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Just got this from Bryan Randolph at Spider Murphy's: It's based on old Milton Zeis flash (and my wife, for bonus points). Bryan's awesome, and I couldn't be happier with it.

Almost forgot to post this up! Regino Gonzales Invisible NYC

Just received an AWESOME tattoo from Steve Boltz. Can't post a photo yet as I'm still at the shop waiting for the others. It's been fun, I ran into @jade1955 and we talked a bunch and he head out to the airport..... By the way, the barcode tattoo is not happening....

Almost forgot to post this up! Regino Gonzales Invisible NYC

-Part 5- Back in Oslo now. Been struggling with jetlag from another world after going back and forth between NY and LA, then back to Norway. The last couple nights I've spent the night on aeroplanes, so the quality of sleep haven't been top notch either. But oh so worth it :D So, last time I wrote I was worried about the Conn appointment not happening because of the rumor of him cutting his hand. Well, the rumors were true, but thankfully it had happened a couple weeks prior, so his hand was all healed when I arrived. My appointment was on saturday, and I arrived friday evening. Chris has a guest bedroom for travelling clients, so I was able to get a good nights sleep there before the day of the tattoo. I won't elaborate much on my stay there, but it was probably the most memorable tattoo experience I've had. I left LA with much more than just a new tattoo, and I'll remember that visit the rest of my life. If someone still is on the fence because of his price, don't be. You'll get your moneys worth, and a whole lot more. That's my opinin anyways. I won't post pictures of the tattoo either, unless Chris decides to put it up on his blog at some point. Sorry. He is one of the few tattooers out there who only has a handful of tattoos of online, and I don't want mine to be "first page google" material. So that's about it. I had the time of my life, and I'm already looking forward to start planning my next trip. Thanks to everyone who bothered to read all my ramblings. Chris Conn's cat, the view from his studio and a print I got from him before I left Using my own name at Starbucks turned out to be too much of a hassle, so my coffee I got myself a coffe order alias Was out shopping when we stumbled over this high-profile shop. Hendricks wasn't there unfortunately. Also went to the Comedy Cellar one night, and I recommend everyone else who visits NY to do the same. I laughed my ass off! The Zombie playing guitar was a resident of Duffs, a small metalbar in Brooklyn My two Cris Cleen tattoos

My knee and shin dine by Danny Reed at Hot Stuff in Asheville, NC.

I like every single thing about this post.

Having magazines with somewhat tasteful nudes is not a problem. Having gaping holes and chicks being sprayed with cum out in public is low class. Those mags are made for private viewing. Yeah I judge people. So what. Anyway, I have nothing against porn. But a smart business man/woman wouldn't have such red flags out in the open for "just anybody" to see. My 2 cents. I mean if you have hustler in your lobby, chances are some creep is gonna jagoff in your bathroom. You think they won't? Think again. You wanna clean that up? Most shops get playboy delivered free these days. We keep them in the office. They would just get stolen anyway.

this has been a quote i've used for many years, but more and more i see people that didnt really deserve a shitty tattoo, they were just too ignorant to know better with on their first tattoo. not ignorant in an insulting way, but more of a lack of knowledge way. I cant really hate on someone that didnt know better in the first place. just because a first-timer didnt go to 5 different shops doesnt mean they should wear a piece of shit. hell, some of the general public that DO go to different shops dont even know what to look for while browsing a portfolio. some people just see a bunch of pretty colors but none of the essentials and are fooled by smoke & mirrors.

excellent and important subject matter, and I have never seen anyone else touch on this before. kudos for bringing it to light. my gf thinks i'm going deaf because i'm getting old(?!), but i blame it 50% on the invention of the Walkman and 50% on holding a hot-rodded doorbell in my ear for countless hours. i believe any type of cardio is important whether it be lifting heavy things of karate kicks or whatever. marcus is right, it is incredibly easy to put on weight in what we do. personally i go for swimming, skating and recently have started running as well.

If you stay in Marin, you're close to Lagunitas brewery and lots of fun activities to do w/the little one like Muir Woods, Stinson Beach, driving up the 1 to Hog Island to get oysters. Ok fine, maybe these are things that I like to do...

Ah, man- Spain. I watch International House Hunters with the Mrs. and see all the Brits with summer places in Ibitha. I'm jealous :cool:

Might as well laugh.

This is another thing with English...different versions!

What are you running from?

Its a good starting platform particulary to introduce a model of periodization and is easy to follow*, very sound .

Ha ha. Thanks folks. The position was filled a couple of weeks ago. By an experienced tattooer.

I read this in the "Scottish Tattoo History" Thread. Thought it might be interesting to add here. "Around the 1950's there was part-time tattooist who worked in Glasgow's famous Barras market called 'Dirty Dick'. Very little is known about him other that the fact that he worked in the back of a shop in the Spoutmouth area of the market that also sold pornographic magazines. It is this line of merchandise that earned him his nickname and not the fact that he worked under filthy conditions when tattooing as previously thought."

whoops double post, my bad *ducks banhammer* lol

I think @hogg posted it? I thought I'd saved the link but I can't find it at the minute, but if I do I'll repost

fuck you bubbleberry.

Its another valerie one, have two now. Was stuck between a rock and a hard place, i knew i had an hoilday coming in 2 half weeks but had another chance to get tattoed by Valerie so took it, never know when the next chance will be....... It's healed, no scabs all peeling done. Think i just keep t shirt on as much as i can, if not dose it in suncream and just jump in pool to cool off then out.... Be gutted if i fuck it up, but wanna enjoy holiday too. No more tattoos for me in summer now too, its a PITA edit. ill try burn the fuck out of my old forearm tattoos might save me a laser session....!

So is that what's stopped you from getting your first tattoo, no facebook?

you got da BAnnHammer??? how fitting

And some Swiss dude name Phillip Loo, I think.

Read it man. Its not long :P We touch on the mental aspect but the weight is on physical stuff. And this is just the first one, plenty more to come.

My appt. with Chris O'Donnell is TODAY!!! YES!!!

A very good choice......tell him his Sister say hello!

Must have been a slow night...go in there on a late Saturday when there's a fresh batch graduating from Great Mistakes, then you'll REALLY see it jumping! And believe me, they can handle any action that walks through the door. As noted elsewhere, that 'hood was stone ghetto not too very long ago, and once upon a time, there was a firearm very much in evidence when a stranger walked into the shop. Gotta love that place.

You all need one of these if you want to make sure the fox is gone!

Mo Coppoletta (The Family Business) recently had his gallery updated on their site - must be the first time in years. Anyway - I thought this was cool. I really like the stone shelf and the way the flames are done.

-Part 4- Okay, so ALOT has happened since last time I wrote here (part 2). Two of my bandmates arrived in NYC a few days ago, so now I've got some company. They're not interested in tattoos though, so they're off seeing the statue of liberty or visiting the empire state building while I'm getting tattooed or just visiting shops. They look like this by the way: So, as some of you might have guessed from the previous part, I got tattooed by Bailey Hunter Robinson last wednesday. He was so nice, and his little private studio was amazing. Lots of cool artifacts like stuffed animals and a lifesize wooden native american. The tattoo was done in a couple of hours, and the spot wasn't nearly as painful as I thought it would be. I have also been somewhat of a tattoo-tourist these last few days. I've stopped by both Kings Avenue (Manhatten) and Invisible. Outside invisible I had a little stop'n'chat with a nice fella from Inksmith and Rogers that was doing a guestspot on Kings Av at the time. We had a little tattoo show'n' tell as well. He had some amazing tattoos from the likes of Chris garver, Mike Wilson and Tim Hendrix. Hendrix did the girlhead on his chest as you can see in the picture below. Unfortunately I can't remember his name (I suck at remembering names), but maybe @Ursula can enlighten us if she recognizes his chestpiece? Anyway, I told him I had an appointment booked with Chris Conn this week and he said "are you sure it's still happening". He had heard something about Conn cutting his hand and postponing appointments. I have to admit that I'm very worried at the moment, but I haven't received any phone calls or emails, so I am keeping my fingers crossed. The flight is already booked and payed, so I don't know what I'll do if it doesn't happen.... Anyway, I also stopped by Kings Av, which was AMAZING. It was especially fun seeing these two Ed Hardy originals and the Tim Lehi set in the photo below. The guy at the counter there was more than willing to pull down his pants and showing me his awesome Timothy Hoyer tiger too. I picked up a couple shop shirts before I left, and found out that one of them had a piece of tape on it with the inscription "Gay bird". What the what!?! Man, there are some crazy people in thic city. That topless chick was out shopping it seemed :D The dude in the speedo banging on a floortom with kitchensupplies had the most energetic performance I've ever seen. I have a video that I'll try to upload on youtube of that guy. Does any of the locals on here know who he is? Then there's these guys... Had to get a refill at Shirts and Destroy too Yesterday (Saturday) was the time for my fourth and final tattoo here in New York. Mr Timothy Hoyer was going to do a pantherhead on my thigh to match the Lehi tiger on the other leg. I was really excited about that one, and it seemed as Timothy was excited to do it as well. Like Bailey he also tattoos out of a private studio, and I must say that I really like the experience of it. It feels much more relaxed, and I find it easier to get into a conversation in that kind of environment. Timothy was super cool and showed me lots of paintings and stuff he was currently working on. The tattoo took around four hours to complete, and now my Lehi tiger has finally got a buddy :) Maybe I should pick up one of these, just in case I get tired of it When New Yorkers ask me where I get my sick tatts done I give them the address to this vending machine That's it for now. I'm sure I forgot around half of what I wanted to say, and I'm both sleepy and hungry at the moment, som my focus isn't where it should be. Sloppy english and no proofwriting on this one. Thanks for reading! :)

Good on you @Iwar! Living the good life. I think everyone here is pretty much envious of your travels last year and now. Can't wait to see what escapades come next!

Keep it traditional- giant shunga and namakubi prints everywhere ;)

I can only speculate, but I would imagine the last thing he would want to do is be booked out of the year right away. Charging $500 bucks an hour, narrows it down to people who are really serious about it and see what an opportunity it is. Also charging more could allow him to not take as many appointments at first and get back into it at his own pace. I can totally understand a person thinking $500 is too much, but coming up with the extra $200 bucks an hour seems like a simple obstacle considering before this announcement he was done tattooing forever.

lol it would be nice if after a 2 hrs of work and your tattoo was done he looked at you and said its awesome your willing to spend 1 thousand for a tattoo from me but I can only accept 500. But yeah price is price it will detour the faint of heart

I met the chick who won the eBay auctions at a conventions. She's a tattooer from Europe. She or her hands done with lady heads of course. They were super nice. I can't recall the exact price but I believe it was in the thousands. I dunno if the photo I posted earlier is working as I'm checking from my phone but the tattoo he did last night is amazing as expected and was not a lady head. My man emailed last night as soon as I heard to get appts. for us both. I'll let everyone know when we hear back what the wait time is like.

would so love to go to the globe someday, i love shakespeare...

'Scuse the pictures, they were taken by a friend who wasn't real comfortable using my camera. And then attaching them here ate the colour (not that it matters at this stage). Also excuse my arm-cleavage :P Anywho, after 3x3hour sessions, lines: I haz them. Favourite parts are the crowns (Cypress and Ivy) and the hair. And the eyelashes ^.^ There should be more Greek Mythology tattoos. Got another session with Rachi in about a week and a half.

been meaning to get a healed pic of this up. scott sylvia started this one on me (outline + shading) last fall SFO convention...finished a few weeks ago. craaaaazy fast and scott was a real gent - got me in for an additional session 2nd day to finish up. totally stoked with how it turned out and the overall experience in general...

Here's a Kore Flatmo tiger and snake back piece picture....

Really great Robin. I think the idea you're getting at extends beyond tattooing and photography though... I think what you're really getting at is the nature of the art of creation. I've been thinking about this a lot anyways and here's how I look at it... There are people who have immense fantasy world's (CREATIVE VISION) in their head but cannot articulate/illustrate/convey/EXECUTE what they have seen in their head. Similarly, there are people with a photographic memory of sorts- they can see/hear/taste something in the outside world (no CREATIVE VISION) and recreate/EXECUTE it beautifully. And then there's a range of people in between (the greys) who are skilled in various amounts of both Creative Vision and Execution. For most art forms, the perfect melding of creative vision and execution is where we see greatness. There are forms however like still life painting where execution is revered. Similarly there are forms like stream of consciousness writing where creative vision is revered. But what we're concerned about in the realm of tattooing is definitely the combination of creative vision and execution. Most of us want to see original, well thought art in a professionally done manner. Technique/execution can be learned with practice/work. Creative vision on the other hand is much less teachable and is therefore much more mystical/less tangible (I.E. what you're referencing with Christenberry, Robin.) By the way, what I'm discussing is not limited to art forms either. It can be applied to any human pursuit that requires ingenuity and performance.