mario desa

that tattoo is fucking awesome. you seem concerned with your "tough" image, but a "real" man would wear this with pride. you loved your dog, he died, you're honoring him. nothing to be ashamed of. real tough guys are tough enough to cry sometimes.

i'll be at rock of ages in austin soon, and namebrand in ann arbor soon too! i usually "announce" my guest spots about a month beforehand, then again a week before, and again once i'm at the shop.

most of the people in that list are bob's personal friends.

ok, ok, it was me.

bob baxter is a piece of shit.

i worked with a guy who tattooed hydrogen peroxide into a tattoo he longer wanted and it basically dissapeared. don't tell wrecking balm!!!

not a bummer at all. quite the opposite, and i WILL be in toronto THIS WEEKEND at the convention!

all three of those guestspots have been canceled. that's why we are not on the new list.

no respect.

I got my hands and neck done only a year into tattooing (1998), admittedly before I should have. I had sleeves, but no torso work yet. Anyway...my hastiness was due to wanting to look like a TATTOOER. ONLY tattooers had hand and neck tattoos and often 9 times out of 10 a person with sleeves was a tattooer. You ALWAYS knew a tattooer when you saw a heavily tattooed person. (I used to always get asked "Where do you tattoo?" now it's "Are you in a band?") Of course, these days, a lot of hipsters and rocker types wear the look. It's been diluted, and in my opinion, destroyed. It's the reason being a tattooer is cliche, like a girl with weird hair being a hairstylist. (No offense to hairstylists). I hate being associated with these douchebags because of my hand and neck tattoos, and even I roll my eyes at these jokers. And as much as we'd like to think so, these tattoos are no longer "job killers". Wether it's Hot Topic or Target, or even Nordstrom or Marc Jacobs i see employees with sleeves and neck tattoos. I even had a TSA screener at O'hare Airport that had a giant script tattoo on his neck. Times have changed, and i know it's just the way it goes...but i can't help but feel we (tattooers) lost something special.

andrew rules.

just bumping this back up! i will be there with dan smith doing walk ups and selling a new print. nick colella will be there in the blackheart booth!

i've hung out with mike before, am a fan of his graffiti and drawings, have nothing against the guy, but...his tattoos are awful. his style doesn't translate well to the body at all and he has no real concept of tattoo design and it seems no intention of learning how to correctly design tattoos and execute them well. it seems that the main reason people want tattoos from him is they are fans of his other artwork. you're better off buying a print or drawing i think. i also read that interview where he says flat-out that the clothing label pays him more so he quit tattooing. pretty fucking lame. but, to each their own. we all pay our own bills in the end.

ami is actually a good tattooer. and that is his real apprentice, from miami. not sure if he did his sleeves but i wouldn't be surprised.

i had a great time, man. it was great to meet all of you and work with you guys. see you in october!

i made a little film of my trip to london. thanks to everyone at frith st. tattoo! i had an amazing time.

deb, i get it! and you are right. i'm only 14 years in, but even in that short time, things have changed.

solid! i was there when he got it!

i'd hang out with him.

i just got tattooed by her yesterday, we traded! it pays to be connected ;)

laser it once or twice, then cover it. you'll be much happier with the results.

i think there's a big statue of a lady in the river? i heard about a big park out there too.

i'll be working at frith st. this saturday the 21st-monday the 30th! shameless plug***

man, that's cool.

oh, and if you're stupid enough to get a glow in the dark tattoo and you get sick, good.