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got this lady from brad stevens @ ny adorned tonight.

@dirbab - very, very nice! I just got this from [MENTION=2486]lukemuller[/MENTION] at True Love Tattoo (Brisbane) maybe an hour or so ago. No idea how long it took, but it couldn't have been any longer than 2 hours? (no time limit etc so we just cruised) I got it for the most amazing, awesome and wonderful woman I know ;) I apologise for the bad photo, but my camera just didn't want to do as it was asked lol. I'll get a better one from Luke asap

Bryan Burk yesterday Dark Horse, Los Angeles

This thread makes me want to paint the sign, "Tattoos... More precious than jewelry. Can't be lost or stolen."

I was talking to a tattooer friend of mine who just bought $2000 worth of motorcycle equipment (Helmet, Jacket, boots etc) from a shop right down the street from where he tattoos. The guy from the bike shop comes in a couple weeks later looking for a quote on a sizeable tattoo. I think my buddy threw a figure of about $500 at him and I guess he was floored at how at tattoo could cost that much. My buddy told him he thought the same thing about the equipment he sells, only difference is I can go online and find some website that sells the same quality of motorcycle stuff for cheaper, but he would rather buy from someone in the neighborhood. The guy didn't get it, maybe one day a light bulb will go off ?

Your drawings are really nice. You have a good understanding of light source. I would really spend some time looking at the classics, because once you get those fundamentals down and learn the mechanics, you'll be able to experiment with lots of styles. The obvious starting points would be Cap. Coleman, Huck Spaulding, Paul Rogers, Sailor Jerry, Stoney St. Clair, Hardy, Zeke Owen, Thom Devita. Then from their, Dan Higgs, Filip Leu, Timothy Hoyer, Grime, Richard Stell, Scott Sylvia, Lehi. And then dudes like Danny Reed, Andrew Conner, Will Lollie, Brian Bruno, etc. Immerse yourself in these people's work, b/c they know what tattoos are, and they know how to make them. All this hot shiny stuff that people are doing now won't hold up over time, so enjoy it for the art. A tattoo should look like a tattoo. But, this is just my humble opinion. I know there are many others.

Been skating since I was four though not as much these days.....favorite was pool, full pipe & drainage/runoff skating. Stories for days though some of the best may be incriminating. I am in the middle of a move and discovered some skate pictures recently may be I'll try and scan some in...... A story of one thats not incriminating....there was a big fire in the San Jose area many years ago so typical pool skaters we went looking for burned houses that had pools full we could empty or ones that were already empty. We stumbled upon this old man working outside and pulled over because it looked like he had a pool. Sure enough I approached him and the coolest old man was like if you want to finish emptying it feel free to skate. He and his wife had never seen anything like it so for a few months we had a private pool to skate where we just had to call him ahead of time and they'd serve us food whenever we swung by. It was just my friend and I then we'd take other friends there every now and then...if you have a Thrasher magazine the issue where Tony Trujillo won SOTY and he's skating a pool thats it

just in case you missed it... this dude... wow. i JUST recently saw his work for the first time in the bloodwork bodies book. i might just not know my shit, but this is one artist i ran across where i thought to myself, "how the fuck have i NOT heard of this guy?!" Geordie Cole he also got a full backpiece from horitomo Geordie Cole Turns Japanese - THE TATTOOED HEART love this thread, by the way!

Here's mine. When I was first pursuing an apprenticeship, I talked to one of the artist's at the best shop around. He invited me over to his place where we talked about it, mostly over his old Triumph. I drove him around for bits and pieces he needed to fix it up and by the end of the day, he had given me tips on presenting my portfolio of drawings and said he'd put in a good word for me...not schmoozing, just an organic conversation...then after all his wrenching and swearing, he kick started that bike. The look and sound had me hooked and hanging around at the shop after that when he'd pull up...I had to have an old Triumph. As it turned out, unbeknownst to me, he was moving. I was apprenticed to take his place. Having married young, there was never any money for extras (or three meals some days) but I worked hard for years, doing my best to be good to tattooing and it rewarded me. When I found this 68 at the right price, I jumped on it and when I see my bike in front of the shop, I feel like it came full circle.

i feel ya. we have 8 other shops (!?!) within about a 5 block radius, so we deal with a ridiculous amount of "price shopping." it used to be hard for me to turn that work away, but over time it has become apparent that some people simply do not give a fuck about the quality of the tattoo and just want a bargain. a few learn the lesson, but many never do.

Can we change Contributor to "Fat Miserable Bastard" Then my title will be the same as the one my wife, workmates and anyone else who knows me uses.

Anyone else using it? Some of my drawings are barely recognizable as what I'm going for, but if you want to play.... ovibrations.

She should have thought about that before getting visible tattoos or heavy tattoo coverage. M&S isn't Vans, Top Shop, Urban Outfitters etc. What did she expect? Lately American Apparel have been shying away from hiring heavily tattooed people. I think this is great. I'm sick of seeing heavily tattooed people in every coffee/clothes/record/food shop. No I'm not being sarcastic. It's time for people who make themselves look like freaks to accept the fact that they are freaks and stop whining that nobody accepts them in the non-freak world. Nobody forced that girl to get tattooed, she wasn't born tattooed, it was her choice, regardless if she volunteers for charity work. Are long sleeves and a high collar too much trouble when working with the public?

Coins by colors. I have all the basic ones and am moving into 'shades of' now. Once I get all the colors I can finally buy new words... cause if I get Beyonce again.....

I am connected to mine through Facebook, so I think my user name is Ursula Thomson but it might be ThreadWizard I'm not sure... Also, the fucking winner for life at this game has to be Tomas Garcia. You guys need to all get instagram and go look at his screen captures.

For the most part. Made a fool of myself bailing on a sidewalk due to a crack I would have seen 4 years ago. Nice way to break myself back in.

@lving4today I highly recomend a stell tattoo experience.

Mike Dorsey!!!

Cheers @Reyeslv !! Mum's been pretty sick lately so thought it might be nice to get something for her. And Luke did a damn fine job ;) I couldn't have asked for anything better

Great piece, awesome way to pay tribute to your Mother!!!!

I always marvel that people will come in wearing a pair of $150 sneakers and balk at a $50 minimum for a tattoo of all things or the price of a portrait of their late mother. Their values are all out of order I feel no obligation to cater to that. When people ask me why I charge what I do, I tell them, I charge what I'm worth. Sometimes i let them know that iif someone charges a lot less, you have to ask yourself what corners they're cutting and if they feel like they can get the same level of work cleanly for less elsewhere go for it. In fairness, I can be an unwavering bastard, largely because I don't like people telling me what my time and skill is worth. It's not like we have a pile of these tattoos cluttering the back room we have to clear out on the cheap.

Welcome to the family. Your purple nikes will be sent to you soon. :)

I still love to skate. I just got a mini in my yard recently so I hope when it's all finished and perfect I've find more time to skate so I can stop getting fatter sitting on my ass tattooing

Yea I never really enjoyed the "learning process" of trick skating, or easily said getting fucked up alot. Sliding is much safer (in terms of broken bones) and just as rewarding, plus it was my only means of transportation for my entire time living in Newark! @Jake is a longboarder as well.

Cool thread! That first piece is killer, but her right hand and left arm looks a little bit strange to me. Maybe just the picture, or maybe just me... I don't know. The piece as a whole looks really bad-ass though! Most of you have already seen my front piece, but I found a better picture of it on Marius' blog a while back, so here's to those who haven't seen it already (sorry about the insane size of the photo)

I always recall people having tattoos, but the first time I saw someone getting tattooed I was about 13 in my friends kitchen, homemade tat gun and ballpoint pen ink and 40's of King Cobra, now it's a party. I call it a tat gun because it was not a machine by any stretch of the imagination. That was the first time when it clicked in my head that anyone could go get a tattoo. Fast forward a few years and my first apartment was behind a pawn shop, a metal club, and Snake's Tattoo in Colorado Springs. My co worker (I was in construction at the time) was piecing together a sleeve at the time so that was really when I started hanging out in tattoo shops.

Going to get tattooed tomorrow by Josiah Laughlin | Facebook, @ Imperial Tattoo here in downtown Portland. He's a good guy and puts on a solid tattoo. He has some killer tattoos from Henning Jorgensen, Chris Trevino and Tony Hundahl among others and always has some good stories to share.

Don't know how I pissed anyone off. Walked in to the shop, told them what I wanted, the guy drew something up based on a design I found, the artist said it will cost this much, I said OK. I got exactly what I was looking for and I love it. Here's the before and after. There was no cheap-ass haggling. He asked what my bugdet was, I told him, he asked if I could go higher, I said sure and it was on. Very cool guy. His name is Dale at Frontline Tattoo in Oceanside. I'm no expert, but I'd recommend him. Might even go back myself. Anyway, here's the results. I'm sure someone will critique it to death, but I am VERY happy with the way it came out. Took about 2 hours total.

Says who? When I get www.nudetattooeddude.com going I'm thinking full return on investment!:cool:

Fuck yes Ursula thats why I started thinking about this how bad ass would it be to have a ,stell,silvia and wilson piece or a kuhn,robson and flatmo tattoo. The options are endless and exciting to think about. I know it would take alot of doing but its intriguing to say the least. I am honestly looking for someone to give me a good reason to shoot this idea down.

Last night I had a dream that I was talking with my tattooer about where to place my newest one and he suggested that we reposition the existing tattoos on my leg so we can fit the new one in the perfect spot. It sounded weird to me, but all I could think about were those Cripwell legs. He showed me a few that he did it to on himself and convinced me that it would be fine. So then he poured this liquid over each tattoo and peeled them right off. It was painless and they came off entirely. I couldn't believe it. I asked him how nobody had ever come up with this sooner. What a great invention, I thought to myself. He stuck the tattoos back in their new spots and applied the new one the same way. No machine, just a stencil and that liquid. There were a few parts that weren't adhering entirely and I panicked. He said it'd be cool and to give it time to heal. A few days later in the shower they started washing off. Then I woke up and stared at my legs.

I have a man crush on Chris Nunez,so i'll be there.

Many many years ago a wise old motorcycle enthusiast of my acquaintance told me, "I like good-looking tattoos as much as anyone else, but I just don't feel like you're getting the whole tattoo experience unless you have some shit like your old lady's initials that looks like it was drawn on with a green crayon and the third letter is only half done."

After 52 years on the planet with no tattoos what so ever, my girlfriend decided out of the blue this past Saturday that for St Patrick's day she'd get a shamrock and 3 ladybugs, on her butt. She actually went through with it and sat like a trooper. There won't be any pictures of hers, but since she did it I got this little guy as a memento of one of the most awesome days I've ever spent with her.

@Avery Taylor Keep an eye out for us... I am thinking a PNW run is called for... I'll get him as north as Seattle... To Ernie Gosnells shop, you guys will have to cross, it's all a matter of road conditions, and shop forecasts... Gonna hunker down here in Reno,NV... Hit Sacramento, CA then go to Electric Oni, in Petaluma, and then haul ass through Oregon to Washington... If he's feeling it. We're getting within reach of our goal for suffice shop capital, "Imagine that a shop built from money made with doing paintings and tattoos", hum, something to be said, hell even my Daddy bank rolled me in my first piercing shop... I have learned a lot since then, and I wouldn't dream of not earning this shop in every sense of the word.... Just keep in touch with me, I know I am not posting a lot of info as to our whereabouts and future plans, I am being really strategic. And just trying to roll with it, I'm so over being on the road, and each day can suck the life out of me. Between juggling all Richards Balls... then my own two tits... I need more hands. Multiple pun intended. I'm out of medicinals and I loathe the thought of venturing out of this room at this hour. Fucking Reno, I went to walk the dog this morning, and some euro douche, wearing mirrored aviator sunglasses, shorts, cowboy boots, and enough fake tanner and hair gel to sponsor the cast from Jersey Shore... HAY BaYYBAY'd me waiting on the elevator, to which I responded "you smell like tacos" and exited the elevator with Chinga, our blue heeler... I was in a hoodie, and snow pant thermals half awake...WTF. I laughed my ass off when Chinga took a big dump mid parking lot. . . Oh it's such a glamorous life...(bullshit).

http://www.facebook.com/jedhilltatttoo?sk=info I follow this guy on Facebook, he puts on a great tattoo and has been doing since the 70's I hear? This is the kind of tattooer I want to be tattooed by.

Grime just posted this Oni Vs. Panther pic on the Black Claw facebook page and I can't stop staring at it. Check out his facebook page here: BlackClaw | Facebook

Really digging these panther tattoos. Here are some of my favorites. I know they are pretty generic, but I like them. Trying to figure out how to incorporate one into a Marine Corps tattoo.

Only made 10 of these, 2 are gone. Get at me if you are interested. 16x20 $50 dollars shipped! Colors are better in person and prints are top quality. Thanks for looking. Paypal [email protected]

Been riding about as long as I been getting tattoos...suppose there's some correlation?!?!?!?!? Started out with a 47 Knuckle, radical chop West Coast style, no one bothered to tell me that my first bike was sposed to be a Yapzuki 50, and ended up with my 70 FLH that I've been riding since 1977.

Robert Ryan is one of my favorite tattooers, and the majority of my tattoos were put on by him. Cobra design originally by Sailor jerry, repainted for the asbury park tattoo convention. the script underneath was tattooed by Rich Heller, also at Electric tattoo in Bradley Beach NJ. and the girl was tattooed on my 20th birthday, lots of fun. the dagger on my shin was designed by Dan Higgs. One of my favorite tattoos so far ALSO, an extremely underrated tattooer is Tom Yak, also at Electric Tattoo

i forgot but at some point Inny left and came to work at the Pinup Parlour too. Wow you do have quite the resume.

I see what you are saying, but I don't feel the need to explain myself to a client. I've used that one on many occasions but it completely falls on deaf ears. Shit, some of the hair treatments some of these ladies get cost about $200+ every couple of months, but the same customer will still get upset about our minimum price name. I am not going to take my time & energy to try to change someone's opinion or rationalize my prices if they can't pony up the minmum price (believe me its CHEAP) for a simple damn cookie-cutter name at a street shop.

when i lived in ireland, i used to get a lot of hagglers. one of the best things i had heard was to use the question, "how much did those shoes cost? and you're going to wear them for 4 months?" the shoes usually cost more than they were willing to spend on a tattoo for a lifetime.

I just read all this. It's a wind up, isn't it? How to price a tattoo and deal with customers is stuff you learn before you even learn how to make a stencil. However if this is serious, decide what the work is worth to you and if the other person doesn't think it's worth the same, that's ok, don't take it personal, maybe they're naive, maybe they're ignorant, or maybe they just can't afford it. If thgere is a sign on the door saying open for business, people are entitled to come in and try to do business. Having a sign prominentley displayed stating the shop minimum and some examples of what you can expect for that minimum is a big help, for the customer and for the person who is selling the tattoos. I don't want to insult ya by going any farther on this because I know you have been around a while. Also, I'm not on here to tell anyone how to run a tattoo shop so they can open one up. Most of the talk on here is art criticism, or how to heal up tattoos, what's in, what's out, who's cool, etc...and some of it is very interesting stuff, seriously. I will say that a lot of the more artistic people are in the ha'penny place compared to the scratchers when it comes to hustle and street smarts. If one man's niche is doin $20 tattoos ina basement and anothers is doing $200 an hour bodysuits, thats fine by me. It means there's a tattoo out there for everybody, and everyone can have a tattoo if they want one. And before anyone forgets........Mike Roper tattooed in his bedroom for years, Filip Leu tattooed on the beach, Paulo Sulu'ape tattooed in a hut, Freddie Corbin tattooed in his apartment. And many of the tattooers the people on here look up to started out in their kitchens. And many of them tattooed cheap, or for free. Yea, freee, swallow that one whole. For many of them, their first introduction to tattooing was getting tattooed by friends in their basements. So, before we go demonising the "scratchers", getting tattooed on the cheap in a basement, kitchen or garage is just as valid as getting tattooed in a longhouse in Borneo. It probably costs about the same, has similar sterilisation, and the lines are probably equally shakey. Not to mention the spiritual/cultural/rite of passage significance of a ghetto kid getting a ghetto tattoo in a ghetto tattoo shop. At a ghetto price. None of this is intended as a defence for idiots doing shit tattoos cheap or for arteests doing average tattoos at extortionate prices. It's just me saying that much as I can hustle, tattooing isn't a business for me, it's a practice and if I can pay my bills living this way, then that's a privilege and an honour. And a blessing. I'm grateful that I have a bit of talent and a bit of hustle. I take pride in my profession and I don't sell it short, especially not for money. I hate to not tattoo someone, but sometimes the tattoo they want isn't the tattoo they can afford, and I don't mean only in monetary terms, sometimes the persons ego is a bit big and they think they deserve more than the are entitled to. The same goes for the tattooers. Anyway, I'm sick of typing, it's not my thing.

He seems to know what hes doing. Not something I'd lose sleep over. Plus, you say you've already got one? So shouldn't we be asking you, wanna give us all an update in 2022?

Yeah so her article talking about how everyone took her original one out of context. Bullshit. She's still an idiot who thinks being skinny and wearing cool clothes is gonna make her happy. There's a poll included in the article "has your opinion of Lisa changed after reading this" 90% of people said NO. She claims no one discussed her POV and just insulted her. I'm pretty sure in this thread alone 3-6 people quoted directly from her article with direct responses, that makes me think that a lot of other people probably did too. Shannon's right, her rebuttal should have been called "19 year old runs her mouth". I wish I could walk down the street with her just to prove how many more heads get turned at the sight of my tattooed attractive self then they do at her. Wearing fancy jeans and doing your hair isn't what dudes like (at least not the smart ones who are looking for more sex). What really gets you a man, or a job, or self esteem is being confident in yourself. Maybe your confidence does come from shopping at the mall and getting your nails done. But guess what, a lot of women find confidence in themselves without all those things. Many women find their self confidence through their intelligence, through their family, their job, their education, their art. I'm sure she'd be shocked to hear a lot of women find their confidence through getting tattooed. Or what about a woman like our own board member Deb or Valerie, who are making a living and supporting themselves and in Deb's case her children through tattooing? I'd say it's a fuck of a lot more respectable to be someone like Deb who owns her own business and raised I believe 5 children and has kept up what seems to be an amazing marriage, then to be some bimbo married to a rich guy who spends her days shopping and getting her hair and nails done. Tattooing has supported me and my fiancé, has given me more opportunity to travel, meet new friends, be inspired, sell my artwork and live a happy life. Oh and the fact that she doesn't mention one thing about men getting tattooed...

She looks more like a Camry to me.

Done in Petaluma, CA by Clayton @ Electric Oni Tattoo. My cousin Tori passed away, leaving her husband and 5 year old boy behind. She was the best addition to our family and she will be missed. She had the same tattoo on her forearm, but hers said "Angel's Wings Carry Me Home" From Social D. "Bella Demise" was her nickname, which suited her perfectly.