometric shapes on people

That being said it is very frustrating when someone you want to get tattooed by is virtually unavailable. There are hundreds of people who do good traditional, Japanese, portrait work, not so much in this realm, but that doesn't mean there aren't people out there that are flying under the radar. I would keep trying to book with hooper, but keep your eye out as well.

Yeah I totally expected hooper to be very busy and I saw on his site that he wasnt taking any new clients before I even posted here. I was really looking for those guys who could be flying under the radar as you say. If I had the chance to pick ANY artist, I would be getting tattooed by Gerhard Wiesbeck actually but going to germany sounds like a lot of trouble for me :p. However I emailed Saved Tattoo and asked them to suggest someone at the shop for me who will be available soon and who could tattoo my idea for two half sleeves. I really like John Sultana's stuff too!

[Graeme]

John Sultana does killer tattoos and he seems like a super nice dude too.

[ironchef]

John Sultana does killer tattoos and he seems like a super nice dude too.

Pretty much love everything that's been posted to his Instagram.

I contacted Hooper maybe over a year ago and he was super busy but asked me to touch base with him in about 4-5 months. Tried again but Thomas just had a full plate and couldn't get me in on his schedule. It's known that he's going to be leaving NYC soon and moving permanently to Austin TX and he basically told me if I ever made my way down there he'd try to fit me in. I also asked him that if he planned to visit back up in the East Coast to please let me know. Through all our communications, Hooper has been a true gentleman and I could tell he really wanted to get me in for some work but just couldn't make it happen and I do not fault him in any way for it.

There have been some opportunities where Hooper and the Saved crew have done walk-in Sundays that I could have easily taken advantage of being my proximity to the shop location. But in the long run, I knew I wanted something more than just a quick small piece, so I'll patiently continue to keep in contact with Thomas until the opportunity presents itself. But at the same time, I'll keep my options open should another artist strike my fancy.

[mblx]

Hey guys I wanted to give you all an update on the situation and I am proud to say that I will have the chance of getting tattooed by John Sultana himself at Saved at the end of september! :D I did not quite find an artist in montreal that I felt as confident with as John to do the job so I decided to go the extra mile down to Brooklyn for this massive project I have!!

Thanks to all of you for the help and advice :)

[slayer9019]

Pretty much love everything that's been posted to his Instagram.

I contacted Hooper maybe over a year ago and he was super busy but asked me to touch base with him in about 4-5 months. Tried again but Thomas just had a full plate and couldn't get me in on his schedule. It's known that he's going to be leaving NYC soon and moving permanently to Austin TX and he basically told me if I ever made my way down there he'd try to fit me in. I also asked him that if he planned to visit back up in the East Coast to please let me know. Through all our communications, Hooper has been a true gentleman and I could tell he really wanted to get me in for some work but just couldn't make it happen and I do not fault him in any way for it.

There have been some opportunities where Hooper and the Saved crew have done walk-in Sundays that I could have easily taken advantage of being my proximity to the shop location. But in the long run, I knew I wanted something more than just a quick small piece, so I'll patiently continue to keep in contact with Thomas until the opportunity presents itself. But at the same time, I'll keep my options open should another artist strike my fancy.

Seems like we've had a near identical experience!

[Graeme]

Awesome that you're seeing John Sultana and I'm sure you'll have a great trip and come home with an amazing tattoo. Saved is a great shop and one of the best things about getting tattooed there is seeing what the other people are doing there because every tattooer in that shop is exceptional.