RoryQ

I actually would like to read more discussion on here of things like biomech, black and grey realistic etc Biomech in particular - I'd never get it, but I've read some really interesting interviews with Cain and Aitchison where they're talking about it - ... why not? Those threads aren't going to start themselves though. If you're interested, Rad, why not start some? I get the feeling that you're not even particularly enjoying being the "attention whore of the month" on the forum, protestations to the contrary.

Lots of mention of Filip Leu, Aaron Cain and others on here. There's even a guy with a Leu back piece hanging around. I don't really get why you'd come into this particular thread, which is clearly about traditional tattooing, and start ranting about people (supposedly) not recognising true greats of tattooing... If you think someone needs some love then why not be constructive and start a thread?

Seems to me that when we talk about directions trad tattooing can go in it's worth bearing in mind the distinction between form and content. The form of trad tattooing is all the stuff that leads people to say "bold will hold". The sticker quality, readability, outline, use of black, bold colours etc. But that has no necessary connection to the content. You could use the form to illustrate anything, and people do... So we have espresso shots... Skeletor... Wrestling holds... But there's a reason panthers, Eagles and whatnots have such a long track record. They're archetypical images full of emotion and strength. A hipster gentleman riding an old timey bike, done in a traditional style, will almost certainly date. But a swooping eagle? Or a crying baby head. They won't go out of date anytime soon. The question then becomes whether there's a better way to organise / draw that swooping eagle, or how you make it different.

All the "move on" advice is sound. At the end of the day, even if she rings you up in a year's time crying down the phone that she's made a terrible mistake, you're better off having picked yourself up in the meantime and gotten out there and had some fun meeting new people. I'm Irish so frankly phase one could certainly include ringing up some friends and going out for a few drinks. Your breakup story will fascinate and entertain all at the bar when you're slurring it out at 3AM (and if it doesn't then if you're drunk enough you won't notice). After that - yeah, hobbies and distractions - why not. Maybe a sports club, a new gym with group classes... I met my wife at a CrossFit gym :)

I don't think traditional tattoos necessarily inspire a 'fuck yeah, that's awesome' reaction in most people straight off the bat. A segment immediately - absolutely - and maybe more since they really came to fore as a genre in the past few years, but I think it's fair to say that most people (and a lot of collectors) are more readily able to recognise good tattooing when it comes in the form of accomplished japanese style, black and grey etc. It probably took me at least five years of collecting and looking at tattoos a lot before I started to "get" traditional (maybe I was a slow learner). Even then, it was even longer before I understood what was going on with some of the more folksy approaches to it. To me the thing about traditional tattoos is that although you could say that there is a flash lexicon there ready to use, the devil is in the subtle details. A Bert Krak crawling panther will be a very different beast, excuse the pun, to an Uncle Allen take on the same starting point. I love that aspect of it. Looking at stuff from particular artists and seeing where they've gone with it. You get the really whimsical and fun, like Jesse Gordon Jnr, you get the real traditionalists, like Tommy T. here in Dublin and people who are doing a really distinct personal folk style like Mario Desa (or at least, that's what I see there, apologies if I'm wrong :P ).

You can have full coverage with trad, particularly if you really pack in fillers. Oliver Peck has denser coverage up close than a lot of Japanese suits in a way. Hard to read though, even nearby. Even without star background or whatever I'm reminded of a Stuart Cripwell bodysuit in progress that Id hesitate not to call "full coverage". Just an aside.

I'm watching Daredevil now... Wow, much much better than I expected. The fight scene at the end of episode 2 - really great.

In defence of that tattooist at a party: Could it just have been that they were off the clock and the last thing they wanted to talk about was your prospective tattoos? It might be a bit like the situation doctors, police, lawyers face whereby... you meet someone at a party and suddenly you're listening to their questions about that growth on their penis/aggressive neighbour/problem with their mother's will. And you don't get paid for listening.

I can identify with what you're saying ... although maybe it's a *bit* harsh. However, everyone starts somewhere. Maybe that person with the feather turning into a flock of birds will go on a tattoo journey and finish up with a Filip Leu bodysuit. Stranger things have happened.

Seems like there is a new regard for that spiky black tribal trend of the 90s again - and rightly so. First it was a little bit ironic (black tribal creeping into traditional motifs) and now it feels like it is heading towards a wholesale reappreciation. People are like, wow, Leo Zulueta style tattooing can have massive visual impact and hold up well. I always thought it was odd some people who loved recent geometric and black work might have turned their nose up at 90s tribal. Paul O Rourke from All Star tattoos a lot of this type of thing and man, if this is what 90s fad tattooing looks like then they weren't as bad as I remember. I don't think this ever went out of style for tough guys. When it comes to later fads for feathers flocks of birds - where it's more about iconography than just style - I wonder can you think of them as just being new entries to the pantheon of popular flash. A feather is not to my taste, but it's no more arbitrary than a swallow in some ways. Now, Victorian dressed animals smoking pipes... I can't stretch to getting on board with those. [emoji16]

Genuinely curious- why go ahead and let him tattoo you it if you weren't happy with what he came up with for you?

"Fear of a flash planet" http://tattooartistmagazineblog.com/2012/08/01/jojo-ackermann-fear-of-a-flash-planet/ It's been posted before, but reposting it is easier than rehashing the argument about the role of flash in helping people get good tattoos. And Jo Jo Ackerman makes it better anyway :) Classic or modern flash that is tattooed however many times (that army of crawling panthers) just isn't the same as someone copying what is clearly intended as custom work...

So, I have an appointment with Shige later in the year to talk about getting tattooed by him. He knows I don't have much space left for pieces of the size he prefers to work on, so I'm hoping he'll agree to do a smaller tattoo on me. We'll see how it works out but fingers crossed. Really excited about this. I've been tattooed by Tomo and it would make me really happy to also get something from Shige.

I don't follow?

Before we let this drop, does this mean there's an American inside all of us Canadians and Irish getting trad one shots...? [emoji3] I have an American leg at any rate. Totting it up I don't know if it was that cheap so far though.

@beez Ironically, for a guy who was the one who brought up marriage, his concerns highlight that he's thinking in pretty superficial terms, right? At least you know the score now...

It's back of the knee / back of the thigh but the tattoo I got yesterday (started 12 midday) was heavily wrapped... Then left like that until I was home in Dublin at 9AM today. Think that was 11-13 hours? Time difference screwing me up. I would have tried to wash and re-wrap it before the flight but Tim was adamant to leave it be. Must be the best wrap job I ever got.. zero leakage :0 I'm back at work now trying not to bend my leg.

@Graeme He was outside the shop and @markbee mentioned that it was him in passing ... Then I kind of recognised him from some pictures somewhere.

Got this on the back of my knee by Tim Pausinger today at The Pearl Harbour Gift Shop. I was really surprised that he said he didn't tattoo this before (or anything else on that sheet). Saw some really cool Bill Baker flash in there of all these different wrestling holds - awesome! If I'm back I'm getting the sleeper hold one for sure. Most importantly met LSTer @markbee and his wife - really good folks. Next time In in town we'll have a proper coffee / bite to eat ... Although then again can't beat a meet up in a tattoo shop either.

Always like Hexa, he's so versatile - even though it's his trad he's known for.

I still use those particular machines too. I think they have their place. My wife is majorly into training (she's much better informed than me) and always recommends this site - there's a lot of good articles in the drop-down menus. Hesitate to call it a 'women's lifting' page but I guess it is. http://www.stumptuous.com

Horiyoshi III talked about a kind of pan Asian tattoo style coming out of Japanese style tattooing. I think some of the really good Taiwanese and Chinese artists fit the bill here. People like East Tattoo use Taiwanese motifs unless specifically asked for Japanese.. but they've studied the Japanese (and European exponents of that style) closely, been tattooed by them etc. They borrowed a lot but it seems like they recognise that? In the west someone doing really cool stuff with less common iconography is Marcus Kuhn. Saw a really cool Garuda chest piece he had up as being available to tattoo.

Change of plans on Sunday. Managed to get a morning appointment with Tim Pausinger at The Pearl Harbour Gift Shop. Suits better time wise than rolling the dice on getting a walk in at The Okey Doke (next time!). I can have breakfast with my family and meet LSTer @markbee in lieu of queuing. The staff at The Pearl really went out of their way to fit me in. I have been lucky like that recently too with Uncle Allan. Tattooing, as an industry/community, has some really nice people in it.

Both by Mo Coppoletta, TFB.

I mind a disc in my neck pretty carefully. Generally no issues with it now but I had several months of unpleasantness in the beginning. Constantly keeping my head back, chin tucked a little (no forward head posture) and keeping my shoulders back and down. When I train I'm careful not to put my neck in a weak position and if someone is really trying to hang off it in a martial arts class I'll just tap out (which was probably part of my problem ... ignoring stuff like that in my 20s). There is a big debate about whether direct neck training and strengthening is s good idea. The neck is trickier than the lower back and personally I stick to isometrics with some manual resistance with it (other people do some pretty heavy duty work with wrestlers bridges, weighted harnesses etc). I just do things like pressing against my hand in various planes from time to time. You're indirectly strengthening your neck with a lot of other training anyway.