Jordan from Australia!

[deepsleep]

Hi, I'm Jordan from Melbourne, Australia. I'm a 23 year old Electrician.

I became fascinated with tattoos when I got exposed to Punk Rock when I was about 10 years old. Since then I got into heavier music and eventually started getting tattoos. I could never choose a specific style as a favorite so I chose to have my arms and back dedicated to Japanese style pieces and my legs and front are slowly getting covered with American Traditional tattoos.

Unfortunately, I play guitar which is not a cheap hobby so that has put the brakes on getting tattooed as much as I'd like to. But it does help me become a little more confident in my choices so I don't have to go through any more unnecessary laser sessions.

I have been tattooed by a few of my favorite tattooers but there is still plenty more on my list.

Tattooed by;

Tim Lehi

Josh Stephens

Matt Wisdom

Charley Gerardin

Ben Ross

and some others not worthy of a mention

I'd like to be tattooed by;

Matt Cunnington

Stevie Edge

Josh Sutterby

James McKenna

and heaps more. This little list is quite achievable as they're all in Australia. So hopefully I can cross them off soon.

The main reason I registered for this forum is because I'm trying to hunt down a picture of some Dan Higgs flash that I saw at Black Heart Tattoo SF. It's a crazy looking light globe/bulb. I'm hoping to get it for myself as a present for completing my Electrical apprenticeship. I can't find it anywhere!

Thanks for having me LST!

[SStu]

welcome!

[Bonnie Baker]

Hey, Jordan! I'm the same way about styles. That's why it's taken me so much time to decide(years deliberating) what to dedicate my back(prime real estate!) to and also my first tattoo to. I've finally decided on a japanese style back piece, but because it's such a huge tattoo and will take many sessions and will be my first tattoo, I'm a little nervous! I hope I never have to go through any laser sessions. You seem like quite the tattoo veteran, any advice on avoiding regrettable tattoo decisions? I'd love to see some pics of your japanese style ink btw!

[exume]

Welcome to LST! Any pictures to share? I'd like to see what you got from Lehi

[deepsleep]

Hey, Jordan! I'm the same way about styles. That's why it's taken me so much time to decide(years deliberating) what to dedicate my back(prime real estate!) to and also my first tattoo to. I've finally decided on a japanese style back piece, but because it's such a huge tattoo and will take many sessions and will be my first tattoo, I'm a little nervous! I hope I never have to go through any laser sessions. You seem like quite the tattoo veteran, any advice on avoiding regrettable tattoo decisions? I'd love to see some pics of your japanese style ink btw!

Hello!

You can't go wrong with a Japanese back piece (with a good tattooer of course)

For me my downfall was definitely rushing into getting tattooed and getting tattoos from people because my friend or work colleague did. I started my Japanese sleeve and from the get go the guy didn't really like my ideas of thick lines with simple bold designs. He was more into heaps of thin lines as he preferred tattooing monsters and zombies and stuff but had done a lot of Japanese. He did a half sleeve Koi on a friend so I thought okay he's the guy. I had 2 sessions for line work and 3 sessions of colour for what was the top half of my sleeve and onto the chest plate. Around that time instagram was getting huge for tattooers so I saw a lot more quality work then I'd ever seen before. Previously most of my Japanese tattoo exposure was in magazines where shading detail and line consistency is hard to notice so having my own tattoo and seeing it up close every day was really something different. When a friend shows you a tattoo you see it for a few seconds not days, weeks, months, years etc. So I put the sleeve on hold and eventually learned to notice correct shading and lines just from looking at hundreds of tattoos a day on instagram and not only does your eye get better bet eventually you come across the tattooer you want to work on you.

So to summarize haha research is the best thing to do. With Japanese there a rules that I don't know about and I bet a lot of tattooers don't either so you need to find someone who has really studied their Japanese tattooing and if you can follow them on social media you will notice their trademarks and styles on a broad scale and you will know who if the best tattooer for you.

Another good thing with Instagram is there are people who post photos of old Japanese woodblock art and sculptures, ornaments, masks etc and they are great references for Japanese work. Definitely look into woodblock art because some of those scenes would make the greatest back pieces. Check out Fuji Arts Japanese Prints - Japanese Woodblock Prints and Decorative Arts

As for photos I'll try and post some in the next couple of days

[Mick Weder]

@deepsleep. Welcome mate I'm from Brisbane. Lots of good shit amongst these threads.

[Shaggy]

@deepsleep Welcome, good to see another Aussie on the board. Not enough of us.

I can relate to alot of what you have said. I have had crappy/non-relevant work done when younger and have now had all 4 pieces laser lightened/removed to make way for Japanese style work.

I currently now have done 2 x 3/4 sleeves + chest panels and about 3/4 of the way through my backpiece. The plan is to keep going and end up with a full suit. (well not quite full suit as I have 3/4 sleeves) :o

I am also an electrician but have moved into a different area, A bit off topic but a great trade to have. I may not be a millionaire but I do have all the luxuries I want and can afford to have had all my 4 old tattoos laser removed, and my current new work done within 2 years.

Cheers

Jason.

[Bonnie Baker]

@deepsleep Awesome advice! It took me a couple of years to find the right artist and I use instagram religiously so hopefully I'm good to go! I really trust the skill of my artist, I just haven't seen his design for me and I'm really hoping he could see my vision after we spoke and I gave him a few pictures with what I specifically liked and didn't like.