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That's because I'm an idiot.;) Yeah, my forearm is black. It's not a cover-up either. Like the saying goes "Once you go black, you don't go back."

I can only speak from my perspective. I don't wish to comment too much on the reasoning other tattooers design, paint and sell their flash. Any flash I've bought, vintage or current, has been an investment. That's what I meant by the value of it. The same goes for tattoo machines. I buy these things with the intention of using them. I have more than I can use, but that's not the point. I do like the way they look but they are primarily useful rather than decorative. Any flash I've produced has been intended to be tattooed by other people. I didn't make them as a promotional tool. 95% of the traditional tattoos I do are based on flash. Often they don't look like flash, unless you have the same sheets as me but they do look like tattoos. I use flash to solve design and layout problems quicker. I don't have a problem at all with non-tattooers collecting flash and tattoo memorabilia. Lots of people collect things they never use, that's kind of the point of a collection I suppose.

Tattoos can represent stuff?

The troy denning teaser trailer is out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhMPkxXHncA Troy Denning - Teaser - Tattoo Age | VBS.TV so great! i love how cheeky he is, i can already see all the hipsters denouncing their hipsterness or just hating him for that clip, i love that guy! i'm really enjoying the fact that so far every tattooer's approach to work/life has been so different from the others.

Amund Dietzel tattoo done in 1956, 55 year old tattoo still makin the the guy smile.

I feel anything with bears and wolves is a win. Bad ass bears and wolves that is. You should also throw some snowy mountains in there. Lightning. Fire Rivers. If you are into quotes, just read a bunch of Cormac Mccarthy books... something will jump out at you.

The funny thing about tattoos is no matter how good or bad they are the only thing that matters is that you like the ones you have.

With freakin lazer beams!!!!

I'm gonna go kill myself. He went from being "That awesome dude who beat up the asshole from the Von Bondies" to "Dude who knows ICP personally". BUMMED.

If you are a tattooer, you know the value of what you're buying. But if you are not a tattooer, you just paid a whole chunk of money for a pretty picture, I hope you enjoy it. I never felt comfortable with 'collectors' though, since they ruined comics in the early 90s. Comic publishers started catering to collectors instead of readers, then everything went tits-up and comics became unreadable. I'd say the same thing happened with tattoo flash too, once it became used for anything other than tattoo source material. Saying that, I'm looking forward to the Spider Murphy's book.

For a minute it seemed like a lot of people were into realistic black and gray portraits. Then I started seeing a bunch of realistic color portraits of Mel Gibson, The Joker and Jack Black and other movie stars. Now I see a lot of people doing what I would consider traditional tattoo portraits which I am really starting to dig. What is everyone's take on the portrait? I attached an example of the traditional portrait I was referring to.

I don't want this. I need it. Even though I rarely draw. Way to go advertising. You worked again. Inkling | Wacom Americas

Most tattooers that paint flash also do 'proper' paintings as well that aren't meant to be used as flash... It's a lot more enjoyable for me to own a really amazing original painting than a print of some flash that I will never use for it's intended purpose. If I was going to spend a few thousand on some art I'd rather buy a painting from someone like Robert Ryan than spend it on a single sheet of Jerry flash. I get why it's worth that much but it's not something I need to own. For me looking at books of his flash is good enough and maybe one day I'll be in a shop or somewhere that has an original that I can look at and appreciate.

This is nuts! (sorry if old news) Sleepwalking Artist Baffles Experts A Welsh man who draws artwork in his sleep says experts are still baffled by his unique talent. Lee Hadwin has no formal training or interest in art but has managed to produce about 200 portraits, nudes and abstract works while he sleeps. The 37-year-old nurse told the BBC yesterday his creative episodes normally follow a night of heavy drinking. But clinical tests by the Edinburgh Sleep Centre were unable even to determine what stage of sleep Mr Hadwin is in when the artistic impulse kicks in, he said. "I wake up in the morning and whatever is at the side of my bed is there," he told the BBC. Mr Hadwin, from the rural Welsh village of Henllan, said the nocturnal habit began at the age of four with scribbles on kitchen tables and developed into more intricate drawings and paintings from the age of around 15. He said he has no memory of his sleepwalking art and cannot recreate his work when awake. "Art has never interested me at all," he told the BBC. The artistic bent sometimes can cause problems — like painting underneath his mother's stairs or cutting up his best pair of jeans — but when he puts brush or pen to paper, Mr Hadwin sells his artworks to collectors. full link with photos and video: Sleepwalk artist baffles experts

Haha indeed! There are a lot worse 'problems' out there, and that is one I could handle easily. The best part of the story for me is "...his creative episodes normally follow a night of heavy drinking" I have a feeling he may have figured out the perfect excuse to get completely legless on the regular "Damn bills have come in, need to sell some more art... well looks like I'm off to the pub"

I have also seen the Seinfeld: An XXX Parody. It has such lovely character names like: Gorge, Gerry, Crammer, The Porn Nazi, Noman. I thought Sasha Grey should have played the Elina character. She ended up being some chick in a three-sum with Crammer and some other chick. I though it did a fine job before the naughty stuff started. Once they "Got it on" the entire story turned to shit. Not really worth 50 bucks.

Key word: Jacksonville. Loves where I am from, but knows the proclivities of some of it's citizens well.

heres a wee snap of my latest , proper healed pics to follow....

My Dad got this same design in Fayetteville, N.C. in 1953 (obviously not from Sailor Jerry, but the same design anyway). It's the only tattoo he ever got, and at 75 years old you can imagine that tattoo looks like total shit, and it does. I'm almost 46 now, but I can remember seeing seeing this tattoo since I was three years old. It got me hooked on anything and everything to do with tattoos ever since then. Pop's is on his left arm, about the size of a softball. I don't have any room on either arm for it so I'm gonna get it on my left leg on Saturday. Opinions?

this one isn't a tablet- check out the specs on it! I hate drawing on my tablet, this seems like it'll reconcile what I like about digital drawing and what I hate.

I have a photo queued up on OV of Hardy doing a hand tattoo on someone without sleeves, late 70s. It was a unicorn. He's the guy that can say "I have an Ed Hardy Unicorn on my hand". I'm not sure if that's a bragging point or not.

But wasn't there one time an assumption that you bought flash because you could make money off of the designs on the sheets. I have heard sales pitches like 'The first time you do this panther the sheet pays for itself." Now some people don't want the panther off the sheet and some flash sheets don't even include line drawings and others would consider it passe to tattoo others flash. These type of factors make me believe some people producing flash would want it to be a collectable rather than a practical tool or money maker. I know there are shops out there where this is not the case but I am completely off the mark here?

Maybe just add a "like" function to the pictures could be an alternative?... Oh, and @steve1461686340, did you see my thread on the possibility of getting updates on new pictures and blog posts by hitting the "what's new" button?

a gorilla wearing a party hat (or fez) shouting into a megaphone

Well what does your inner voice sound and what are your inner struggles? This could be different for everyone. Approaching a tattoo from an abstract concept is a pretty foreign concept to me. It seems more like a modern art piece, you know when you are in the museum and you want to sit down but you are not sure if it's a bench or an exhibit. That being said you can still get a nice tattoo, I just think you have to find something more tangible within your idea. A person place or object that could either he lp or hinder your voice or struggle and then have that turned into a nice tattoo. I know you are not a fan of quotes but maybe a banner with a short phrase in it to give your inner voice, well a voice.

Just get something that looks badass. I don't know what you mean by "power of you inner voice"...to me that would be keith morris singing "nervous breakdown"...but...;-) I like japanese inspired stuff...how about a tiger fighting a snake?

It is remarkable, but to continue it says that this "problem" started when he was 4. So he was getting smashed even way back then?

Anyone heard of this site: Dermagraphique: A tattoo critique This seemed like the best thread to ask this question in.

I don't drink anymore but there's a lot of good microbreweries in Colorado. If you have the chance check out anything by Odells (not to be confused with O'Douls), Lefthand, Ska, or Oskar Blues. There's quite a few more but they had some of my favorites. Non-locals I liked were Stone and Deschutes.

I like black & grey for portraits..Adam Barton has some in his portfolio where he combines realism with a traditional background that's cool. Tattoos

My goal is not to be viewed as a member of the circus on a regular basis. On a related note to the topic got a couple of appointments with Mario Desa after he gets back from London on Sept 22 in Chicago. Luckily it dawned on me that my wife's birthday is that week and to make two appointments instead of one.

While yea it can suck that people capitalize on art at the same time I would feel a bit better buying from a 'this guy is popular I bet I can get loot' than the artist/collector with any art simply because I took that art out of the non-respecting person's hands.

So you have a good record collection then! Of course there are other influences other than just Skrewdriver though it is a large sound they pull from.... As for the ethnicity of the band, I guess the word "all" was not fully accurate but rather a percentage larger than half of the original band is not white and the new guys when they do play shows have diluted that number. The original line-up is three-quarters black decent as far as I know.... The point being is that they are not nazi skins but pull from one of the largest nazi skinhead bands ever while not being a white band which is awesome. They are by far one of the best bands on album, live and so under-rated/unknown. We used to get them about once a year in the Bay Area for two nights or so but that has subsided.....I've seen them in a few other cities as well over the years and the shows are always insanity! By the way they are scholars who lead professional lives that few would guess some skinheads would live....fellow Rumbler Bruce Roehrs (RIP) used to tell stories for days on them... They've always been nice guys to me with no attitudes just loving what they do but then you see the crowd when they play and you would be less likely to guess that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaLNvI3dx60

Cosmo Kramer: The bus is outta control. So I grab him by the collar, I take him out of the seat, I get behind the wheel, and now I'm driving the bus. Jerry: Wow. George Costanza: You're Batman. Cosmo Kramer: Yeah, yeah, I am Batman. Then the mugger, he comes to and he starts choking me. So I'm fighting him off with one hand and I kept driving the bus with the other, ya know. Then I managed to open up the door and I kicked him out the door, ya know, with my foot, ya know, at the next stop. Jerry: You kept making all the stops? Cosmo Kramer: Well, people kept ringing the bell!

Posting my knee piece Wednesday, dun dun dun!

Honestly, I don't like the anonymous star rating system. Makes it feel a little too much like Hotornot.com. If people like a tattoo, they can already leave a comment stating so. If they don't like it, then what's the point of giving it a rating? My two cents (or two stars).

In my humble opinion, artwork is artwork and I think people should surround themselves with images they like to see... that being said... I think if a non-tattooer is buying flash to become a tattooer, they are already doomed to failure. Either way I support people paying me for my work.

As a tattooer I say as long as you are buying it to put in a frame for its artistic value, I don't see a problem. Hell I think it would be kinda cool to see my drawings in someones game room.

Thomas Hooper

"Having said that..."

Well it looks like I've got Halloween figured out

Wellllll. Since you said to be honest I will. Like the other I agree it looks stupid to have hand tattoos and not have the rest of your arms and actually the rest of your body done. It makes me wonder why you chose to get your hand tattooed before doing the rest. As far as the actual tattoo, it's by far not the worst I've seen. It's not something I would ever get and I wouldn't go to the artists. The reason is not the quality of the actual tattooing, it's the drawing. I'm not into new school or whatever people would call that style. Just isn't my thing. Having said all that, if you like the drawing then there's no problem at all as it's your tattoo. If I was you I'd wait until I you have a lot more tattoos on your arm and then see how you feel about it. I have a couple tattoos that are actually really fucking awful, like I mean horrible. It used to bother me soooo much, I wouldn't wear short sleeves because I was so embarrassed by them. Then I started getting good tattoos and lots of them and now the bad ones aren't so embarrassing. It all just kind of blends in. A good friend of mine who is also a great tattooer once told me that he likes it when someone has a couple bad ones in there with the good ones because it shows that you love tattoos and wanted them before you knew about 'cool rockstar hipster shit' like a lot of the kids today who are just getting tattooed because it's the cool trendy thing to do.