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My pup passed away back in June. Last Sunday, Jeff Rassier just so happened to have some time available for walk-ins, so I went and got his tiny tatt version of Huckleberry on my wrist. None of my tattoos has made me smile more! I don't think there are enough loved animal tattoos in this thread or perhaps I just haven't skimmed it in a while. Post 'em if ya got 'em!

The winner of Tattoo of the month November is @havetsherre with this insanely awesome panther tattoo by Steve Byrne. Congrats!! The next contest will be announced on the 1st of December! (also, the polling will be much easier, I promise) Big thanks to everyone who contributed this month!!

Que Sera Sera with my gypsi girl by Jill Bonny 2008.

Thanks for 'reporting' this guys - I have updated the permissions for your usergroup, let me know if you still don't see it.

Finally healed. By Jersh tattoos in Dallas:

got this last friday. By Alix Ge

I was definitely unable to contain myself the last two months. -Dan Sinnes scribbled on this locust yokai at Temple. I'm so pumped on how it came together. He posted a photo of the draw on for hilarity. -Valerie Vargas did the Oni/Gorilla fight on my arm at the Bay convention. I liked the idea of the eastern/western imagery clashing. My right arm is all american traditional patchwork and my left is semi-american traditional style patchwork with Japanese imagery. This has already healed ridiculously well. Henning did the namakubi at the Bay convention. I had been waiting a few years to catch Henning at the convention when he had space from his larger works and this was the year. This is absolutely one of my favorite tattoo's. My girlfriend is definitely not as pumped. I'm blown away by his skill and kindness.

"why don't you go in the shop and ask the receptionists advice?" from Transplant .... is great advice, because the receptionist will know who does or does not do the type of job you are enquiring about. They are the traffic director for that environment and can answer your basic general questions, before you get to the next level, ie, in front of a Tattoo Artist. Tattooers, often hammer away at a particular style or subject for a while before moving onto something else, so the receptionist will know who is your best tool for the job in question. Explain what you want to do, (write it down first to collect your thoughts and get clear on your goals), bring reference photos printed from the internet, this will help you communicate your goals succinctly and clearly. A picture says a thousand words and this is especially true for Tattooing and Tattoo art, the more pictures you can point to the better. Tattoo language is a difficult thing to learn, there is no dictionary on the subject, talking about visual arts can be difficult in the best of times, let alone dealing with the multitude of General Tattoo Genres, styles and Tattooers personal styles, subject matter etc..., it can be confusing for even veteran Tattoo People. Remember what may feel like a genuine stupid question only feels stupid because you are sincere and vulnerable, asking for help. It is actually stupid to not ask questions, and pretend you know the answers or act in ignorance. The veterans of this forum, are happy to help the newbies, because...who knows....but they do. We are all a part of this wonderfull Tattoo thing, the more the marrier.

just passing through. thanks for looking second one down is part of a split set in progress with my mentor curtis. apparently this weeks colours are silver grey and salmon pink

Clearly, to best participate in this thread, since you are a tattooer, is to go get some fruit!

I made a tattoo but never tattooed grapefruit until this summer. This fruit - bad client :) I did not like to work with him)) It was made not for high quality but fo fun skydivers=)

If you're trying to do traditional style flash, I think you need to start using way thicker lines. Also limiting your color range a bit. Pick something classic, like skulls, devils, roses, snakes, banners etc, and do about four to six variations on it, while keeping in the same artistic style (i.e. all traditional, all japanese). Sticking to a theme makes it easier to get your art across I think. Also, not an artist myself, just throwing out what I've seen on parlor walls.

tatt bros for life!

Why not make an artist into a book http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropodermic_bibliopegy

I personally think it's hard making a book in general, yet alone making one about an artist.

Yeah, but walls don't have feelings. If customer service is honestly a hindrance to your process, start blasting walls or engraving Naugahyde or baking clay and artistically breaking it. You may have to art, but you don't have to art on skin is all I'm saying. :D

arters gonna art

Check out this thread, I got some advice on this topic in there awhile back that was really helpful: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/853-hardest-artist-book.html

Search "hardest artist to book" and "email correspondence" I think that will bring up some useful threads

There have been multiple threads about this already. You should search the site a bit more and you will find a wealth of information.

HULA BUG! She's looking far better than the last time I posted pictures. A lot of her yellow has come in and it appears as though she is a Super-Hypo. Short for super hypomelanistic leopard gecko, meaning that she has none of the spots that standard leos have, save for the tail and a few on the head/face. I'm thinking she also might be a carrot-tail (30% orange tail), cause with each shed a little more orange shows up. Basically she is an adorable tiny dinosaur. :o

Man, everybody already used my smart-ass answers but the Greg Irons quip was funnier than I could have come up with. But back to the original question. This is one of the newer approaches to tattooing that makes me slightly uncomfortable to be honest. Myself and a few tattooers I know and work with have noticed the trend of customers finding a sense of pride in how long they had to wait for their tattoo. As if that makes the tattoo more worthwhile. With some of the currently living/working tattooers mentioned in this thread, I personally know people (not even on the internet) that have tattoos from all of them. Filip, Horiyoshi III, Shige and Mike Rubendall. Yeah, they had to wait a little while for some of them but not as long as you'd think for others. Mike Roper is a different situation because he makes it deliberately difficult to get in touch with him, which answers the question posed above. But that wasn't really the question that was asked and it's rarely the question that gets asked. The question, or at least the implication, is "who has the longest waiting list' or "who has appointments booked furthest into the future". If I were to be snarky "who gives me the most bragging rights". For me the hardest people to get a tattoo from are the tattooers who are located furthest away from me. The ones where I have to get off my ass and do something about it. Time is easier to overcome than distance although patience is a different matter. It astonishes me that people call our shop from the outskirts of the city expecting us to change the way we work because they are catching a train to get here. On the other hand, we are humbled and honoured by the people who cross seas and continents to get tattooed regularly with us. But that's aside from the issue. Why is it a trend that makes me uncomfortable? Because I've heard people brag about how long they had to wait for 'x' artist and wear that information like a badge of honour. It feels almost as distasteful as bragging about who charges the most. Yeah, tattoos are for tough guys and tough buys like to brag and maybe that seems harmless, but it makes me uncomfortable and I have trouble clearly explaining why. Maybe it's because it's a phenomenon spurred on by the internet and the gossipy world of hearsay. Nobody calls and checks with the artists or shops they want to get tattooed at. Nobody travels down to the shop to ask the question. They just ask random strangers on the internet who have a lot of time on their hands and like to talk about something they know nothing about. Then the reality gets lost or twisted and in the end the real information is lost. I see this a lot with regards to the shop I work at. Forums are (or certainly used to be) bursting with 'facts' about how much we charge, how long we take, how far 'x' and 'y' are booked or how long their waiting lists are. Nobody calls the shop to ask and nobody suggests that the person calls to ask. I know that happens with a lot of things but it seems like this is starting to have a real-world effect, however small. People who wanted tattoos that we would love to do heard that we wouldn't tattoo them at our shop because we were so cool and busy and booked up for decades and rolling around in money 'n' bitches or something. We've heard of this a few times and it seems to be happening more. Yeah, we're busy, you may have to wait a little, maybe not. If someone has contact information, especially a phone number on their website it means that they want you to call. I'm not really going to touch on the tone of the "are they a fad or are they really worth it?" comment, except to say that if you have to ask, the answer is "no". Sorry to jump on this fun thread with a rant. I look forward to more witty quips.