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is that what you're worried about? looking tough? while i don't know you, i do know that i'd be more inclined to talk to a person with a tattoo to remember their pet than someone with a tattoo design that appears to be more "masculine" by stereotype. you are who you are, and you love your dog (and that speaks highly of you in my book). tattoo's won't change that and won't make you any more or less tougher than your own personality dictates. and fuck what others think or say about you due to your tattoo. it was done by a stellar artist, and it's a very simple, but clean design. hell, i have a tribute to my deceased rabbit on my forearm and i'm an ex skin! i've got not shame in my love for Henry, as he was the feistiest rabbit i've ever met, and he matched every bit as much of my aggro tendencies during those days. if someone wanted to mock me, i'd deck in the face still to this day, and i know that Henry will be grunting, lunging, and nipping at their heels in spirit.

that tattoo is fucking awesome. you seem concerned with your "tough" image, but a "real" man would wear this with pride. you loved your dog, he died, you're honoring him. nothing to be ashamed of. real tough guys are tough enough to cry sometimes.

Like bigjoe said, Tattoo Life/Energy are good magazines. Tattoowier seems ok, although I can't vouch for the writing quality, as I can only read English. The only magazine from the UK worth looking at is Total Tattoo. Sally, Perry and the gang are a rarity in tattoo magazines (along with Mikki Vialetto's Tattoo Life crew) because they can (mostly) tell what a good tattoo looks like. But most of all, they actually like tattoos and get tattoos by some great tattooers. If your favourite tattooers write articles and send photos to a magazine, it's probably worth taking a look. My rules of thumb for a magazine being shit are: Poor quality control, including spelling. Photos of shitty tattoos. Interviews with shitty tattooers. Repeated articles about 'women in tattooing' or 'women with tattoos'. Mis-spelling tattooers names, especially well-known people like Filip Leu, Ed Hardy, Freddy Corbin etc. If more than 10-20% of the content is colour realistic tattoos. If more than 50% of the content is any one style/school of tattooing. If there is an abundance of fetish-style photography. Interviews with freaky people with shitty facial tattoos. An editorial lean toward controversy, smut or celebrity. Re-prints or articles with content just cribbed from the internet. There are many more things that I personally dislike, but I think that these things are too common in tattoo magazines. I'm guessing that none of this will help you decide which magazines you want to work with, just my 2p. But as your question was more toward which magazines to avoid outside of the uk, we (Frith Street) had a bad experience with Skin & Ink, but i think they have a different editor these days and they did have a cool article about Chicago Tattoo Co a couple of months ago. Tattoo Savage used to fulfil almost all of my crappy criteria above but I haven't looked at it for years. International Tattoo Art has gone through periods of being cool and being crappy but I don't know what it's like now. You probably know this already, but very few tattoo magazines have full-time writers. They mostly use freelance contributors. I'm friends with a few magazine contributors and most of them are photographers/writers, rather than specialise in just one. This works out cheaper for magazines. The best ones conduct interviews face-to-face and visit shops and conventions. Some tattooers and shops are hesitant to allow strangers to interview them so it would help if you are likeable in person and seem to care about tattooing. Expect it to be very different from blogging or writing for an online magazine as you will be creating content rather than commenting on existing content. Good luck. This was supposed to be a quick post, but it almost turned into a rant. Hopefully there is something useful here.

my favorite tattooer. i got this bull head from him a few months back, based on a design my grandpa got in WWII hell of a nice guy, too. Copper Beehive – Tattooing by Bailey Hunter Robinson

So far I've only travelled to London twice to get tattooed (the most recent trip was back and forth in less than 36 hours), but now my trip to SF is less than three months away and I'm so fucking stoked it's ridiculous. It will be expensive as hell, and all my money besides rent, bills and food has gone towards this trip, but I can't think of anything I'd like to do more. Exploring a new city in a foreign country, getting tattooed by incredible artists, meeting new people, thinking about your collegues working their asses of back home while drinking an ice cold beer in the sun... I for one can't think of a better way to spend my vacation, and I will most likely try to do something similar next year.

I think Hustler is the worst tattoo magazine. Have you seen some of those tattoos? Holy Shit.

i'll be at rock of ages in austin soon, and namebrand in ann arbor soon too! i usually "announce" my guest spots about a month beforehand, then again a week before, and again once i'm at the shop.

You spelled Stewart's name wrong in your last paragraph.

To be honest, I kind of like the idea of earning the tattoos on your hands and neck. I don't just mean already being tattooed (though, I totally agree that you should already have a more than decent amount of tattoos before getting really visible ones), but I also mean knowing you can get away with them, in a way. Any idiot with money can get a load of tattoos and then go for the jugular. When I get my hands and neck done, I'll get them done when I'm doing so well with my career that I know it won't have any effect on me. That's how I see earning your visible tattoos, and I like that. Plus, I really want those areas tattooed so it makes me work really hard. I think your hands and neck are also the ones where you really want to go to the best tattooer you can physically get to, because they're so visible and kind of special. Even if that means waiting for ages on a waiting list, it shouldn't matter. Now, if only my neck was ridiculously long, then I won't have to have such a huge decision on my hands (literally! Wheeeey!) when the time comes, haha.

i agree with iwar, having a tattoo for only a few months is not long enough , i feel, to make such a drastic decision. my advice is to live with it for longer and to just enjoy getting tattooed. covering up such a nice tattoo, being so new, will make a mess of your arm and lasering it won't really work. the few people i have come across that seem to be in your situation end up being so focused on that one tattoo they dont like that it's all they can think of and really, the more tattoos you get the more you wil realise what a great design it is. personally i think it's really great with a nice sentiment behind it to boot.

Go big or go fuck yourself! ........both of my thighs are still completely tattoo free.

Welcome to our little family Este7. I'm sure if you keep working as hard as you say you are, you'll get where you want to go! There's a lot of parents on here, too, we understand busy for sure. There's even a thread on whether or not you'd let your kids get tattooed before 18. http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-101/219-would-you-let-your-kid-get-tattooed-before-18-a.html I was just in the car with my two kids and another little playdate friend. we had gone to a farm and fed the animals, played and ate lunch in a park, and then went and rode a merry go round. I'm thinking we're good and I'm pretty tired form all the fun and the sun, but my son's asking "What are we gonna do now, Mom?" If only we all had that kind of get up and go! Anyways, welcome to LST, do make yourself at home.

Hey NavyDavy, thanks for that, it's much appreciated! Really feel like I'm getting a good grasp of what more of the international magazines are about. I'm actually sort of surprised that there aren't many great magazines in America, with it being such a huge place. What a shame, eh? Thanks though, Total Tattoo is now a definite, and I must email Sally this week to see what her thoughts are. I agree with you about those Urban Ink magazines though, Mr. Frog. Really horrible magazine, that sounds like. The worst thing is the fact that people will read that, and then trust it because it's in print.

Those Urban Ink mags are a disgrace. They basically are telling black people to get shitty tattoos from sucker tattooers. It's just full of stars, crosses and background shading. What a piece of shit! Magazines are supposed to educate people on what's good, and suppress bad work from seeing the light of day. If they are showing horrible work, then they are only helping scummy tattooers continue to ply their trade.

Thanks for joining and posting as this site is built on and driven by everyone participating positively and respectfully......enjoy!

Tattoo Life and Tattoo Energy feature many US artists. Most recently Dan Wysuph, Chris Magnotti, Chad Koeplinger, Adam Barton. I think some tattooers from the USA write for it too. Chad and Taki have written for it. Pre MySpace, it was the only place I'd get to see tattoos from Scott Sylvia, Jeff Rassier, Tim Lehi, Jef Whitehead, Grime, Chris O'Donnell, Mike Rubendall, Filip Leu etc. I didn't mention Tattoo Artist Magazine because thats kind of by tattooers, for tattooers. So the direction of the content is slightly different. But some issues have been amazing and there's always something worth reading in there. I think it's important that we've kept the discussion to print magazines. I've yet to read an online mag that was worth a shit. If I'm clicking links I'd rather do it from the blogs of people I admire and look up to. The links from the blogs of Thomas Hooper, Daniel Albrigo, The Blackheart guys individual blogs and a few others take you to some pretty fantastic places.

What's funny is that I think now if you ask like 20 random young Americans if they like tattoos most will say, yeah. If you ask them about body suits they will say, no. If you ask them about hand and neck, a good amount will say, if they look nice. But for people that follow the old rules, you don't get those spots until last, not 3rd or 4th.

man. if context isn't everything...

have you heard of urban ink and rebel ink? yeay they fit all of Stewarts points above that make a magazine shit! ive bought it a few times and propbably wont buy it ever again. not worth my money. im definately going to look into some of the other magazines you guys were talking about above! BTW i thought your little apology above was very cute and it made me giggle! :) (i am not a stranger to embarrasement either!!! lol)

Valerie, you're right- I am pretty embarrassed right now. Stewart, I apologise! And in a thread I made about writing? Not exactly looking too professional right now, am I? Sorry about that, Stewart!

I don't mind the show so much, but the counter people need to be kicked in the neck.

State of Grace uploaded this on their Facebook page over the weekend. the line up is amazinggg

Schwiing, I like being right. ;)

Turns out its Den-oh.

Finally booked the hotell. This will be my home whilst visiting: 112 7th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, United States - Google Maps Hope it's not the worst neighborhood in town.

Tatts Thomas, Cap Coleman, and Charlie Wagner were all early American Tattooers as well, although I'm not exactly sure as to where they fall on the timeline.

And Brooklyn Joe Lieber was a big influence on S. Jerry

Amund Dietzel , coMpare some of their Flash and u'll notice Something....

This is on Daredevil Tattoo blog about the NY Ink Show..I couldn't have said it better. That's right I said it. People keep asking what we think of the new show and I'd say that about sums it up. I only saw the first episode. We've been expecting the worst and it's the worst. Chris Torres is the only artist in fact from New York and he was cast as TLC's tattooed answer to Jersey Shore. Their space is reminiscent of the set of Friends. Ami's shop, or I should say TLC's new tattoo parlour on Wooster Street is the unrealistic equivalent of Monica's huge apartment that only a character on TV could afford. All the "I hope I can pay the bills" is a joke. Real life tattoo shops do not have ads on the sides of buses. They're casting the same sorry customers. Dead babies, cancer, tragic endings are needed for inspirational subject matter. (nothing against memorial tattoos except TLC thinks that's the only compelling reason to get tattooed) I'm surprised at how many people actually think there's any reality involved. The scenarios are scripted it's become an hour of bad acting and cheesy scripts. As interesting as a tattoo shop can be and as much fun as it is to get glimpses into our customers lives and their motivations for getting tattooed the reality is that these shows are orchesrated by people who have no actual interest in our industry. There is no understanding or appreciation for the truly fascinating stories and backgrounds of the people who come through our doors (not just the sob stories). It's a caricature written by squares who think they know what a tattoo shop is about. It takes a lot of talent to really portray people's reality in a way that is respectful and truly compelling. I'm a huge fan of documentaries. I love learning about other people's realities. But it takes thought and vision to capture that spark that can be so interesting. Something that doesn't easily fit into the drive by format of a TV series I guess. It's too bad that there is no respect for our industry involved in the creation of these shows. Tattooing is such a rich subject matter it's dissapointing to see it dumbed down for the masses but I guess we shouldn't expect anything else. By the way shame on TLC for knocking off our friend Mark Mahoney's shop name SHAMROCK SOCIAL CLUB. Devil City Press

This is for sure something we would love to see more tattooers, customers, and tattoo shops take advantage of in the forums area as Alanna pointed out (I added the backlinks). It is one of the many features that was an initial force for starting LST. So many good tattooers travel around guest spotting!!! IT IS FREE so have at it please!!

Seconded. And check out BookMistress, too.

My wife and I just booked with Stuart Cripwell. We are stoked!

haha! of course Iwar! i'd love to help you out around Oakland. just let me know what's going on once you get everything settled.

i would travel anywhere and everywhere.......if money grew on trees! Most recently through this site i was introduced to Jill Bonny's work and i would love to have a piece done by her. this is something thats going on my life list but hopefully it will get done within the next 3-4 years! it would be a big adventure for me because i was thinking i might want to grab a friend and make it a road trip from Toronto to California, instead of flying down. i found an amazing artist here in Toronto and i didnt think i was going to want to get work done by others but slowly im getting used to the idea and letting my imagination go, thinking about all the work i want for the future.