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Hi everyone. I'm 8 months into my 2 year apprenticeship and it's the most amazing and challenging thing I've ever done. I see a lot of people complaining about how hard it is to "get" an apprenticeship, but I have news for you, kids... getting it is the easy part. You are going to be exhausted and broke. I out in about 70-80 hours per week. I get to the shop before the owner and I am the last one to leave. I answer all of the phone calls. I schedule all of the clients. I clean everything, constantly. I scrub all of the barrels. I run the autoclave. I keep track of sending out spore tests. I take inventory and place orders when supplies are low. I paid for my own license and BBP certifications. I do preliminary consultations. I confirm appointments. I draw lettering and other design components. I watch tattoos, all day, every day. I give aftercare instructions. I set up work stations; I break down workstations. I set up all the machines; I break down all the machines. I sanitize all surfaces. I mop floors. I make stencils. I only have Sunday off and I go in anyway to clean even more and get some drawing/melon tattooing done. I get paid nothing. I'm burning through my entire life savings (the apprenticeship did not cost me money though). With all that said, I love it. My teacher is giving me a career. We have become great friends and, he admits, I have made him a better tattooer and increased his bookings. I'm saying all of this, because we are in a strange time in tattooing. I have been getting tattooed for almost 15 years now and this has been a dream if mine since that first tattoo. Everybody wants to take a shortcut and do color portraits in the first month of their apprenticeship. My teacher hasn't even let me tattoo a person yet and when I do start it, it will be a bunch of small, black silhouette tattoos. There are a million ways to learn this trade, but everyone that has done it this way is a working tattooer that supports a family. I just wanted to introduce myself and give any would-be apprentices a realistic view into an actual apprenticeship. It's hard. It's time consuming. It's inspiring. It's 2 years for the rest of my life as an artist. Anyway, I'm hopefully doing my first tattoo on a person this Thursday and I'm stoked. A small, black Ohm symbol on a girl's inner arm. You have to crawl before you walk and being ok with that will help you more than anything. Thanks for reading this novel. -Nate

Final session on my back on Wednesday! Session #20. I can't believe I've sat for 19 sessions so far. Boggles my mind.

Just so the obvious is not overlooked . . .

The answer is to add something like this: https://instagram.com/p/x5W25FG_o-/?taken-by=rg74 It'd look great with what you have.

The traditional heart and Mom tattoo (the one with the banner) could be reworked so that the portrait filled the heart . . .

A bit way far but starting full back with Shige in Sept !

Thanks to me not being diligent about booking new sessions, I now have a mishmash of up and coming sessions. This pic is the result of my last session on Saturday which was at the Sydney Tattoo Convention. Only a small 2 hour session but was cool chatting to different people wandering past asking about my work etc. Was also my 1st attendance at a tattoo convention/show. I got to see alot of people getting tattooed by many artists and the main thing that surprised me was how few engaged with the artist and chatted. So many had headphones on or were playing with iPads with no interaction with the artist. For me that is a big reason why I "enjoy" getting tattooed and keep going back for more. To me a big part of getting a great tattoo is connecting with your artist, chatting with him/her, chewing the fat, disagreeing with him/her and at times arguing with your artist. (Something I have done once or twice.) Not sure what all you LST's do but my job is very technical and most would class as boring. Is another reason why I enjoy my tattoo sessions, I get to connect and chat to artistic and creative people. Much more interesting than the crap I deal with at work. :) Anyway enough of my rant, here is the latest pic. Cheers Jason

Some more pics!

Hi Chaps, I am trying to plan something original for my other sleeve and I felt like I wanted to try and use famous, common, traditional flash images but in a realism style from 5 different artists. Nikko Hurtado will be doing the main top arm piece as I want my mothers portrait but i cant think of a traditional piece that could incorporate her portrait. Maybe a locket or something but I haven't seen anything like this in traditional. This is the only part that I am adamant that I want (the picture of my mum) I am no expert with traditional even though I grew up with loads of it, so I am hoping you guys could possibly suggest some that could work as realism. This could all be a bad idea lol I know the panther is a real famous one but I just don't think that would be able to be done in realism and not look like its traditional, plus I already have a panther :) The following is just ideas from my limited knowledge. I would like a cobweb on my elbow but done as a 3d with water droplets etc. Other pieces I think are famous and could work are Anchor, Ship, Dagger through heart, fighting cockerel, Devil with Pitch fork, snake and dagger. Thats really where I have got to. Do you guys think this could work or is it a terrible idea? What other images would you suggest? Cheers guys :)

The Great Wave off Kanagawa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia if you desire tattoo of ocean water, above is the best reference available. straight up, just japanese style finger waves and water. doesn't get any simpler, bolder or timeless as that. - - - Updated - - - @SStu beat me to the punch !

Actually, what about looking to Thomas Woodruff for inspiration here? I don't know why I didn't think of him earlier, but there are some of his paintings in the Art From The Heart Tattootime and he does these really great, refined oil paintings of traditional tattoo themes and imagery and while they don't look like tattoos they get the feel of them right. I could see those working well for you.

I like the idea a lot. Are you planning on having the tattoos stand alone or will you have some background tying them together? For designs, I'd suggest looking in books. There are so many good ones out there: the Sailor Jerry books, that Zeis book (the Scott Harrison page in there is something else), the Flash From the Bowery book, the Dietzel and Burchett books, Flash From the Past/Revisited...there's so much out there. Lucky's Tattoo Museum has a bunch of flash you can look at online to give you inspiration. There's so much neat stuff out there and there's probably a lot more variety and diversity in classic flash than most of us imagine. I think the biggest challenge with this idea would be doing traditional tattoos in a realistic style while still keeping the feel of traditional tattoos. If that's what you're going for. There's a bit in that Brian Bruno and Mike Rennie interview that really sticks out where Brian is talking about advice that Ed Hardy gave him about drawing: if you're drawing a tiger, you don't want to replicate a photo of it, you want to draw it how it makes you feel. I think that idea basically encapsulates one of the main differences between realism and traditional (loosely defined here) tattoos, and I wonder how bridging the gap between the two will work. Sometimes the most exciting things that happen in tattoos come from pushing boundaries and trying things to see how they'll work, so yeah, I love the idea.

No rugrats? Not a fan of Tommy Pickles and Chuckie Finster?

My husband always points out when he sees women w/sleeves or half sleeves-he likes it and he knows I do too. It's very..I don't know, I find it sensual and beautiful. This is what I have so far. The cherry blossom side is going to be added to-more flowers and wind bars. It will go around the upper arm and then up across my upper back to meet the water piece on the other side. Frog will be redone and incorporated into everything. Maybe add another frog in there someplace, who knows. If I thought the school district could handle them down to my elbow I would go that far at least. And it's not that much farther, but still, better to not push it. If my husband's business takes off and I can quit-full sleeves!

@Shaggy I completely agree with you. I can't speak for anybody else here, but I spend way too much time tapping away at this damned phone and one of the things I really enjoy about tattoo time is that it's me, the artist, the machine buzzing away, some good conversation, stories shared, laughs had, and all that. I will admit that during my ass/back of thighs lining session that I played dumb phone games to distract me because breathing and trying to focus mentally wasn't quite cutting it, but I felt pretty ridiculous doing that. Your back looks fantastic, by the way.

A couple that are relevant here is that 1) lines will thicken over time so if you have a lot of dense linework like in the reference images above chances are that they're going to bleed together over the course of your life; 2) the nature of skin is that it is going to age, your muscles will slacken, your skin will sag, etc., etc., and this is all going to impact how your tattoo will look. A well-designed tattoo is going to be drawn and placed in a way that will, to an extent, take this into account. I am not convinced that a design based only on very precise linework is going to age well. well and add any element to the sea like a whale or a ship, as mentioned above, be sure to somehow figure will be boring. Just for example of styling:

Like @exume said above, neither of those pictures you posted initially look like an ocean to me. I can see how they're supposed to represent an ocean, but they could equally be a desert, some kind of topographical map, a visual representation of radio pulses, probably many other things. That kind of abstraction and ambiguity is maybe fine for some things, I don't personally believe that it belongs in tattoos, but if you want something that is clearly and unmistakably an ocean, those ideas won't work. The thing about tattoos is that they tend to look a certain way for a reason. I'm not saying that you need to go out and get Western traditional or Japanese tattoos if those kinds of tattoos don't fundamentally move you and get you excited, but there are very fundamental design principles in those kinds of tattoos (and in other kinds as well, but we don't tend to talk that much about, say, tribal or black and grey here) that should be respected if you want a tattoo that is going to last. A couple that are relevant here is that 1) lines will thicken over time so if you have a lot of dense linework like in the reference images above chances are that they're going to bleed together over the course of your life; 2) the nature of skin is that it is going to age, your muscles will slacken, your skin will sag, etc., etc., and this is all going to impact how your tattoo will look. A well-designed tattoo is going to be drawn and placed in a way that will, to an extent, take this into account. I am not convinced that a design based only on very precise linework is going to age well. Stubbornness is your enemy when it comes to tattoos. We all get the tattoos we deserve.

Finally finished. This one took about 25 hours. The artist asked me if I liked it. I told him yes. He said good, because you're stuck with it now. No panther is going to cover this thing. Ha! The colors are brighter than what I expected, but they are growing on me. Overall, I'm pleased with how it turned out. The coolest part about this experience, is that I feel like I can just go down to the shop and hang out and have some beer and pizza with these guys. It's a really fun place to hang out and I'm definitely going to get more work done by him. But the artist knows I'm also getting pieces done by others in the area. He recommended several to me.

I always look forward to the start of the month because it means another 3 hours of work on my back, and another step closer to completion. This session I just could not zone out at all. The whole thing just hurt. On the other hand we have now basically finished the background and I'm stoked with how it's looking.

i flew out to london over the weekend and rich hardy did the second session on my back :)

Or Phil and Lil?

There are SO many things that could be done with that pearl! The tentacles of the octopus could cradle it or hold it at the tips of its tentacles while moving in some direction. Jellyfish could do that too. A crab could have its claws up and hold it in its claws like a trophy. A clam is boring, and I don't know your artist, but if that's the only thing they could come up with, that's disappointing in the creativity department. Absolutely tell him you don't like that idea. Maybe talk to other artists in your area?

Thanks @Cork and @Graeme for the compliments, I love how it is turning out. Bold and clean which is why I went to Kian in the 1st place. @Graeme as much as the tattooing sucks, the atmosphere and vibe of the shop can make up for the discomfort. :) I leave my Ipad and phone on the couch with my sessions. If I am not chatting to Kian or other artists,clients,apprentices in the shop. I am trying to zone out or just chilling out to the background music in the shop. Tattooing sucks and it hurts but if you can take your mind off it by good conversation the pain is slightly less. :)

Too soon, wear longsleeves! Edit to elaborate: you need to keep in mind this is an open wound we're talkin about here. Ya know how after a tattoo it usually feels like someone tenderized your arm with a meat hammer? That's basically what happens. A million tiny stabs into your body to get ink into the skin. And just like the sun, sunscreen has a lot of chemicals in it. Some people have actually got cancer from putting on sunscreen they left out by their pools over the summer. I would say wait the same amount of time you would to actually show it off, at least two months. But I err on the side of caution usually. It's going to be on your body forever. You want it to look good, right?

Haha right on. I bet it gets repetitive and weird with some of the posts around here. I'm just trying to lead by example in an industry that needs to retain the heritage and respect it deserves. It's an ancient art and I think people forget that. It's like I told my teacher the other day, "people need to understand that a sleeve is not a coach purse... it's a journey".

Yeah it was such a whirlwind trip last time I was down, and it was raining the whole time so I didn't see much of the city outside my hotel room and the shop. ROA is a beautiful shop though, have fun!

Dagger through skull with snake and a banner, eagle as well. You could go with a more traditional girl head portrait of your mom too.

Thanks for the beer recommendation! I'm headed down this weekend. Getting very excited. Thanks exume. I saw that there was a Chipotle - and I DO like going to Chipotle because there are none near me without going over the border - but I won't be in a hurry and wanted to go with something local.

From the deep sea of weird-ass intro threads and bizarre requests for "help" emerges this awesome story. Welcome to LST, and congratulations on making your first tattoo! I look forward to seeing it and hearing more from you.

Healed ok Jookiest ! Brutal wasnt it? :)

Okey, after a long night and evening thinking. You guys convinced me. Someone on this forum wrote some like this (cant remember who): Sometimes paintings look very nice, beautifull but dont translate well to the body. First of all to answer some questions: This would be my first tattoo. I dont had any artists in mind for this style. Margarita, thank you for showing this tattoo. So, searched on the interwebs and came across this. Now this is something that looks neat to me aswell. minus the lighthouse. What do you guys think? Is this possible? Also, I found this artist. adrian lee Adrian lee. He does nice work allthough kinda far away. oh btw, totally oftopic, have you guys seen the work of Zdzisław Beksiński? his paintings are out of this world - - - Updated - - - Btw, im not good with uploading pictures etc.

pretty cool the enthusiasm that spills from this post

Ok got in the waiting list for 2016 for Juan Salgado. Got in the waiting list for Joey Rodriguez for a geometric mandala leg sleeve (knee to ankle) this summer. Both locate at Color Conspiracy... I will come home with a tattoo dammit!

Emailed gogue About any sessions he may have traveling to our coast. Also I'm Planning a Cali trip next feb might make a detour. His snakes are killer, mix that with a hannya like yours and a flower or two. Jesus he may get my left arm

Tattoos hurt. Some spots are worse than others, sure, but they're all going to hurt. The good thing is that as much as it might suck in the moment, tattoo pain is bearable and chances are if you grit your teeth, focus your mind, and breathe deeply, you'll be able to get through even the worst of it. The point I'm trying to make here is don't let your perceptions of how much it's going to hurt influence where you get tattooed. Get it in the spot where it's going to look best.

Damn, you don't fuck around! Awesome work, but that goes without saying when you've got that kind of lineup working on you.

With the blessing of the godfather there is thought of a second. And may your first child be a masculine one :) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I love the colors on the backs of your thigh's @Shaggy.

This is a great reply. FWIW, I'm 40+ and am tattooed from the collar of my T-shirt to the tops of my feet with very little open space left. Yet my hands and neck are not tattooed at all. I don't expect anyone to understand why I'm so heavily tattooed, and I'll tell you right now that you'll meet lots of people who won't understand why you tattooed your neck. I'm not saying that you have it removed, but in the event that you want to open up your career options some day, you'll be pleased to know that laser removal has come a long way in recent years.

I think also many people here take tattooing VERY seriously, so a situation like yours is a little insulting to the art form. Honestly I wouldn't go back to that artist, since he really should have advised you of all this and probably should have refused to do it at all.

I can kinda see what you're going for with those pictures but honestly if you didn't say ocean I would have thought desert, and this is on a screen, not a round, moving piece of skin. If I wanted a big rib piece that reminded me of the ocean I would get a big sea creature surrounded by fingerwaves. You said you aren't really into traditional american tattoos so maybe look at some japanese artwork and go from there.

Looking good @MoistTowelette!!! You've got some great artists working on your torso. And they all blend in and work so well too.

I thought that getting lower leg tattoos at close to 30, with steady employment, was a bold step for me. Having read this thread, I guess I need to yolo harder.

In tonight's episode of Shitty Reality Check: You got face tats, you might get strong reactions!

I still remember when this forum was devoted to promoting good tattooing.

Marius Meyer backpiece bonanza. Me and @Kai Eirik Espedal

Tattoo of the year.

Got this from Scott Sylvia over the weekend, very happy with it (stole the pic from blackhearts IG). Gonna go back to Blackheart for their walk in day in a couple weeks too.

I don't have many tattoos yet but I love the ones I do have. New one done last month at Frith Street by Stewart Robson... (I hope it works)

Have not posted for a while but had to show my new piece off! Done by the very talented Valerie Vargas