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So, this is a painting by Ralph Johnstone, done for Tatts Thomas way back when they were working on south State Street in Chicago. Nick Colella is putting it on my ribs tomorrow, (without the lettering) that should be fun. I'll post up the finished work as soon as possible.

I'm mostly concerned that you just scheduled this at 1AM. Was this from the flyer in my neighborhood? They do specialize in flesh, you know..

All we can do is speculate on his needle configurations. If you like his work, get a tattoo from him and ask as he gives it to you...

Every thread ever made ever.

I know a guy that has a Stell cat on his knee from last year or so its awesome I got this little filler from Matt Bivetto yesterday- didn't see it or the design til it was done which is a lot of fun edit- i should note this is REALLY small

Dude I don't know what kinda shit you're into but there's a porn and tattoo shop thread here: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-101/2270-pornography-around-tattoo-shop-whats-your-take.html :D

I just booked two appointments at BlackHeart in S.F. I'm going to get a Zeis style dragon from Jeff on my left forearm, and a day of the dead skull on my right inner bicep from Juan. I'm impressed that both Scott and Tim are pretty well booked solid 5 weeks ahead of time! I'm in on the 26th of July and super stoked about it. After that I've got a week to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of the city.

:confused: ;) A panther, duh.

I still will say my head was worse! ha ha ha.....heads or tails!

Actually only the best threads derail so hard that they become....

Victor Kensinger - Kings Avenue Tattoo

I like where this thread is going. @gougetheeyes when I come to crooklyn (eventually) I expect that guy to give me some good work. Back piece at the least.

Just leave it and DON'T PICK!!! ;) haha.

Well, I guess my sleeve was pretty damn patchwork! I had quite a bit of homemade work on both arms, and as I got a bit older, I started to cover it up. The second pro piece I got was by Dale Grande of CTC, a pair of roses over a banner with my name and my wife's name on it. I was just shy of 21. A year or so after that, I went into CTC with a couple of my brothers, and as long as they were there, well, hell, I had to get SOMETHING! Anyhow, there was a dragon curling around a dagger that I took a liking to, so Dale used it to cover an old nickname in a banner I had poked into my right bicep. Sometime after that, I happened to stop into CTC and took a liking to a parrot on a branch with a flower and some flourishes on each side...that went onto the inside of my lower arm, directly opposite the roses and banner. And there it sat for many, many years. We had five kids, worked a bunch of different jobs, and got some work done on my left arm. Started that with a dragon rising out of a mass of swirling black clouds with a couple of lightning bolts through it. Pretty crude by today's standards, it was done at CTC by, I believe, Mark Miller, on a night that Dale chickened out and stayed home because of a blizzard. It was a coverup of a rather large piece done somewhere very secure that was causing me some trouble in keeping a job. Shortly after that, in 1984, again at CTC, Dale used a composite of a demon's head from some flash and the cover of the face on King Crimson's "In The Court of the Crimson King" to cover a homemade "Death Before Dishonor" around a sword on my lower forearm, just above a panther head he had done as one of his first pro tattoos, also a coverup. When he did the demon's head coverup, he worked it into the dragon on my upper-left arm, using clouds and a design of different sized circles. And there that sat, for many, many years. Maybe ten years ago, I decided to finish out my right arm, and went back into CTC. To my surprise, Dale wasn't tattooing much, but he turned me over to Miles Maniaci. Miles wrapped my arm in onion skin and traced all the work that was already there. I had been researching images from Odinic lore, and had five basic designs I wanted. The first was a shield device worked in gold that dated back to about 900 A.D. that was unearthed in what is now northern Germany, the second was an image of the world serpent found on the same shield, the third was actually two separate sets of Celtic knotwork found in a manuscript in an Irish temple predating christianity, and the fourth was a set of Elder Futhark runes that I felt represented the path of my life, and the fifth was a line-drawing of Wotan seated on his throne with one of his wolves at his hand and one of his ravens overhead. Miles worked on the drawings for about a month, and then called me in to look at them. It took me about a minute to say yes, and we started to knock-out four and five hour sessions shortly after. It turned out quite well, I do believe Miles is a master of his craft, as well as a true artist. And there it sat. Not for many, many years, but about ten. I had gotten divorced, and am engaged to a wonderful Lady who brought a daughter of her own to the house. This last year, we went back to CTC and had Nick Colella, whom I had met while Miles was sleeving my right arm, put a Sailor Jerry piece on each of us, and put an old Black Cat Firecracker logo on each of my knees. Nick's work is a trip. I believe he is one of, if not the, master of Traditional, yes, with a capital T, Tattooing. I went back maybe a month ago and had him put on a "seated eagle", an old piece of Cliff Raven's flash that I had wanted since I got my very first pro tattoo at his shop, along with a group of roses, surrounded by banners with the names of our six kids on them. I go in tomorrow for Nick to put on a very old piece on my ribs, and at the same time, to start planning for sleeving out my left arm. It will be a challenge to mix the Japanese elements that Dale used in his cover-ups, the traditional panther's head, and whatever we come up with. I have some ideas, but I'll just sit on those until after I have a chance to sit down with Nick and see what's possible. Whew! Mucho Typo! Anyhow, yes, a lot of what I have was researched and planned, I pulled art books by the pound out of the library and had a librarian spending damn near full-time researching images from pre-christian Europe for me. Had color plates of all of those elements with me when I went in to consult about the sleeve. But a lot of what went onto my arms was fairly random, stuff that caught my eye and my fancy when I saw it, or that was concocted on the fly by Dale with a ballpoint and a collection of snipped-up acetates. Planning is good, but letting events and your heart take charge sometimes is good too. I sometimes feel sorry for the guys I see now who go in an order up a sleeve ready made when they're like 23 or 24. I think maybe they are missing out on the chance to live their lives, record their adventures and their beliefs, and then, when they're old enough to have lived them and seen the meaning behind them, to link them all together. .02, and apologies for the length!

Well just signed up for a mega-huge tattoo that will incorporate most if not all of one ass cheek. Anyone have any experience with ass tattoos?

Hannya, foo dog, skull, octopus, etc are not very common, but I do say things are common for a reason (they look good). When researching what to get for a Japenese tattoo I suggest looking at old Japanese artwork (woodblock prints), as this is the same source for tattoos. Amazon.com: Japanese Woodblock Prints: Artists, Publishers and Masterworks: 1680 - 1900 (9784805310557): Andreas Marks, Stephen Addiss: Books Amazon.com: Masterpieces of Japanese Prints: Ukiyo-e from the Victoria and Albert Museum (9784770023872): Rupert Faulkner: Books Amazon.com: Japanese Prints: The Art Institute of Chicago (Tiny Folio) (0735738061374): James T. Ulak: Books

To prove I wasn't bullshitting on the awesomeness of the bass setup: c'mon I play bass in reggae bands

We should repost @Dan S ' s post in that one thread about fillers n' stuff.

I know there's a better thread on raised tattoos than this one, but you can read about stuff here: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-after-care/558-tattoo-outline-raised.html Next time, poke around a little bit and try out the search function to see if something's already been covered. (In conclusion, raised tattoos are common, especially in certain weather, nothing to freak out about.)

I haven't already told you this, but I also love that Baku. I need to get me some Stell love in a completely hetero way of course ;)

At one point, he said, "Sorry, bud...gotta go behind your knee for a sec." I had to laugh. And @Cork, I've already told you this, but I LOVE that baku!

So much easier than choosing your first. "Whatcha got today?"

Mike Roper does the SICKEST dragons I swear. He just started a leg piece on the artist who does all my tattoos and I'm totally going to have him do my torso when I get back to the states. That and Isaac Fainkujen to do a girl with a panther head on my thigh lol.

I want to punch that kid in his shitty little tattooed face, with my shitty little tattooed hand. I hope his 'plastic' stencil catches fire and burns his parents house down. Shit like that makes me wish I didn't even have tattoos sometimes. Also, sailor Jerry wasn't the best tattooer to ever live. He wasn't the best tattooer of his time. He's just the one who's stuff got saved by someone who knew what to do with it to make a lot of money and get famous. That would be Ed Hardy. If it was some other old timer who Ed had been close with, it woulda been that person in the sailor jerry spot today.

I was just talking about him with a guy from NYC who said he worked at his studio painting before..He said when you get tattooed by him it's an all day affair.I like some of his work,but i think there's better tattooers in that style who aren't as well known as him because of the celebrity clientele he tattoos.Here's a few b&g artists to check out in LA. Chuey Quintanar JAMES SPENCER BRIGGS Jun Cha Ben@ Power Tattoo Company Chente@ UTGink Jason Stores

Jill Bonny

this is one i did the other day its about the size of the average girls hand

I also have watched videos of people playing the game...then I realized WTF AM I DOING! also this video is related (makes sense if you played the other diablo)

Then again, I havent posted in it for a while... so I could change this.

I hear you, Brother...I see a lot of wannabe stuff around here too, and yeah, as long as they stay away from the real-deal, they're good to go, but I tell ya, I've seen it go south a few times, guy walks into a place all decked out in his homeboy finest, and someone tells him to represent...um, er, uh, well, I just like think the tattoos are kool! Let's dance. Fine-line has been big, at least around places I've been, Chicago, el-Lay, Pacoima, like that, for decades, but looking at Mr. Cartoons portfolio, I saw five different sets advertised, and hey, solo un Gabacho viejo!

Actually foot to ass. Weird I know but I am working around other tattoos.

Reply of the week.

Dude... that thing was nuts. I have been all about Civ's instagram lately. Freddy Corbins is a fuckin trip most of the time. Amazing tattoos and bizarre ass pictures of random shit. All the Obama stuff has been cracking me up lately. I also hate following @Valerie Vargas and firth street on there. Its incredible what they are putting out on the other side of the pond.

more here

Rumor has it he's get loaded during taping, wear the cape home, and try to fight crime.

Wednesday afternoon/evening with Nick Colella at CTC. Tattooing a painting by Ralph Johnstone, who worked with Tatts Thomas on south State St. in Chicago on my ribcage. Should be a party.

I'm visiting Tantrum Tattoo tomorrow and who knows what will happen! No plans (friend getting tattooed) but you never know

I haven't made an addition to this thread since page 30 something. My time has finally come! Richard Stell, guest spotting at Smith Street Tattoo in NYC. It was an awesome experience. Richard is hilarious. He had my abs cramping up at one point from laughing to much... or it was the hypoglycemia setting in. Regardless it was a lot of fun.

Isn't the 4th one down the album art for Abraxis by Santana?

My dads eagle done in south Chicago in 1983

i would take someone with 4 inch tunnels and a beaded browline before all of those guy's hashtags. i'm also assuming he has a sick backpiece... i mean, he is showing it off so much.

When there is no more room in Hell the dead will walk the Earth.

This is happening near me too, kids straight out of high school getting covered neck to toes.

Very nice! I trained hung ga for 8 years.

Man, everybody already used my smart-ass answers but the Greg Irons quip was funnier than I could have come up with. But back to the original question. This is one of the newer approaches to tattooing that makes me slightly uncomfortable to be honest. Myself and a few tattooers I know and work with have noticed the trend of customers finding a sense of pride in how long they had to wait for their tattoo. As if that makes the tattoo more worthwhile. With some of the currently living/working tattooers mentioned in this thread, I personally know people (not even on the internet) that have tattoos from all of them. Filip, Horiyoshi III, Shige and Mike Rubendall. Yeah, they had to wait a little while for some of them but not as long as you'd think for others. Mike Roper is a different situation because he makes it deliberately difficult to get in touch with him, which answers the question posed above. But that wasn't really the question that was asked and it's rarely the question that gets asked. The question, or at least the implication, is "who has the longest waiting list' or "who has appointments booked furthest into the future". If I were to be snarky "who gives me the most bragging rights". For me the hardest people to get a tattoo from are the tattooers who are located furthest away from me. The ones where I have to get off my ass and do something about it. Time is easier to overcome than distance although patience is a different matter. It astonishes me that people call our shop from the outskirts of the city expecting us to change the way we work because they are catching a train to get here. On the other hand, we are humbled and honoured by the people who cross seas and continents to get tattooed regularly with us. But that's aside from the issue. Why is it a trend that makes me uncomfortable? Because I've heard people brag about how long they had to wait for 'x' artist and wear that information like a badge of honour. It feels almost as distasteful as bragging about who charges the most. Yeah, tattoos are for tough guys and tough buys like to brag and maybe that seems harmless, but it makes me uncomfortable and I have trouble clearly explaining why. Maybe it's because it's a phenomenon spurred on by the internet and the gossipy world of hearsay. Nobody calls and checks with the artists or shops they want to get tattooed at. Nobody travels down to the shop to ask the question. They just ask random strangers on the internet who have a lot of time on their hands and like to talk about something they know nothing about. Then the reality gets lost or twisted and in the end the real information is lost. I see this a lot with regards to the shop I work at. Forums are (or certainly used to be) bursting with 'facts' about how much we charge, how long we take, how far 'x' and 'y' are booked or how long their waiting lists are. Nobody calls the shop to ask and nobody suggests that the person calls to ask. I know that happens with a lot of things but it seems like this is starting to have a real-world effect, however small. People who wanted tattoos that we would love to do heard that we wouldn't tattoo them at our shop because we were so cool and busy and booked up for decades and rolling around in money 'n' bitches or something. We've heard of this a few times and it seems to be happening more. Yeah, we're busy, you may have to wait a little, maybe not. If someone has contact information, especially a phone number on their website it means that they want you to call. I'm not really going to touch on the tone of the "are they a fad or are they really worth it?" comment, except to say that if you have to ask, the answer is "no". Sorry to jump on this fun thread with a rant. I look forward to more witty quips.