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I got this amazing torch this weekend from Ron Wells at Congress Street Tattoo in Portsmouth. It was part of a really great weekend trip that we took to celebrate a bunch of stuff, and in addition to getting tattooed, we hung out a bunch with our dog, gorged ourselves on seafood, and enjoyed the awesomeness of New England. Boy my thigh is sore as hell but I love love love this tattoo.

the type of shop names I think don't work are names that sound like nothing good is gonna happen, examples; Insane ,Smoked ,Deviant,Chaos,etc.These kind of names just dont give me the feeling of comfort. A friend owns Safe Voyage Tattoo in Baton Rouge, Isnt that a comforting name.

Mike Wilson = Panther royalty

Here's one: The same name as another tattoo shop, even if it's in another country. When stuck for a name, call it the name of the street it's on or the name or the nearest major street. Works like a charm. Although we do still get phone calls at the shop that go: *ring*ring* "Hello, Frith Street Tattoo, can I help?" "...erm, what street are you on?" "We're on Frith Street" "Ok, thanks" *click*

saw this on the gram. and of course, as always, it's someone who posts on here. perfect!

I just got this Tiki man this past Saturday at the original Atomic No idea how you guys do that cool thumbnail linky thing.

Like pretty much any other tattoo design, what makes a tattoo exciting or not isn't the design itself but rather how the design is conceived and executed. Look into Freddie Corbin. Steve Byrne and Tony Hundahl have done a lot of great Christian tattoos. Robert Ryan too. Look at Freddie Negrete's tattoos. I'm not into photorealism but Nikko Hurtado's religious tattoos are stunning.

sacred hearts and jesus heads are solid classics. i want one of each even though i'm not all that religious. i just think they are powerful images that make great tattoos.

I really don't understand the long literary tattoos and for some odd reason a lot of people think they look good. When it comes to art to me images are more powerful than words.

I'm getting a sleeve, dragon. Leaving jan24 morning after the night shift and have two sessions on the 25/26, he's confident that it will be done with just those two days which is pretty convenient for me. (Sorry for such a late response, holidays with no Internet access)

Yep, you dodged a bullet.

hgiles knows what is up. Another good one below. The reds on it are really vibrant even in person.

Gotta have some ethics. It is up to us. I don't support the "fuck it" mentality.

When my backpiece was really starting to come together, I remember walking past a mirror and catching a glimpse of myself. At first, I thought, "Holy shit, that guy is covered!" Then I thought, "That guy is me." I often have a similar reaction when I see, say, an MMA fighter who has full sleeves and maybe a big torso piece. Then I realize that I'm way more tattooed than that. I don't regret anything in those moments, but I am a little surprised that I'm surprised.

@DJDeepFried and I have some fun new books to read.

Only depression I feel is having to wait to get another one. Or perhaps realizing there's another awkward spot ill have to fill. But mostly excitement here

Here is a wolf head that Ron Wells did for me last night at Congress St Tattoo, in Portsmouth, NH. Not sure if you can tell by the pics, but it's on my right forearm, up close to the elbow. LOVE IT! Great experience, Ron is an awesome dude. Also had the pleasure of meeting @Graeme, and @Pugilist, who drove down from Canada for an appt with Ron as well. Pugilist got something amazing, but i won't divulge as I haven't seen her post a pic here yet.. but I did see it on instagram and it is completely and totally sick. rob true to iphone form, the pics are pointing the wrong way, which is annoying as can be.

One thing I haven't heard discussed is how cool and important having a good name for a tattoo shop is. Maybe I am kind of a snob,but if a shop has a dumb name, it sets off red flags for me and makes me a little unsure right off the bat. That being said obviously naming a tattoo shop, shouldn't and sometimes doesn't have anything to do with quality of work, but my hunches rarely let me down. So I don't think there is a set rule for what a good tattoo shop name is or isn't, but I have a few things I look for 1. Is Tattoo in the name. I would rather go to Hello Kitty Tattoo, than insert random city here INK or such and such art studio. Tattoo City, Chicago Tattoo, The Tattoo Emporium, Liberty Tattoo, Electric all kick ass names all have tattoo in them. 2. No more than Four words in the name. I want to be able to remember the name. Freedom Ink, Odds and Ends tattoo, Flying Tiger Tattoo, Hot Stuff Tattoo, Rock of Ages Tattoo, Inksmith and Rodgers Tattoo, gets the point across and sticks with you without writing it down. 3. Alliteration, whether you have tattoo in the name or not, it works for me. Shamrock Social Club, Absolute Art, True Tattoo, Temple Tattoo. Obviously there are way too many good shop names to list and it's not the deciding factor whether a shop is good or not, but the right amount of creativity goes a long way. I thought up this post when I saw a business card in a public place and the name of the shop is Breaking Ink. My first thought was they were going through stuff on the DVR and Breaking Bad and LA INK were on the list so they just decided to blend them, then of course I looked them up on my iphone and that probably is about right. But It really just reminded me of how many better names there are for shops out there. Anyone else have any thoughts or insights?

Funny just reminded me of something that kind of goes hand in hand with a bad shop name. Be weary of any place that say they have "award winning artists" or "world renowned artists", almost every bad shop I find always has this in their bio. For all you know the award they won could be a bowling trophy.

Thanks for the kind words, guys! I am so, so stoked on it. I think Ron does just about the best torches I have ever seen, and I spent a looooong time obsessing over wanting one. I am over the moon with what I ended up with! Glad you guys think it's cool too. :)

i need to get on the ball

That tattoo is pretty amazing, I too kept seeing it all over social media, pretty jealous. I missed RHW the last time he was out my way, and pretty much everyone else I talk to around here got a tattoo from him.

jurassic park lunchbox cool new coffee mug mike wilson tattoo

You can't go wrong with a Sacred Heart, it's just classic. I'm particularly fond of the one on this H20 album cover, done by @Scott Sylvia himself, 15 years ago? Shit, we are getting old.

Most of his work is pretty good. He spent ten years inside, and went in as a member of a "social club" that had high standing. That gave him access to the best tattooers in there, and he got some wild stuff. Hopefully, I will be able to find some of it that I can post...lots of the pics I have, I wouldn't post here because of the representing.

That's exactly what I was planning to get for my first tattoo! I was even in the process of rereading the New Testament with a highlighter looking for good options to fit on my left chest. Luckily the Internet saved me and taught me about good tattoos. I would be quite upset now if I had used up my chest on text! I will post a pic of what I did end up getting when I can get to my computer.

Great documentation of the process. You got some awesome results for just 5 treatments. I'm compiling my tattoo laser removal process as well and will possibly make a thread on this forum after a few more sessions/more progress. I sympathize with you getting laser on your full back though. Not fun at all.

The virgin de guadalupe is pretty powerful imagery, and all the secular interpretations people have come up with are pretty entertaining. I think the problem these days is people who get christian tattoos just want to get script lettering of bible verses.

Can't go wrong with an icon tattoo.

I love that, @Pugilist!

Nice book gift. I am somewhat of a collector of various version's of Dante's Inferno/Divine Comedy books. Was actually the insperation behind my first tattoo of a Dante's Inferno leg piece using Doré's illustrations. I got a chair back massager this christmas for my terrible back (numerous car accidents/motorcross/etc). Also shit-tons of beer stuff, and even my own brewing equipment...epic!

Anything to make ya happy, Brock! Actually, my boy is covered in jailhouse, literally from head to foot. I'd love to get shots of all of it, but time and place just hasn't worked out.

^^yeah, its that one. amazing thin lizzy cover as well. theres some real gems that (i think) are only on there. like "bye june". wasnt sure what the backstory was with this album, but it is from 1994.. - - - Updated - - - http://www.discogs.com/Smashing-Pumpkins-Unplugged-100-Pure-Acoustic-Performances/release/2263438 there is also another version that closes it out with "1979" and "tonight, tonight". - - - Updated - - - more corgan acoustic..

Sorry if I'm bringing back a dead thread, but this one was interesting. I've been getting tattoos since before me and my wife were dating. We've been married 8 years, together 10. She actually JUST got her 1st and 2nd in the last 2 months. I never thought she would. Not that she's against them. She usually said "I like them on you, not on me." Anyway. Now we have all sorts of new conversations that we just never had. When are you getting one? Do we have the money for us BOTH to get one now? What are you getting? Haha that's stupid, you're such a goon! All things we each hear or say now. I know it's trivial but it does add a new dynamic to our relationship. Our next plan is to go in and pick out one another's tattoo based on the classic wall flash, making sure to choose something the other would probably not think to choose themselves. Risky, yeah (because my wife's an asshole and I'll no doubt walk out with Tweety Bird holding an AK-47) but fun and just kind of part of who we are anyway.

Whoa...no, sorry! One a my buds has a smiley-face on the head of his joint, that he did IN the joint...keep meaning to take some pix of his work, but he's heading back inside, so doubt I'll be able to.

OOF! Quite a typo. Fixed that. :)

I think you hit the nail on the head. Getting tattooed can be like Christmas, months of build up and anticipation to that day, then it the day comes you get the tattoo and you wake up the next day and start the wait all over, and nothing magical happens, you are the same person just now you have a tattoo, a badass tattoo, but still just a tattoo. i can relate to that and I imagine it also afflicts me. It's probably thing in my head that always makes me focus on how much blank skin I have, not on how much of it is tattooed. I would say sometimes I shake my head at how silly this whole tattoo thing is and how I got involved, but most days I wouldn't have it any other way. This is kind of the reason I don't travel more and get tattooed, it is kind of a head thing for me. I feel much better about going to someone i know and getting tattooed either same day or next couple days type of thing. To many stuff involved, too many things to go wrong, and I hate being on vacation and having to stick to some schedule.

I've experienced this before. It's usually a very fleeting feeling, but I think it has to do with getting used to the change. I know I'd be a lot sadder if I woke up and a tattoo was missing.

I have this feeling too, i think its a normal thing, like you have to adapt to a new change in your body and your brain has to absorb the new intruder being there. Maybe each of us deal with this diferently, and one way is to feel a little sad/afrai/nostalgic etc.

Thanks for your comments! I'm very excited with the piece. I forgot to include another part of my experience that I think you all would appreciate... So when I was going crazy with anticipation waiting to see a drawing for the piece and checking my email a billion times a day, Eddy sends an email saying that his "old friend Dan Higgs" said "whoa" three times in a row when he saw the drawing and that that was a very good omen. And then my head almost exploded ;)

After I joined the Navy, My mom was excited about me getting a tattoo. Right after bootcamp she asks "When are you going to get a tattoo?" I told her that I was in no hurry at the time. Little did she realize that twenty years later, I would be doing her first tattoo! She shows it off at every chance she gets. . . . . same with my dad. I did his first tattoo the same day. My parents were very supportive of me and my decision to be a tattoo artist after my navy career. :P

not part of the tattoo age series, but still done by vice..pretty awesome video about horiyoshi III(turn subtitles on at the bottom):

Mike Wilson duel jax beach, FL. Less than two hours. Tapped out on doing any shading. (I blame it on the late night arrival the night before, it makes me feel better)

Here's my last two Panther by Stewart Robson Eagle by Valerie Vargas

World's funniest comedy? 'Airplane' nets most 'laughs a minute' | GlobalPost This movie rules all.

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