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Got this done last night, foot tattoo by William Yoneyama.

I love the 'stink lines' they really convey the artist's subtle, yet weighty, sentiment.

What's a savings account? I just have a bank account called "Tattoo Money" :P

jaie is super nice too. if you're in austin you should for sure get work from him. he put this crazy skull on me about a year ago.

Tattoo artist Ryan Fitzgerald from Dayton, OH was hit with a $100,000 lawsuit last week by his ex-girlfriend Rossie Brovent. She claims that her boyfriend was supposed to tattoo a scene from Narnia on her back but instead tattooed an image of a pile of excrement with flies buzzing around it. Apparently, Ryan found out that Rossie had cheated with a long-time friend of his, but instead of confronting her about it he acted like everything was normal and hatched a plan for revenge. Originally, Rossie tried to have Ryan charged with assault, but the ingenious tattoo artist had covered his bases by plying Rossie with wine and tequila shots and getting her to sign a consent form that stated the design was “at the artist’s discretion.” No word from Rossie on whether the illicit night of passion with Ryan’s friend was worth it. Moral of the story? Never cheat on a tattoo artist. Tattoo artist Ryan Fitzgerald from Dayton, OH was...

When faced with tattoo ethics; I just ask myself if what I'm doing is harming tattooing in any way. I make it a point to give back more than I take. I can't imagine that you would be doing tattooing a disservice by at least helping this aspiring tattooer out with his aeseptic practices. It could be a legitimate opportunity for you to reduce disease transmission in a fledgling tattoo community. Beyond that, it probably wouldn't hurt to drop a few technical/artistic hints as well. Pandora's box is long past open, these days it's all about damage control. If you end up saving a few people from contracting a communicable disease, then I say it would be worth the effort. Also, it may be a positive experience from an anthropological standpoint. Just think; if Horihide hadn't exchanged ideas with Ed way back when, who knows where the fuck we would all be. I believe that if your heart is the right place, and your motivations aren't selfish you will be promoting our craft in a positive way. As far as selling equipment goes, I'm not sure how I feel about that. I would probably meet the guy and see what he is all about. I would consider just kicking down equipment that you no longer use if you deem him worthy. I realize that my opinions on information sharing may not be a popular one, and I certainly don't feel the same about scumbag scratchers, and tattoo schools, etc. here in the states. I'm definitely not about to going helping out my direct competition, and I am very aware of the importance of paying dues and earning your opportunities the old way. I'd love to hear what other tattooers have to say about this topic.

My initial thoughts say, yeah help a brother out, 'cause he will likely never meet another western tattoo artists. On the other hand it's kinda like you can't teach him all he needs to know in the (I'm assuming) short time you will be there so it could end up being a bad idea. There's been a lot of talk here about who should be privy to information. The consensus has been that if the person is deemed worthy of it, they can have it. So I dunno, maybe bring some old equipment you don't need anymore and if he turns out to be a cool guy with his heart in the right place then let him have it?

i can copy hogg too, but i have you beat. i moved to the sf and got a spider by grillo in the same spot.:) i can squat and deadlift a hell of a lot more than him though...

I had Ben Grillo jam in a little black and gray skull in a rose between some other pieces on my arm. I'm very happy with it. He also added an itsy bitsy spider and some single-needle webs on my elbow:

Not sure if this is the place to start a thread like this (and if not, please delete). I come from the mindset that one should not share tattoo info with anyone other than peers, or the very very very few deemed worthy (meaning they are paying dues and earn it)...... However, I will be going to Nairobi on my way back to SA in January. My brother is currently residing there, and being someone that has been close to the tattoo scene for so long, he has befriended a tattooer there. I have been forewarned that he would like to buy any equipment I might be wanting to sell, and will very much like to meet me. His work is of poor quality (at least by our standards), but I haven't been able to locate anything I would consider high quality there...... So, my question, I guess, is; how do other professionals on here feel about traveling to, and interacting with cultures that are still so behind in the tattoo world?

Bring some Tattoo Artist Magazine back issues. If you can't get him tattooing well, at least try to get him tattooing clean; that seems like it would be a priority in that situation-TONS of blood-borne pathogens in that part of the world.

all this talk of deadlifts,grillo and squats are arousing me in not so innocent ways

Haha, you bastard. Let me point out that 1) we're in different weight classes and 2) I can eat way more carbs than you, ya paleotard. ;) I will also concede that you, ahem, have a much bigger spider.

My first tattoos were matching tribal thingies on my hips. I was 16 years old, without parental consent. The tattooer asked how old I was, I said 16, his reply: "well guess what today is your 18th birthday!" 4 years later I got them covered with a rose with wings. That tattoo is now 7 years old, pretty faded and needs some re-doing but it's still better than the original ones. My second tattoo, done by the first guy's apprentice a few months later, is a tribalish lizard that covers my whole foot and ankle. And it's all black. It looks like it's 50 years old, and not in a good way. I am planning on getting laser removal and then covering it, but who knows, I may end up never doing that.

That really is the worst. I've had a couple where after the first line i was like oh shit this is gonna end up awful. In retrospect I shoulda stopped right there. Now that I've got these shit tattoos I realize it would have been better to have one random line on my arm/leg/whatever than one fully done awful tattoo that can't really be fixed or covered. Luckily I was able to fix one of these, the others I will just have to deal with. I've gotten to a weird point where I'm really scared to get tattooed by anyone, because I've even had some amazing artists make stupid mistakes (like for example i want a red rose, i end up with a yellow one. this isn't real but it has happened to me with a different design). I haven't been tattooed in a long time and am planning to wait and only get tattooed by people I really trust from now on. Anyways totally off topic, sorry. Dars and stots forever.

I believe the skull and rose is one and same design, not two different tattoos. And for the record, I ain´t squatting no dirty old basement, that´s just creepy. @hogg ´s nice and cozy bedroom closet is a different story. Too far? Anyways, back on topic. I like a little bit of bare space between tattoos, and I´m personally not a big fan of the ol´stars and dots. Or, I like them, just not something I would want to fill the gaps. I´ve played with the thought of maybe adding some smoke-like shading in between the tattoos on my right arm eventually, but that might be a really dumb idea since I have yet to see something like that (which I assume there is a reason for)

In my mission to secretly become the norwegian eqivalent of @hogg I´ve decided to rip off all his tattoo ideas, shave my head and grow a beard. My beard-growing abilities aren´t up to par yet, despite me turning 30 in three weeks, but I managed to steal one of his filler idea´s the other day. Worst thing is I even ripped off the placement, haha!

Something a little different - a nicely made video on Andrea Furci, tattooing at the Family Business in London. I think it was done for Movember. "I've watched his work really improve even in the time I've been over and back getting tattooed in TFB - he's a super nice dude.

My dude's arm, all starred and dotted. I think it looks good on just about anyone. It's very very very important to get someone who knows what they are doing and to do your whole arm at once. If you don't you'll end up with different sized stars which can look stupid. I'd recommend finding someone from Inksmith and Rogers or Smith St. These are my arms with no filler, that will soon be remedied once I get my one elbow and my wrists done. Both of us also have small things thrown in with the filler, like initials, numbers, little designs. I much prefer stars and dots to shading. To me shading just looks lazy almost. Or like the client wanted a bigger space filled but didn't have the money to make the tattoo larger.

the doo doo looks like a pile of doughnuts with a flame at the top... doughnut candle?

I for one, didn't see it coming. It was an "Oh sheeeeit" moment.

This guy is my new hero.

I know someone who did it.... it looked horrid. The person who did it was a shitty tattooer so that was a large part of the problem.

iban sanchez. love the shocker jesus. IBAN

I'm with you on that one holmes ,his traditional Americana designs are made for it ,same sort of thing as Josh Arment .I've posted some Cory Lenherr examples I think in the back thread too.

I personally want to give my tattoos a bit of breathing room around them. But this doesn't mean I'm not trying to cram in as many small tattoos as possible. I really like how dots and stars look though! I would totally agree on the wait until the time is right advice, and whilst you might not manage an entire leg for example in one session, getting a section complete and having the same person do them makes good sense. For me the person to go to for dots and stars in Oliver Peck.

on my chest I did a bunch of little single line stuff in between the stars and dots. I did a dagger, an anchor, a whiskey bottle, and some arrows. I don't know if it was the best idea, but the spots I had left were too small for a real tattoo but too big just to star and dot IMO. Shitty pictures I took them all myspace style with my phone.

Backed opinion. This god damn thread causes thoughts of emptying savings accounts and shit.

FUCK THIS THREAD! Just got back from the honeymoon with all these grand thoughts of saving money, all kinds high-minded ideals my parents would be proud of.. and now all these killer tattoos. I suppose I'll just have to work my ass off so I can do both and start all the big pieces I've been thinking of. Seriously though, that Marius koi, the Stewart Robson backpiece, and fucking especcially the Jaie Devore craziness.. and that methed out kepwie Viking. Fuck you all, you're all my heroes.

Last time: November 5th,2011. Next time: possibly the Star of Texas convention in January. I'm saving for an engagement ring, so I have to prioritize and ignore '"the itch" for awhile.

Both ,if done well,look cool .

The worst thing you can do to a tattoo is to put a cigar out on it.

I think the longest period I've gone without being tattooed since my first one is maybe 6 months and that was deliberate so I could save some money. Although after my backpiece is finished I think I'll take a break and see what I want on my legs and ribs :) Oh and I last got tattooed one week ago exactly

almost a year (december 18th last year). will be december 8th this year next for me. chad koeplinger at frith street on both occasions :D

ah, indeed. after checking the dictionary, both are proper uses of the past tense. this is why i double and triple check stuff before i tattoo it (but apparently not before posting on the interwebs) haha.

There is a tattooist up the road from me it has a couple of scratchers in it , we used to get all there reworks and cover ups . One day a girl came in and they had spelt something with a S instead of a C so to correct it they coloured the bottom loop in black so she had a name with a dot under it and not a small one . I laugh now but she was crying at the time ! A few weeks later we found out the had had a fight between each other and shut down due to spelling each others names wrong on each other nec . The really sad thing is I know a lot of people who have been there because it has the word Tattoo out side it and pics of tattoos inside and you can't tell until it heals most of the time that the tattoo sucks . My first bad tattoo I did was on my self a full colour bullet on my wrist after I hammered it in with a super long throw and super volts ,all the colour fell out and it is now the best penis tattoo you have ever seen lol .

Took me a month to see this post, but that is THE only way to get a Slayer tattoo. Or a stick and poke using the E string from King's guitar.

Also, people need to stop getting finger mustaches. It's not funny anymore, plus getting a tattoo on your hand as a joke, bad idea. Especially since it's people who don't even have tattoos that are getting them now. Actually even if you have a ton of tattoos or are a tattoo you still look dumb getting a finger mustache these days. I feel kinda bad for everyone who got them before it was cool who now look like shitty hipsters.

Amund Dietzel lady head. Tattooed by Chad Koeplinger this afternoon. Bert Krak tomorrow on the other leg. Its a hard life.

I was harassed by a cop here in Portland with sleeves was trying to catch people riding the train with no fare on 4th of July. I bought an all day ticket at 9pm to go downtown and came back at 1am train stops running at 230 hence end of day. He threatened to write me a ticket because it was after midnight and I was drunk enough to tell him he was just upset that he was stuck on bus duty and he was fucking wrong. Still not sure how I didn't go to jail that night or even got a ticket.

Got this from Chad Koeplinger 2 weeks ago in Chicago.

Keep us updated on the healing? This is going to sound odd out of context, but it worries me that it didn't hurt. I know everyone's pain tolerances are different, but if done 'correctly' (loathe as I am to put it that way) it should hurt. If it was just done as a 'normal' (loathe as I am to put it that way) tattoo, there's a good chance it's not going to stick. So if you don't mind checking in with healing updates, I for one would be interested to see the progress. Oh, and I'm going up to NY on 08/03 to have Hooper do my fingers and light touchups on two spots on my right palm. Sadly, I know it's going to hurt.

I got this Baphomet head from Tim Lehi last month. Why? Easily my favorite tattooist, and I think he understands what I am going for. He has tattooed me a few times and always gives me suitable tattoos for me, like he knows me, ha.

I have a little "new ink test pad" on my ankle consisting of random little triangles/squiggles. Think I am going to experiment with the peroxide theory. I will post the results, before/after healing.

I always loved the part where they go to the Oprah Winfrey Show and when the oprah theme songs plays Carlton busts out with his crazy ass dance hahahahaha oh man...lemme youtube that shit real quick...hold up... here it is! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1hZFovigIU