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In my opinion there are no books that can teach these things with regard to tattooing. Most of what I learned is from some of the concepts from Art History (capitals intended) but throwing yourself into art history school won't help. For me the keys to learning anything in tattooing are getting tattooed by, or working with people who can do what you can't, or don't understand. Studying (not just looking at) tattoos and tattoo photos helps too. Many concepts that apply to music help with visual composition too, such as flow, dynamics, contrast, rhythm etc. Also alchemy: solve et coagula. Take apart what exists, understand it, then assemble it once more. In Japanese there is a similar concept: "Shu Ha Ri" Its a long-ass road. If your'e in Austin, see how Steve Byrne or Tony Hundahl lay out a tattoo. It can be a masterclass in composition for clarity and readability.

I think when I realized I didnt have to have a "reason" to get a tattoo, and it didnt have to have a "meaning" it changed my perspective immensely. I credit this site and actually getting off my ass and going to a lot of different shops and seeing what the hell is really going on with tattooing. I think the biggest mistake people make when they come here is that the dont do some lurking first. I learned a lot more about what tattooing is about by just listening to the interviews, reading the posts of people who are either tattooers or serious collectors. Now that I get what a good tattoo is, its enough. I dig just going to a shop, knowing the artists are all kick ass, and then just picking a piece of flash off the wall cause I just love tattoos. I dont have to go to therapy before hand to disect my relationship with my mom and pick an image that shows our conflicts blah blah blah I'm not gonna lie, I like the attention of posting a new tattoo...I think we all kinda do to a certain extent. But yeah, shut up and get tattooed is kinda my mantra at this point I guess.

@MadeIndelible - never apologise for posting awesome backpieces haha ;) Horitsune II Horiyasu: Not Sure on these 2:

I hesitate to do all this politlcal shit on what is a forum for and about tattooing. That said, there seems to be no one more intolerant than one who espouses tolerance. If you don't want to tattoo something, that's fine, totally your business. But don't call the "racist" bullshit if you're willing to do the portraits of Che, the clenched fist, the Hammer and Sickle, all those other symbols that are, ultimately, racist. The swastika is derived from the Sunwheel, which was/is a symbol used by the ancestory of ALL White people for thousands of years before a group of fanatical SOCIALISTS cloaked themselves in Nationalism and used it as a symbol of their regime. Many people still use the sunwheel, or various iterations of the swastika, as a sign of their beliefs. MAny people today still have swastikas tattooed on them that have no political meaning whatsoever. I know it's hard for someone that is, say, in their twenties or early thirties to imagine an era before political correctness, but int he sixties and seventies, the swastika was extensively used, especially by "bikers", as an emblem to shock, or to express their alienation from society. This does not make them racist. If such a person were to get that tattoo retouched, it could well be nothing more than refreshing their memories of that time. If a person got such a tattoo in prison, it's quite possible that they have an attachment to it that transcends politics or race. A mark of survival, if you will. I've posted before that I've done too many "bad" things to judge ANYONE for anything. I guess I've lost touch with that essence of absolute innocence and conviction that allows one to condemn sommeone they know nothing of because of a symbol they have tattooed on them. And just to prove what a racist I am, my oldest son's Godfather is Puerto Rican, my Granddaughter is a quarter "Native-American", and my best friend and main partner is half-Riquenoo tambien. To be truly tolerant of others means to be able to be tolerant of them even when you don't agree with them. .02

Being a big forum guy I have a suggestion that I have seen work wonders in the past, and I see it starting to get implemented here as well. As with a lot of times, newcomers sometimes skip the search or fail to find the answer to a common question or topic. To keep ideas flowing in a continuous thread stickies and "master posts" are created. Duplicate threads ended up spreading information all over the place and sometimes causes irritation to long-time members as the same questions/topics get re-posted a million times. I know that the edit button disappears within minuets of creating a post, which makes the idea of a "master post" kinda impossible, but maybe this can be changed. Example of a master post:

It'll translate great. Don't worry about looking for pictures of a chain, the only one you'll need to worry about is the one your tattooer draws up for you. I promise.

I try to stay away from bashing the tattoo tv shows, but i think they play a big part in it. People decide that the tattoos need to mean something so they ask the artist to jam fifty different elements into a three inch tattoo. The artist says yeah i can do it if that is what you want, but doesn't jump up and down about how new and original the design is or most likely gives a suggestion to simplify the thing. Everyone of their friends and family has told them what a great idea it is, and now the person that they have came to get tattooed by is telling them that it isn't. They get all butt hurt about it, and go looking for some other people to reassure them that it is as great of an idea as they think it is.

Horitoshi: I apologize if these have been posted before.

fuck yeah for positive discussions and appreciate responses! more of this on here!!!

A buddy and I are headed to Costa Mesa to get tattooed on Friday :D

Just a joke. Everybody makes mistakes, some people just pay a higher price for them. A guy steals $100 from a liquor store he goes to jail for 5 years, a guy steal $100,000,000 from a bunch of poor working stiffs and he gets a million dollar pension.

Um . . . NO! You'd have no tattoos and you'd only have about $6,800 left of your $17k.

I'll apologize in advance... Tim is tattooing us :D

Simon Erl does killer chains: But once again, pointless if the artist can't draw/tattoo a chain. "Currently I am having a kraken taking down a ship tattooed it is basically a full front in a very simple traditional style. Was hoping to get some opinions on how a traditional style anchor chain would translate as a tattoo, my artist suggested to put a chain instead of rope." - How big is this chain supposed to be? The primary images in that design are 1) the Kraken 2) the ship. Those are the elements people should focus on. Rope vs. chain? What about the riggings? Windows? suction cups on the tentacles?

Steve Byrne BOOM! Steve Byrne Tattoo | Facebook

Horiyasu: Horiharu: Hijiri:

This guy... :rolleyes:

LST pals. I feel like I have been lacking on the posting front. Too much lame shit going on in my life lately. But I'mma get back to it soon. To quote "Say Anything": Bitches Man!

a better example that I could definitely see being an awesome stickied master post would be 1) What is a good tattoo (I know this exists maybe just cleaned up in the first post) 2) So you want a tattoo.... (a first timers guide around info around first time tattoos)

Tattooing the Invisible Man- Ed Hardy. Hands down one of my absolute favorites. The Zeis book by @scottboyer and his partner will no doubt rank highly. Stoney knows how- invaluable.

Ohh i wish......I felt like he went over every line 2x.

Having read through several of these threads, I'm noticing a trend of people having been given advice or ideas by their tattoo artists and then coming here and asking our opinion. So here's my opinion- if you trust some random stranger on the internet over the guy/girl you're paying to mark you permanently, I think you should reevaluate your relationship with your tattooer and maybe tattoos in general. I understand forums are a pretty recent thing, but I'm close to positive people didn't go around asking every Tom, Dick, and Harry on street what their opinions were on their tattoos. I don't know if it's a validation thing, attention seeking, or what, but hell, if you're doing this based on anyone's opinion other than your own, I think you're in this for the wrong reasons.

Maybe it is my engineering background, but am I the only nerd who keeps an active spreadsheet inventory of my tattoo collection? According to my data, in about 4 hours I'm sitting for Session #43 and Hour #130. $17K in 10 years...YIKES. Better decision making would have seen me invest in the stock market instead. But, that would have been a horribly boring and uncolourful 10 years! :confused:

I woke up too early, so lack of sleep reminds me of "Fight Club", which reminds me of this scene:

Leaving Friday for a week vacation. I thought it was agreed that we were all gonna have to go to SF for a meetup. :D

@slayer9019 Me too, but some of these people are on their 3rd or 4th tattoo. Belaboring tiny details or squeezing every ounce of personal meaning into a tattoo means zip to the rest of the world. I think sometimes people are like "Well, my tattoo has this deep meaning/detail, therefore it is more socially acceptable than some flash somebody picked off the wall". If people (specifically the ones that matter, like employers) don't like tattoos, they will care less what it means. I don't speak for every other person with tattoos, but I don't care what it means . So just get whatever the hell you want already.

And I found more lmao

I found more lol

This is so gangster

or more astutely:

I don't think Hogrider's reply was suggesting that anybody who's done time is somehow less than anyone. I also don't think that getting stuff done in prison to save your ass equals getting that prison tattoo touched up when you get out. I certainly agree that some people do things in prison to survive that they might not otherwise believe in. If you get out of prison and you're still doing that stuff, then what it says to me is that you must really believe that stuff.

Reminds me of this piece by Tilt edit: here is the full body shot...crazy

Oh, I think he's still around.. mark my words.

Real recognize real.

Everyone likes exotic animals like tigers and panthers (as they should) or majestic animals like horses and eagles but I'd like to see some more conventional animals, pigs, cows, chickens, etc. A lot of those sort of animals really translate well in american trad.

did anyone catch this gem on their Instagram feed today?

Too early for me to have decent pix of this work, I only got it tonight, but if you like Traditional stuff, you may find it interesting. Originally done as an advertising sign by Ralph Johnstone for his parlor in the arcades on south State Street in Chicago, and repainted by Nick Colella as his signature sign at CTC. He's had it hanging there over his work station for I don't know how many years, and in the times I've sat for him, it just kinda grew on me. He told me tonight he's never put it on anyone else, so I guess I got a one-of-a-kind piece of Chicago tattooing history, from one of Chicago's tattooing legends. Nick Colella / Chicago Tattooing Company. I can't recommend Nick enough. He is a wonderful artist, good people, fast, accurate, and skillful tattooist, and an all-around good guy. Anyone thinking of gettinng tattooed in the Chi should give serious consideration to him. I did post this in another thread, so if that's not kool, please, would a mod just delete this. Thanks to all of you who have "liked" my posts here thus far...even if I ahven't personally thanked you all, please know that it is appreciated!

@The Hyena cant wait for update! ron henry wells http://laughinghyena.wordpress.com/

Please can we have a thread, area, whatever, to move the increasing number of posts asking for free advice from people who are bored, scared to visit a real-world tattoo shop, attention seeking, lonely, stupid or whatever? I'm not adverse to giving free advice, hell, I can even be nice to people sometimes but it's getting a little cluttered in here. The signal/noise ratio is getting harder and harder to manage or respond to without sarcasm. Reading 'Tattoo 101' is getting more and more like hangin' out on the wrong side of the reception desk on a busy saturday afternoon and less like an interesting or stimulating discussion between people who love tattoos and tattooing. Sorry if I'm pissing on anyone's parade.

Stoney Knows How. This is a book about tattoo artist Stoney St Clair. The books full of great stories and some nice flash. He was probably one of the last links to the world of the travelling carnival tattooer. He also overcame a crippling disability that left him wheelchair bound for most of his life. He's definitely on of my tattoo heroes Here's a link to a short film (he's being interviewed by a young Ed Hardy) FolkStreams » Stoney Knows How

A reasonable hourly rate doesnt mean poor tattooing. Wilson is 150 an hour.

There are a lot of variables as to the trauma of getting a tattoo. I've had some tattoos go through the healing process twice and some that were healed in three days. No rhyme or reason to any of it as far as I can tell. But, I have setled into a workable healing routine. 1 Don't muck with it til the next morning. 2 Wash it in the shower 3 Let it dry out all day (there should still be plenty of moisture in it from the day before) 4 Following morning, shower wash it and 5 Start using lotion. (Don't use lotion on it before it's had at least a good 24 hours to dry out) I know this doesn't sound like 'enough' but it works for me. I am not a particularly hairy person, I don't sweat a lot, and I am not doing manual labor outside, so I am generally clean anyway. Overwashing it only re-traumatizes the area -- and only enough lotion to keep it from getting too dry and 'cracking'.

tattoo machine,tattoo flash,scott herrington,tattoo,tattoo rare,collector,rad | eBay Got this recently, and prob only reason i didn't get outbid is because he/she didn't know his name is Scott Harrison, not Scott Herrington.

I show up an hour early, stand in the window and shake with excitement while chain smoking and yelling "COME ON FUCKER. COME ON!!!"

oh yeah duh

I also wonder what tattooer gives someone a palm tattoo as their first tattoo.