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Tattoo Zeke Owen’s Column ASK ZEKE WITH ZEKE OWEN This one’s from the legendary tattoo artist dates back to May 1998. Dear Zeke: I want to pursue a career as a tattoo artist very seriously. I am currently an aspiring artist with no tattoo training. How do I go about it? —Chris Sisler, Vacaville, CA Dear Chris: I’d like you to know, Chris, that my editor goes through all this mail out in California, picks out the things he wants and sends them to me. So I don’t have a lot of choice with really picking out my mail and the questions that I’d like to talk about. In other words, it’s just random and I don’t say, “I don’t want to answer this, I don’t want to answer that.” I say, “Oh there’s a juicy one,” and go on. I just have to take the ones that he sends. First of all, I’d like to tell you a little story about something that happened to me up in Seattle, Washington, one time. And I might start this little story out with a caption that went, “So you want to be a tattoo artist?” By the way, did you see in local business magazine that tattooing is now the sixth largest growing business in the United States?! Well anyway, next to my shop—my shop was on Skid Road. Skid Road was named originally as the logging road way back in the 1800s when they used to skid the logs down the road to Peugeot Sound to put on the ships. Well, anyway, I was out on First Avenue in Seattle for a little while and it was really neat. One of the coolest things that I used to see up there was that the people from Alaska and all over up north used to come down and put their money in the bank and go to the poker rooms and live in the old, beat up, stinky, I mean really stinky hotels right down there on First near the Pike Place Market and Skid Road. And this one guy used to bring down, every year, a couple of typical sled dog looking dogs and they were probably three years old or right around there. And he’d stay in one of those Skid Road hotel rooms where they let you have anything—I mean anything. And in the morning, you’d see the dogs and this guy from the Arctic Circle or someplace, down on the sidewalk and the dogs would both have collars on and each collar would be attached to the other one, kind of like Siamese-twin collars. So, consequently, he’d have one dog on the port side and one dog on the starboard side and they’d both be leaning in about ten degrees against each other and that’s they way he’d walk. Man, it’d be funny right there at the beginning of winter. They’d be falling, a struggling and a pulling. But, after a while, after a few months, winter would start winding down and they’d go down the steps and outside on the sidewalk just in unison—just as happy as they could be, with their tongues hanging out. And they’d run down the street when he’d call them. It looked like he was training them for sled dog work, but I’d never seen that before. It was really strange to watch them. Next door to my tattoo shop in Seattle was this old bar called the Forty Niner Tavern. And that’s exactly what it was. It was full of all them off the ships and miners. Honest to God they still have mines up there, of course they’d be there for the winter. And Seattle was kind of growing in those days, they were building all over the place, so we had a lot of steelworkers. And the tavern used to open up at six in the morning, and I know that because one of the opening bartenders used to be my girlfriend, Carol. And I’d be over at the arcade—it was open 24 hours a day with a pool hall, and the little guy who ran the grill—and I’d get her home fries and scrambled eggs and coffee and go over to the bar at six in the morning. And the place would be so smoky from cigarettes, it’d be the middle of winter and there was no movement of air in there, and the fire would be going and it was just thick with smoke. And the sun would make rays through the front door and the first few tables had a spotlight like one of the helicopters that flies over the lakefront when you’re out there barbecuing and partying. Anyway, I was in there and it was packed with all the steelworkers in there partying and doing shooters before they went to work up 20, 30 stories. They’re as drunk as hell going off to hang steel up there. Somebody ought to write a book, if they haven’t already, about how these guys used to save each other’s lives from falling to their deaths by catching them on the floor underneath. Anyway, I was sitting there drinking my coffee and I’d just finished my scrambled eggs and home fries when all of the sudden the most horrible, putrefying smell came into the place. God it was horrible, you know? And I looked around. I once had tattooed a South Korean Sailor for two gallons of kimchee because he didn’t have any money—this was back in the 60s—and he brought me this two gallon can of kimchee and I tattooed him and he went back to the ship. I had zero communication with the guy. So I put the bucket of kimchee—after taking out about a quart size jar of it—and put it in the reefer box in the Forty Niner Tavern and we were looking in there. We thought that was it, because it can get pretty foul sometimes. But that wasn’t it. And I looked up toward the front of the bar, and in the middle of this blazing sunlight cutting through the cigarette smoke here sits this old wino. He has a Korean War era watchcap in a shade of green that was particular to that era with flaps hanging down over his ears. And he had two or three suits on underneath his big overcoat, because it was below zero degrees outside. And his hands were just—you couldn’t tell what they were because the guy was so grimy. He had on big, heavy army wool pants and I looked down and I could see steam coming off his right boot, this old army boot. And the guy’s face was leathered and beat up. And he had his hand wrapped around a double shot glass of some kind of wine or something. With the sunlight on him, he’s just sitting there with head down—he’s drunk about half of it. And the steam coming off his shoe was coming off a freshly laid turd. Somehow, before he had sat down, he had crapped in his pants and his turd about the size of a scoop of vanilla ice cream had slid down his pants and landed on the toe of his shoe. Just balanced there. And the stink was just ripe. It was horrible. And the funny part was I was only one who got nauseous—ready to get sick over it. The rest of the seamen that were in there—a couple of guys from the hotel, a couple of Indians, all these steelworkers, my girlfriend Carol behind the bar—when I pointed it out they said, “My God, there it is, it’s on his shoe!” They all turned and broke into a rolling laugh, but they weren’t sick. It didn’t bother them a bit. They thought it was funny as hell. Well, I didn’t think it was very damn funny. So I went over to the guy and I told him, I said, “You’re gonna have to get up and leave this place and take that fucking thing on your shoe with you! Get outa here!” Anyway, he drank his wine, got up and walked out the door real slow, with his head bent down. Poor guy, he looked like a refugee from WWII, with that shuffle, like those guys with the tattoos on their arms, given that number from Hitler. Out the door he went, and that stinking thing on the toe of his right boot. But you know, that’s all part of life of being in a tattoo business. So I thought about that for many, many years. And there’s not a real point to all this that I’m telling you. But before you do anything—before you go about planning a big career move into the tattoo business—you really ought to find out more about what it’s all about. Where you want to go, what you really want to do with it. I mean, do you have any tattoos? In other words, before I give you directions to build a bomb you better know what the hell you want to do with the damn thing after you get it finished. Because most of the people who got into this business have a real kinship with their customers in that it really gets into their blood, so to speak, and you keep coming back for more. They stay in it. And I’ve seen real good tattooers just go nuts. Actually, one of Mike Malone’s that came in my shop, what was his name—from Germany—Freddy or something. Anyway, he went back to Germany and he was one of the very first ones on the crack of the wave of the tattoo scene and he took Germany by storm. It was 24 hours a day and it got to him so bad that he had a breakdown and went off to the hospital. And I haven’t heard anything from him since. Mike will know what I’m talking about. But the point of it is I can tell you right now, don’t take it on your own to try and do this or experiment with anybody. And here I am telling you exactly what I did, and a lot of others did, experimenting on their own. I can’t say it’s a mistake but it’s just a better approach to go into a shop of maybe the guys who’ve been doing your tattoos. I’m sure you have a bunch, right? And talk to them. Bring your artwork in to show. I’ll tell you what, there’s been a phenomenon in this business that went right past me. I missed it. Only just now am I getting to find out about what’s going on. I call them entrepreneurs. They have a job with the transit system or maybe they’re in the bricklaying business in the daytime and they have ten or fifteen tattoos, so now they decide they’re going to have a tattoo shop. They go down to Ocean Boulevard in Jacksonville, Florida, and they rent a little store. They put an ad in the paper and they hire six or seven guys and they give them 35% of the gross to sit in there and tattoo. But if they don’t have the equipment, by God, they send off to somebody up north and buy all the machines and the designs and the tools to do the work with. And that’s one way to do it. And they just get together like a big Chinese cluster-fuck and sit there and mark each other up and everybody else that comes in the place. But that’s one approach, I suppose. I think it’d be better off though if you did find somebody who had a reputation and they would sit you down and let you watch and talk. That’s really the way to get started. Hand to hand—kind of like the old-fashioned apprenticeships used to be at the shoe repair shop. After about a year, they eventually let you put a heel on somebody’s boot, you know? And also, this is another kind of business where you want to get next to the best person you can. If you have some serious art abilities or training and everybody goes “oooh” and “aaah” when they see your painting, then evidently you’ve got the kind of ability that you need today to succeed in the business. Most of the old time guys are what we call mechanics—take a pattern, slap it on your arm and follow it along. There were some guys that could make it look like Rembrandt. You could tell, it was sort of a mechanical follow-the-dots sort of a deal. But today, when you’ve got so many great people, it just blows me away. I never knew Brian Everett was an oil painter or a portrait artist before he got into this. I just didn’t stop to think like that. The scope of the way I thought was pretty much limited to the tattoo community that I developed myself in. And it didn’t include people like that. And today Mike Malone says I’m the last guy to find out anything. I don’t know—he’s probably right. But today I’m beginning to find out these people in fine arts are getting into tattooing. I’m beginning to think, is there more money working in tattooing than there is working in the art department at some big magazine? And evidently some of them actually like tattooing. So then again, you have to think very carefully about what you say or what you do around this or any other business. But especially in tattooing, because most of the people who are in tattooing are pretty down to earth. There’s not a lot of fiction in tattooing like a lot of people would think. When a guy comes in and you work on him two or three hours and he gets up and runs out the door with your money, that’s pretty real. It’s not a real good example either but—also I don’t just sit there when I’m tattooing somebody. I’ve got something to say. I ask them what’s going on and you get to hear a lot of what’s really happening in the rest of the world. The kind of people I work on are everything from deep sea divers to CEOs of major corporations. But again, you need to learn or find out more about what tattooing’s all about before you decide I’m an artist and I want to be a tattoo artist. Find out something about it first. Go to a tattoo convention. There you go. Hang out with all those drunks after the tattoo room is closed and they’re all in the bar slinging shit at each other, wrestling around in the parking lot like Bob Shaw and I used to do, drunk as hell in the grease. Things like that. Then that’ll give you more of an insight and whether you really want to be a tattoo artist or not. See ya. —Zeke.

I know you've said you're looking for an apprenticeship, so firstly -- and this is not coming from a pompous holier-than-thou attitude -- tread lightly here. One of the reasons we've lost solid contributing tattooers to LST is for this very reason. Every few months someone joins up and says, "Hey, I want an apprenticeship, what's the problem?!" The forum is here to help and to share -- but not when it comes to technical how-tos and certainly not when it comes to the ins-and-outs of getting your foot in the door. Second -- and this is coming from only a very slightly more life experience -- go get tattooed. I know you've got two tattoos.. But apprenticeship aside, if you want to learn about tattoos and that world, go. get. tatt.ooed. Make that your primary goal, put the apprenticeship out of your mind. How do you know that you want to commit your life to something when you've only got two tattoos? I bet things will be a little more clear after having spent more than a few hours in a tattoo shop. Tried being as nice as possible here and there's a good chance it's as nice a response as you may get.. It's not that it's a cult or that people are assholes. Take a step back. Listen to what people are saying. Godspeed.

Just for fun, here is my finished dragon by Kore Flatmo. Its only eight days into the month and there are already so many amazing tattoos posted. Thats pretty awesome.

@Kahlan No lecture here, everyone else seems to have done a great job of that. Just some straight up info: At the shop I work in (Which may or may not have a reputation on being harsh to 'wannabes') we get at least one person each week asking for an apprenticeship. In the summer months we get AT LEAST two per week, often more. Aside from the fact than none of them can draw and most haven't been tattooed at our shop, - I'm not even sure if any of them know what kind of work we do (hint: almost everything) they certainly don't look through any of our folios while they are in the shop. - There is no way that our city can support 52 to 104 new tattooers each year. I've been there since 2007. That would be over 800 new tattooers. But really, shitty tattooers should stop taking apprentices and helping them become shitty tattooers. If a good tattooer won't teach you, tough shit. If a good tattooer does teach you, I hate you because I never got that chance and I did a whole bunch of shitty tattoos while I was 'learning'.

I don't know, Richard Stell is so badass, he might live forever.

got my elbow tattooed yesterday by Lowercase J

We really need more Zeke Owenses.

I tried taking a photo of my latest from Javi Rodriguez but unfortunately i have my right arm in a cast at the moment so it wasn't easy. I've settled for pilfering one from his instagram instead. Done at the fantastic frith street on Tuesday.

Tattoo by Chad Koeplinger done at Frith Street Tattoo in London, England Filled up the spot nicely! (and quickly 2 Hours!)

"If you don't want me tattooing in my home then teach me." That sounds like blackmail. I try not to hurl insults on the internet, but after reading your posts on this subject I am a little annoyed. I don't have an opinion one way or the other about people getting apprenticeships. Every individual circumstance is different. I do however have a problem with people thinking they deserve something just because they want it. I am not sure why you think you are owed an apprenticeship, but until you get over that entitled attitude then I am certain you do not deserve one.

You can do whatever you want on your own...but there is nothing that says someone needs to help you via an apprenticeship. If you really care about tattooing, and want to see it become better, then you need to put aside your own desire to tattoo and do things the right way. Caring about tattooing as a "would be" tattooer, means you do anything to uphold the craft of tattooing. Sometimes that means putting aside your immediate wants and thinking about what is best for tattooing as a whole. Also, just becasue someone "doesn't have time" or "doesn't know any tattooers" or are "struggling" doesn't mean that they need to be taught to tattoo. There is no point system here. Being a certain kind of person in a certain situation doesn't get you special treatment. And before you say, "I work my ass off to get where I want to be"... So does EVERYONE who really wants to learn to tattoo and do it the right way.

It may be a pompous attitude but just because you've been working hard and doing things right doesn't mean you deserve to be taught. As well if you're a random person just coming in how is anyone supposed to know all these things about you? I believe in teaching people as well, but I don't think everything should be taught to everyone that asks. At the end of the day it's their world, which means they make the rules. You may not like them, they may frustrate the shit out of you but that's life.

@Deb Yarian made a well written post related to this topic: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/blogs/deb-yarian/312-not-my-gift-you.html

Ed Hardy painting studio session -

That letter was amazing. - - - Updated - - - This thread reminds me of when I occasionally eavesdrop on my kids from the next room. Sometimes if I don't get involved in their arguments, they figure out how to work it out themselves without me running in and yelling at everyone. I'm not saying that you're like children, I'm saying that I'm so proud of how LST has grown. You guys are awesome.

Got my Next appointments this month at the paris convention with nathan kostechko for my palm :) this month at the frankfurt convention with carlos hierro nin for more work on my upperleg. and 2 x 3 day appointments with markus lenhard in may and june, for my full lasered left arm .

New signature.

Too many chiefs and not enough indians, as we used to say back in the pre-PC days. Far too many tattooers have simply put a few pieces on their legs, rented a shop, and look ma, I'm a tattooer.

done by Nick Colella Chicago Tattooing Co. 3/2/2013

Got tattooed by Matt Arriola at the West Texas Tattoo Conv. Super pumped on how this came out.

@Kahlan unfortunately every new person that reads this thread is going to point out that your first few posts in this thread had an entitled vibe. but if they read your later posts they will see that you were just venting some frustrations and now have an improved perspective on the issue. but you should brace yourself for a few more people calling you out.

i love horrormovies... so ... that's on me :)

I stand corrected; this was the nicest response! ..now, to go back in time and stop this thread from ever happening...

Because they don't know you. That's why. I only just started my path to tattooing. I'm 30 years old. I've been getting tattooed for about 14 years now. I get tattooed often. I have developed friendships. And I'm so fortunate that my mentors see something in me. Not sure what it is yet, b/c even though this door has opened, I have to work very hard every step of the way. Just keep getting tattooed. Keep working on the fundamentals of drawing. Keep discovering the artwork in this industry that gets you so stoked that you can't imagine doing anything else for the rest of your life. And hopefully something will open up down the road for you. You've got to put a lot in before you get back. Good luck. And read what @Deb Yarian wrote. It's perfect.

Pretty simple. Talk to your tattooer, ask them how long they figure each session to be, roughly, and about how much they figure on charging for it. TELL them what your budget per sitting is, and let them adjust accordingly. No sense making it into a mystical transaction, and no reason why you and the tattooer shouldn't both be on the same page vis-a-vis the coinage.

Where are all the awesome Mermaid tattoos?! Such a classic sailor design I love seeing. Here's mine....kinda. It's a spin on the Capricorn, but you get what I mean. Hillary Fisher-White is awesome.

I think the girl been booted in the ass about enough. She said she gets it, so leave us all lighten up a tad.

At this point all I'm wondering is which is more offensive on this site: someone saying they should be allowed to apprentice or someone saying they don't like panther tattoos? Good apprentices to good tattooers will always be a benefit to the industry, I would say.

Tim Lehi

To be completely honest, @Kahlan, you should have never mentioned wanting to apprentice on this site. Nothing personal against you, but come on, really? What did you expect? You seem like a nice girl, but this forum doesn't like people who come on here and say "I want to apprentice, blah blah blah". This isnt the place for that. It makes things really uncomfortable, quickly. Especially when the people are nice like you. We don't want to drive you away, but at the same time, we want to pull you back to reality. If it is something you really want, search for it in real life, put in the work in real life, (not on fake skin! Or any skin, you know what I mean), and leave it off of this forum. if I had a nickel for every person who came to this site looking to become an apprentice, LST would be getting a hefty donation out of me!

Yea I definitely am! I'm here to learn more. Sorry if my opinion was juvenile. Because it is just that. Foot in the mouth moment for sure. :)

Really? So you would happily give something that you've spent your whole life (or large part of) striving to perfect, your means of providing for your family and whatever else to any random person that asked for it? If yes, good luck to you. You know what my answer would be? Go fuck yourself. I don't tattoo, or have any desire to tattoo but if someone came up and asked for my life on a plate I'd be a lot less civilised and nice than most people, especially if that person was a complete stranger.

atleast his beard. people will write songs about it in like 100 years from now.

Like every one said above: we need apprentices underneath the quality tattooers. Unfortunately, with that comes apprentices under not-so-quality tattooers. However, the main reason apprentices must exist is because everybody dies... even tattooers. End of thread. ^_^

Just read JG Ballard's "Cocaine Nights " and really impressed by his stuff I've promptly ordered "High Rise ". Cocaine Nights is set on the Costa del sol and examines what happens when people get too much sun and become lazy with leisure . He presents a self-policed , post-civilised society in which citizens steal , vandalise , commit rape and arson , prostitute themselves and deal drugs as a series of leisure options .

I LOVE that face!! I'd be talking to it all the time... "good morning Dragon, let's go make some coffee." ;)

hey @else, it would be cool to see a picture of your legs to see how the squid pants are coming... also I think it would be cool to see all those awesome tattoos in relation to each other

While most of us here are NOT tattooers, so we really don't have any say in this ... But, since you asked, here are my two cents: There are so many shops around and so many not-so-great tattooers ... You'd think that if more of these people paid their dues in the first place, maybe quality control would win out ... As with any popular movement, you're going to get a number of people who jump on board to make money quickly ... And in the long run, their work doesn't hold up. These are the people who cut in line, didn't pay their dues, and screw the casual clients who don't really know much about tattooing. It's sort of like photography today. I trained as a photographer for 7 years, and still would hesitate to call myself a pro. I don't make money on it and its a hobby, but how many people do you know who bought a prosumer dSLR or heck, just started layering on the filters on Instagram, who call themselves photographer today? (I know WAY too many of these people.) the thing is, if you're confident (whether or not you're skilled) and know how to sell yourself, people will believe you -- and pay you for it. I don't think the problem is apprentices. From what I know about apprenticing, the system (when done correctly) acts as a quality control mechanism. If the apprentice can't or won't put in the blood, sweat and tears, they should be told they need to cut their losses. I don't want to say much more since I really only know what I've observed as a collector ... But I think that where you're coming from is understandable, but I wouldn't write off everyone who has the desire to become a tattooer because of others who are screwing it up.

I've gotta admit, I never noticed the lack of black women in flash/tattoos before. I feel kinda stupid now. Done by Dusty Neal (more info at THE STATIC AGE, I started thinking one day how I )

done by me

I'm throwing another old one in because this is fun! Sorry for the gratuitous man-boobs. Andrew Conner. Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Just for fun going to post a panther snake combo I got done last year by Manee Friday right here in Portland.

During my 10 years in the business I have found that any tattoo which is properly saturated with proven pigments in a manner that anticipates the aging of the piece will last. There needs to be black to maintain contrast. (in my humble opinion too much black is almost enough) A heavily saturated section of color will last as long as the pigment permits, though it will only look it's best when dark black is placed near it... One problem is application. Many of these new realism tricks are achieved through a process that will not last, though with the right design, pigment choice, and application color should last... it just won't pop without black. I see examples of realism, both on the web and in person, which were obviously tattooed by someone who is uneducated in the tattoo process. These cannot be admitted into the longevity debate, as a "traditional tattoo" by the same artist would surely disappoint equally. I would love to delve into my perception of the difference in process further, but will stop here so that technique doesn't become public discussion. Another problem is pigment. Many flesh tones, browns, and pastel colors just end up losing out to time and sun. This being said, I have yellow on me that is almost 12 years old that is brighter than fresh tattoos I see from competitors. This yellow in my arm looks virtually the same as the yellow a friend of mine has in his tattoos, which were applied by the same artist 10 years prior to my own! I also have purple which was mixed down with white to fade into my skin tone in the same tattoo and after 12 years the main purple is solid and bright, and the transition to skin is flawless. This in my opinion is due to quality lightfast pigments which were applied in a manner which saturated the skin with the aging process thought of well in advance. This is just the way I've interpreted my observations over the years.

Got this a few weeks ago in Chicago from Nick Colella.

Just few pictures of my full lasered lowerleg! got my whole lowerleg done when i was 19 (now i'm 33). i got it lasered in 2011 (had lasersessions, then it was bright enough) Markus Lenhard did the "New Piece" Before Inside Before and during the first lasertreatment, Outside Now Inside Now Outside we still have to finish the foot. (it's just a painful place :D)

I agree with the previous posters. the tattoo is very personal to you, therefore I believe that the Traditional tattoo can mean whatever you want it to mean. The Swallow tattoo in particular is very ambiguous and has many meanings over the past century. Originally, it was tattooed on sailors for good luck, as seeing a swallow at sea indicated that land was nearby. Eventually, having a swallow tattoo was seen as a career-landmark for the sailor as he got the swallow tattoo after sailing a certain amount of miles I believe. In WW2, as you already mentioned, many sailors, and soldiers even, in the US military got the traditional swallow tattooed on themselves, sometimes with a sweetheart's name in a banner accompanying it. In Britain in the 60's, 70's and 80's, however, it was associated with 'hard-men', who would have it tattooed on their necks, or on their hands. Traditionally, a swallow tattoo on each hand indicated that "these fists fly" or that they had done time in prison. The Swallow tattoo is also a symbol for love and loyalty, as swallows choose one mate for life. Swallows also return home every year, so a swallow tattoo might indicate that the person wearing the tattoo feels a deep emotional connection to their hometown. I plan to have a swallow tattooed on each shoulder blade soon, as a symbol for loyalty and also because I personally love the tattoo and it's history.

I'm usually good for 4-6 hours. The hardest was three days back to back, on my left arm. Last year, I moved from Chicago to the west coast, and the move happened as I was finishing a steampunk sleeve project with Larry Brogan; we needed three or four more sessions. He had a guest spot coming up in Grants Pass at Jeff Gogue's place (Off The Map Tattoo) so I booked three of the days. I figured it was a lot easier than flying to Chicago three times. The first day was fine. We did 6 hours. The second day was fairly rough, very tender. I felt everything. We did 5 hours, then went for pizza and beer. The third day, totally brutal; my arm had serious swelling (looked like edema). It was painful from the first jab to the last. Larry really did his best and was concerned, but I insisted. From a pain point of view, it was brutal. In the end, it healed perfectly and there were no issues. Pain is temporary, awesome tattoos are forever. I attached a pic of the upper part of the sleeve. Won't do that again!!

I think it's not reasonable to expect a tattooer to be very excited about every single thing they do. It's a profession like any other in the sense that some tasks you get super psyched about, and others less so. The mark of a professional is that you do the best job you can regardless of how excited you are about a piece. I teach, and I enjoy some classes much more than others, but I work hard at all of them. I think it is not necessarily productive to speculate about whether or not a tattooer is being "genuine".

A few years ago I thought I was re inventing the wheel and bought a bunch of the tattoo DVD's and was all about the "hyper realism" and no outline color work. I can't speak for anywhere else but in the Texas sun it was a poor choice. I regret all those tattoos and am bummed whenever I see one and it looks very weak and faded and much older then it is. I've argued that with enough black and good saturation they would hold but I really doubt it's possible while keeping all the color blends. Maybe alot of the art lovers that get these pieces will stay away from the sun and baby their skin to keep them alive but I know the bold will hold rule will help my active blue collar cliental's tattoos last the test of time.

I took these photos a while back. The guy got them done at the Pike, he couldn't remember who did them, but it was at Bert Grimms. The frog is an old gang tattoo, from La Rana, I've actually done a few of them here, but haven't taken any pictures...