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Got this little guy on the knee yesterday. Owww.

@Lori Todd Those are gorgeous!! gorgeous! Super jealous of your back right now. This trade was finished last night. Nothing majestic, but I'm grateful for the rad exchange of friendship. Go get tattooed at 13!

I did it. I went through all 402 pages of this thread again and some of the old tattoo pictures I remember being stoked on seeing years ago and they still bring a smile to my face. You guys saved an at the time 18 year old kiddo from making horrible life choices. I love you all and I love this forum. Keep on being awesome!

Hi! Welcome! Hello! First lovely piece of advice, don't refer to yourself as a "canvas." That said, please stick around. Lots of good tattooing talked about round these parts.

I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but I've been doing the compulsive email checking thing waiting to hear if I'm able to get tattooed by somebody who is guesting at a local shop. Don't want to say too much lest I curse myself (I am superstitious about these things), but if this works out I'll hopefully be finishing off my right arm sooner than I was expecting to and to say I'm excited about it is an understatement.

ive either got to stop painting so much or leave this thread alone haha

got this little grimm-tiger back in march from jelle nelemans

first post! continued getting my leg tattooed with only black traditional work. this one is from alex wild. i hate getting my legs tattooed (especially the shin) + healing is not that fun :rolleyes:

If you don't mind an Olde Guy comment: That Florida tattoo reminds me so much of the postcards I used to see as a child in the 60's.:cool:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lV4wGBJdyPw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fx9pHI9PLM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fx9pHI9PLM

exactly why i couldn't pass it up haha. my little cousin has been mentioning wanting to get tattooed so he's actually coming with and getting his first tattooed from shrewsbury as well. should be a good time.

New in the last two weeks: From Heath Nock today during his guest spot at Handcrafted Miami: And the start of my back, a Sailor Jerry remix from Chris Buckholts at Howl Tattoo/Gallery in Fort Myers, Florida. Little bit of a cover up in that. Kinda self conscious about seeing my entire back but whatever you guys are kind.

few more from the last week and my Buddy rick williams finished his side of this split!

I'll be at the NYC meetup in 2014 when I get tattooed by RG!! HAHAHA.

After five months or so of getting tattooed at a more or less sane pace, this month I seem to be returning to full-on insanity. Filled in the gaps on my chest with a pair of butterflies yesterday by Robert Ryan--I really love my tattoos from him, and I love going out to Electric, even if it means braving New Jersey transit.

I just received this yesterday here on the forum. I think lack of education on the customers part is a massive part of the problem. Some tattooers only see dollar signs, seems like even when called out they often couldn't care less. If some potential internet shopper clients see this thread and see the error of their ways it might make a difference. But honestly I've given up caring, if I got upset every time I saw something a friend or I did ripped off I'd never have any energy.

Welcome! Remember that college is vastly overrated - so don't feel at all guilty about getting a great tattoo!

soooo i wasn't going to get tattooed until September when i fly out to SF but i saw Adam Shrewsbury was going to be tattooing at Old Soul next week.. couldn't pass it up and made an appointment.

Thanks once again Graeme, I totally agree about education.... This will obviously be a longer adventure than I actually thought. I will be checking out several places and asking a lot of questions... thanks to you and this site I am looking at this project in a completely new light.

What @Delicious and @Joe Shit said there. I'm looking at the portfolio on the Cry Baby website and the first tattoo there is a fallen soldier memorial and it's such a mess. There's no depth or contrast there at all so the design isn't readable, the lines and shading are weak, the geometry of the rifle makes no sense, I don't even know what he was attempting with the boots, there's blue lines instead of stars in the flag...I'm not going to go on. It's a bad tattoo. Take a look through the links Joe posted, see who does tattoos you really respond to and take it from there.

Well please excuse my typos on a phone on a bus. I actually almost always go the route of minimal input on artists I like their stuff. You will most probably have to give at least a direction to go in. I mean my rule is 3 words or less. So far things have turned out OK haha. I got my entire leg tattoo from waist to foot off of two words and honestly it is fantastic. My suggestion is to just tell the guy/girl who is gunna tattoo you what your thinking. Also I wouldn't say "tattoo whatever". This has come up in another thread before and honestly I think you will want to give some direction. I mean would you be cool with anything and everything? I know @bunnyswitchblade has a couple of very interesting tattoos from just going that route but you better be willing to take what they give ya. If you like skulls, snakes, daggers, and eagles then say that. They will know what to do. Good luck with your new tattoo(s)!

I wouldnt go to that shop that you linked @Marine Sniper. It's not very good. At all. All of the tattoos on the site look shaky, and faded. You can do better than that shop!

essentially i am. but of course you can have an opinion and in actuality we definitely should but, we should realize that its a point you cant hold onto too dearly. tattooing is based on copying and as the industry builds its almost essential to do so, so there is a sound foundation to build upon. its as f'ed up to copy and it is essential to do so all at the same time. i dont like being copied but, in the end, if you copy me that just means i win. then of course you have to ask yourself about those who copy the men and women in this industry who are no longer with us. is it any better to copy the flash they left behind then it is to copy those that are alive? every tattooer should know there is a difference between being an artist and a craftsmen. they should also recognize the fine line they walk between them. the non tattooers should stop putting people on a pedestal and carrying a cross for the justice they seek. no one has any copy rights on anything they tattoo. and things that are put on line are in the public domain unless otherwise stated. when do you think the last time any tattooer filled out the paper work on a tattoo they did. i would be shocked to find out that anyone files those papers(copyright) on their tattoos. oh and the fact that once you sell the design to the client by putting it on their skin, you essentially sold them the rights of the art, and if you dont state in the release that they cant use the art for anything else and you eventually do, they might actually have a sound case against you(the artist) for copyright infringement. does everyone see where this can all go if we start getting technical or am i alone on this. so yes its f'ed up but at the end of the day is it something you really can do something about? can you tell a tattooer that sees themselves as a pure craftsmen that theyre wrong for copying? can you call the tattooer that fancies themselves the artist that they are dumb for not having a deeper contract? ahhh the never ending cycle of questions that this topic can bring :) - - - Updated - - - ^^^^^ kinda ranty and run on... so sorry

Man I just love cats so much

Ill be getting tattooed by Adam Warmerdam July 5th. Gonna also make a stop by Gold Rush and Spotlight and see if I cant bring home any more tattoos. Also getting my feet done July 10th by my co-worker Justin Martinez. Then thighs coming soon by another co-worker Kelly Edwards.

There are some outstanding back pieces in this thread and it's ridiculous. @ironchef I think you were at King Ave getting work done on your back while I was having my second session with Chris. I think it was on a Tuesday some time back in May if I'm not mistaken. I wanted to get a closer look at it but didn't want to bother you guys. As for back pieces go here is one that O'Donnell just did. Not sure if it's from anyone here but this thing is unreal.

I've really been enjoying this record!

locals Kylesa new album is out and a show this Saturday. Psyched.

Got a couple of filler tattoos last night on my right arm. Both done by James Clements at Fortune and Glory in Shreveport, LA.

your household does thanksgiving right!

I'm currently road tripping across America with my girlfriend, it'll be about 10 weeks in total, coast to coast, seen some amazing things so far and we've only made it to New Orleans. Still got to head north, she's from Wisconsin so it'll be a family 4th of July. Then back down the east coast. It's quite a country you've got here!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FZOfLYQvIk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Hey now people, let's all calm down. There is nooooooo reason to use harsh language like "Bieber" in here. We're all friends. Sheesh.

El Carlo recently finished my fiance's chest...

I'll be in NYC that weekend getting tattooed by Grez.

Here we go. Apologies for the suit...unfortunately my plans for world domination have gone to shit so I still have to work for the man. Really cool experience. Can't wait to read the book. Ed was super nice and friendly.

I don't condone copying people's tattoos, but I am not really digging this thread. One it's not really any of my business to call out people for this kind of thing. Second, I would be hesistant to do so, because there is so much reference material outside of tattoo realm, that I couldn't be sure that two people weren't copying a piece of art from another genre as a tattoo. Third I have never gotten a tattoo that I expected to be or thought in any shape or form would be custom. I like running into people that have the same tattoos I do, I like the look of traditional tattoos and I am under no delusion that I am somehow "special" despite what my mother told me. I don't worry when someone tells me they are going to draw something for me, and they really just go trace it from the Ed hardy flash book and pass it off as their own, because I know most people aren't familiar with the design. Even is someone does copy the tattoo you have, it doesn't change the fact that you have a badass tattoo that most people would be jealous of and want to wear and you will get no sympathy from me, in fact i might make fun of you for complaining about it.

I really hope that nobody opens the copyright can of worms onto tattooing... imagine all of the published reference images or commercial imagery that's used in tattoos. Even if the suit is between two artists, I feel like it would set a precedent for larger entities to totally shit on the tattoo community.

Done by Robert Aalbers @ Clean Solid Tattoo, Waalwijk on ME ! I Don't expect to win I'm just so proud of it !

Yea agreed. The 90's BM sound in my opinion should really stay in the 90's. The super lo-fi, blast-beat, tremolo stuff that people like Darkthone put out has been a bit played out. That's why I'm glad bands like the above are expanding the sub-genre a bit. Good post! Now for me to post up some tunes.

Its clearly ethically wrong to tattoo someone else's tattoo art.... What needs to happen is some lawsuits. The 1976 Copyright Act states that any work for hire belongs to the person who commissioned it. Sorry to use Kristel as an example but since she is ripped off so often i find it appropritate: Let's say , hypothetically, Kristel Oreto tattoos somebody and we see the exact same tattoo on a reality show, her client can sue the artist who copied it. In my interpretation of this law, ( i am not a lawyer btw but I took copyright law in art school) the client owns all copyright rights to an original commissioned piece of art installed on their body and retains the right to sue anyone who uses it without permission. Now if the ripoff artist contacts Kristel's client and gains permission, then they should have legal right to reproduce it. Obviously that will never happen but according to the law, the tattoo artist does not own any rights at all unless the copyright is expressly written as belonging to the original tattoo artist, or if the tattoo was free it would not qualify as "Art for Hire" Now the copyright office in congress does not mention tattoos at all, but it is art and should qualify. ( in my mind =p )

Heavy hitters already this month... Done by Stefan Johnsson @ California Electric

Done by Darcy Nutt while she was guesting at Providence Tattoo :)

I'm reading "The Shadow Over Santa Susana" A bunch of theories and tangents of the Manson family murders tied up in one nice little package. I'm not a conspiracy theory nut or anything, but it does make for a good read.

Dan Gilsdorf

got my palm done today by Andrew Conner...wow that was something else but so totally worth it 'scuse the swelling it set in pretty fast