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Frank Carter, Frith St. He drew this on in quite an awkward space between two pieces on my leg. Super nice guy, had fun getting this one. First time in Frith Street! And I robbed this picture from Frank's Instagram btw

Tattooing and photography are totally different skills. The most powerful tattoos can't be adequately photographed because magic is resistant to photography.

Not really related to the show itself, but I saw this comment on the YouTube video about Chris O'Donnell that was the precursor to Tattoo Age... I sighed very, very deeply upon reading it. "his color saturation isn't the greatest, ive been watching too much ink master."

Cool man! I understand completely where you're coming from. I wanted to share with everybody something mike recently did to make people more aware because I feel south shore should be known, but he did this sweet namakubi hand today that I'm pretty blown away by

The infoamouse Spider Web Elbow...Getting Pretty Tired of Folks who know little to nothing about Tattoos jumping in (during a general convo) and saying it means "you did time" or its a "jail house tat" BS! If the History books of tattooing are correct (Pretty sure they are!) with they're dates Bob Shaw was sleeved by Bert Grimm at 16 and both of his elbows are Spider webs. Did Bob Shaw do time at 15 come out go to Bert and say hey man just got out the pen so i need to get some spider webs tattooed on my elbows? I doubt it! I mean even when you google Spider Web Elbow everything states Aryan Brotherhood, Jail, BS, BS, BS. Sure maybe in Jail thats what it means. But here in the real world its just cool filler and I'm willing to bet when Bert Put them on Bob and whoever else. Dude was probably thinking just that "Hmm Spider webs now thats a cool idea for filler...I don't know if this was touched upon earlier in this thread but Said (During general convo) took place recently and it kind of sent me over the edge.

I hope they make the exhibition catalog available to the public online/mail. Otherwise I would ask a big favor of anyone attending to help me grab a copy. I saw what look like a sneak preview of it on FB and it appears to be a bound hardcopy:

I have to do it. I'm sorry.

Had this Jonah and Rock of Ages sleeve worked on yesterday by Juan "Superfly" Arreguin here in Leon Mexico. The only thing I am not sure is of this little filler that he did in the ditch - it is a skull but without black lines, just some blue lining and blue shading. I guess I will have to wait and see once it's healed. Other than that, completely stoked! Sorry for the crappy pictures.

I've heard that for the next season of Inkmaster there's going to be a lining challenge where people have to do Ladyface's guyliner.

I just started watching Best Ink. Overall I like it better than the "Adventures of Ladyface and Toothpick" but it's still bad tattoos getting good press. Capobianco yelling at people is an interesting touch though.

haha yes this !! Its near impossible to get a photo of a tattoo to look as good as the real tattoo you see with eyes. Beware of filters and layers lol - - - Updated - - - Plus I like to see photos of the tattoo sitting on the person not some super cropped just a tattoo type photo , I like to appreciate placement as its all part of the thing - - - Updated - - - aaand that tattoo picture posted looks llike a shitey wee sticker/stamp thing , I like realism but that one looks pointless needs to be biig , that just looks silly. (although well executed)

The latest tattoo I did on an Asian guy that had quite the out look on life. He studies Noam Chonsky and was a Marvel comic book nut. Its fun getting to know people during a tattoo though many dont talk much so its a nice change to get to know how others live thier lives.

Ha! Certainly not - overall. Generally in respect to physicality - often, especially when regarding rape. Actually, I'm sympathetic with both your and your Mom's views, but I'm more in line with her strategy of "broad spectrum" solution. Healing human nature can and should be tackled from all angles - but I'm more inclined to believe that raising a new generation of humanists who think and act ideally will enable mankind to evolve into something respectable much faster than trying to chip away at restoring what's already broken, ingrained and imbedded in our current foundation. Well there. Solved the world's problems this afternoon. Guess I'll go and find a cold beer to celebrate :p

Heres a geeky Tattoo I got last year of Deku Link and the ominous moon from the game Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.

bryan burk dark horse, los angeles

Was just pokin' around the internet and saw this on Yellow Blaze Tattoo's site. What a lineup!! I poked around the forums to see if anyone else had posted this yet, couldn't find any references but may have missed something. Apologies if there is any redundancy!

Here ya go. His stuff looks good to my eyes, but I am new, so I might not notice the differences between good and mediocre work. His Tumbler page. Tumbler links at the bottom for next page. CHEO PARK tattoo His tattoo shop page. Some of the same tattoos shown. Cheo Park | East Side Ink

I hate the drama BS. Just show me the tattoos.

I'm new here, but I've been around a bit lurking. I run a little shop in Victoria BC (Canada) called Tattoo Zoo. I've been making tattoos for almost 18 years, and I can't see myself stopping anytime soon. Looking forward to using this site to meet some new people! You can check out most of what I do: instagram @gerrykramer Thanks

And another update: The healing process is going pretty fast. Scabbing started on day 3, the first day without the plastic foil. Now one week since I got the tattoo and everything is normalized. Only thing I still have is a bit of an itch... I was afraid the healing would be slower. But it isn't the case... Next appointment booked. Hope to be able to show you guys the nice piece of art on my arm somewhere in April... Grtz, Arne

Whats your point, caller ?

adds to the awesomeness I think

I didn't want to post on here because I thought someone else (like @Graeme) would have a more eloquent, meaningful answer that would address the question and point out its flaw... but this^ is WAY better.

Welcome Back!

Welcome or (re-Welcome)! I like your work!

my homie Mike Nomikos does really great japanese tattoos if you're in the amityville area also! south shore tattoo is his place

Love it. Love everything about it. Best thread on the internet.

@Mark Bee Cheers, thanks :) @SStu Idealism is for propaganda :p I get what you're saying though, and respectfully disagree. I don't think that it's possible to undo damaging thought patterns without taking a hard look at the specifics. If we build a new house upon a broken foundation, then the house is bound to crumble. Anyway, enough social theory for me. Cheers, y'all!

I really hope so too, here's to quality profiling. Son, I know you did not just call women the weaker sex ;) But yeah, people are shitty to each other, to the planet, to animals, to themselves, to their loved ones, to basically everything. I fully believe that our conditioning in regards to entitlement and disposability is to blame. I struggle a lot with my feelings of helplessness in regards to how humanity is systematically destroying all life known to us, and then I come back to my previous sentiment on how nobody can really change anything or anyone but themselves. So there it is. And also, in regards to specifically talking about women, rape is largely a crime committed against women. Although, rape of men does happen and is talked about even less, which I find to be really disturbing. I think a lot of that goes back to how western culture treats femininity and vulnerability, which are traits innate to everyone and largely viewed as undesirable in men. Like think about how many times in your life you have been told to "man up." Like what does that even mean, tangibly? It serves no other purpose than to belittle and silence someone. My mom talks about being a humanist instead of a feminist and it bothers me. Not because I think that being a feminist is better, but because I think that to try to tackle a broad spectrum of problems before addressing smaller disenfranchised groups can overshadow very real and demographic-specific problems. Anyway, I hope that answered your question. Thanks for contributing to this discussion, I think it's a really important one to have and is not had often enough.

I dig yours too @Ragen. You guys are making me jealous.

Wow @RScott that sleeve is amazing!!! And @Synesthesia that rabbit is looking so nice! Here's the fox I got yesterday from Ron Wells, tough to get a good photo. Was supposed to fly in, get the tattoo, and fly back out last night but due to the snow storm I'm now stuck in NYC until tomorrow. So getting this little guy has turned into an unexpected vacation / adventure / chance to hang out with old friends.

Pagoda City Tattoo Fest - website has launched.

Oh man... really sad to hear that. Honestly though, I was expecting to read about how one of the shop employees had raped a customer, and I'm really glad that wasn't the case. Until now, I've kept my political and social views separate from the board as many people would consider them fairly radical and I do not wish to create any animosity, but since this has already been brought up, I'm gonna throw in my two cents. Being that women make up 51% of the world population, I think it's safe to say that everyone has women in their life that they care about, be it relatives or friends. I fully believe that every single person has a moral obligation to question and deconstruct the reasons why violence against women or further, femininity, happens with little to no repercussion. I'm sure most people, when asked to do so, would say "what are you talking about! I don't think violence against women is acceptable, that's ridiculous!" And surely, I think that most people do feel that way on a superficial level. It's just way more subversive than that. From calling our possessions (cars, power tools, tattoo machines, etc) "she," to Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines retaining consecutive airplay and VMA performance after heavy criticism, to scented tampons, to rape jokes (see video below), and dismissing women's valid emotions and opinions as hormonal craziness, we have a huge problem with dehumanization. And if anyone who wants to take a little trip back to any world history classes you've taken, I'm sure you'll remember that objectification and dehumanization are age-old tactics for conditioning soldiers to feel no remorse in the midst of combat. I also fully believe that nobody has the power to change any world but their own, so if that article bothers you and if violence against women bothers you, then make an effort to change the way you think about femininity and feminine empowerment. And fo real, thanks for posting that article.

Finished up this piece with Martin Lacasse at Olde City Tattoo in Philly. Based off of a Yoshitoshi print from 28 Famous Murders With Verse. Couldn't be happier.

Excuse the awful picture, I'm out of town visiting my boyfriend and had to use his phone to try to get a pic. I'll have to try to get a better one when I get home. Had this done yesterday by Jason Reeder. This is my second piece from him, it's on the inside of my right leg (he did an owl and mouse for me on the outside of the same leg). The ears KILLED and that was by far my most painful tattoo experience thus far; it might be hard to tell from the pic, but they creep up to the side of my knee and the back one almost goes into my knee ditch. I thought this would finish off my leg, but I have a patch of open skin on my shin and the back of my calf is still open, so it looks like I have some more work to get done before the project is finished. Probably throw some moths in some of that space, and Jason is trying to talk me into getting a bat, we'll see. :D

Itch itch itch.........

I got Kratos from God of War... 1st tattoo, about a year old. Not good to photograph. Quality of the tattoo itself is also a bit "eh", but who cares, first ones are allowed to :P

Very cool there @passive jay Here's a few other as well. Firstly some planets by Tim Kern and Gerry Carnelly respectively and then a Hammerhead with the Tree of life by Jason Corbett.

I am pretty sure my tattoo counts as a geeky tattoo.

How is this a question? Go to Kings Ave.

I agree........ I know a lot of the "celebs" and I honestly think their notoriety is what has ruined it for me personally! I mean I like them as people and most of their work....but don't agree with the whole going on TV and such and then the instant success they seem to be granted because of it! I liked the old...smaller venue......and less quantity and more quality! - - - Updated - - - There are still awesome tattoo artists coming to the show so I understand for most people it is very worth going and getting tattooed! Just for me.....my next tattoo is a very big milestone for me and it needs to be done by someone I really have been waiting to get for a long time! I only have one or two "meaningful" tattoos.....but this next one is more of who is going to do it....not what it is!

Done by Miles at Frith Street Tattoo, photo stolen from his instagram, taken just after he finished. Tried to get a healed photo but its too awkward

Damn, now I have to actually finishing getting into shape so I can get one of these bad ass tattoos! Also to OP, I would say any tattoo with power. What came to mind was maybe a boxer tattoo?

Happy Christmas, as you lot say: By Matt Staydohar, Anvil Brand Tattoo, Marysville, CA.

After 1st session with Horitomo. Back was much easier than I thought/ heard, of course we haven't hit the problem areas yet...

Just cause you can draw, don't mean you can tattoo ;)

Stock replies for silly questions: "yeah how much did that cost?" ...side note, this is a pretty rude question from a stranger and i usually -pretty rude question buddy -sorry buddy they are not for sale -A LOT -you don't want to know -$50...for everything ;) -140 hrs @ $150/hr...you do the math..."that's really expensive/waste of money"...eh thanks Dad! buddy, that's over 10 years. how much have you spent on blow and fast cars over the last decade? really it's a piss in the bucket. -respond with "hey how much did your <house/car/diamond ring> cost? yeah pretty rude question isn't it?" "what is the meaning/symbolism" ...side note, there is nothing more boring than crappy tattoo with overt contrived meaning. -it means something different everyday. -meaning? it's a fucking <tiger puking blood>. do i need to explain further? -sorry lady, i don't really feel the need to explain the personal meaning of all my tattoos to a stranger in the grocery store line -it's just a fucking tattoo. "did it hurt?" -no, i didn't feel a thing -yes, it is the most horrible pain you will ever imagine -yeah it hurt, so gnarly, i barfed in my mouth (true story) i especially like this one in the tattoo shop..."i bet that hurts eh"...yeah a bit eh, but not as bad as that upsidedown script on your wrist is going hurt! yikes i don't envy you. "yeah man my tattoo took like 8 hrs" -dude, you got ripped off. how do i deal with the stock retarded questions? i don't ;) i wear long sleeves all the time and keep my gentleman art below the collar and above the wrist line. that way i don't advertise the unwanted attention and i don't get called out for being a total tattoo snob haha - - - Updated - - - oh and my personal fave (i've had this same conversation multiple times): "sick tatts brah. you do time in the pen?" "haha you think you can get colour like this in prison" "no doubt brah. RESPEK"

If you really don't want to talk to them, you could always respond to their questions with a series of clicks and chirps.

It could be because I'm a long-haired and bearded burly dude with skulls tattooed on my arms, living in a place where I feel I see more tattooed people than non-tattooed people, but I don't really experience people asking me about what my tattoos mean. I think that women on the whole get this a lot more than men. People mostly leave me alone. I was a little bit concerned about getting "what does it mean" questions about my (in-progress) sleeve because there's a specific visual reference there that I don't really want to explain, but thankfully the raven's head there is hidden by a t-shirt so hopefully I'll mostly avoid that question while I figure out a stock bullshit answer. I have nothing against tattoos with meaning (for that matter, I have nothing against tattoos without meaning either) I just think that the way most people go about getting a "meaningful" tattoo is all wrong. From what I've seen on the internet, the "meaning" takes priority over the strength of the image, and that's all backwards. You're going to associate your tattoos with whatever meaning you choose to give them anyway, there's no need to have hidden initials or a representative number of flower petals or whatever there. I spend too much time looking at pictures of tattoos on the internet.