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Independence Day peacock walk-in from Zach Nelligan @ Triple Crown Tattoo

I wasn't sure where to put this, but July 3rd, Thomas Hooper stopped through town to take part in local restaurant Frank's monthly art mural. Part of the opening was a meet and greet with free food and limited edition two color screen prints (I think there was 50 made total) 1)Me in front of Hooper's mural to give you an idea of scale: 2&3)The Industry Print crew running the screens and Mr. Hooper: 4)My framed (and signed) Thomas Hooper screen print:

I've spent the last 14 months scrubbing bathrooms, floors and tubes to get where I am. It isn't easy to find someone willing to dedicate their time to teach you their craft. You have to prove that this is truly where your heart is and it will be worth it to them. An apprenticeship isn't just learning to tattoo, it's paying your fucking dues. I have never had a problem just going into any shop. I have been able spend time with tattooers whom I really look up to and they have taught me many things even though they were not my mentor. Why? Because I'm doing it right and I've shown them the respect they deserve. That woman treated you the way you deserved to be treated.

I really don't give a shit.

Really? This shit's Bubbleberry all over again. Someone please swing the hammer and end this. I'm convinced that threads like these are the reason so many tattoo artists have stopped posting on this site. Do we really want to lose the few that have stuck around??

seconded.

can we immortalize this quote please???

If you didn't spend money you weren't a customer.

Uh, yeah, it is.

This thread contains pictures of German SS Officers tattooed by Christian Warlich . I think we are all sensible enough thats there's no need to address the Nazi equation , after all if I didn't mention it ,its not apparent . Anyway thanks to kind permission by Bill Loika heres a rare glimpse of some great old pics.

Maxime Buchi will be in LA at the end of the month, he has a similar style. I know Thomas is one of his biggest influences though he doesn't totally copy Thomas' style. Maxime is also covered in tattoos from Thomas. M - - - Updated - - - I'll add that probably the best place to get tattooed by Thomas is at a convention... that's how I did it...

I travel to MAKE tattoos! 3 hours each way two days a week to New Jersey.

Namaste Bro.

My wife TrixieFaux is on LST all the time and I figured this is a good way to spy on her -- I mean, participate in a meaningful discussion about tattoos with other enthusiasts. Anyway, after lurking for some time, she finally goaded me into joining, so here I am.

only one more week and i get tattooed by chad k. and franz stefanik... can not wait.

I don't see how anything posted in this forum would ever lead someone to believe that we as a community condone tattooing out of your house.

@David Flores gave the best advice anyone could give about anything in life really. Talk less, listen more. I was going to post earlier and say that but I didn't really want to make enough effort to post a reply. Largely due to exercising that exact motto. The sooner that any and all people start to become less self involved and stop thinking that anything they do is important, then the sooner we all start to benefit. I'd also say look up the word humble or humility and then meditate on that until it is the starting point of all of your thoughts.

I'm thinking you might be lucky that no violence ensued. I cant imagine what would have happened had Ursula been there...

I just booked with Stuart Cripwell to get my other knee done. It's not until late August, but I'm really excited about it.

One of the hardest things for me about tattooing was learning how to connect with people in a real short period of time. You have to really try to put yourself out there so someone feels like you appreciate the fact that they are letting you tattoo them. Most tattooers forget who the process is really about, the customer. I constantly remind myself that although each appointment is just a small part of my day, it is a huge part of that persons life from that point on. If you cant understand this and treat people accordingly then tattooing is a bad career choice for you. That being said, sometimes people are hard to connect with no matter how hard you try.

Ok. I will go first. "When the inside of the arm isn't tattooed." Sorry, it's just a pet-peeve of mine -- people calling something a 'half-sleeve' when the inside of the bicep area isn't done. I've even heard people refer to a "Quarter sleeve" when someone just had a tattoo on his shoulder. In my way of thinking there isn't such a thing as a 'quarter sleeve'. You don't even start measuring til you got a real 'half-sleeve'. Then you can have a "three -quarter" or in Japanese vernacular a "7/10s". Then a full sleeve. Or "10/10s" Please, weigh in.

hahaha pmsl - - - Updated - - - What about language barriers, between you and the artist does that bother anyone ?

I don't give a damn if a man has stacked hard time-I think you tend to meet a better class of person in prison! Really, if he's done his time, and as long as he isn't short-eyes or like that, so what? I guess the only other beef I would have would be if he was a commie P.O.S.

I know it's why I haven't been logging in do often now.

Hi, I'm Kate a single soccer mom / cake designer and decorator. I'm also a tattoo enthusiast, I currently have 3 all with various special meanings to me. I have been lurking for awhile and thought it was finally time to join.

Mine arrived today didn't get a print but thats ok. Just thumbed through the book it's fantastic. I want all these tattoos! Edit I was about to throw the box away and I checked inside just in case anything with my details and the print was in with the book.

it might be interesting to have a rule that you MUST be drunk to post in this thread.

It would be kinda funny to do a DDOS styled attack with shitty stick figure drawings. Just find out how their bot pulls all of everyone stuff and load it down with squidpaints drawings! LETS DO IT!

You'd be amazed chrisnoluck, never underestimate the predictability of stupidity.

Is it staring at your own reflection until you turned into a flower?

Over/under on banhammer? I'm thinking about 12 more posts...

First off it should only be referenced to as squid appendages. I got a squid shirt and some squid pants started but only after the tatty zap gun finishes inkin me bro. All joking aside, I use the term (even though I hate it) for lack of a better word to most people, but never refer to anything less than a "sleeve". Half, quarter, third-pounder, all sound like shit.

Because it's well known that all the good artists tattoo people with the hopes that their piece will get covered up later on. "Not the work of a scratcher", you say? I beg to differ.

I don't have any clue, I just get tattooed. Don't get me wrong I obsess about tattooing and talk about a lot of aspects of tattooing just not the terminology of arm tattoos. Sleeve and half sleeve have kind of become one of those slang words that make you cringe. But I will admit it is part of the tattoo vocab and use the terms at time for lack of a better term. But most of the time I hear any of these terms it's from someone with no tattoos. As far as Japanese stuff goes the different variations of coverage are pretty interesting. I think it was Taki's book Bushido that breaks a lot of that stuff down. There seems to be more purpose, a method to the madness if you will. Similar concept just more interesting in my opinion.

jawohl, Herr Obersturmbahnführer

When a shop is looking for a tattooer usually there is some fine print about no scratchers no wannabe apprentices , must have 5 years experience. So maybe that is why your story about tattooing a strippers rib with a kit you bought from the mall with no supervision as your first tattoo didn't win them over. Reading your posts you come off like a guy who is really trying to be cool and justify the path as a kitchen magician that you have chosen and gain some sort of acceptance in the tattoo world. But the more you talk the less people think of you, my only advice would be to talk less, listen more.

I (randomly) ended up looking at some Yelp tattoo reviews of a studio this morning - it just popped up in my search results and I read them. Amazing how many reviews involved people saying they had a 'bad' or at least 'less than ideal' experience because they didn't "connect" with their tattooer. One even commented that if she was going to have to spend 3-4 hours with them then it was important to her that she be able to relate to them as a person. A couple make reference only to the 'personality free zone' that was their tattooer. It makes me think of someone rejecting their architect on the basis of their personality (not necessarily their customer service). "Hmm, the plans look great and it's got all the features incorporated I asked for... But Tom is just a personality-free zone in our meetings, and I can't identify with him on a deep enough emotional level."

There is beauty in typing, "Well put, @fuckhead."

Checked your FB pages there, Brian, and I would strongly urge you to either find someone to apprentice with, or stick to tagging walls. Homaside? How many 187's you down for?

Looks like a no from what I'm gathering. He's in it to make money (his words) and get all the hard earned information he can Google. His apprenticeship didn't move fast enough so he decided to throw it away and kickstart a career in his apartment. Time has already told. You are indeed a scratcher. Here, you may not find what you're looking for exactly but there's a good chance you'll find what you should -- if you heed what experienced and established tattooers have to offer instead of throwing out whatever doesn't fit with your idea of how it should go.

Totally cool. I hope you didn't feel like I was attacking you in any way, it was not my intention. I liked what you had to say and I would never bring any negativity to this forum. You're correct about the tattoos not being the best on the tv shows. Some of the clients they would give us were very hard to work with and wanted really odd tattoos. The phrase "polishing a turd" word come to mind often... It tested ones patience.

I hate seeing tattooing on television other than MAYBE a well done documentary....then again I think you should have to pay to go to an actual tattoo shop and get tattooed and hope someone is willing to share anything with you if you really want to know anything about it....BUT......I have seen a few of Ami's tattoos in person and he is not a bad tattooer! In some ways I wish I could say he was! I would not add something from him personally.....but his tattoo work looks solid and like it will stand the test of time! JMHO :)

I find it awesome when families/spouses join the site. Welcome

I'm kinda with @ian on this one. I certainly don't believe, but I don't consider myself and atheist or anything else really. I do wear a lot of inverted crosses and I'm sure you remember the pants I posted with the big pentagram and goat heads. So by default lots of people think I'm a satan worshipper or something. I don't understand why I have to explain to these idiots that if I don't believe in Jesus, that also means Satan is not real, nor is hell. I just wear that shit cause it's aesthetically interesting to me. And I like looking scary so that less idiots ask me dumb questions about tattoos.

Richard Smith:

Here's some masterful fine line black and grey work too:

"Buyers Remorse" is allot different with tattoos than tires......Choose wisely

Looks fine to me, now its time to fill up the rest of your arms.

thanks for saying that you guys..i had about 40 minutes between tattoos and i was trying to post something outside "machines"...you know alot of this is in the book "tattoo" secrets of a strange art" albert parry...dover(one of my favorite publishers) republished it for 10.00...TEN BUCKS>>>YOU CAN BARELY BUY A DECK OF SQUARES FOR THAT...get it read it..enjoy it..... page 9..."in the summer of 1925 alone,Trixie richardson herself an intricate exhibit,practised on the beaches of new jersey and placed some 10,000 butterflies,forget me nots and what nots on her lady customers" Also I agree about the circus suits....though at bert grimms height they waned...now i would not be tattooing if it was not for bert grimm...you can tie me back to him,as alot of my frineds...and Bert grimm did alot ofr tattooing..gave his life for it...along with inventing the photo booth...no shit...now i know he told tall tales..tattooed bonnie and clyde,john Dillenger etc...but don't we all tell tall tales....however and the risk of disrespecting him..you can see a decline in work between grimshaw and grimm.....However grimms protege was a smokin tattooer....but that is a good example of how the work declined.....the tattooers at the turn of the century were artists...and tattooers....that changed to tattooers...which whatever.... now there are more artists tattooing than ever...and more nitwits too..I am afraid.... I AM JUST GRATEFUL TO BE APART OF IT...TO STILL BE ALIVE AND NOT DIGGING DITCHES OR RUNNING A JACKHAMMER(well if you saw my tattoos that point may have a double meaning) Also traditional...OK that has really come into its own...but what is traditional...now i know what traditional designs are...bold lines ,texas thirds,thrid black third color third skin...or the 20 20 rule..tell what it is at 20 feet or within 20 seconds...however...and i love the aesthetic...i (at times line with loose groupings etc....but lets look at that.... people back 100 or even 60 years ago mostly lined with 4s....now did that 4 put in that bold line or did time put in that bold line....four flats were also common...ok so these guys were doing body suits with the last supper,president portraits,pharoahs horses,the king the crown and the cross(remember that one?)quickly....I learned with flats...well single was the rage but I did not pick up a mag until i started again...Flats take longer but really put it in....these guys were not breaking out the 25 mags etc....that to me is amazing....the throw on their machines was the almost nickel dime thing...also they did not have liner shader custom machines per se' Oh i am sure each shop and area had its secrets....but if wagner had a liner and shader we woulda heard about it...maybe not thru him because he did not really have a catalog....he did have bill jones until he died though...aand that guy was a HAWG...4 real....but if he had that secret surely when percy waters went up and worked for him and got his Professor title....before their big falling out then wouldn't we see it in his numours catalogs....you know bill jones is the one who told percy about the machine shop in detroit he fled to...or went to...I am getting off track here...but my point to tattooers reading this is imagine doing body suits like those with four and fours...WOW!!!!! Dull ones too... what was it a needle breaks in about the fourth tattoo..come on....so with the advances in tattoo mechanics...well have we advanced.?????.i know those pics are black and white(i will try and post some of these bodysuits) but they look great...i mean really great....give or take a few....but remember the time frame when you are searching them out....... like there is a famous pic of captain elvy Fosdick (who was like the west coast or oregon wagner) did ...thosse roses are a trip...but the date is 43...not 1903... and i have not even begun to discuss how they patterned that shit....put that thought in your subconscience crack pipe and smoke it... they were doing those suits fast...i will find some reference of how fast and post it..i have it lying around here somewhere....(and berts early work was really nice so I am not badrapping him...I know he and bob shaw painted like 140 shhets of flash in a weekend....maybe 139..i have some of them..they are really really really nice....so if that gives you any idea... This era is diffrent than coleman or what era coleman is remebered for..I am not talking about the 50 sailors out the door....that is another favorite thing i talk to friends about...todays tattooers are really really good...but if you put them in a shop with 50 sailors could they clean up.... anyway i talk too much... I digress...read that book...i have a few others with a paragraph here or a page there... but generally that one has it all.....and is priced to buy...