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I was at the Scottish Tattoo Convention the weekend before last, and took the opportunity to have a chat with the people there from King Carlos Tattoo in Sweden. Calle in King Carlos is pretty well-known for his Japanese style stuff in Europe and he does a lot of large-scale stuff. I have been e-mailing back and forth a little bit about booking in to begin a backpiece, but nothing finalised yet. I think his stuff is really refined and he seems to have that knack for making the backgrounds of japanese style tattoos look like they're flowing and curling like real water or smoke. .:: King Carlos Tattoo ::.

body mod makes me think of implants and tongue splitting

Awww man. If I could take a picture of some of the terrible tattoos I see I totally would. I saw a dude who was passed out in a bed @ Highland W/ "East Oakland's Finest" in prison script around his chest. The best part was the two OPD officers just staring at it laughing. All I did for that one was type in "Infected Tattoo" in google.

here's my tattoo hand and the hand i take care of business with. both done by bjorn leibner. they were his first palm tattoos, i think he did a good job. both about 1 yr old.

I've always felt there was a huge disconnect between the tattoo and piercing communities, with a very small crossover, though folks outside of them like to wrap them up into one. Which I guess has a lot to do with the combo tattoo and piercing shops. I had my ears gauged for about ten years but recently took those out. Other than that, I never felt like I was part of any piercing community -- nor did I ever want to be -- and while I think the two are very loosely related at some kind of basic level, I think they're pretty far apart. In conclusion, the term BOD-MOD makes me cringe.

since there has been a lot of discussion about them over at the Most Painful thread, i thought it might be time to set aside a thread devoted to palm tattooing alone. i saw a set that Lizzie did and i thought it was extremely beautiful and elegant despite being so simple (and physically, understandably so!) i would be lying if i said i wasn't jealous and didn't wish that it was on me rather than the person in the picture (and i have never wanted hand tattoos before seeing this!) anyone else seen any that they really love?

Mike Rubendall is opening a shop April 1 in NYC. Needles and Sins Tattoo Blog Kings Avenue Tattoo | Long Island Tattoo | New York Tattoo | Custom Japanese Tattoo

For me it was achingly painful for two weeks. Cracking, redness. Hooper walked me through the process of healing with his method- "first it's going to look like it's blowing out. Then it's going to look like it's infected. Then it's going to look like it's fading. Then it's healed". It happened spot on per his synopsis.

Depends on what you are looking for. Immaculate is fucking awesome, and well worth what it takes to get there. I get tattooed quite a bit by Matt Arriola, and he spends a lot of time at Inkvision in Boise, Idaho. Darcy Nutt is in Boise I think. Also the Salt Lake City convention is pretty good. It just passed, but if you are willing to wait until next year I am sure that there will be plenty of great tattooers there.

Don't know if this comes under the mantle of "Black Work " but i guess it could .Mainly i liked it so freakin much i had to post it somewhere/anywhere !!New stuff by Jeff Zuck .

"collector" is the name most tattoo artists give to us though Mario I guess because we are collection tattoos from specific artists! I really don't see myself as anything special because i "collect" for my own reasons......not to enter contests and win trophies or for the "ego" of having good work! I just feel blessed to have met the talented artists I have met, and to have their art on me! It's the tattoo artists that make a big deal out of it because 99% of most people being tattooed have no clue who all these artists are that have tattooed me nor do they care! I really don;t know many "collectors" so i guess really tell you how others act when they come into your shop....I just know I am not like that. I have no problem with someone who only wants to get a name or kanji, or whatever as they are the ones that are paying your bills! As long as it is good work that is! :)

I never get enough of Theo Mindells back pieces ,or any of his tattoos ,his classic designs already have a timeless appeal for me .If like me u want to scope out more from the crew at Spider Murphy's check out their new blog- Spider Murphy's Tattoo Looking at his new pics i feel reminiscent of the work of the great Greg Irons

I met George Campise, when he was at Everlasting, on a trip to San Fran. He was unbelievably nice. He invited me to sit with him while he tattooed and just talked to me about all aspects of the business and about himself. I was really influenced by his attitude and the way I was treated. He didn't know me at all, yet he treated me with an unbelievable amount of respect and courtesy. On the same trip, I got tattooed at Blackheart and it was an awesome experience and it left my wife with a great impression of the place. Scott really went out of his way to give us suggestions of what to do in the area. He even stopped tattooing his customer to call his father to ask some questions about Santa Cruz. I met Daniel Albrigo when he was working at Invisible in NYC and he was totally cool to me as well. He knew I wasn't there to get tattooed that day but it didn't matter. We talked about tattooing, our collections, and what not. I've always had really good experiences with Olde City in Philly and Jinx Proof in DC. I figure if these shops and tattooers can treat me with courtesy and respect, I can do the same to others.

Call them. they will let you know how to smell rape. Season 6. Episode 13.

Petri, great topic with a lot to think about. That's a really good Cliff Raven quote, too! It's strange, too, because I've been thinking a little bit about blackwork tattooing lately as I've been reading up on plains Indians (this is a really fantastic book on the Blackfeet, by the way if anyone has any interest) and learning about some basic things, especially how artwork reflected their beliefs and what was important in their lives.. seeing some old photos of the men and women, and gathering little tidbits about the importance of tattoos across different groups. Which also ties in to the sun dance that the Blackfeet participated in, incorporating some serious piercing… Anyway. I think this topic is pretty huge but I'll try keep it short. In my opinion, with tattoos, we're all struggling to apply ten million things to our bodies, most of which we’ll never fully understand. Aside from our struggle to reconcile our own mind and spirit with our physical world, we obviously latch on to art that we can identify with, be it music, tattoos, or the argument could even be made for clothing. And so much of it is ingrained in our culture and subconscious, it's tough to step outside those parameters, tattoo or otherwise. I do love blackwork tattoos and I do appreciate what those (growing) few have done and are doing by exploring different styles of the artwork. I do think it suits a lot of people but I think there's a certain... not problem, but maybe an uncertainty, when it comes to co-opting various styles and designs from other cultures. It's powerful and striking and instantly more "meaningful" or "exotic" than traditional western tattoos, but sometimes what happens is just a bunch of borrowing from other cultures. Now -- there's not necessarily anything wrong with it and, in fact, there's something very American -- and very human -- about that. We consume and incorporate and for the most part it's to understand and gain knowledge. And in that way, we create a new tattoo language, which is really exciting and maybe even necessary. All of this is to say, I’ve had a real, growing interest in blackwork/native tattooing as I’ve gotten older. And I think it’s because I’ve made myself think about things a bit more, try to understand the whys of tattooing and expression; whys that probably won’t ever be fully answered. I think folks that exploded the possibilities for our modern times, like Leo Zulueta, and those that are building on that foundation, like Thomas Hooper, have the right idea. When I mentioned “co-opting” and “borrowing” I didn’t mean it in the negative, I think that’s just our nature because we’re all trying to understand something we can’t put our finger on. Who knows – maybe as I get older I’ll get really into black-only tattoos. I identify a lot with both Celtic and American Indian designs but maybe that’s my own subconscious connecting slivers of my ancestry to my geography to my own search for meaning. I’m glad for the renewed interest in tribal tattoos, I just keep my fingers crossed people will treat it with respect.

I shrugged it off after a day or so of being butthurt. If this guy is that big of a choad, I still win at life.

Oh, I forgot. I also have a Caddyshack tattoo.