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Got this from Bob Roberts today. It was a good time at Spotlight. Bob was super nice and cool, and I also got to talk with Grant Cobb, who was really nice as well. And he is great tattooer if you are not familiar with his work you should be.

Heading to the airport in a few hours. 4 days of tattoos planned!!!

got this Jensen flash by Josh Stephens @ Hold It Down in RVA last weekend.

You have the exact problem I did and it's easy to fix. It just takes time and patience. @lving4today First off, box squatting to a bench will never get you the proper depth unless you are about 7' tall. Caveman squat (see pic below). Hold it as long as you can, up to about 3 minutes. Focus on pushing your hips forward, knees out, chest up, and your lower back arched in the bottom position, this will help stretch A LOT of the connective tissue in your hips and open up your range of motion dramatically. Another thing, you are trying to sit back too far. In a squat you do need to sit back, but not so much. Your upper body should be able to hold a static upright position instead of leaning forward. This comes from too much emphasis on sitting back, which throws off your center of gravity. A lot of butt wink can also come from the inability to properly fire your glutes and hams, causing you to rely on your quads. When you wink your butt, you lose tension on the glutes and hams, making very hard to drive out of the bottom properly.

A lot of good input here that I think the people on the receiving end could use. I for one think so much of the trend in realism or turning your nose up at convention and tradition comes from the "look what I can do" mindset when really, it should be, "look what I can offer you" a lot of new school/no school tattooers are so caught up in their own abilities that he guidelines learned through decades of experienced tradesmen before us are seen as an obstruction when they are really the path. A tattoo that only looks good now is about the tattoo artist, one that looks good 5, 15, 30 years later is about the client. I want my work to look good long after my client has forgotten my name.

Anyone been to any of these live art battles , too good. Theyve changed their name to Secret Walls too - thesecretwalls For anyone thats not aware - its a live art battle with the following rules : 90 minutes on the battle clock Only black SW special markers and black acrylic paint can be used as battle weapons No pencils / sketches should be on stage or used as reference Each artist has to stay within the allocated space, if they creep over then there will be a 1 point deduction Battles are judged by 2 nominated and neutral guest judges + crowd vote (3 point system) (using a decibel reader) Hosted on giant white walls Pure fun . I think theres an event in New York

Because they are regulating your appearance in or out of ACUs, on or off duty. which is legit. thats part of the deal. Yes it would be fair enough if they had never changed the rules to begin with. It's ridiculous to say "hey we're gonna change the rules and let you get tattooed on these spots" and then 2 or 3 years later say "hey tough shit, we changed ourt minds, remove them or get out" some of these people have plans to serve the 20, and this is how they get done? not all that fair imo.

Recently some young guy came in with a brown pride tattoo and needed it covered up for Army. Whoever he spoke to at the Army told him he couldn't get a big tattoo, he had to try to cover it with two smaller tattoos. It turned out okay he has a panther covering one word and an eagle covering the other. The only thing that looks odd to me is having the tattoos right next to each other. If you choose to only get 2 tattoos, usually you don't cram them in one spot. Would have been nice to do just a big panther. Getting a Chris Trevino tattoo sounds like a much better idea than joining the Navy.

Some random thoughts, not from a position of claiming expertise... But just my few cents:- Footwear:- I started training in Chuck Taylors more or less by accident, and they were perfectly adequate. I'm pretty sure some of the strongest guys in the planet did a significant amount of training just wearing Chucks rather than expensive lifting shoes. Flat, stable sole and less give in the hard rubber heel of them than most athletic shoes. With that said, I did eventually buy a pair of olympic lifting shoes for competing in the o-lifts, and they do make a difference: Even less give in the heel (because it's usually rubber-soled wood) and an elevated angle that basically mimicks the trick mentioned earlier in the thread, of squatting with someone under the heel. I only wore them when I was practising the olympic lifts but I guess the difference they made was probably something marginal but worth it if you were trying to come up out of a max effort snatch or clean. Haven't o-lifted in months but maybe I'll break them out again. Oddly enough I read a blog post the other day about how oly shoes are catching on with kettlebell sport competitors, which kind of makes sense. The third thing I tried and pretty much wear the most (with Cons some days) were vibram five-fingers. They look retarded and I wouldn't like to run long distances in them like some people do, but they're essentially gloves for your feet. I reckon if you want to train barefoot but want some added grip and sole protection then these are a no-brainer. I've been wearing them for training for years and a strange side effect has been that my feet basically flattened and spread out. I can kind of grip the ground with my toes. I'm not sure I buy into the 'science' that vibram promote regarding the health benefits of all this, but I do think it's more natural than encasing your feet in something like a very padded athletic shoe if you're going to be lifting heavy objects. Kettlebells:- Never trained with Pavel, Dan John or any of the greats but I really like them. I've been using kettlebell fundamentals like swing variations (1 handed, 2 handed etc), snatches, TGUs, windmills, goblet squats etc for years as part of short metabolic conditioning blocks. I know there's an argument that they're essentially no more versatile than a dumbell, but I don't think that's the case. There's something about the KB that lends itself to quick changes and smooth transitions - clean and jerks and complexes and whatnot. If I could keep just one KB exercise it would probably be the turkish get up - I've started using it as a whole body warm-up lately, I feel like it incorporates pretty much every joint in the body to execute. I think Gray Cook, the Functional Movement Screening guy, has made a whole DVD on this idea, but I haven't seen it. I never understood why anyone would train exclusively with kettlebells or regard them as the ultimate tool for every occasion, but they're compact, portable and very useful for conditioning work.

No, heading to NYC. Saved Tattoo.... Not going back to FST until 2013.....

here's my one knee cap.. hoping to get the other one done here soon.. by brandon montero

There's a push for SUPER conceptual 'old timey' stuff so they can 'out oldschool' each other. Some of the stuff, by well respected tattooers, looks to me like a five year old drew it. I mean, whatever folks want to get is fine by me, but until people start calling it out.... it's only going to get worse.

"Your tattoo should look good when the lines are done, it should look finished when the blacks are done and the color is extra." Bob Roberts

I personally would feel a bit weird about walking into a shop where everyone wore a uniform. In my opinion it would cheapen the feel of the shop a bit.

that settles it im making all the guys at the shop dress like they work at in and out burger, white paper hats and all.............................................dude get a new job. for the record i wear a pair of levis or bens red wings and what ever shirt is the first one on the pile, thats how i work best. not really a fashion plate over here..

Navy logo tattoo done by Chris Smith at Deluxe tattoo.

I just started my Rock of Ages on the 31st of March. Doing my second session this Saturday. The goal is to be finished by June. Its going to be a full back piece (ass and legs included) which we'll outline our 3rd session. Would like some criticism on it!

can not wait to see that flag colored

On the other hand, getting a bunch of tiny, solid black tattoos with zero background tying any of them together (all I can see on Navarro. I still don't get who gets a simple set of the four logos of the suites in cards, but doesn't even make the red ones red, but to each his own) doesn't make you particularly more qualified to judge things like how it flows on body parts, use of colour, shading, blending, contrast, how to work a 5 hour long session, etc..., all things the guy with the full sleeve may be more in tune with, maybe. I do agree that being exposed to so many top tattooers probably helps, specially if you pay attention to what else is going on in their shop when you're there. Let's be honest, the "celebrity judge" is just there to get a name tied to the show that people who aren't involved in/know anything about tattooing know about. Best Ink has some girl I've never heard of who claims she is "business in the front, party in the back" when she turned around and showed two small pieces (one all lettering) on her shoulders. I suspect executives know who she is, and they are the ones who think that'll bring more viewers. I'm sure most of us would much rather see Paul Booth host, but we are probably less than 1% of their target demographics.

good eye :) it is, my cousin brought it back for us when they went to Japan

What do you mean? She said she's all business in the front and a party in the back. Does that mean she's a prostitute, but does anal for fun??? I HATE twits.

He should start saving for the laser removal and cover up right away since it will be pretty expensive.

It wouldn't bother me if a charity organization asked me to leave. I got plenty of better things I could be doing like getting more tattoos and drinking beer. I can understand being a little surprised to be asked to leave, but being upset and distraught just seems silly. If they are in a position to turn away volunteers, they obviously must be doing pretty well for themselves and don't really need help. There are plenty of organizations who don't have time to worry about volunteers appearance. I make it easy when I volunteer, I usually just donate goods and services or write a check so no one has to even see me, I am not rich, but time is the one resource I seem to have the least amount of free these days.

nick colella grimshaw stole from eagle thread

brine torski Sailor Jerry sailorjerry_flash.jpg (image) heres a book by spider webb that should have alot of great images http://www.amazon.com/Military-Flash-Spider-Webb/dp/0764315382%3FSubscriptionId%3D0FY5YF0Y0Y7TDC6Y1CG2%26tag%3Dadsen-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D0764315382

I just got a tattoo done by Scott Silvia last Monday (3/26) and I was way beyond excited to meet him and to get a tattoo by, in my opinion, one of the best tattooist out there!! It is my favorite tattoo and fills me full of drive and motivation to keep that fire under my ass to keep achieving and striving to learn. One of the best things about being a tattooist is learning, growing, and evolving through getting tattoos, asking questions, observing, researching, and much much more! Living and breathing tattoos. I got the Spider Lady because of personal reasons and because its a traditional tattoo design that holds so much history within itself and to see an added new twist to the traditional tattoo designs makes me appreciate and want to know and learn more and more. This is seriously my new favorite tattoo (as are all new tattoos) And makes me want to strive and continue to get tattooed by awesome, amazing, inspirational, driven artist!

Just did my usual Saturday workout. Bench Press 205x4, 185x6, 185x5, 175x6, 175x7 Power Shrugs 135x5, 185x5, 245x10, 295x10, 335x10 BB Rows 155x10, 155x10, 155x10 Ab Rollouts from Knees 3x10 Dips BWx5, BW+65x5, BW+77x1, BW+40x8, BW+40x6 DB Laterals 23s x8x3 Comments: Compared to last Saturday's workout, I added 5 lbs to each set of bench, 20 pounds to my top 3 sets of power shrugs and 10 lbs to my first set of BB rows. Last week, I hit a PR on dips (BW+77x3), but I only got 1 rep this week. Oh, well. I added another set at BW+40 to try to make up for it. Saturday and Wednesday workouts take place in my basement, where there is just enough room to make it work: Those Home Depot sawhorses are my version of a "rack." :) They work for squats, too.

Another session on my half sleeve. Tattooed by Crispy Lenox, Black Garden Tattoo, London.

Cotton Pickin' Hiro just posted a few coverups that don't look like coverups (especially the lion): COTTON PICKIN TATTOO:

I love the people that say, "I don't care what you cover it with -- anything -- just make this _______ go away!" then I suggest something and they turn their nose up at it...obviously you care so speak up! I'm not talking craziness like a bowling ball on top of a suitcase either. I mean a rose or something. I tend to tell people to pick a few things they'd get if they had fresh skin there and I'll choose the most workable option or elements that their choices suggest. Then I tell them to expect to go bigger than the tattoo and be open to interpretation because it doesn't just have to look good, it has to look good and cover. I hate coverups that look like coverups.

Guaranteed to cover anything.

Hey @tammy can you mail me that platter..I love the creamy burrata.

In 2008, the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco invited Horitaka of State of Grace to participate in their MATCHA series. Horitaka not only gave a lecture on Japanese tattooing--he also tattooed a client in the museum, as did Horitomo, Horiyuki (aka Jill Bonny), Colin Kenji and Shige (who was also accompanied by one of his clients). Horitomo put in a few hours on my arm, then worked on Khalil Rintye's ribs for a while. It was a very odd experience. I've been tattooed at conventions, but this was very different. At conventions, most of the attendees are tattooed. At the museum, that was not the case; tons of people were coming up and asking me all kinds of questions. (If only I'd brought earbuds--plugged into nothing--I could've played it off like I couldn't hear them.) In the end, I was happy to participate. Until last week, I never knew there was a video of the event. Check it out: at 3:40, you can see me and my buddy Clem comparing open spots on our legs. Clem's the guy with the huuuuuuge Jeff Zuck panther on his back (as well as lots of other awesome stuff). But my favorite thing about this is that the top youtube comment says, "0:59 is that Ami James?" :D

take a picture, it will age best.

if you cannot make out the tattoo from 10+ feet away with only the black completed, you don't have a tattoo. you have a pile of shit. if you do not use a black outline on 99% of a tattoo, you don't have a tattoo. you have a pile of shit.

So i believe its or responsibility to talk about it more.Sometimes we have to put back the artistic ego and just work for the good of the customer.I think tattooing is a big thing with huge history and traditions.We have to take more from the past than hurry to put our mark in a way,

9 pages and I haven't been involved in this thread. I love picking up heavy things and putting them back down.

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 work in a small community that is kept fed by a huge military base. Including the shop I work at there are 10 tattoo shops to service the area, 3 of which are reputable shops. The other seven have crappy artists and cheap prices. I'm sorry but I am not going to drop my prices to compete with licensed scratchers, the guys at the other reputable shops all agreed as well. So what happens is we try to send each other business whenever we are overflowing and they do the same. We all focus on doing every tattoo to the best of our ability so that the quality of our work on our worst days still kills the other shops. Whenever we do have someone saying that Joe Blow down the road will do it for cheaper, we refer them to our local wall of shame, it is a cork board that shows pics of tattoos that we have either had to cover or rework, a before and after. It helps to educate the public on what their "good deal" might look like.

I blame the availability of poor equipment.Anyone who has ever been told they drew a good picture picking up machines and setting up shop in their homes. The shop I work at is in the ghetto and there's a lot of "my dude do it for fifty'' Most of the time we tell them to beat it, except around the holidays when its dead. Ha. No we tell them to beat then too.

nd1173 I follow quite a few LST'ers.

Back to the tattoos it always puzzles me why guys that care so much about their physiques go the bro tat route ,it only reinforces stereotypes and is very sad when your outside the loop.Perhaps its cause people haven't been exposed to the alternatives ,so if your reading this for the training stuff and want to be a step ahead of the rest of the pack -check this shit out ! Tattoo by Horizakura NY Adorned .

Xam The Family Business Tattoo Shop

great thread thought I'd add some backpieces done by people at Divine Canvas since no one seems to have mentioned them here

mario said it best. well better yet rollo did. but technically we are always wearing our uniforms. if we werent, then how come that nice meth head at wal mart at 3 in the mornin asks if we do tats??

When I walk into a shop I usually just ask any questions I have to the first heavily tattooed person I see behind the rail. Even if they aren't the person to ask they can usually lead you to the person who is.

A tattoo shop should only and always be referred to as "Ye Olde Tattzappery."