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Someone asked me today why I got my tattoos. I said "because Stewart Robson was drunk". That confused them and I made a run for it.

Bridesmaids was filmed alot in my neighborhood. Movie reminded me of "the hangover" for women. Buuuutttt just as funny for guys. I ask because people here don't know corn about poop. I once worked with this fool. Actually ive worked with a handful but this one I never really cared for. This woman came tO the shop on my day off. Turns out she had a bob Roberts back piece. The fool had no idea who he was. Uggghhh there was a show that night and it just so happened I ran into her there. We strike up a conversation and we realize I worked at the shop with the dork who didn't know who bob Roberts was. She then showed me an amazing back piece AAAAAND her boobs. Moral of the story.....know your history kids. Knowledge gets you boobs.

Got this last night from Ron Wells at Three Kings in NY.

Just tell them you were drunk when you got them and you don't remember.

scowl more and dont look at people in the eye. its been at least a decade since anyones asked me about my tattoos.

Deb, you beat me to it. Or the variation: "I was drunk and it was a dare/bet." Surprisingly enough, this works! ...even with sleeves, or a backpiece. Dumb fucks.

How about, because it's a fucking Sailor Jerry, that's why. Of course then you get who's Sailor Jerry? Or that's an eagle not a sailor. Fucking dipshit just go away and don't worry about my tattoos.

Just do the "Stuart Cripwells". Classic always a win :) Great tattoo btw!

Got this a couple days ago via Mario Desa.

Starting my backpiece tomorrow, with another session two days later. If all goes well I will post up the outline. Nervous but also very excited.

I'm relatively new to the forum and the tattoo world but I definitely think that Frank Carter deserves recognition. I've got three tattoos done by him and couldn't be happier with them. One of the tattoos was a walk in done about a month ago which he stayed late to finish which I thought was really cool. He's a good guy who does awesome tattoos and couldn't recommend him enough. Also Miles at Frith Street Tattoo is an amazing artist, got my first tattoo from him and it's incredible. He can do any style and has a ton of cool stories about tattooing and travelling. Sorry about the quality of some of the pictures, I'm no photographer. The top three tattoos are by frank and the bottom one is by miles.

Here's a closer picture of my back.. The last ones I posted I now realize were reversed.

The Atlantic Magazine, just put up a 'piece' about tattoos from around the world. I like it because it's just pretty much pictures of tattoos with captions about them, rather than boring blocks of text. Thinks there is something there for everyone to either Love or Hate, which is right way to go. I don't know what everyone else will think, but I thought it was well done. Here's the link: Tattoos - Alan Taylor - In Focus - The Atlantic

And I nominate myself for the king of drunk posting.

Tattoo conventions are packed full of ignorant and rude assholes. We just finished with the London show and because our helpers (and Valerie) are young, tattooed and good looking, cameras were clicking all weekend. The only people who asked permission of any sort were the people who wanted to come inside our booth or who wanted the girls to pose. Most people shot without flash but taking a photo of a girl's chest tattoo, 12 inches away from her face, with flash isn't cool. My gurning and obscene gestures in the background of douche's photos is a different matter. @ian, if you are not a dick, you'll be in the much-appreciated minority. It's a convention. Most people working expect to have pictures taken from a respectful distance. Convention visitors should remember that it's not an exhibition. Tattooers are not there for your amusement.

i get dudes who are intimidated but wanna prove that they're not, "yeah i'd get tattoos but it'd hafta be something that means something" (implying that all my tattoos are dumb) so i reply "so you don't have anything that means anything in your life?" usually shuts them up.

@NathanShearer, Frank was mentioned one page ago, by Iwar. It's terrifying how quickly Frank learns. I wish he would tattoo more and make music less. I like his tattoos and flash. Miles doesn't have an internet 'presence' other than the Frith Street website but he's been tattooing in and around London or Australia for 20 years. He was at IntoYou for quite a while. Eye-opening stories for sure. 99% of them not fit for the internet. ;)

Johnny, the thing is most people on here had tattoos way before the Miami Ink or LA Ink shows hit cable TV. When those shows came out every tattoo on them had a "meaning" behind it, these stories play on emotions and make for better TV. Once people outside the tattoo world started watching these shows they thought there was some deep meaning behind every tattoo and felt, since they watch the shows, they share a common corp of knowledge with us. It seems that they believe by watching Ami James tattoo 100 Koi Fish that they can speak intelligently about tattoos with us. So that's why it hits a nerve.

its good to hear im not alone. I work in the south, no one seems to know anything about history or even cares. being from northern calif. is even stranger. no one knows anybody i know. some of the names ring bells but no connections. I do agree, this biz has become very diluted.

Panther head tattooed on the back of my upper arm by Nick Colella on Saturday.

Drunk posting is the new drunk dialing

This post has been my favorite so far. It's a large reason why I joind and I think it needs some fresh love. Here's my backpiece, fresh after the final session a few months ago. Jill Bonny (Horiyuki) at State of Grace Tattoo in San Jose has done all my work to date. After a few months off, I decided to add background. We start again this weekend.

got this bad boy on Thursday. Earl is the middle name that my dad gave me. pretty fucking stoked on it.

When someone asks me what my tattoos mean I say "nothing. They don't mean anything I just liked it". It makes me kind of mad because even if they did mean something, it would probably be something very personal to me which means it's none of their god damn business in the first place. What if my tattoo symbolized when my baby died or I got attacked and lived or my house burnt down. If any of that had happened to me I wouldn't want to talk to strangers about it. I also get very very angry when strangers grab my arm to see a tattoo. I do not understand why anyone thinks it's appropriate to touch someone they don't know. I had a waiter do it once and I almost left the restaurant. When people ask about where I got them done and they do it nicely I will tell them because I like to give my friends business. You never know who's going to turn into a regular customer. My mom always says shit like "you did it to yourself and people are just curious" and I usually say something like "well fat people did it to themselves and I'm not gonna go grab their gut and ask what the meaning behind their food addiction is, or how they could do that to their body". In the end I usually end up wearing clothes that show as little as possible. Even on the hottest days in Florida I generally wear long pants and a shirt to my elbows. It's sad that a young woman can't walk around with tattoos showing and not get yelled at by guys in cars.

The 82 portraits of Julia Roberts caused me to stand up and salute. Simply amazing....:O

I try to take these questions in stride because most of the time the person is simply curious about the tattoo(s). I get it almost daily in about every scenario (coffee shops, dr's office, checkout at Home fuckin' Depot, etc) you could imagine, as I'm sure is the norm for most heavily tattooed people. I attempt to be brief, vague, and polite about my tattoos' "meanings" (essentially that some have meanings, some don't, and that it's ok to just get a tattoo because you think it looks cool...yadda, yadda...)and carry on about my business. Usually, this works and I can finish paying for my latte. Unfortunately, one out of three times the person doesn't get the hint and segues into a long explanation of how they have this idea for an awesome (insert anime character here, etc...) half sleeve. At which point, I usually ask if I can get my chips and queso anytime soon.

I can certainly understand and respect that. This thread is very helpful to me so I know what I should and shouldnt say if I see someone with a great sleeve or something. Now I know, I can approach them and say, "so, you got drunk and got a tattoo?" :cool:

Someone asked me today why I got my tattoos. I said "because Stewart Robson was drunk". That confused them and I made a run for it.

Every time I read this to my daughter, I laugh: "So if you have a lot of ink...."

Nobody ever asks me about my tattoos

I like the pretty pictures !!

Just say, "What does your shirt mean? I'm guessing it means you thought it looked cool."

Second that about Switzerland! Some of the best and most polite tattooers in the world, but in a land of uptights! One person described them as iron fists in velvet gloves. Sometimes I think it's true. However, I should add that in the small towns the people are generally lovely. And I'm making HUGE generalisations here!

Guys ,first of all you can't compare tattooing to any other profession, particulary anything related to financial gain .These people live tattoos all day every day ,not just doing them but everything to do with them -even the shit stuff they love ,i'm sure .A better comparison is to a professional athlete or the like who lives totally immersed in their thing with monk-like devotion and love .Best put I think by Horiyoshi III "i will live and die devoted to this " Deb -true love for something is always apparent and will attract likewise long after the new jack "superstars" have been replaced by the next batch.Laugh with your man cause most times its better to be invisible.

However in 1984, when Greg died, there were far fewer tattooers and MANY of them were less tattooed in relation to tattooers of today.

Ron Wells did this! Love it. 2 weeks ago got work from chad koeplinger and jondix, no pictures online but once healed I will grab some. Also working on chest and arm with thomas hooper...this was the last blog update. Eisen Flower. « Hoopers Electric – Meditations in Atrament 2011 was busy....I see 2012 being more of the same for my wife and I.

This seems like the best place for this--cover-up flash sheet by Josh Howard: I love this so much! I'd get that coffee pot and not even cover anything with it.

there's a lot of other mention worthy weirdness that happened at that show, hahaha. the shirt i got from that show is on it's last leg, sleeves have completed detached and now several holes are starting to spread with each time i wear it. the meatking records design that was on the back is completely gone. todays playlist is all psychobilly the meteors-wrecking crew tiger army-all heartbreak engines-all creepshow-all the brains-all nekromantix-random tracks from each album mad sin-newest album chop tops-all the cramps-all koffin kats-inhumane frantic flintstones-raucaus years demented are go-in sickness and in health charlie horse-unholy roller

One day ill have my vagina tattooed...

I'm just gonna get other shit around it i think. I'm probably going to do 4 medium sized tattoos as oppose to two huge side pieces because I just don't have the room for them. So like one on each side under the arm pit and then one on each side in the lower section with probably not much around my waist. I've never been a fan of really solid coverage, like no skin showing. It's ok on other people but just not what I'm going for I guess. I'm more a fan of the traditional american look of a bunch of tattoos all over with probably stars and dots or that type of filler.

I think the back piece is really one of my favorite things when it comes to meeting other people with lots of coverage... My tattoos on my back are my favorite, and it just sucks I can't see em... but that's what a photo is for right, so here goes... Top Chrysanthemums were by Casey Corklic Garland, TX, and the Jigoku Dayu was done by Doug Love, Santa Cruz, CA.. And of Course, theres a cover up or two. . .

I was about to say "How can there be no Judd Ripley in this thread?" and then saw that Perez had posted something awhile ago ;) so here is a bit more Judd Ripley

I feel like that's pretty much every tattoo magazine other than Tattoo Artist Magazine and maybe Tattoo Energy/Life.

no offense but tattoo magazine makes me sad to look at. often times it seems to be mediocre work plastered on half naked girls and if its not that its ads for some shitty supply company or some h2ocean bs. sex sells blah blah blah. all show and no substance. my uncle buys me those things and i always end up putting them right in the trash. i wouldn't want my picture in one of those things. sorry...

Surely you don't mean....

About 7 or 8 years ago Bill Demichele took a photo of me at a convention, and I asked him not to publish it, as I had no interest in the tattoo being seen publicly. He said he would not, yet six months later, there it was in print. Every idiot in America has that tattoo, and it makes me sick.

They're not Paris Hilton or a Kardashian, nobody has a net worth of 15 million dollars, so why are you surprised when a tattooer asks you not to take photos of their shit? Any publicity is not good publicity in an industry that prides itself on not being a bunch of vacuous fucking nincompoops. Also, I find it incredibly insulting when people assume they can take photos of tattooed folks simply because they have tattoos. $0.02.