David Flores

I wouldn't want either of those tattoos. Calling either of them custom or original is doing a great dis-service to the word and good tattoos. The two tattoos are different enough, but clearly it shows he used google to find a shitty tattoo to reference.

Yeah I mean why not make the sponsors pony up some money. On other reality shows they give away trips, cars, even cash. I haven't seen the 3rd episode yet, but am still waiting to see some exciting tattoos. There have been a few interesting ones, but nothing that impresses me that much. At least with NYINK you have a good chance of seeing a nice Tim Hendricks tattoo.

I was hoping maybe she would mention this forum, She mentions being called a cow, but nothing of being referred to as a mid sized sedan. I remember a time when everything you write in your writing 122 class doesn't get published on the internet for worldwide critique and I time when people realized that most people probably don't care about a 19 year olds world view. You go to love the internet and the time, we live in. It allows everyone to be an artist, writer, photographer, and even a critic regardless of talent or hard work.

I think the 4 hour limit is a good thing, for many of the same reasons you cited. If someone tries to pull off something bigger than they can handle or tries to put a rush job on the tattoo, they are called out for it and people see it. On other shows you see two or three people a show getting back or rib pieces and their is really no time frame put on these tattoos, which leads some people to assume they are done same day. Second, most people aren't going to be able to sit for much more than four hours. Occasionaly you find a person that can handle longer sessions, but I know personally I don't like to sit for more than four hours. It does kind of favor tattooers that have experience in a walk in style street shop. Obviously in this day and age, a lot of popular and talented tattooers are booked out months in advance, but I think that is a really small portion of what's going on. Even if people do bill themselves as a street shop, the majority of tattooers do have their appointments, but also rely heavily on what walks in the door and being able to construct a tattoo on the fly and put it on same day and have the customer walk away happy. Again different styles lend them selves better to walk in tattooing, but ultimately you just have to know what you can tackle in the alotted time and work with in that. It does seem like quality is definetly preferred over quanity when it comes down to judging.

A Native American client put it in perspective the other day. She was looking around the shop and stopped at a sheet with some Pacific Northwest Native Designs. I asked her if she was interested in getting that type of tattoo, because I have a lot more reference in the back of that stuff. She replied "Anyone who takes a look at me can tell I'm Indian, I don't need a tattoo to say it, I want to get a Unicorn or a Pegasus, do you have any of those?" I told her we could draw one for her and she said "I've never been in a tattoo shop that didn't have a Pegasus or a unicorn on the wall." Fast forward, she leaves stoked with her bitching new tattoo. First of all I want to know what shops she's been hanging out at, cause I want to see some awesome unicorn flash. Two I guess it makes sense, while lots of people get tattoos to represent their family cultures and background, others are looking to differentiate themselves and possibly even rebel against the common perceptions. I can see how some people could be sensitive towards stuff from their culture, but with all due respect if we all got tattoos based upon exactly who we are, we would all have the same tattoos (or else we would all have to join the navy or somehow turn Japanese). Look at most tattoo designs. So many animals tattoos are loosely based upon what they would look like in the wild, but very few would be a spot on accurate representation of the species nor is it really intended to be, plus I don't think they wear funny hats or smoke cigarettes either. It's tweaking old ideas that generate new ideas and keep old ideas fresh and new.

She looks more like a Camry to me.

I drink Jameson neat and Scotch on Ice, not sure why just always have. The stuff I am aging now in my mini barrel should be quite potent (around 110 proof), the instructions were to add water to lower proof, but couldn't bring myself to do it. Worst case I can always plop an ice cube in the glass, but have a feeling it won't be an issue.

Sad to say I found that article a few weeks ago and it claimed that she never got around to actually tattooing in the apprenticeship. I told my wife even before that, I bet she has apprenticed elsewhere, especially when I saw the tattoo she did on herself. It wasn't the best effort, but clearly not the first tattoo she had put on. I don't bother denying watching it anymore.

Yeah Tim is on this forum, he doesn't post that much but from time to time he will join in.

Then there are the people who charge a low hourly rate, but milk the tattoo for three times a long as it should take. I can only help those who will listen.

I hate watching that show, because me and my wife always get into arguments about it, mostly because she doesn't spend much time in a tattoo shop and doesn't understand why Ami won't let that girl apprentice.

Great work does speak for itself, it's just too bad that most people can't tell the difference. But the ones who can reap the rewards.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. -Martin Luther King Jr In this case though, I would say it's the colors in their skin. Ultimately I think as an employer, technically you have the right to ask your employee to conform to dress code standards. On the other hand it's kind of a dick thing to threaten to fire a bunch of officers who potentially risk their lives over a bunch of dumb tattoos. It kind of reminds me of the military. I can remember times when joining the military will make some pretty serious criminal charges go away and other times where they don't want anything to do with anyone who has ever smoked a joint. I guess they must not be very hard up at this point.

It's the worst show on TV that I can't stop watching. Even the people who claim they don't watch it and it sucks seem to know everything that happens every episode. The spot on critiques are the best part of the show.

Yeah there is a shop that opened up down the street from us. The owner and her husband(her helper) only play tattoo shop on the weekend. The rest of the week they have a bunch of kids straight out of tattoo school fucking up people's skin. One of the kids came in to our shop, not to ask permission, but to let us know he was opening up down the road. I could tell my boss was pretty pissed but he kept his cool while he was there and merely let him know that he had been tattooing in Portland for over 20 years and when he started out it was customary out of respect to know who owns the other shops in town especially the one down the road. They had no clue he what he was talking about and invited him to stop by their shop. Bad Move! I wasn't there but I heard he went down there and kind of took them all down a notch in front of a lobby full of customers. Don't know if did any good, probably not, but made us all laugh.

Like I said I don't know if it's true, it's just what he said, but it was in the context of defending himself for being on that show.

I haven't read the interview yet. I am still marveling at all the pictures. Great Issue.

My only frame of reference on this topic Thomas Morgan told me he pulled $20,000 an episode for that Tattoo Highway show he did, but I believe it was on History Channel. I don't know if it's totally true, but he sunk a lot of money into a huge shop in Portland right after that show was done. $5,000 is nothing turn you nose up at, but doesn't seem like enough for the amount of buzz around this show.

I wonder how many officers would actually have their tattoos removed to save their job, if that was what the decision was?

This video has nothing to do with this thread, I just like it and it was filmed at Dante's here in Portland.

Congratulations, like it has been said, your wife is a tough lady. I don't plan on having any more kids, but I am with you 100%, hospitals suck. We live across the street from a hospital, but we got some bad recommendations on it and have heard their maternity ward referred to as the baby factory by some doctors. We found what we thought was a better hospital, which in some ways it was, but still the whole experience left a lot to be desired. I wish you and your family the best and hope you get some sleep.

Yeah if you outside of downtown or some of the trendy districts in Portland it's pretty cheap. I had a one bedroom right downtown next to the university for about $700 3 years ago. I moved just west of downtown off the highway and I pay $860 for a 3 bedroom.

The other day I was talking with someone who has owned his own his for about ten years. He pointed out that before he bought his house he rented an one bedroom apartment for about $400 a month. His property taxes are now $400 a month, so even if his house is paid off free and clear, he will still have a $400 payment to make. He doesn't regret his decision and likes having a house and clearly it is much bigger and nicer than his apartment which today would probably rent for $650-$700 a month today, but still something to think about.

Yeah the guy i work for says he chose to get a 30 year loan because the payments would be cheaper and anything you can pay extra will go straight to the principal. There aren't too many questionable neighborhoods in Portland, but my guess is when I do buy it will be farther out of the city than I prefer and will probably need some work right away so I probably won't be able to put all the money i have saved down but still a good chunk.

I guess I should pay attention more. Yeah I don't think I would be lining up either.