David Flores

Did a couple more hours on my back on Friday. For some reason I can only sit for about two hours on my back. I have never had this issue before, but it's getting annoying and at this point I just want it to be done, but my guess is at least 10-12 hours to go.

Got on the computer after a couple of days off and see this story in a few different places. I brought up the topic at the shop and pretty much the consensus was "Everyone gets the tattoo they deserve". I am not sure why anyone would be mad at a tattooer for being a tattooer. I think sometimes people fixate on the artistic aspect of tattooing and getting tattooed by the guys with the names they forget that sometimes it's about providing a service to a customer. This tattoo is sure not for everyone, but she is stoked about it and that is all that should matter.

Crazy it has been a whole year since Pinky has passed. First pic was taken at Dragon Tattoo in 1983, second in 2008 when State of Grace Convention was in San Jose. No matter how many times my boss told him he lives in Oregon, Pinky insisted the whole time he lives in Washington. RIP PINKY!

Me and my wife both have this same tattoo (same but different), because we always thought he looked a lot like a kewpie doll. Mine was done by Justin Dion and hers was done by Mario Desa. Of course I also got a hot stuff devil for him too because of his not so cute times. I really like that rib piece that Scott Sylvia did with hot stuff riding a panther and kewpie riding a white tiger. I thought that was really fun and traditional but still worked well with Japanese work. Obviously wouldn't work for the chest but there is a pretty cool hot stuff in this book wearing a kimono with some background that would be a good idea for one chest panel. If the book wasn't at the shop I just take a pic and post it. tattooflashbooks.com - Jerome "Tilt" McCulloch - Classic Flash 2: In 5 Bold Colors

He is about 40 miles south of Portland in Salem OR. I know a couple of people who have been tattooed by him recently and it looks like his signature stuff still. http://maps.google.com/maps/place?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=np&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=dave+lum+tattoo&fb=1&gl=us&hq=dave+lum+tattoo&hnear=0x5495082476f88863:0x10e0cf158aacbd08,Beaverton,+OR&cid=7572867145008337774

Reminds me of some of Dave Lum's stuff, although I haven't spotted any hidden penis's in the tattoos but I haven't looked that hard yet. Supremely talented, fun stuff to look at, but not necessarily the kind of tattoos I want to be covered in. Although part of me still wants to take the 35 minute drive and get tattooed by Lum to have a small souvenir.

We were all getting our hair cut at the barber shop down the street and he asked if we all "operate an ink gun". I said I beg your pardon. "Do you sling ink!" he insists. My boss just look at him and says "Yeah I tattoo." Then he changed the subject and we started talking about firearms.

I forgot to mention Samuel O'Reilly's Tattoo Parlour, Taylor Street Tattoo and Tattoo City as shops on the road I enjoyed my experience at.

I think the question is what defines the best shop for a person. Judging a shop is different that judging the tattooers that work there. Like Shannon I would say the shop I work at in my mind is the best shop. But that is only because all of us our like minded in our approach and expectations of a tattoo shop. I like a shop that specializes in traditional,but can full off basically any style, that is fun to hang out in, and relatively accessible to get tattooed. I don't expect to necessarily walk in and get tattooed on the spot but it nice to be able to get tattooed within a reasonable time. I would say my three favorite shops to get tattooed in Portland are Imperial Tattoo, Deluxe Tattoo, and Acme Tattoo. If you asked me who had the most talented artists I would say Atlas Tattoo, Artwork Rebels, possibly Mr Tattoo because their lineup seems to be ever changing, but every big name tattooer mentions that shop to guest spot in. But ultimately my opinion is only as good as the amount of shops I have visited so I guess the only solution is to visit more My favorite tattoo shop to get tattooed by on the road is Chicago Tattoo Company. I have yet to visit Smith Street and many other shops that I am sure I would enjoy as well. Ultimately my opinion is only as good as the amount of shops I have visited so I guess the only solution is to visit more

That guy post so many good tattoos, I really like following that guys work and would love the chance to get tattooed by him. I hear he is doing walk ins on Thurs Fri and Sat for awhile, what I would give to be in Liverpool.

I have seen this posted around for a few days and pretty much just wrote it off to typical trailer park bull shit, but now that I have taken a close look at the tattoo it's pretty damn funny. I know at least a couple of aspiring tattoo artists who have covered there girlfriend with their shit tattoos, but never quite so literally.

on my chest I did a bunch of little single line stuff in between the stars and dots. I did a dagger, an anchor, a whiskey bottle, and some arrows. I don't know if it was the best idea, but the spots I had left were too small for a real tattoo but too big just to star and dot IMO. Shitty pictures I took them all myspace style with my phone.

I plan on getting the spots filled in on my left arm, I have mostly traditonal stuff on that arm but only in black and grey and little bits of red. I think I am going to try to do some soft shading in between. Going for the look of skull smoke. I have already started the stars and dots on my right arm and my chest so I thought something different would be good. I will post a pic once it is done.

More importantly where are you going to get tattooed? Like the others say if you find good tattooer they can take care of the rest and the more freedom you give them, the better your tattoo will be. Was going to suggest Flying Panther, but looks like as I was typing this Ian beat me to it. Here's another shop that does some good work. http://www.avalontattootwo.com/

A tattooer I know is removing some stuff on another tattooer using this method and after one session I would have to say the results are amazing. I am told that it is quite painful, but the person in question doesn't have any experience with lazer removal so can't say which is worse. Anyhow his plan is once it is light enough to get Jason Kundell to tattoo a full sleeve on him and I think that is only a couple sessions away.

I would concur with going with the full sleeve. I mean ultimately it's your body, but I rarely have seen someone get a half sleeve and not finish it and going full sleeve would mean you could go bigger on the main image and half one full sleeve, instead of two half sleeves. See how you feel after you get a few sessions and go from there. Maybe you will want to get other styles of tattoos, maybe you will want to continue with the japanese work. I just feel like I approached tattoos a lot differently before I had any and once I got a few I kind of saw what direction I wanted to go.

Little Jammer inspired by an episode of Ancient Aliens.

Rumor has it I will be eating Mexican Food and drinking beer today. I already cooked a Turkey on tuesday with mash potatoes, stuffing, candied yams, cranberry sauce and all that stuff (and yes I did it all by myself while watching my son, which I was pretty proud of). Today I am celebrating my son's birthday more than Thanksgiving.

Had a pretty long conversation with this guy when he was working at Thomas Morgan's shop in Portland. I went in all low profile, checking out the new shop in town but after talking for a minute I kind of fessed up. Really like what he had to say. I never got a chance to get tattooed by him, but maybe one day I will end up in his neck of the woods.

Thanks for the recommendations, not a fan of the Guiness we get over here. Think I know a couple places where I can find some of these beers.

Northwest pale ale, pretty heavy on the hops, only comes out in the summer though unfortunately.

Facebook was her downfall in this case and while that wasn't an issue in my teen years , there certainly was an understanding that some things we engaged in were illegal and required a little discretion in order to not get caught whether that be carrying visine to not look stoned or not tattooing some kid who's mom would turn you in or whatever the situation dictated, those who didn't practice it were caught and made examples of. At the end of the day I feel sorry for the kid, but there no way I can justify saying that letting a 17 year old run a tattoo shop out of her parents house is a good idea or should be legal under any circumstances. Hopefully it's a lesson learned and not a life ruiner for her.

The first tattoo I ever saw done was because someone's mom had to work the night shift. Kids tattooing kids seems pretty innocent and par for the course on how i grew up, although I don't think any money (at least of any significance) changed hands in my experiences and that is probably the only thing i think is the difference and the reason it was handled this way. Kids being kids vs Illegal business is a fine line. But ultimately like most cases the lesson is not to be dumb enough to get caught.

The first tattoos I got in a shop, I went to "the guy" who a bunch of people recommended, he was booked months out, heard nothing but good things about his tattoos and at the time all his stuff looked really good. To his defense his first tattoo was a technically perfect rendition of a realistic black and grey gargoyle, the only problem is I have grown to not like that style. The second tattoo ended up being a direct copy of a Frank Miller comic. I brought in some reference most of it in the Japanese realm, but had one pic of Miho from Sin City Comic book in my pile as I was and am a fan of that comic and Miho. I really was looking for a Japanese girl with a samurai sword, but he steered me toward the graphic novel, negative space black work of Frank Miller. It's probably done about as good as it could be, but it was a shitty idea for a tattoo and I paid a lot of money over a couple sessions to get it completed. In the end it is my fault for not knowing what a good tattoo idea was, and what a tattoo should look like and why some things shouldn't be tattooed, but honestly I still can't believe a guy with 20 years in the business, charging top dollar with a three month waiting list didn't know better. The funny part is a lot of people think the tattoo is awesome. I have a lot of tattoos and I know there are others on me that aren't perfect, but that is the only tattoo i wish I wish wasn't on me. Usually I try to be nice to people about existing tattoos, but try to be up front with people about bad ideas and steer them in the right direction to get better tattoos.