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Healed from the London Tattoo Convention - by Chriss Dettmer

Just about every tattoo is better with flames.

I got a cobra wrapped around an ankh on Dec 29,2013 by Christine Vallieres at Old Town Ink in Scottsdale, AZ After my first tattoo, I thought about this one and what I wanted it to be. For me, it symbolizes rebirth of life and protection. I think snakes get a lot of bad rep but I think they are awesome creatures. I consider myself pretty spiritual so the Ancient Egyptian symbol of life fits with the snake imagery. Some people think it's an evil snake but it's not :p This tattoo, along with the one on my back of a scorpion and some Arabic script do mean quite a lot to me. I got them a year after I had a near death experience. I was hospitalized for a long time and lsot my job and almost had to return to living with my parents back in Connecticut. I beleive that I was given a second chance and was being watched over somehow. It made me think how precious my life is, how strong I actually was and how much people cared for me.

This sounds great. You should do a little blog or video series of this trip ala True Love.

10 hours now on this piece, more to add!

Not for me, but my wife booked with Martin Lacasse at Olde City Tattoo in Philadelphia for a geisha 3/4 sleeve at the end of the month. He did her other arm a few years ago and she's been itchin to get this one done for a while. It's the same weekend I get done by Ron Henry Wells, so that'll be fun.

@jetwash Are you going to Frith Street ? If so just say you want a peacock they'll do the rest .

We've all made the slightly unusual choice to embed words, symbols, and images onto our bodies until the day we die. It's barely accepted by the mainstream in liberal western countries let alone other cultures. People are going to be intrigued and ask questions just as much as they are going to be offended or mesmerized. That's part of being (visibly) tattooed. It annoys me sometimes too but hey it's part of the package.

I love the way she framed that owl. Incorporating old tattoos into new tattoos is rad.

Hey Guys So i have decided to travel to the states from Australia around July/August for a couple of months possibly with another tattoo friend of mine and would love to meet a heap of you guys while I'm over there. We are planning to start in San Francisco and travel across the country to New York hitting a lot of shops on the way for walk-ins (not going with a plan). I just wanted to use this thread as a kind of home base for information for the next few months. Thanks LSTers Also i will probably be doing a travel blog thing aswell.

A longer wait-time gives you more time to save. It'll be worth it!

Not tattoos. You get what you pay for.

Suggestion,go here Immaculate Tattoo - Aaron Coleman - Tattoo and ask Aaron Coleman the same questions. You will not be disappointed.

just a little Indian action and tiger from Kemer here at Superfly tattoos in Leon Mexico

Got another 3 sessions on my front with valerie over the next month'ish!!

Another LST tattoo save. Nice, guys.

If you ate two meals at a good restaurant and weren't disappointed, would you never seek out new restaurants ever again? :) I am not sure of wait times, since I booked in about 3 or 4 months in advance because I was travelling. But don't worry too much about cost. Aaron Coleman tattoos extremely fast, so even if he has a higher hourly rate than what you have paid in the past I'd bet the cost would be very similar.

It seems to be the impossibility of having a visible placement that's the biggest obstacle to you. Would you maybe consider your sternum? That'd allow you to have a 'proper' tattoo that you could see often but would be simple to hide away too. - - - Updated - - - WRT 'hardship'- do people know how 'hard', generally ball breakingly tough and motivated a chick needs to be to make it as a professional ballerina? Sheesh.

Google maps tells me that your route should take you through Phoenix, AZ. If that's correct, I highly suggest checking out Immaculate Tattoo in Mesa. Anyone there will give you a great tattoo.

Had my consult with Dennis at Providence Tattoo on Saturday. Such a nice guy. He seems excited about my idea, and I am DEFINITELY excited. Just bummed I have to wait til August to get it done! He's booked solid til May, and I'm busy this summer. Is it too early to start a countdown? :/

Yeah we have a few on the list :Idle Hands, Rock of Ages, Hold It Down, Greenpoint Tattoo co, Smith Street, Ancient Art vb and I'm still looking into a few more.

Haha, isn't it a trip how experience shapes perspective! I think a lot of, if not most people experience somewhat of a more profound change within themselves. You will find many small anecdotes of that phenomenon through the forum. Welcome to LST! Can we see the tattoos you have?

Yes, definitely thinking of a couple of things to start up since I do have the appointments. Depending on how things go, one of the future slots might take a few hours for touch-ups but I'll discuss details with Rubendall.

Thank you! @ironchef, you would be absolutely correct. Laying down in his space was a great experience to be had. He's a very nice guy too. I'm not sure if it's been mentioned previously but both Horitomo and Yokohama Horiken have rooms to work in while everyone else at the shop works in an open plan. The rooms are raised platforms and you remove your footwear before entering. You lay out your towel on the floor and he sits to tattoo. Very traditional. Being able to lie there and see him work, see his drawings for ongoing or upcoming tattoos/paintings, seeing his reference materials, and the little sculptures of Fudo Myo-o was a great time and while laying there being poked on the feet may not sound fun, I'm pretty sure I was wearing a goofy smile the whole time. BTW, if anyone was wondering, to me, shading by tebori didn't feel as painful as by machine.

Got a this little wrist filler by Henry Wyatt at Inkies in Fremont, CA. Representing and supporting the Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda Relief... The design is a a guide taking the deceased to the Hereafter by canoe, based on an artifact known as the Manunggul Jar. #TattooForPhilippines https://www.facebook.com/tattooforthephilippines Needles and Sins Tattoo Blog | Tattoo for the Philippines

Pure awesomeness ! Memoir is such a great shop I think if I won the lottery the first thing I would do , would be to book a flight to see Shawn Barber his work is just mind-blowing. - - - Updated - - - Got my wife to take some photos of my latest tattoo all healed. The photos are a bit glarey cos of the flash. Tibetan Skull by Ema Sweeney at Custom Inc .

I like seeing the pics of all everyone's overall look, so here's my updated one: (ETA: now my right arm tattoo is going down farther than my left arm, so now I'm going to have to add more to my left. And so it goes...that's how they get ya.)

For your consideration. Just got this yesterday from Beau Brady while he was at Invisible NYC this week and a few forum members suggested I put it up in here. Thanks!

Best place for the best tattoo, imo. I will get Pharaoh's Horses on my belly eventually as well. I keep a small tumblr to help me decide who will eventually have it done by - FYPH.

I got the first layer down on this new oil. Trying to improve all the time.

I don't really see the world as people with tattoos or people without...that seems very wrong, personally I do not see where being a serious ballet dancer and getting a tattoo must be separated... While the experience of a needle being dug into my flesh isn't really what I would consider to be a walk in the park, to have a permanent memory of my dead father constantly with me wouldn't be done as simply a "notch." Perhaps if I was getting a tramp stamp, some random inconsequential design, or haven't spent the last ten years researching maybe the "hardship" wouldn't be worth it... Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk

I met Ema and her husband in Brooklyn last year at the smorgasburg.Nice people,and she does beautiful work.

Let me know if you want to get a beer!

I feel like I just tend to give recommendations to reputable shops that I've been, but nothing overly specific. Especially when the people I'm talking to have the WORST idea.

Thanks, yeah I love Memoir. Shawn is great, as is Brendan Rowe. Shawn came up with the idea to frame my little forearm owl in a playing card instead of covering it up. Your Tibetan skull is so good.

going to la to finish this with bryan burk in a couple weeks. and i just booked a flight to austin in february emailed steve byrne! sorry if the pictures big

I was hoping to go but I am in a wedding opening weekend so I won't be able to make it. My friends wife just doesn't seem to understand why she should postpone her wedding for a week.

Hahahaha, that was amazing. I hope they got a happy ending after that back massage. Edit: kind of reminded me a science fair volcano eruption.

Hard as nails piece by Thomas Morgan .

My mother didn't find out until I was in my 30's. She came to visit and I had just jumped out of the shower when she knocked on the door. I knew it was her and didn't want her to wait as she drove from SF to Vegas. I opened the door and she said, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!?!?!.... I broke the news that I've had them since I was 19 and it's time she knows.... During my most recent and meaningful pursuit of tattoos she was supportive and knew how much I loved them... Funny how the relationship changes after time.....

The thickest of the thick. Koji Ichimaru

I finally bought an 8mm player. It hasn't arrived yet and I'm sure there will be problems, but the hope is that by middle of next week I can start capturing footage from tons of 8mm cassettes that I have. Most of the stuff isn't really tattoo related, but Im 100% sure that I have the 1995 Amsterdam tattoo convention video I shot, which includes 22 tattooers working on one (very blue) client. Seeing Alex Binnie, Horiyoshi 3 and Crazy Ace tattoo the same person at the same time...

I believe that is called Sharpie.

BTC and Les Skuse .

He should just cover it up with a giant wrecking ball. :rolleyes:

I'm losing stamina. I used to be able to sit for longer than I care to now. I'd rather break a long session into smaller ones. It would be different at a convention or if I travelled to meet with a particular tattooer. But if I'm at home with my regulars then I'm definitely going for shorter sessions.

cool tan = oxymoron

I made posts on the facebook page because there were at least 5 of MY designs in there. None of the stuff I posted or really anything anyone else posted was actually "Shit talk". It was people just finding out about it, and being upset. I posted something about this on another forum, so instead of retyping it all, I'm going to go ahead and copy and paste it. "In a case such as this where the person can't even make a simple clean design she is clearly tracing shit off the net and trying to make her name on it. The owl of mine that she used isn't flash. It was a tattoo that I did on one of this forum's members as a matter of fact. The other stuff of mine that was used was from one painting that I made for another tattooer that while in flash form, was a one shot painting. No prints. So she traced it and added it to her sheets. These are all in a book that she was selling in Philly. Making her name off designs that obviously aren't hers. Tattooing DOES have a history of reinterpretation and appropriation, but there are lines. When I design flash for sale I don't care who tattoos it as long as it was bought from me and you aren't telling anyone that you drew it up. When it hangs in your shop or sits in your flash racks or book, my name is still on it. No problems at all. Go for it. When you use it instead of drawing something because you're lazy and then tell someone it's yours that's bullshit. Also, when people are tracing tattoos right off the net and passing them off to the unaware masses as their "clever" designs it's bullshit. And I completely understand, once you put it out there, it's liable to get lifted, but does that mean that opinions on such behavior can't be voiced and standards shouldn't be set against such behavior? Absolutely not. People need to say shit to suckers. Tattooers seem to forget that yeah there.s a big tradition of lifting designs and whatnot, but there's also a tradition of protecting what's yours. Either by booby trapping it, making sure your name is ALWAYS attached to it, or by keeping it off radar. In this economy I'd love to be the off the radar guy. Just can't make it work, and if I'm spending the amount of time drawing, researching, reading, collection references, and building a stylistic vocabulary that is at least a little my own, then yes, I should be protective of it. There's also the thing where tracing, and repainting flash by long gone, or otherwise retired old timers is different than repainting and then SELLING under your own name a bunch of shit being done by today's current people. Shit's gonna happen, people are lazy, everyone LOVES to say there's nothing new under the sun, but it doesn't make it right or true. Chick is a thief. Ain't nothing on those sheets hers and a huge amount is from current people tattoos. Not even flash. She was at our booth in Philly this weekend. She didn't even buy my set after selling her book with my shit in it." So to the person who was saying these things were never meant to be made public, and they were for personal use and to show clients, or to show clients, why even do that? Why trace my shit to show HER clients? So the people who don;t know ay better will see those designs as hers. That's not cool. Her illness aside, it's still a crummy thing to do to a lot of people. I take issue with how You've come in here using "our favorite medium to talk shit" and try to talk to us like we're 12 year olds. Sorry she's in a bad way with cancer, but my sister is fucked to the nines with cancer but I still think she's the shittiest person I know. If this was truly about the merits of the sketchbook, then just stick to that. Don;t bring up things that don;t matter to the argument to just try to drum up some sort of viewpoint on her like she can't be called out on this shit. I was AT Philly. She was in my booth. Talked to me. Still sold sheets with her name on in and mine, and other tattooers designs on them. None of those pages said anything like "designs by Wells, re-imagining by Jeiven." Which is kind of the thing you do when selling some shit that isn't yours. I didn't even know about this shit until a few days ago or I would have said something. And when get to Brooklyn next week I AM going to talk to her. Like an adult. So save the "you guys are all shit talkers" crap. Some of us are pissed. Look. I'm no tattoo genius. I'm just a dude making tattoos and trying to make clients happy like everyone else, but I work my ass off to do so. My library is huge and very little of that is tattoo books. I spend hours upon hours drawing and re drawing. Again, I'm nothing special, but why can't she do that if her stuff is supposed to be so personal? Go to museums and collect old books. Not facebook tracings. The sketchbook you said was so AMAZING is 98 percent CURRENT tattooers drawings. Not old Jerry flash.

it's not even like she copied some flash, she traced actual paintings people were selling prints of at that same convention. She also seems to have printed out photos of people tattoos and traced those. You put out a flash book specifically to be copied in a way, straight up tracing and selling is still wrong but flash is flash. To go to the extent of finding pictures of paintings and actual tattoos, size them up, print them out, trace them, put it all together in a book. If she's put that much work into her own drawings they probably wouldn't be that bad.