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Ed Hardy on Richard Stell.... I begged for a picture. Worth it.

Got this from Chad Koeplinger 2 weeks ago in Chicago.

Thanks for the kind words, james. I completely co sign the Lina Stigsson tattoos and paintings. I fucking love her work. Kills me. I gotta say here, though. Not come off like an ass kisser at all, but I have always been partial to how Scott Sylvia does lady heads. So absolutely tattoo looking and completely un-pretentious, but still pretty and charming. I'm a big sucker for charm in a tattoo, especially when it's perfectly fitted with looking bad ass or tough. And that's a very hard thing to do. It's one of those things that only comes with years of experience, analysis, trial and error, study, and love for your craft. His painting in the Bella book kills most of the other fancier ones in there for me because of how sincere it comes across. Truly mature tattooing.

Just wanted to let everyone know that the talented Richard Stell will be tattoo along with (my dude!) James Buie of Inksmith and Rogers tattoo will be holding down the first at Elm Street Tattoo in Dallas this week. If you don't know Richard or James and you're in the area you should stop by for some awesome art! They will be doing walk ins all week. I'm not sure if they are accepting appointments but you can contact the shop by calling (214) 653-1392 but it's probably best to just stop by and see them. The shop is located in the deep vellum neighbourhood at 2811 Elm Street. Here's an example of a Richard tattoo and here's one by James p.s. i'm not sure if Richard's lady still posts here but Jen if you do maybe you can give some more info on Richard's availability

As the saying goes "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing" Yeah, we really need a step-by-step guide to 'Teach yourself to tattoo - in 9 easy steps!' While there may be a few crumbs of sound advice in the 9 point program, the fact it's laid out like a 'how to' stinks, sorry. Nobody is self taught. I never had an apprenticeship. I could say that I'm self taught, but that would be egotistical and more importantly, incorrect. I learned and continue to learn from the people I have worked with, the people I currently work with, the tattooers who were gracious enough to allow me to watch them and be present while they worked and the people I've been tattooed by. I could have worked for the rest of my life and never figured out some of the simplest things that were shown to me or that I have seen. Aw, fuck it. Yeah, ok, I learned by tattooing pigs and grapefruit, taking evening classes in human anatomy and drawing still-life compositions with graphite sticks and writing essays on pop art. I watched every Bob Ross VHS tape. I took classes in CPR, blood borne pathogens, midwifery and chiropody. I took apart my shitty tattoo machines and put them back so that they would be even shittier. But most of all I took advice from every non-tattooer who thought they knew how to learn tattooing. (only some of the above paragraph is false, but all of it is sarcastic)

why? why are soccer moms not "cool" enough to get tattooed? tattoos are for everyone, and should be accessible to any adult wanting one. i hate this sort of elitism in tattooers. my "normal" clients, half the time, are way cooler/better people than "tattoo dudes". tattooing is not something that only "hip" people are entitled to, it belongs to all humanity, always has. it burns me up when tattooers talk like this.

I just love this Amund Dietzel lady head. This ones definately on my list

that first post offends my eyes and heart

I guess the only thing that is missing is being in a shop. I mean you can take a part a machine all day, but if you don't really know how it's supposed to run what good does that do you. There are so many intangibles that are not in any book, dvd or community college class. Granted there are a lot of tattooers who didn't have a proper apprenticeship, but most stories i hear are more of a trial by fire or them lying about knowing how to tattoo and they just had to pick it up as they go. But the difference is they were picking this stuff up in a shop with talented tattooers. I see a lot of "self taught" people whose tattoos just don't get any better over time because they have no one to show them what they are doing wrong and shops don't want to take them on because they have been tattoing x amount of years and their tattoos still look scrappy.

HAHA best intro to a video.. "it says you fucking like bluegrass, you don't mind amphibians and you definitely get high."

The third one is fucking amazing. Even my heart jump when he pointed out the Coleman flash in the book (What book is it?) and he has it in his wall. Fucking amazing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmurqPrp4m0 Dan Santoro - Part 3 - Tattoo Age | VBS.TV

Without fail, the lady head in a rose Scott tattooed on me is the one that always gets the most, "Wait, lemme just.. see it one more time.."

I really enjoy The Ricky Gervais show. Only risky thing about that one is you never know when you're going to spontaniously burst into laughter. I've gotten some weird looks from fellow passengers on public transportation several times. I listen to SModcast with Kevin Smith now and again too.

These two pieces are the end result of my fantastic tattoo road trip to the Glastonbury area .The artist,Martin Robson ,is a cool low key guy and a great tattooer who made the whole experience as perfect as could be .

This is a bitch that deserves to get her heart smashed again and again after what she did to her first husband, Oliver. As far as celebrity relationships go my thoughts have always been WHO THE FUCK CARES. I don't know these people and I don't watch t.v. so I really don't care who they are fucking or marrying or dating or whatever. It doesn't make any difference to my life who fucks or marries who. I don't even know who half of the people I hear about on the radio or online are. When I first saw/heard of Kat Von D I thought wow, an attractive young woman who's a good artist maybe she'll give us heavily tattooed women a better name. How wrong I was. It's too bad what happens when young people get famous, then rich, then acquire a drug/drinking/sex addiction. Now she's just out there making it worst for women like me who haven't slept with the entire tattoo/music community. In my opinion, she's not a shitty tattooer, but she's no where near as good as the credit she gets. She does very nice black and grey work but Tim Hendrix does and always will do it way better than her.

My girlfriend collects pigs. My ex-wife collects alimony. DILIGENTLY AND OBSESSIVELY.

Ron Henry Wells's lady heads are my favorite right now.

Here are the latest additions. The Tiger is on my wife, the Fudo sword is me, both by Matt Arriola. The Christ is on me by Vinse One. I have three or four sessions left on my back, but Matt is moving to NYC so I won't be getting more work on it until November. All of this work was done within the last two and a half months so now I am broke.

I've already posted this one on another thread "Latest Tattoo Lowdown". But I thought I would post this again. Second session on my wife. Tattooed by Stewart Robson at Frith Street Tattoo, London. I cant stop looking at it.

Goddamn. The beginning and the end! Thread closed! Thanks for posting the picture Jennifer.

Sometimes the reason one can't get anyone to apprentice them is because they are a moron. I'm sure there are a few guys who stated out self taught that are good now, but I bet even they at some point met someone who helped them out even if it wasn't called an apprenticeship. I think you can read as many book as you want (and it's good to do so) but you still need the hands on practice that only comes from someone else showing and teaching you the little tricks that would other wise take you years to stumble upon. For a non-tattoo example. I started out as a self taught seamstress/embroiderer but when I started seeking instruction from others who were ahead of me my skills advanced in leaps and bounds compared to the rate of improvement when I was going off books and internet alone. I learned in a one weekend class what would normally have taken me months to figure out on my own. It's great if someone has that internal desire and drive to do something but everyone can benefit from the wisdom of those who came before them.

I relate to that on so many levels.

Hola Chica... Well, we are at Saints and Sinners in Dallas, until Friday it looks like, then were down in Deep Ellum, at Elm Street thru Saturday nite, maybe Sunday if it's booked... and yeah you got it bout covered, just message us, he's had an assload of cancelations, which sucks... But he's open if anyone is interested.

Richard has some of the best tattoos ever. That thing is awesome! I wish I had a picture of the rose/turtle painting he did but it's at home in FL.

Wait, you went to Glastonbury and not Los Angeles? Could've fooled me! Those are killer, Kyle.

I was joking in my post, Mario, but I'm glad to hear that you're tattooing second generations. Chris Brand told me that people come into GTC all the time and say, "Jack tattooed my dad 30 years ago. Can I get a senorita on me, too?" Two generations of Jack Rudy cholas. How cool is that?

oh, and people have said for decades how h next generation will shun tattoos cuz their parents have them. bullshit. humans tattoo themselves, it's in us. and it's not a matter of "coolness", or rebelling against your parents (at least not forever). we all go through a "i hate my parents" phase, but the smart ones always wise up and realize our parents were right and are the best people ever. our shop is 40 years old, we tattoo kids who's parents got tattooed here back in the 70's and 80's and it's always an honor.

the nerdist podcast....for y'know....if you are a nerd and into geeky fanboy/girl stuff like comedy, Doctor Who, genre tv/movies.

I don't know a lot of the antique places in Toronto, when I lived there I couldn't really afford to feed my habit. I used to do mainly the larger thrift stores like value village. There's a couple of neat places on Queen that sell antiques but they aren't really deal finding places. I've heard there's a big antique market somewhere near downtown, I'll find out from the guy who was talking about it and maybe next time I'm in town me you and Katie can go check it out.

Hello Everyone, Obviously, I'm a new person here and wanted to introduce myself properly to such great artists and enthusiasts of tattoos. I own a small business in the food service industry that has gone through about seven different iterations to it's current form, while trying to weather the 'interesting times' the economy has been experiencing the past few years. I'm a great lover of craft, anything that is made by hand/mind where you get better over time, is just something I have so much respect and admiration for. I'm a big believer in the 10,000 hour rule of mastery and am trying to get myself on that path, through fits and starts, naturally. I type more than I talk, so my apologies up front to everyone if I post something on your thread/topic/blog and you get flashbacks to those dreaded five paragraph essays from high school. My hope is to better educate myself about tattoos and tattooing while sometimes participating on any subjects where I feel I have an opinion/insight that would be interesting. I'm a contrarian by nature, so I don't mean any disrespect to anyone if I end up disagreeing with them, it's just a reflex, but I hope to express it as a gentleman and not as a jerk. Favorite artists: So far..... Tim Hendricks: the Brownie Hawkeye camera and orchids piece he did for his sister that appeared on his and her blog....so classy. Shige of Yellow Blaze: Was the first tattoo book that I bought and going through it just broke my brain! The full body suit of Yoko Uki and her story, IN HER OWN WORDS!! And the hybrid Neo-Tribal/Hanna Mask that appeared in his profile in INK lead me to start saving money and making long term plans. Valerie Vargas: Whose work I was introduced to via this forum, her 'gentladysleevefinished' filled me with so much glee that I had to stand up and take a short walk before coming back to my laptop, so polished. Makes me wish I could swipe Tiger Woods NetJet account and just refresh her twitter hoping someone cancels, then...ZOOOMMM....across the pond I go! Colin Dale: I'm a huge Game of Thrones fan, and his Nordic Dragons and style of Dotwork was something I never encountered before, until I got a great deal on Marisa Kakolulas Black Tattoo Art book. The tattoos do look like they are floating. Many other artists whose work I can spend hours just staring at, but the above four, hopes one day to sit in their chairs. Found the site, via looking for interviews of tattoo artists on youtube. Has watched/listened to the interviews of Kore and Tim multiple times, Grade A Awesome.

lucero nyc livemusicfile.zip New lucero bootleg with a few new tracks. supa sweet.

When our daughter was born, I cut the cord and they put her on my wife's chest. I swear she was staring at the birdies on my wife' arm (put there by our own Scott Sylvia). Probably wondering how he got those lines so solid. She just turned two and she's always faking an injury so that she can put a Sesame Street band-aid on it. She'll say, "Oh, I got a boo-boo. I need a tattoo!" She loves to pick out different things on us, too. "Where's Daddy's tigers? Oh, that's a snake! That's your dragon." My wife's step-mom was visiting a few months ago and our daughter snuck up behind her and lifted her shirt, hoping to find some tattoos like Mama has. No such luck. I bet that when she grows up, she'll think tattoos are lame because her parents have them.

"My birthday is March 29 and she says if i go with her she'll fuck me on my birthday" Best breakup note ever! The diving guys are fucking amazing!!!!!!! p.s.

they sell these little motorized kitty waterfalls that a lot of cats dig, thought you might like to know. ive always had cats, Im 46.

Hey, welcome to LST. I love it when lurkers come out of the shadows.

Well, at least that means they won't be having babies! The thought of that makes me shudder.

My collections are usually kind of small, but I do love to collect old cameras and cassette tapes. I also have every episode of the X Men cartoons from the 90s on DVD- does that count? Haha. Oh and of course, the ticket stubs from pretty much everything- sometimes signed by the band, which I always love. Honestly though, I think everyone should collect something, even if it's something small.

I don't usually laugh at 6am. This is fuckin hilarious.

Oh how I wish I didn't go through manic throw-everything-out rages. This year though just getting tattooed has sort of prohibited me from building my small little collections, which include old thermoses and straight razors. I was in Asbury Park a few weekends ago though, and there's some really great antique/vintage stores down there for any of you in the NY/NJ area.

Oh I forgot about my business cards! I have a decent amount. Maybe when I get back to FL I can send you, MsRad, a few of my duplicates! I also have some antique photos but they aren't numerous, I have a lot of vintage/antique paper and they came in a big box of stuff I bought one time, there's some really rad ones of this old man and his very regale doggy. I put one up in my room and my dude for the longest time thought it was my grandfather hahahaha. He didn't realize it was just some random old guy I found at the thrift store. cgfsteak - I think I'm collecting dust to hahahahahhaha

That's awesome Shawn, I don't know much about the artists but that's an impressive collection. I collect a couple of things. I have lots of antiques and old stuff related to sewing and embroidery as well as vintage craft books on topics like leather carving and toy making. I also have a pretty big selection of pre 1970's vintage clothing and accessories. I've been collecting that kind of stuff for a long time but have slowed down a lot in the past 5 years. I used to wear a lot of the stuff too but I don't as much anymore. Other then that my dude and I have a collection of antiques, oddities and curiosities. Stuff like old toys, railroad related things, religious stuff and just neat antiques and junk. Basically we have a house full of stuff we think is neat.

Me and my friends were downtown for the public memorial today. Over 200.000 people came to show their respect. Thought I'd share a couple of pictures I took... This is where the public came to lay down flowers, letters and light candles in memory of the victims. A police car parked right by the memorial spot. My thoughts and sincerest compassion goes out to the relatives and friends of the victims. Today was a sad day, but it felt good to be united with my fellow Oslo residents against these despicable acts. Public memorials were held all over the country today. Maria Mena - Mitt lille land (My small country)

Thank you for this thread, has been lucky to avoid the comments going around about Amy Winehouse. When people are snarky and nasty I remember this monologue by Craig Ferguson about Britney Spears, obviously this is more serious situation, but strikes the right notes, then and now:

Just got back from London. My wifes second session with Stewart Robson at Frith Street Tattoo. Fuckin gorgeous. On the way back checked out some nice artwork at Swindon Station. Who said Swindon is a cultural dessert. Unknown Artist.

Hello, my name is John, people call me JB, I'm from Roanoke VA. I'm 34 years old and have been getting tattooed for 15 years... I'm an IT admin at a small private school. I'm also HFA (high functioning autistic) so I walk about with a blank face and dont really socialize outside of the tattoo world, where strangely I've become comfortable, probably because I've felt accepted. I bike alot on an old modded Trek 700 and am really into ancient astronaut theory and esoteric history. Aside from that, I have a wife (who has superior tattoos), 5 cats, and watch alot of bollywood and play too many video games. bonus pic:

These are all beautiful! I really love the way one of my friends, Ian Parkin, does lady heads. I think right now this is my favourite. I posted this up on the Inkslingers blog the other week, but more has been added to this, which I saw the other day. I just haven't had the chance to put up the current picture yet. If you check out the blog here you'll see loads more, I even have one of my own from him. Anyway...

Anybody mention Kahlil Rintye? Ed Hardy's Tattoo City I've been a fan for quite some time. Timeless stuff. There is some weird amazing spark of life that just oozes from his stuff.

thank you guys. I own just about every "how yo draw the head" book there is and im always looking for more . i'm always studying them and real faces when i can trying to grasp and understand as best i can. so thanks for letting me feel like it's paying off even a little bit.