slayer9019

weird...

the amusing thing is that spelt is the past form of spell used by british people. some say that they even started the english language.

the only one that kills me (British vs USA english) is math vs maths

Since I started to get tattooed? A month and a week. I also was getting only around 1-2 hours a week on average so larger pieces go about a half a year

Very true.. I guess since I don't frequent scratchers I don't know what kinda stuff they have hahahaha... Either way I do feel like parents are very detached from their kids these days and being at work is just another excuse to not practice real parenting. I don't really want to get into that whole argument in earnest though because a) it's a huge can of worms with very strong opinions from most people and b) i don't have kids of my own and never will !

Agreed, as I am not a parent I cannot fully understand the whole argument.

Also know scratchers comes with living in crappy neighborhoods. They are a dime a dozen here! I think it goes along the lines of "cool" and "easy money"....plus in lower income areas people cannot afford good tattooers. I just feel lucky I never got convinced to go under the needle of one of these hacks.

It says she did the tattoos while her parents were at work or not at home. Makes me wonder how a kid can hide an entire tattoo/piercing set up from their own parents. I mean, obviously every teen ager has secrets and hides things from the family but really, you didn't notice your kid was tattooing other kids in your own basement? Boo to the parents, boo to the t.v. shows that made this kid think it was ok and boo to the kid for fucking up other kids bodies forever. And for once, yay to the police for stopping someone from hurting other people and the tattoo industry.

I was quite good at hiding stuff when I was a kid. My parents both worked a lot so they weren't around to keep a constant eye on me. I assume the whole setup she had was easily just enough stuff for a suitcase if that. I know of a scratcher and his setup was very small (Hell if you reuse needles and only have 1 size needle!). All of his stuff fit very easily into a backpack. I am assuming she had no autoclave, no green soap, 1 tube, 1 machine (article does say plural so maybe 2), a very small power supply, and maybe 4 needles.

I do agree she was stupid and her parents should have caught on at least! I think sometimes parents see signs that something fishy is going on but don't want to pry or piss off their kids so they don't intervene until it's too late. Also like stated in the article it was done while her parents were at work so, I will say it is hard to catch your kid doing something if you are not there!

The offending tattooer was an out of town guest who came about once a month or every couple months. If I had to deal with him on the daily I wouldn't have worked there more than a week or two I'm sure. The guy who owned the shop and hired me was really nice, didn't expect me to do unreasonable stuff and tipped me very well. The other people who worked as guest artists and the other guy that he eventually hired as a full time artist were always very good to me as well.

Oh then that's not that bad.

(sorry ursula had to snip out some)

a) How are you determining their pay? .........

.......

d) Are you treating them like a shop bitch? People who do this job are there to help make your day go easier. They are not there to bend over backwards at every tiny request you have. ......

So basically, hire someone who is smart and willing to work, pay them well and don't treat them like a slave. ......

I agree with what Ursula said a lot. While I have not worked a non-office job in quite a while, I still have worked jobs in a similar role in the past.

While pay can be a big factor to some people (the only reason I switched to a stuffy desk job), most just need to feel they are being compensated justly. On that note people need to make at least enough money to stick around. I worked at an auto shop being the basic equivalent of a shop helper (estimates, phones, some basic jobs like oil changes) but they paid me jack shit and treated me like a shop bitch/slave. Let's just say I never stuck around and even while I was there I did just enough to skim by and collect my shit pay.

To Ursula, I would have left that job quickly, regardless of how much you liked the shop if I was being treated like that (cleaning up personal messes?). While, I do admit sometimes you have to do what you have to do in a job, I have quit jobs before when pushed past my threshold, even one that paid way more than I should have been getting.

Then again it could just be shit luck with a string of crappy people flowing through the shop. This happens in all industries. I once managed a group of people that had one position that seemed like a stream-o-shit just ran through the seat, until we eventually got someone that was a good fit. I like to think that everything happens for a reason.

I would say if you keep going though shop assistants this fast and many, I would possibly look to see if you are doing something to cause this. Maybe you are not paying enough, or hired people that just are not up to snuff on what you want them to do.

Just my $0.02

I could see this working out if both the tattooer and the client knew each other or if offered a tattoo, the other tattooer would have to be known well.

My first tattoo wasn't the best so I bite my tongue typically, but living in a tourist town you see more than a handful of shit tattoos during spring break. Sadly enough, people are more interested in cheap tattoos rather than quality and would pay for shit just to have a tattoo.

Side note: why is it that people without tattoos feel the need to tell you all their prospective tattoo plans out of the blue once they see yours?

I do say I found it is hard to find anyone tattooed that doesn't have at least one bad tattoo. Unless you're lucky like @Iwar

I think that people like shitty cheap tattoos better most of the time due to either two things.

1. They don't know better. I was in this boat at one point. Cheap, crappy tattoos are way more previlant than good tattoos.

2. People are cheap and/or are doing for a fashion statement. In their mind its like picking up a pair of (insert brand) jeans for cheap. These are the same people that usually question why do I buy a 10 dollar bottle of chimay instead of a "thirty pack of natty ice".

This is pretty much how I think about people's tattoos. If one likes the tattoo he have, it shouldn't be my problem if I think otherwise. I never ask anyone's opinion about my tattoos simply because I don't care other's opinions. My tattoos are mine and for me, not to a girl next door.

I happen to like tattoos which aren't looking like they were ripped off from some kids' coloring book - or even worst, from the latest tattoo mag. I like my tattoos looking rough. Like they were made by some bad ass M.F. using guitar strings. Treasure for me, trash to some... Peace.

I am interested in seeing these rough tattoos

Thank you to all that have responded!

I would love to get a piece from each one, but only have enough for one right now. I thought Shinji did both machine and tebori. It was only at the consultation that I learned he does the outline by machine and shading by tebori - which would probably double what I have saved. He gave me a rough estimate of completeing the sleeve in 8 or 9 months. I told both Chris & Shinji that I wanted to start in early 2012. I also told Chris yesterday that I had spoken to Shinji but again, I wasn't clear about being undecided. Both Chris and Shinji are quiet and laid back - as am I. With Shinji there is a slight language barrier.

Cool Shinji story...

So, in late August I went to NYAdorned to inquire about Shinji's availability. The guy told me to put my name on a wait list of about 30 people deep. About a month later I saw Shinji on the subway. I walked up to him and introduced myself. I told him that I put my name on his wait list and was hoping to get work from him one day. He asked me what I wanted and I told him. He was very pleasant and friendly. He liked what I wanted and told me that he would put me at the top the list. A couple of days later I got a call from NYAdorned saying Shinji would like to book a consultation if I was still interested. It's funny cause the first couple of times NYA called I couldn't answer the phone cause I was at work and my voice mail was not set up. NYA called me a third time and that's when I finally could answer. By this time I had already sent Chris an email inquiring about a consultation. He answered about a week ago. I have second guessed myself because of the cost of tebori. But it would be great to have one arm done by Shinji and one by Chris O' Donnell. Over the summer I also had consultations with Brad Fink and Regino Gonzales. They were also cool dudes. They all want to do do dragons. I only spoke with Brad and Regino -- neither one took outlines of my arm, that's why I was kinda surprised Shinji and Chris measured my arm.

Anyway, I think I'm gonna go with Shinji since he kept his word and called me. I'm going to email Chris and explain, apologize, and hope that he would be open to doing my other arm one day.

The way I approach a consultation is only after I have decided. I know dealing with Regino that he does not really do anything until a week before you are going to get tattooed (personally I think this makes sense). The only reason I could see an artist making an outline of your arm is if they were going to tattoo you for sure. I have never seen or experienced having something drawn for me or anyone else unless a deposit was down and you were close to your time to get tattooed as well. Any time a person I have seen been tattooed has gotten the drawing done the day of that tattoo or maybe a day before.

Also both are amazing artists and do a great job so you can't go wrong with either.

I may have one of the ugliest tattoos to date. I owed my buddy a favor and in return he said let me tattoo something of my choosing on you. He has never tattooed. I said ok. He chose Dick Butt, google it and you will see, he did it as his first and only tattoo so you can imagine how it looks. Actually it looks just like the google image. I love it. One of my favorites.

While I agree that the demographic of college students (and graduates under the burden of loans) are the biggest spenders, I think this petition, if passed would cause some serious issues. One issues that would arise if passes would be, who would pay the loans? If you are like me, you didn't have the ability to use only government loans, so the private banks would have to eat the coast of those loans as well? Another issue would be, what about current students? Would this make college free for all students? If you eradicated all previous student debt, essentially I attended school for free. A big force against this would be the people (usually parents) that paid for there children to go to school in cash. In their eyes they paid their children's tuition in full, but millions of others who racked up debt suddenly get to be alleviate of financial burden. In the attempt to understand any complex issue such as this you must place yourself in the shoes of every party affected by the situation. While I personally would love for my large dept to go away (my sister is also paying a four-figure a month loan payment), I think it would never pass simply due to every situation being different.

You missed the boat on Williamsburg, it might as well be the east village now. Nothing but rich jocks and richer foreigners now. The hipsters all grew up or got pushed to bushwick, bedstuy or queens.

Yea Williamsburg is no longer true hipster central anymore. Moved more along the lines of East Williamsburg/Bushwick. This is probably due to rent being in the stratosphere.

Thought I would of course mention the gun thing.

I had a customer come into my eatery, a dentist, and when he was paying, he started to empty his pockets looking for some change and happened to pull out a small semi-automatic handgun and casually laid it on the counter and kept on looking for a few cents.

A couple of weeks later, same dentist, invited me out of my store to take a look at something in his trunk, which happened to be some kind of 'military-style' rifle.

The handgun spooked me, but thought the rifle was pretty bad ass, actually.

Did I mention the guy is a dentist?

Epic.

I picked up my copy of Bloodwork: Bodies on Sunday. It's two volumes and weighs 27 pounds. It's also the nicest tattoo book I've ever seen. It features stunning photography of 119 backpieces and bodysuits by an absolutely ridiculous list of artists. If you are at all able to get your hands on a copy, you will not be disappointed.

I hve been eyeing up the bloodwork series but the cost is killing me. Is it worth it?

That I can turn on the TV at dinner and see an eviscerated corpse (thanks "Bones"), but I can't see a topless woman because that's harmful in some way (?)

Yes I do agree with this 100%. In America it's worse to see anything sexual but blood/gore/death is 100% ok.

I know my German friends said it was weird that nobody can drink outside, yet we are a country of heavy drinkers. They also commented that we use "wagons" while shopping, and usually stock up considerable more.

I think it really depends on which part of the USA that you talk about because areas vary a lot when you talk NYC-Metro vs Mid-West vs West-Coast etc etc

Not meant to offend i'am just having a Steffie (Graff) -laugh .

slightly off topic but cockney is its own language

So is Thomas Hooper doing it?

Go buy some islamic art and/or islam influenced architecture books for ideas. there tends to be some really cool stuff

Yea taking a long trip to the city today for moving related stuff. I will be swining by Saved and hopefully get a deposit down.

Anyone in SF need a roommate??

best of craigslist: Best. Roommate. Ever.

best of craigslist: Just fucking fuck me, already.

best of craigslist: guy with skid mark, bought gallon of whole milk, circle k - w4m

best of craigslist: Lost your teeth? They're poolside

I think it's interesting-all tattoos, art, and visual imagery are "geometric". I think that's why certain symbols like crosses,roses,skulls,anchors,etc stand out because their intrinsic nature is geometric.If you look at real tribal pattern art, the lines are representational, sometimes of abstract ideas like the Dreamtime in the Aborigines or social position in South Pacific, N. American native cultures, and early Celt/British tribal art. I think Hooper and Jondix's work standout to me because they are tuned into that frequency.

For sure. They say that the "golden ration" and certain levels of symmetry are pleasing to the human eye. When comparing work like Jondix and Hooper put out compared against the "normal" tribal stuff you can feel a big difference in the mood or idea behind it.

Don't forget Albrigo: Daniel Albrigo NYC

Thanks gouge, didn't even know he existed! Will check it out

I like them but its all a bit wallpapery. I think Thomas Hooper's (and Jondix for that matter) work stands out cos its more than just repetetive patterns.

Yea for sure. I guess I am lucky to be living within an hour (so to be 3 blocks) from Saved Tattoo.