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The man got a tattoo he likes, so let's rip on him because we don't like the tattooer. Class. Fuck this.

My wife and I got tattooed by Matt Arriola yesterday. The tiger was three sittings, but only took about three and a half hours.

I don't think you're entirely right. You don't know me yet you judge me about rushing into a tattoo because I want to be part of the community. I don't know where you are pulling that from. There are other things to factor in that you have conveniently left out due to your own perspective. It's cool you saved up for a year to get a couple roses from an artist you think is the best. I personally plan big pieces, the last tattoo I got was a half sleeve that took 13 hours, two and a half years ago in the UK. Since then I have also been saving. I fully intend to to travel to get work from artists I like, like later on in the year when I travel to the uk, so I think it's unfair of you to make these assumptions about me. Also if you think every tattoo on your body is completely unique and the tattoo artists that did them never referenced another tattooer in his or her career, I think you must be kidding yourself just a bit. Convenience also seems to factor into your decision making since you 'waited' for Scott Sylvia to come to your town. There really is no need to be so high and mighty. I think I shall go back to just lurking from now on. So long folks.

And just so you know, @Genie of the West, @Deb Yarian is coming up on 35 years of professional tattooing experience, with much of that in the south (i.e. not just in Alaska). In other words, you're getting golden advice here.

slightly intimidated by the talent in this thread but none the less here are a few of my more recent ones

TAT PICS TAT PICS TAT PICS SIQ INK BROSSSSSSS. Let's keep it at that.

I take your point too. On second thought I should have been more sincere towards @thecatatafish about his tattoo, although I am sure he knows what Gen is about otherwise he wouldn't have made the comment about some people on here not digging him. Im going to end this now because its not what im about and I respect this forum and the majority of the people that contribute.

Dennis at Providence Tattoo

Alright thanks that makes me feel a bit better :)

I popped into the Pearl Harbor Gift Shop today to get a couple little ones done. (And by popped in I mean I got to the shop an hour and a half before opening to ensure I got a sitting - sigh.) Here are my two latest, both by Dan Innes. Nothing too fancy or complicated, but both are images I've admired for quite a while. By the way, The Pearl has just hired Nathan Draper ( http://www.nathandrapertattooer.com/ ) Great tattooer and from what I've heard, a really awesome guy as well. I'm looking forward to getting something done by Nathan.

Dont leave! i think you're tattoo is fucking sick dude and i honestly don't see how it's a shige rip off. so congratulations to you!

if you have instagram check @sethwoodtattoo. i'll figure a way out to post some shots on here at some point........it is SO mint

I know right!?!? I've got something lined up in May (but may have to cancel it depending on my current contract :( ) and I'm working on something in June... new tattoos on the horizon!! :D

Look at guys like Chad Koeplinger. He does fairly simple designs that are super powerful and really amazing without having a lot of detail.

Not inebriated but thinking that I will still probably be hung over somewhat in the morning. Who would ever think that cocktails, wine, and beer in an evening is a bad idea?

That fucking tiger! Ack. Matt, Lehi, and Bryan Burk are my three favorite artists for tigers. She got a good one, for sure. And that girl head's on you? We gotta catch up soon. I didn't know you were going back in the chair. It looks great, but you knew that.

I take your point there, and get why you would be especially pissed seeing that this guy ripped off one of your tattoos, but unless a) this particular tattoo was directly lifted from Shige or any other artist, and b) that the client asked for a copy of somebody else's work, disparaging comments about people's tattoos bum me out because these tattoos are on people, they have to live with them, and often they don't even know that they're getting straight copies of other peoples' tattoos. If it means that I have no morals because I'd rather not make somebody feel shitty about a tattoo that they're stoked on, then so be it. For what it's worth, my "dickheads" comment was mostly about people complaining about the cost of good tattoos. There's no place for that here.

Hey ... Miguel Olascuaga, Live Free Tattoo in ATL

More pictures of tattoos, less being dickheads. Please and thank you.

Why is it a shame that his tattooer copied someone else's style? Anymore, almost all tattooing is evocative of some other persons work.

@sboyer and his partner are about to drop another book via their Yellow Beak Press label- Born Weird. I figure he's been so damned busy working on it that he's forgotten to start a thread. Since I'm super excited about it, I'll jump in and start one up- hope you don't mind, Scott? I've been pretty vocal about my love for Higgs, Dave Lum and Scott Harrison's work in the 1990s- that "American Weirdo" style that Hardy talked about in Tattoo Time V. It really influenced how I got tattooed more than just about any other 'school' of tattooing save esoteric/occult stuff. I think it's fair to say that Weirdo stuff led me to where I am now. I just put a few teaser images up from the book on Occult Vibrations, and... it's just weird. So weird. Almost (blissfully) untattooably weird. It's going to be like the Zeis book- first 200 (of 2000) copies gets a watercolor print. I'm really geeked about this one. Were you BORN WEIRD? « Occult Vibrations

indeed! i knew right away he had to do it and he was stoked with the idea so i let him have as much as he wanted.

I like them all - but if I had to pick one, I'd pick the sailor girl. The blue cheeked look is pretty sweet.

Hey Shaun - I know, I'm a bit of a regular. I'm in the Market almost every day of the week, so I end up walking by The Pearl all the time. How can I resist? Today there were 5 of us lined up. Many weekends there are 10-12 waiting when the door opens. Its best to go an hour to an hour and a half early to make sure you get in. Or, if you can, go on a weekday as the lines are usually smaller. Usually several more people show up at 11 (opening) too. Glennie usually works Sundays but there was a note on the door saying she was not in today, so Tim came in early. I'm not sure about Dan's usual Sunday routine, but yes, he does do Mondays and he starts earlier. I think the shop opens at 9am on Mondays, but don't quote me on that. Always good to call ahead to find out exactly what the scoop is.

I'm sure you'll get lots of advice here. My two cents? I use the dry heal method. I wash the fresh tattoo the next morning in very hot (don't burn yourself) water then pat it dry wish a fresh ,clean cloth. Then...I do nothing. I keep it dry and clean and away from things like wool, cat/dog hair and dander. Try not to think about it too much and definitely don't pick at it. The human body is an amazing organism and does a remarkable job of healing itself. I find when I leave it to take care of business it does just that. Congrats on your first tattoo!

@youthcrewalex, your Art is awesome! I really like the DBZ ones!

I haven't done anything on the thigh yet, just calves, but my experience so far with calves is that the less clothes you have rubbing on them the better.

Genie of the West I know it's discouraging to not be able to get what you want and have it look the way you want it to look but that's life. I love high fashion and would love to wear sleek clothes and high heels - but i'm short and fat. So, I can wear them -- but they just won't look so good.

It has been my go-to bar since it opened. Hell when you stop in you might even see me there!

Dan had a band before "Reptile House" called "Red Guard Youth." I went to school with he and his brother, he helped me open my eyes to the whole world of punk rock. He and his brother are Great artists. Thanks for posting the photos.

it's easiest to take these pictures off my instagram to post here but here are a few i finished recently.. not a tattooer or anything just like to paint. if anyone would be interested in a paint trade or something send me a PM or e-mail! [email protected] and heres one i made on a little scrap piece of paper i had laying around

Yea I figured that it would just be extra research time, I'm halfway through the water margin atm. As to the bodysuit I've been involved in eastern martial arts since about six and 'Japanese style' tattoos (think bright blue waves and slightly naff samurai) were very popular among a lot of the guys I knew. Then at about 13 my uncle bought me a book on tattoos for Christmas with a bunch of bodysuits in it. I always thought it's better not to do things by half and end up with a half arsed end result so that's why I want it.

This thread is starting to veer from what it should be, but I want to address a few things: 1. If you can't afford Shige or good artists not copying a style, then don't get a tattoo by a second rate tattooer. Save your money. Wait. And travel if need be. I would be covered by now if I didn't do this. My next appt isn't until July so I have time to save for a quality tattoo from one of the best. Another example: I always wanted roses on my shoulder, so I waited until one of the top rose tattooers came to town (Scott Sylvia). I spent almost a year saving money so I could proudly wear "the best roses". 2. If you don't live near top artists, then you need to travel for tattoos if its something you're serious about. There are way too many young people settling for what's convenient because they want to be a part of the community. 3. All artists paint and draw and do creative things in between tattoos. I agree it shows integrity and hard work, but it doesn't mean they're developing their own style or pushing the boundaries of tattooing. There is taking idea from masters, but having a unique style is different (and possible) than staying true to one artist's style. This guy is obviously a decent artist, but its clear he's copying Shige. Just like so many artist are copying Hooper and Jondix right now. If I'm right, then lets be done with this and get back to getting and sharing awesome tattoos!

No offense taken to any of yours or other people's posts. You have one of the nicest collections of tattoos I've seen and I'm pretty envious. Your back in progress is turning out to be one of my favourites ever. I envy those who have the time and money to travel to world class people for their tattoos. I unfortunately am not currently in the position to do so myself. I can understand how you feel, I would be pretty bummed if someone copied a tattoo that was on me. But I see it slightly differently. HK doesnt have any artists that do the neo traditional style, and I could see from his tattoos that he had got the technique down, so I gave him some goldfish reference from a book of Chinese goldfish paintings. If you are talking about the water, I don't see how it's any different from the scores of people that emulated filip leu style water, shige included in his early years. I think Gen just saw who he thought was number 1 and is trying to get on that level, also much like how shiges early stuff looks like filips or jack mosher stuff. Just spending a couple weeks around Gen, I did notice how hard working he is, he finished a 5 hr session on me, and sat down and did 3 paintings immediately after he broke down his station. I don't agree with copying people's custom tattoos, but I do think he's spent a lot of time figuring a lot of the technical stuff out by himself, that I couldn't deny that he's a solid tattooer. That being said, I did go to Gen because he could do 'shige style', but I don't see how it's any different than going to get a tattoo from Capilli coz he can do Bailey Hunter Robinson or Stuart Cripwell kinda style?

I like that this thread was bummed. It made me think about how awesome Adam Hathorn's aka "Honkey Kong" tattoos are. A nice mixture of traditional and new skool. But, I suppose he probably doesn't need any "recognition."

I'm really looking forward to the convention. Going to have to start saving now.

^^^^^^^ had to "like" for excellent use of language!! :D

You should just come to Providence. Visit Howard's grave.

So when are you starting your backpiece?! Kidding, welcome!

More vintage photos of tattooed ladies 17 Kick-Ass Vintage Photos Of Women With Tattoos

Cool I'm not the only one familiar with Mike Adams. I plan on flying out to the east coast and having him do my 2nd sleeve in all black/gray traditional style.

Got this one from Mr Desa at frith street yesterday. Hope he doesn't mind my lazy ass borrowing the pic from his instagram

Thanks, guys.

So I wasn't sure if I was going to post any of my new tattoos but decided in the end to just go for it. I moved to France four months ago and have been sat in a lab isolated from the world pretty much ever since. I went to the Mondial du Tatouage show in Paris for three days as a birthday present to myself. I booked in with Stewart Robson and Valerie Vargas from Frith Street and also Greg Christian. I ended up getting tattooed six times in three days. It was also my first convention and I'm going to make sure I go to a few more :D I stole all the pictures from the respective artist's instagrams apart from one which I took with my phone. Demon head on knee - Stewart Robson (Frith Street Tattoo) Geisha Girl Head - Cody Miller (Blackheart Tattoo) Flaming Torch - Greg Christian Castle - Cody Miller (Blackheart Tattoo) Medusa Head - Valerie Vargas (Frith Street Tattoo) Devil Head - Nick Roddin (Blackheart Tattoo) I can't wait for the convention next year

I have been doing this thing lately where I have been doing paintings for friends' kids for their first birthdays. It's fun because it gives me motivation to actually finish paintings because lord knows I love to start them and then give up on them once I realise that I have no idea at all what I'm doing, and I just like spending my free time painting. Anyway, here's a bad photo of a cat portrait I just finished, of our friends' cat Dali:

hiya! My name is Guen Douglas and I tattoo at Salon Serpent, Amsterdam, The Netherlands alongside Job DeQuay and Angelique Houtkamp. You can see examples of my work on the shop website: www.salonserpent.com and my own Guen Douglas i've lived equally in both north america (canada) and Europe (UK and The Netherlands) and speak english, french and een klein beetje Nederlands ;) g xo

I apoligize if this is a repeat, but this is a pretty damn cool Higgs pictures I found surfing on that internet thing. With the late Sonny Tufts and Jack Dracula.

I'm confused... Anyways, some people want to pick an image off the wall for $150 an our while some want their life story poured into their tattoo for $500. Whatever floats your boat, right? Some would think its crazy to sporadically pick an image off the wall and have it permenantly tattooed on their body with out prior planning while others would think its silly to get a personalized tattoo according to the vibe the artist picks up from the client. Personally I want what I like and I'm willing to pay for it, end of story...

Supply and demand! It is fuckin Chris Conn and he will have no problem getting business, and considering there are mediocre tattooers charging $200 an hour it seems like a bargain to me, but heck I got 3 tattoos from him back when the hourly rate would get you one piece. But lets face it getting tattooed by the likes of Deutsche, Sylvia, Lehi, Wilson etc they get twice or more done in an hour than most would do in 2 so it halves the hourly rate anyway, Chris is not fast but is he is super efficient!

The price is the price. His work is amazing so if you want it.... go and get it!!!! If it doesn't work in your budget or mind so-be-it.... There are many other fish in this sea.