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Tigers are so 2500 years ago: More pics here: Pazyryk Mummy Tattoos More info here:Pazyryk Mummies wiki

I started with 'homemade machines' and sharpening my needles on matchbooks. All I knew at the time was single needle and black ink, I was totally clueless to anything else. When I met real tattooers and learned to make real needles I was instantly hooked, there was no turning back. I rarely use single needle these days, I want my tattoos to last as long the person I make them on, but I am very proud to know how to wield a single needle when need be. I believe Chicano style comes purely from where you came from as a tattooer and how you learned. Some try and copy it, some actually do an amazing job at creating it as well, but in my opinion the only people who can tattoo that true Chicano style are the people who lived it. ps - Ben Grillo tattooed my foot yesterday, he busted out the single needle, ouch.

Jondix, 1 week ago, at his private studio in Barcelona.

talked to matt arriola, meeting up with him when i get back from california the 21st and measuring my torso and getting it drawn up and shit. going to start my battle royal at ink n iron. im terrified.

Also, @Scott R (and everyone else) "I'll post it up in the video thread, too!

Pick an artist you like and go talk to them.........then save up the money you need to get done what you want done! At least you won't be floored now when you find out you probably won't get it covered up for $200 and why consider building around a tattoo you already are thinking you want covered? Like I said....go talk with someone....you aren't wasting their time if you are serious about getting tattooed by them! :)

Cool, thanks. Checked out both those sites. This tattoo from Alessio at Avalon II really caught my eye. Instead of USA in the scroll, put USMC. Shrink it down a bit to fit the shoulder and that could be a winner!

I didn't mean to make it sound like being old was a bad thing. We all get into this at different stages and I myself have had some downtime while in a relationship. I just mean if you are into tattooing and have people you want to get tattooed by that are good, you aren't gaining anything by waiting, in fact you could be missing out. I will always kind of be partial to the generation of tattooers from the time period i started getting tattooed, much like people are partial to the music of your childhood. I think becoming completely covered is a big commitment and a lot of people never make it that far. Most people that are covered I would imagine went through some phases of getting tattooed all the time.

I don't plan on having a lot of tattoos, but I'd like to have one really nice, unique piece. The ones I have are pretty tame. I think I can just add and eagle or a panther to the one on my shoulder and have something really cool.

god damn....if i could do my arms over....id get scotty to do my elbows now that he can tattoo....hehehehehe....we never see old tattoos by us old fu#ks...maybe Ill take some pics and spread em.....

When I was a kid and read comics non-stop, I always wanted (and dint really quite understand for a while) to win the Marvel® No-Prize for catching errors ad contradicting storylines. Urs, you win the No-Prize I never got.

My horse from Zach Nelligan and my boyfriend's bat lady from Civ. We got them at the Salt Lake convention this weekend!

Ha! My mother-in-law was born in Pico and still has tons of family there. I visited several years ago--beautiful place. My father-in-law's family is from the mainland, but he's 3rd-generation Oakland portagee. My wife's full Portuguese, so our daughter is PortuCajun. Yes, we make caldo verde with andouille.

because I worked for GTC in Modesto for yrs it is part of my lexicon, and I do feel like I ''get it ''having grew up with many Chicans in the suburbs of the East Bay ,Nor Cal,So I feel like It being strictly So Cal is not true. Charlie left ELA in 85'. To quote Tim...''that fish has been fileted''.Do to the internet and media everyone ,now, can pretend to be part of it. Even in south Alabama they like my ''California style'' lettering. Not because I imitate, But because its part of who I am. although BJ's books are beautiful and helpful to the masses, that's not where'' I'' got It....heck I did Scott S's belly rocker 20yrs ago...''Loco Amor'' .Scott and them at American Graffiti used to ask me how and what spanish words were spelt and meant...hehehe...another Huero..Soy Como Soy.

Don't forget to include a tip for your tattooer in your cost budget! :D

@Duffa, awesome. Keep staring at all the stuff on Tyron's legs.. esp. the pharaoh's horses. AND I'm pretty sure I see little spidey filler in there just below his left knee! Wish I could make out what he's got on his knees. Man, love that photo. @Scott R, that's Rick Walters. I think they're just bent and look that way in the photo? Though I wouldn't be surprised if Rick Walters was missing various appendages.

nothing too eventful... when i was 20 (in 2007), i got some text and a skull on my left forearm. my dad has the same text on his forearm, and since i was unsure as to what my goals in coverage would be at the time, i figured that getting that tattoo in dedication to my parents would always ring true with me. plus, skulls are rad.

@cfgsteak I'm with you on that, buddy. :D

I guess. Its still true. I was a teenager then and early 30 now. Im just thinking on the past and remebering how dumb/awesome it was. I think most people do that.

So, i got quite a few tattoos when I was younger, all but one of them by Dale Grande, and then I slacked after the last one he did for me, I think in like 1984. That would put me at 29. Kids, houses, more motorsickles, bidness, all that stuff came along, and then I went back to Dale's shop when I was what, 50? I had some definite ideas for linkage/sleeving, and some designs I had dug up from history books. Just a tad too late. Dale had stopped tattooing actively, and only did the occassional piece, but he looked at what I had, and what I wanted done, and said "you need to talk to this guy I have working for me." And that's how I ended up having Miles Maniaci at Chicago Tattoo layout the final design and do my sleeve. Took my ideas and turned them into a coherent piece. As far as sitting and age, I'd have to check the exact amount of time, but if memory serves, I did 5 sittings, the shortest one being like four and a half hours, and the rest nbeing between five and a half and six hours. I could have at all night, but the designs were pretty hard to pick out after five or six hours, and Miles didn't want to push past that. And I paid with a credit card. Hey-it gives me a minimum of 30 days to come up with the ching, and meantime, it's done! The best part of it, to me, was that I was able to incorporate all of Dales work from back in the day into one solid design. His colors and linework have held up wondefully, and it all fits together well. .02

Guessing he's showing the diff between the A, M, S, and N as they are properly made, vs the failed 'tattoo font'

always........

notice the same letters in this "tattoo font"

Tell her what she's won, @irezumi! You've won a set of eight correctly sided letters, suitable for knuckle use. If I may be so bold, I suggest you get AND SEW ON.

who: Ryan George @ Almost Famous Tattoos - Tattoo & Piercing - Miami, FL | Facebook what: Oni Head when: a few months back, maybe November 2011 why: I gave my friend Steven Vanni a ride to almost famous because he had an appointment with Greg Christian who was in town. I walked into Ryan George getting tattooed by Greg Christian. I had some serious small talk with Ryan, Showed him the machine I bought from my mentor. So stoked on catching a glimpse of a great tattooer tattooing a bad ass design on another great tattooer. I asked Ryan if I could schedule an appointment.

I was 15 I think; I was coming back from my HS Graduation and asked my folks if I could get a tattoo as a present. They said yes and we stopped at a shop in Savannah, Georgia where I got tattooed by a scary biker chick named Darnell. My mom lied and said I was 16 since that was the minimum age Darnell would tattoo. I had doodled this little sun that ended up looking nothing like what she tattooed on me. I'll look for pictures (it's since been covered up by Josh Hoffman) but man... it was AWFUL. She did it with a single needle, but some of the lines blew out so much that they were easily 1/8" wider than other parts of the tattoo. I was nervous, so she gave me booze to sip. Then tattooed my brother with the same needle setup because "you two are family".

Found these on travels around the interwebs (Sorry for any reposts) Lyle Tuttles' back by Doc Forbes 1962 Painless Jack Tyron - this is... I can't even find words to describe this. There's just an 'elegance' to it I think Rick Walters Pamela Nash by Les Skuse

Maybe an Inappropriate location for this comment,but, Lochlan rocks. you are On IT ! Thank You for what you do. I appreciate Ya.

couldn't help but imagine this as a painstaking backpiece.

oohhhh...I get it now...yeah ,people screw lettering up constantly.I guess if you dont have an instinctual understanding its tough. I see so many rely on the interweb fonts,which I personally find offensive in some sort of personally proud way. LEARN IT. Its so important in tattooing. So many steer away. And in the past ,many wouldnt do it, stating the ''dont do names'' as some sort of saving the masses from thier'' tattoo mistakes'' helpfullness. I do a bit of sign painting also, so I dig it. oh ,and uh,''sarsparilla''? is that northeastern? I just about never use reference and often see ,later, my own font mistakes,or is it just my own style? hehehe

Just stoppin' in to say hello, My name is Krista and I'm an apprentice just startin' out my journey. I've been learning the ins and outs of the trade for the past 4 years out here and just love it. Nice to meet everyone and hope you have a great day! I have some of my work posted on my tumblr account if you wanna check it out, www.tumblr.com/frankentooth or a few pictures I've posted on here. :) - krista

@gougetheeyes thanks interesting little video.

I didn't have the desire as much, or the exposure to good tattooing, or really even the money to get tattooed when I was young. I'm 45, and I have a lot of empty space...and now I have the time and money to get tattooed. I don't regret waiting...I also wonder about age effecting sitting time...I did 3.5 hours on my ribs a few weeks ago. I wonder if it doesn't hurt the more you get tattooed regardless of age. Maybe someone like @jade1955 might agree with this...I'm more concerned about living long enough for my tattoos to look old than being the guy with really old tattoos at this point. :p I do agree with @David Flores on one point, you should do it when your carefree...I got married and had kids super young, now I'm divorced and this is really the first "carefree" time I've had since I was 20. (I sound defensive - not intending too)

Some of my favorites: Vehemence Born of Osiris Necrophagist Oceano Dethklok At the gates Animosity And 3 inches of blood every now and then (so corny, but so good)

Forget emails dude (if time and distance permit), find a shop or tattooer you're into and just go talk to them. If you can loosen up your budget a bit that'd also be a plus just to be safe. Don't forget, like any other service it's also good form to tip. Lastly, I'll stick to other "advice" I've given before, to just get more tattoos. But make sure they're nicer ones that you're happier with.

I tried it, but only bought one I think I paid $2.50 for it at a specialty beer store. I think it is definitely worth trying, but not something you would want more than one of at a time anyway. Even Arrogant Bastard I can't drink all night, I usually hit the "bastard wall" after about 3.

here's some pix of my sleeve from Marcus Kuhn...

@chrislj54 Thanks Chris. Looks interesting but unfortunately doesn't look like I can get that one in the UK. I'll put in on my list though.

Oh yeah....that's what im talkin bout....another star is born. We've got oil embargos , howzabout tattoo kit embargos. You ever look at "Lucky Supply's'' tattoo kits? ya gotta love it.

Bold will hold.

The last comment is awesome. My children's children will hear about this...

Brian Dettmer uses knives, tweezers and surgical tools. interview

Ditto, but don't say hi for me, we're not pals.

Got my girlfriend a Stephen Wiltshire print for Christmas. He's an unsual guy. An an autistic child growing up, he didn't speak, but used art materials to communicate. Over time it became clear he was both a talented artist and someone who had an unusually good visual memory. He's best know for drawing street scenes and city panoramas from memory, using fine-line black pens. The Stephen Wiltshire Gallery - Drawings, paintings and prints Bought her a print of the Toronto skyline (it's a city we visit together a lot). What I really want, though, is one of the big panoramas ... Tokyo, ideally.

3.2 million dots...