MsRad

And apparently being ugly, lonely chicks? hahaha jeez.

i've never been good at this sort of thing. Robin A.D. (yes, my initials are RAD, my mom always loved it). 25 and starting life over. east bay area born and raise. have been a museum worker for the last 3 and a half year after getting my first bachelors in photography. now i'm heading back to school to get a second degree in conservation biology, which will come to a shock to those of you who know that i've been interested in writing about tattoo history, but like gougetheeyes, i'm still interested in the history and i'm trying to sort out the proper way to share that history. academia isn't it. i've been into punk rock and hardcore for over half of my life. i'm a former skinhead, who left the lifestyle after deciding i did not want to live my life in a way that asserted power, intimidation, or violence, and found buddhism instead. straight edge saved my life, literally. i've been getting into alt-country more and more these days, and am dying to learn how to play the steel lap guitar, and anything i can about motorcycles (which i've wanted to ride since i was a kid!). i come from a super small family (11 total including me), and i'm the youngest of them all. my mom's side is made up of the 4 strongest women i have ever met, and they have inspired me throughout my life. they're great story tellers, and if you ever meet them when i'm around, they'll fill hours sharing memories of me growing up and doing silly things. i love it. i'd love to get a tattoo for them, but haven't quite figured out what yet. it may involve a squirrel holding a shotgun, or a shetland pony chasing a horse.

SHATNERED!

aww shucks Mel! thanks! it will be part of a larger sleeve including images of native california animals and plants. you're new tattoo by Thomas is pretty sweet! really curious to see pictures of the Charlie Roberts piece.

thanks, man!

also, this is going to sound like dumb, naive question, but Stewart, you brought up a point that i think is worth discussing. is it worth including your work in a magazine, now that there are all of these risks of mis-use? i don't just mean plagairism either, but publications using images in databases like the one this thread was based on. i'm just curious to see what the opinions are.

i couldn't agree with you more Stewart, and i don't mean you need to get a lawyer to have a contract. seriously, you'd be surprised as to how much just a letter or an email can hold up legally. also, we make contracts at times on the spot here when we are requesting images/videos (and the museum does not have an onsite lawyer) from independent artists/sources who don't have legal representation, and they work just fine. my point really is just to make sure, whatever documents are used, that you keep copies of them and you have a paper/email trail. anything verbal can get obscured really easily, should you have to actually fight someone over the use of your work, in or outside of the legal system.

maybe, but maybe not. depends on the agreement which was signed. my primary job at the museum is rights and reproductions, and while i don't usually work with tattoo artists, we do work with artists on a fairly regular basis (and own the collections to a few who have passed on). while sure, for a publication such as Tattoo Life, you're welcome to send in your image, unless you sign a contract giving them full publishing disclosure, if they are posting your image anywhere outside of the designated issue/web publication that you have agreed it, it IS illegal and against copyright law (unless the image was published pre 1978 here in the states, as copyright laws do not apply to any sort of work that was not registered as being copyrighted beforehand, and international rules are slightly different.) Also, usually magazines approach artists (again, not consumer contributors) to ask to use their work (or an estate/gallery that is in charge of their works and any legal ties to them). Once it has been confirmed with an artist that a given work may be used for a specific article, technically the magazine would need to re-apply for permission again for web use, unless the negotiated contract specified otherwise (and a broader range of distribution). if you ar sending in your work, the publication knows who the creator or contributor is, and therefore can't technically claim ignorance or "due dilligence", which can be claimed for a lot of found, anonymous works (think fliers and snapshots). So what does this mean for tattoo artists? GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING. number one thing i can't stress enough. if you get asked to have your work published in a book, magazine, website, whatever, don't agree on a verbal contract, and rather negotiate terms through email. at least then it's dated, time stamped, and in text. never, again NEVER, sign a contract without completely reading it. you may agree that someone can use your image to make millions of dollars (as with Ed Hardy), and not even realize it, and there is very little retribution to be gained once a contract has been signed (it is a legal binding document). if you want only one image to be used, at a small size, in one blog post, or one article, then tell the magazine that; the same can be said for 20 images. this is your right as an artist. just make sure you and the publication are on the same page. while i'm not a copyright lawyer (THANK GOD), this has been my job for the last 3.5 years. here's a great quick reference to copyright laws in case you are interested as well. Also, the safer bet is anything created before 1923 is public domain, anything after that is questionable.

hehehehehehehe

vegan chocolate mocha cake sounds amazing right now.

i don't think we need to be visually reminded of the guy with the flaming pentagram butthole tattoo...

no face, under the chin, tops of hands/fingers, nether regions, ears, or bottom of feet. everything else is fair game in my book, though obviously i don't plan on getting anything extreme until i've got a good paying, solid job, and at least 10 years of work experience. which means i'll be 45 or older when i get my neck done. c'est la vie!

Ugliest Tattoos looks like all the work was done for us! i particularly like this one: real classy! i'm sure he's really 3rd base with that one!

yea i won't be putting any on my newest piece for the next 48 hours or so. found some Shea on sale at whole foods, so i think i'll pick some of it up tomorrow after work.

no words to describe my reaction to this haha

Scott did this one last night on my arm. i'm pretty stoked on it, and all morning Jackson and i were joking around, me moving my arm quickly towards him at random points and saying "ROARRRRRR". it's not the best photo, just one from my laptop, and before i get asked, it's a California Grizzly Bear and the 1922 is the year they went extinct.

i fuckin' love italian greyhounds!!! congrats Shawn!

the thought of cocoa butter just recently occurred to me, as well as shea butter. thanks for confirming my suspicion that it would be an excellent alternative on tattoos! if anyone has any experience with shea butter, i would love to hear it.

i live in west oakland and there were 5 gunshots last night around 3:30 am. apparently someone thought you'd be a great target!

Jeffrey Ward who works at High Voltage also commented on their page....though i don't know how well known he is.

all tattoos itch. it's a sign that it's healing up right (as with any other wound). just put aquophor or lotion on it, and try to chew gum or do something else to take your mind off the itchiness. sometimes an icy compress works for me as well since it provides a different sensation to that area, but i wouldn't recommend putting ice directly on your tattoo. i usually take a ziploc bag of ice, wrap it in a towel, and then i'm good for a little while (especially in summer).

it's almost always Lucero for me these days, but i currently have Townes Van Zandt stuck in my head.

Brian, If you want to see why we're so protective of tattooing on this board (or the other one you previously posted on), all you have to do is go to this thread: Tattoo Discussion Topic: No thread about this bullshit yet? This is what the general public, at least in the US, think what tattooing is about. this is why professionals and enthusiasts are frustrated, tired, and overly protective in general, because the media and the greater part of society have taken a lot away from tattooing, with only giving us crap in return. i think it's been hard to know where you are in that spectrum, and while clearly things are never black and white, some of the questions you have asked and posts you have made clearly show that you are out of sync with the tattoo community, or at least in other parts of the world. perhaps, like you said, this is due to the fact that tattooing is not very popular in Ireland (i'll admit, i only saw 3 shops while i was there, but also wasn't looking to get work done), so the community doesn't feel so threatened by the perspective that the general public has on the art and business of tattooing. but here, in the US and i'd say most of North America, it's a completely different ball game.

i actually think a protest isn't a bad idea. i don't really want to do it alone (because there's more power in numbers at this type of thing), but according to the map, there appears to be a regional office in the bay area, and one for sure in Los Angeles...

please realize that this is EXACTLY what you did. you asked for a review of a dodgy how to dvd. if your wife isn't learning about tattooing from a DVD, why would you expect anyone else on here that's worth a damn to have not done the same as her?