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I'm just gonna toss this out there and then fuck off to eat crap hotel food and ogle my new Gilsdorf tattoo: I've seen plenty of people who don't like traditional best come here and express their opinions without getting everybody's hackles up. Nobody cares what other people like. People get riled up when someone starts making condescending remarks about how the thing they love is in some way inferior - especially since that's a completely subjective opinion that has zero to do with fact. Everybody gets that you think trad is 'inferior' and 'for posers' (the latter of which is weird to me, because wtf, American tattooing was born on one-shot military pieces, but okay). They just don't want to constantly hear about it. And it's kinda pass-agg to say things like 'true masters of tattooing,' insulting all of the other bitchin artists who are, yes, doing traditional work. Tl;dr: nobody cares that you don't hold traditional in the same esteem as other styles. Just stop being a dick about it! Then we can all go back to just appreciating the stuff we DO like.

Actually, I don't think anyone has. You are shitting on a pretty important part of the tattoo world (and a tradition that yes, people on this board love, for good reason!) with little to no interest in understanding it, which does not bode well for your supposed future career as a tattooer. You have been doing this for weeks, including insulting people's actual tattoos on here. Your attitude is both misinformed and rude. It is not stimulating any kind of worthwhile critique. Please just try to add to the discussion like a civilized human being. I am bummed that what was a positive and interesting thread turned into this shit show. I will say that when I first started getting tattooed, I didn't "get" traditional either. I didn't understand how beautiful its simplicity can be. Seeing the work of some amazing tattooers in person really opened my eyes (I had a real "a-ha!" moment the first time I saw Chad Koeplinger tattooing at the Montreal convention, when I still only had one tattoo). Now it's most of what I have. It is interesting how it takes a little bit of time and learning about tattoos to "get it", but I think the world of traditional is rich and diverse and like @cltattooing said, we are really lucky that there are some amazing folks out there right now doing cool things with this style.

I saw this on Instagram, it's on user tfjesse1046. Sailor Jerry put this on him in 1967. Readable and strong as fuck almost 50 years in.

What a fun time. I didn't get tattooed at the Edmonton convention...nothing really struck me + I wanted to stay focused on my upcoming back session. But I did have a really fun time being part of the spectacle and energy of the show. The Edmonton Convention is weird, the tattooer list is not on par and hardly any international artists that you would expect at a tattoo convention. It seems to be mostly local shops (and not the shops I would recommend to my friends/acquaintances). I thought there would be more flash ready to go and the drawings ready to go were nu skool, cupcake/donut, realistic. Not my thing. But nevertheless there were some cool tattooers around... Miles Kanne - got to say hi and catch up, show off one leg and arm sleeves he did on me in 2005 and 2007 when he first started. Stace aka Water Street Phantom - super friendly, really unique japanese style that I think he is approaching respectfully for a younger tattooer. He had this killer shunga print, but my wife was not into haha. The comp'd us some pina colada flamingo Steveston air freshners Cody Dewald - a young bold black traditional tattooer, got to chat and watch him work on a few people which was cool. Horiryu Family / Strictly Tattoo Vancouver - watched a huge hanya back get lined in. But the muscle dude getting it done was cringing and his calf muscles were tensing. He wasn't enjoying it haha Bart from Empire Tattoo, Victoria - had some wicked traditional flash ready to go. He was busy. He comes to Lucky Strike in town fairly often to visit. Lucas Ford - got to meet him, really nice dude. He was also a judge in the contests...more on that later haha I met Matt Gone the Checkerboard man. He was quite charming but batshit crazy. Actually it was funny, I went to get a photo with him and some security/handler guy was like "buddy, Danny Trejo isn't ready yet for fan photos"...and I'm like "huh? I'm here to see Matt Gone". I told Matt how when I first started my tattoos I saw him on the cover of Skin & Ink and have been following his bodysuit progress for several years. I asked if I could take a photo with my shirt off and next thing you know I'm in my socks and underwear with Checker board Man: Matt said to swing buy his booth and gave me a t-shirt and wanted to take more photos together with our bodysuits. It was hilarious. They are all up on his facebook page now lol. I got approached by a photographer asking for a picture for the newspaper (Edmonton Sun)...I said you want the full meal deal? No problemo...actually hold on, here come my buddies with Paul Jeffries tattoos. So the three of us ended up in the Sun's online photographs from event. So yeah we got our tattooed butts in the paper lol: Contests... Cam and Keith both entered their Paul Jeffries tattoos in the best sleeve category. They both didn't even place and lost to a ghostbusters, spiderman and zelda sleeves (wtf). We thought it was a joke that comic book tattoos could win over classic Paul Jeffries work. Like c'mon! But hey maybe that's tattooing in Alberta or tattooing in this era, the bros love the airbrush photorealistic look but don't know the name of the man who put Canada on the tattoo map. Later on, my wife arrives and we enter our matching Chris David eagle tattoos in the best traditional category. Maybe about a dozen entries, several of which had like 8 colours and NO BLACK (wait is this best traditional? wtf). Well no big deal. They called us both back onstage, the judges wanted another look as we were battling to place. So yeah, they couldn't decide so we BOTH won the 1st and 2nd place!! Ryan Gagne tattoo also won, so it was a clean sweep for Government Street Tattoo in the trad contest lmao. No cash prizes, although advertised. So it was fun. It was a spectacle. I thought there would be more shirtless folks, it is a tattoo convention after all. People seemed pretty timid. Well except for the 3 of us and Matt Gone! I'm happy I went. We had fun. Lots of laughs and good people watching. People getting tattooed. I lost track how many times I dropped trough! And then we went to the Keg to celebrate our victory

This was done by Charley at True Blue in ATX. This is absolutely the cleanest linework I have on myself and I am so stoked/humbled/honored by this tattoo. I apologize for the glare. Great Grandpa and Great Great Uncle were Azorean whalers that settled in New England shortly before the whaling bust. Great Grandpa turned to working in a rubber factory until he could start his own floral business in bristol RI, Great great uncle went from whaling to building fishing schooners and racing yachts with Hereshoff.

Another Jeff Zuck piece from the Roc City Tattoo Expo. Rad guy, Great tattooer.

Here ya go @chrisnoluck Getting a cramp in my leg trying to stare at this thing

done by tony hundahl at the oklahoma tattoo convention one shot drawn on

Bongsau in the middle, yup my tattooed ass got published in the online newspaper. The tattoos on either side are Paul Jeffries works.

@beez He got his dumb, ignorant ass banned so no need to block him.

@hogg @Iwar @gougetheeyes can we ban this embarassment yet? Sorry if I'm out of line for asking this but holy fuck

I have nothing important to contribute. I like all of you guys. Even when we don't get along.

Was wandering around Bath today and got a walk in with Jimmie Tatts, filled in an awkward gap on the inside of my elbow. The shop is a 20 minute drive from my house but i've never been there before today. Makes a change from all the travelling i've been doing for tattoos!

A busy tattoo week in my household. I got tattooed by Glennie at The Pearl, tomorrow @eldolmago and me are getting tattooed by Nikki Balls, and then on Sunday we head over to The Okey Doke to get tattoos by Franz Stefanik (me) and Alex Snelgrove (Erin). Hooray for weeks like this.

hate to see this type of thread action listen - no one is trying to convince another to like this tattoo or that tattoo so why should you guys continue to argue really this very fact that we are all into different stuff is half the beauty of it lets embrace that and please people - how bout a new rule - if your post is gonna be a nagetive one you have to at least throw up a pic of a cool tattoo - more pics - less arguing edit: i noticed i misspelled negative - but i'm gonna leave it as i think nagetive should be a word to describe when negativity and nagging have a baby - dont be that 'nagetive' guy!

You've watched some widely available documentaries and read some recently published easy to obtain books, you must be really good at research.

I'm not sure I understand your point here. Eddy Deutsche is a traditionally trained tattooer who had also branched out in subject and style but keeps within the technique. Also the credo isn't exactly "traditional is better" it's "bold will hold." I don't know. This thread has gotten kind of ridiculous. If you have a chip on your shoulder, don't engage other users in a negative or confrontational manner, go start a thread that promotes positive information and education on the tattooing that you like.

I think I understand what @Rad Kelham is saying. It is somewhat of a turn down that this forum is not more open to more different styles other than Traditional. Let me elaborate. You dont get much conversation going on the neo trad, newschool, or the artist that execute them.. etc... When you do, it gets shutdown with allot of "That is not going to last" blah blah blah. Instead of looking a bit further out to the details and recognizing good art or even saying how well it got executed or not or what ever... Most of the time is just gets ignored or gets nowhere or even turns in to a bad thread... I am not saying this true for most users but the majority, specially does who allot of users look up too... I tell you that is not my ignorance that does not allow me to like Traditional, But my personality and who I am that does not allow me to like it. I cant illustrate a traditional tattoo for the life of me, Maybe a neo trad but I would really have to like it and the person doing it I have to be very confident on them... Yes I have learned allot about traditional tattoos here and out side of here but I cant for now illustrate one. I like the style that fits me and I will continue to collect them from the artists that I like, Is it trendy? who cares, it fits me. :D - - - Updated - - - +1 this, We need more of this around here :)

Here's what I got on my NYC trip a few weeks ago. Eli Quinters Steve Boltz (didn't get a very good photo) Dan Nelson Got an appointment with Jeff Zuck at the Rochester convention tomorrow! Can't wait.

@dcostello I was the guy who came in around 2 and found out I got double booked. Your knee looked killer when it was finished, have fun healing that beast. Here's what Chad put on me just a couple hours later:

So I had two half days with mr.lambdin. Really chill dude with crazy creative Vision and talent.he drew Up exactally what I wanted without me really saying anything to him. Got 2 more days to finish in a few months adult image upload [/url] imageupload adult photo sharing

i've been drinking tequila and i'm here to tell you all a thing or two... too soon? ;)

I know Jason Kundell at Artwork Rebels has already been mentioned, but everyone else at the shop is fantastic as well. Josiah Laughlin, Gordon Combs, Jeff P, and Ross Carlson are all completely epic tattooers.

Why do you want to know?

...oh...Steve just got back from hanging with Roper and Shad in AZ. So I went home yesterday with some fresh tattoo on the back AND limited prints from both Roper and Shad. Man, best weekend ever.

yeah man, I'm going to wait until the whole thing is finished before posting. Although my instagram "dennis_kool" has a pics of front and back of my suit at the moment ;)

Session #7 down with another 4 hours (25 total). First colour session! Did the details in the boots and pants on the monk. The sash is now a vibrant purple which I'm particularly stoked about - my claim to fame is that I was the first purple belt at our kung fu school. The boots just run over a tattoo Steve did on me 10 years ago lol. Damn A LOT of white ink went in the pants, with some dark and mint greens in the pattern. Going to look mighty against the saturation of the heavy black once the tattoo settles in. It was a very difficult session pain wise. Lots of motion over the kidneys, spine, and bbq ribs. The session started with 30 minutes of re-lining and stylizing the lines in the clothes. zOuch! And once again, the session finishes with a Ramones song :cool: Back in 2 weeks for another big colour sesh...the monk's robe and pattern. And then 1 or 2 sessions after that to go over the blackground again, tighten up the seams. Also throw in a mini banger (hehe) in this 2"x2" spot under my butt I requested to leave open for the victory lap. So yeah, the plan is to wrap my Shaolin backpiece up in June so I can enjoy the rest of my summer. WICKED

@xcom I think most of us understood that you were trying to contribute something positive, I wouldn't worry. Also @RoryQ have you checked out Jeff Crocci's work at 7th Son in SF?

WoW... This thread went to shit quick... It even got one person banned... WTF. :( I hope that y'all understand that I meant this to be a good thread. Positive.

@Marwin3000 I bought Tattooing the Invisible Man last year, and it's mindblowing to say the least. Well worth the 8-900 kroner it will cost you to get it shipped to Norway. Books are exempt from import taxes too, but you probably knew that already.

@Marwin3000 Tattooing The Invisible Man is my favourite, but the most expensive. It focuses on his life and works - 1955-99. Beyond Skin is about paintings, drawings, prints, flash, etc. And Wear Your Dreams is his memoir. All definitely worth getting.

Yeah the sleeping around part is not good for me. My friends tell me the same thing but I just cannot bring myself to do that. My friends make fun of me and tell me that I am a lover which is true. I just need some time. Just really hard to have someone in your life for three years then not be able to talk to them at all

Lately I've been really admiring nice script. Dan Sinnes' work is probably my favourite. I also really like looking at Norm's work but if I'm honest I struggle with some of the less readable stuff he does - it's cool, just not for me.

-raises hand- ooh me please! Haven't had a reading in years and I could totally use some direction right now. That's awesome that you're working with the deck, always something I've been interested in but never taken to. As for a general response to the thread, I got another lizard a few weeks ago, a gravid female. She laid 3 eggs!! Two of em last night. Usually they come in pairs but she had 3! I think she's still cranky that I took them away.

It's not so bad! I can't really drink anymore at all. Never really liked hard liquor anyway, so it wasn't hard to give up, but getting older sucks. Alcohol makes my heart pound these days. Gross. I guess I should contribute something thread-relevant. Been doing tarot readings for friends for funsies. Haven't done this in years. (I'm not really into any of the mystical stuff that goes along with it, I just think it's a really neat tool for introspection, and the my deck is pretty, so I want to touch it. Haha.) If I can get through the queue I have, I should offer to do some for people here. Practice is always nice.

Steve Lanier from Classic summed it up for me emotionally with his recent hashtag, #yourgrandpahadtoughtattoos. Yup.

because I sound too hillbilly to have done it?...haha

I like you @marley mission.

Agreed! I am trying to stock up on the elbow sleeve thing while it is still trendy! It is so helpful. Congratulations @Breakme ! I have a bunch of really lightweight, mid-sleeve type cargidans that I can throw over anything for the office in warm weather. If you poke around this kind of thing is pretty easy to find, and really comfortable in the summer. It is a bummer that getting work on my arms disqualified a bunch of my dresses/tops as work appropriate in and of themselves, but now I am just becoming a cardigan/blazer hound.

Real talk...why are you being a dick? Either contribute to the conversation (dumb snarky videos aside) or go away. Some of us prefer traditional, you obviously don't, both are fine...this thread is supposed to be a celebration of traditional, so I don't know what you were expecting.

Second Session: Jon West @ Imperial Tattoo Company.

Picked up this snake from Emiliano at Frith Street a few weeks ago. Just need a panther now so I can call myself a real LST member!

Done by Bradley Tompkins at Frith St. Great guy and great shop (borrowed his IG pic)

Fifth (final) session on my back, the long story. Photo Link to my other post in this thread. And here's picture from and what I wrote after the lining session ------ Last session - booked for Sunday, March 29:th, at the Scottish Convention On the friday I was supposed to take the night bus from London to Edinburgh where Iain Mullen and Rudy Fritsch were working the Scottish Convention and ready to finish my back on the Sunday. To make a long story short, I ended up not going on the bus due to having booked the wrong month (Second time this happens to me, damn you Victoria Coach Station!) and instead I found myself after a sleepless night (spent in a night open café in Soho) on the first train to Edinburgh in the morning. Finally I can sleep I thought. Wrong. Turns out scottish people likes to talk a lot and there is no silent compartment. After a few hours of trying, I get perhaps 20 minutes of sleep. When I wake up I have a text from Iain saying "Let's do the session today instead!" (Other clients could only get tattooed tomorrow) This makes sleeping again very difficult due to being severely excited and also scared/psychologically unprepared of a brutal session that I thought I'd get tomorrow. Stupid as I am, I convince myself that it's going to be all right. I sleep maybe 20 more minutes before I arrive to Edinburgh, where the wind is blowing so hard people almost fall of the streets. I've all ready been practically awake for more than 24 hours. By text, me and Iain try to arrange someplace where I can at least get some sleeping hours before the session. His hotel room turns out not to be a good idea. But there is a emergency room at the venue where I could get some peace and quiet. Great. I make my way over to the convention, after having bought pre- and post-tattoo food stuff. Choosing carefully to get a lot of nutrition and powerful stuff that will fend of the tattoo sickness I can all ready feel breathing down my neck. I've now been on a trip for 6 days, from Barcelona to Toulouse (where I got my lower belly/pubic area tattooed by Guy Le Tatooer, another wonderful horrible experience), a 32 hour bus ride from Toulouse to London, one much needed night in a proper bed, staying awake the night before in the café and now I am here. Last destination of the tattoo pilgrimage. Iain tells me to go to the big stage and look for a guy in a short mohawk named Tom/Tim and say "I'm the guy who's been travelling". This code phrase opens up the gate to my quiet sanctuary. Actually, it turns out to be a very small, cold, brightly lit, room where a big scottish man (emergency crew) is hanging out waiting for the emergencies to happen. There is neither a shower, as I had thought, or a proper bed. There is just sort of a portable emergency bed, barely wide enough for one person. I explain who I am and he lets me lie on the bed. I am too tired to fall asleep. This whole situation seems absurd. I pull my jacket and a hoodie from my backpack over my body and turn my face towards the wall. I try to relax, to breath calmly and slow down everything. The anticipation of the last session, and the pain that goes along, is very distracting. Over the com-radio there are sparse messages, barely intelligible in scottish. After a while two giggling girls come in. One of them has fainted ("This happened last year too!") and they are giving a routine check up and some good advice to eat and drink water. Meanwhile I'm this strange traveling, greasy haired, bum sleeping under jackets in the emergency room. After two hours or so I give up on trying to sleep and decide to go out, eat something and have a look around. Everything is like in a haze. I can not be bothered with all these people. I do not want to see the burlesque dancers doing whatever it is that they're doing. I sit outside and eat the big, ready chopped, stir fry with kale and edamame beans that I bought from the store. I eat some nuts, I drink some superberry juice. Must not get sick. I hang out in the both with Iain and Rudy. Rudy is tattooing both of Joe Ellis' feet in some strange tribal architectural freehand style and we talk about him doing something similar on my left elbow since Iain did the right one. After a while I go to the handicap bathroom to have what few people would have called a shower. After cleaning myself up with the water from the sink and slipping into clean clothes I feel a bit more civilized again. It is time for finishing the back piece. I would have much rather liked if the circumstances would have been different but after being awake for now nearly 34 hours I am lying face down at the Scottish convention, with my half covered ass pointing towards the small crowd that is starting to form, and one tattoo machine being tuned on either side of me. Memory of a lifetime moment, right there. Considering probably being in the worst shape ever before getting tattooed, it was not as bad as I had braced myself for. It was certainly bad. Somewhere between terrible and outright nasty, if I had to specify. In the start they added on some liner details that I was not expecting. Then they added some very thick dots that felt like evil torture to my ribs. Then they went on with the shading and I could settle in to the groove of it somewhat. Knowing how bad the first two machine session was, when we did the lines in June, this was almost bearable. It never got worse than the lining session. When it's your back being worked on and two machines are moving from spot to spot, you have no way of anticipating where the pain is going to be and for how long. You just have to take it, so I did. About 30 minutes before we were done I had to go to the bathroom. I was totally in my zone, something like what I imagine marathon runners go into to keep pushing, and was not ready to face a bunch of people watching me. Somebody said "hero" as I passed. I felt weird. The whole non-privacy of the event was strange. Both mind and body was in turmoil. As with the pain I can be amazed by states like this, the things you can experience when pushing hard. How it makes your head feel from the inside. I returned, back on the table, and we did the last bit. When I sat up in the end to have some more straight lines just below my neck I was trembling from exhaustion and emotionally shaken. It had been a profound journey. /// After the tattoo I hung around while the guys packed their stuff, we went with some other people by taxi to a pub but realized they had just stopped serving food at ten in the evening. We split up and I went with Iain and Rudy to have fish and chips at some hole in the wall. Veggie burger in dry bun for me. Finally the couchsurfer I was supposed to stay with showed up and we walked back to his apartment. We had a really good conversation on the way there. I chucked half of the burger in a trash bin. The apartment he shared with three other people felt very much like Trainspotting, except no visible drug related objects scattered around. I feel asleep in a windowless room and had no dreams, just blacked out for 12 hours. Two days later I flew home to Stockholm, had take away-dinner with my girlfriend and took the night train towards the very north end of Sweden. I felt it really bad all ready and for the coming four days I was bedridden with a massive fever and accompanying headaches and cold. At least I could watch the whole second season of The Wire from start to finish. /// I had planned to start my backpiece when I had turned 30. Now I am 28 and it's all ready finished. It's been a fantastic experience and left very warm memories. I am so happy that I asked them both to collaborate, that it worked out, and that I trusted them completely with the design. Since we started in June my personal life, a big portion of the things that happened, have been so good, enriching and developing that that whole time in my life feels very beautiful. Turns out that the biggest part of my body carries a piece of which I didn't even see the design until the hour when we started, yet now it holds so much significance and meaning. I really like the thought of tattoos like amulets imbued with qualities and forces. I'll always have power on my back. That's how I see it.

Only full panther. I have a panther-headed eagle from Jeff Rassier.

Done yesterday by Mr. Chad Kopelinger at Rock of Ages... In 1.5 hours... Someone needs to do a study on how he can tattoo so god damn fast. Really awesome experience all around. - - - Updated - - - Such a good tattoo. We both had a nice painful day yesterday.

Matt Arriola pantherized my last big spot yesterday at Spotlight. He couldn't quite get it to fit, so he decided to add flames. Always a good call. I have some inner thigh/tenderloin spots and a few tiny spaces on my legs, but if I said "I'm done" now, I don't think anyone would fault me. But we all know that I'm not done.

I love this! I feel the same way. As I get more tattoos I realize that it is almost like getting something BACK that I lost rather than getting something new.

Derek Noble t-rex. Dark Age Tattoo. Couple more sessions to go. Neither traditional nor Japanese so nobody is going to like it -apologies.

I was thinking a bit more about this topic and had some more food for thought... The cut of a tattoo suit (or even a single tattoo for that matter) is very important. The composition and borders of the tattoo needs to match and "fit" the body of the wearer, like it was always meant to be there. We are all different shapes and sizes! And we all have different preferences to achieve the look we desire. Some folks want their sleeves to go right up to the hand, some are content with some space on the wrist. The borders of the backpiece on the shoulders, how far up the collar/throat you go on the front, how low below the belt you (no biker backpieces! jokes). Some body types will look better with the vest style bodysuit, others prefer the full blast across. The emptiness of negative space can have a very powerful impact too, and I've seen lots of backpieces where the negative is very thoughtfully incorporated. The inner thigh, crotch, butt crack and underside is no different. Some may feel it completely unnecessary to tattoo in the crack, just like others may feel it taboo to tattoo armpits, heads or feet even. I know I did not want a stripe. For me, my tattoos (made by a dozen guys) are all continuous and blend into each other, so I knew I did not want the crack stripe and wanted to maximize the tattoo coverage, get a little freaky haha. Go however deep or as shallow into the danger zone that you and the tattooer feel comfortable with and get your suit to cut where it makes sense and for the tattoo to look good on YOUR body. Don't compromise the "cut" of your suit out of fear of the pain. We all know and expect it to hurt. Bite down on the wooden spoon for an afternoon and than bam you are in the clear, looking good and feeling confident. That's why we are all in the mess, ain't it? A tattoo after-all has to fit YOU, compliment and enhance your body and whatever else tattoo-wise you got going on. That's what I love about tattoos, it is very personalized and you can go as conservative or extreme as you desire...no need to response a no one! @Dennis suit - the cut and composition looks great. It fits the body, compliments it. Tattoos (bodysuits and one-shots alike) should look like they were always meant to be on the wearer, this is a fantastic example, very precise cuts and we are lucky to have Dennis sharing an in progress peak. The way the vest cuts on the torso, the thighs, ankles yeah man! wow @Rad Kelham ah i took the photo down off my IG after a couple days which would explain why the link is broken. Backpiece (and 25% of my tattoos) are by Steve Batt in Edmonton. He doesn't put anything online, off the radar type of guy.