smiling.politely

Unfortunately, I'm missing the opening... I won't be in town until tomorrow a bit before noon (then leaving just after midnight... life in the fast lane). My parents are there on their first trip further than Oklahoma or Missouri, having the honeymoon they never had, so if you see a lady with red hair with a long haired fellow with a wolf on his throat, he will definitely be happy to talk your ear off about getting tattooed by Charlie Cartwright 30 years ago!

Had planned a week long vacation for this, my first time to California as well... but life happens and that is no longer an option. But I already had an appointment booked, and couldn't bear to cancel that in addition to all the other fun stuff that already had to go away. So, I'm flying out the morning of Friday the 30th, getting tattooed that night by Stewart, then flying back to Kansas just after midnight. Before the doors open, I'm hoping to check out the Visionary Subversive show, grab some sushi somewhere, spend what money I have left as irresponsibly as possible post tattoo, before scuttling off into the night. Wish I had more time to spend there, but it just means that I have no choice but to go back and properly see the Bay Area as soon as I can!

#Bubbleberry

Always good to also look for the source...

Skin tone can alter the look of a pigment after it's healed... hence why white will usually brown or yellow once skin has grown over it. The color is always being viewed through a filter of sorts. Not saying that is the case, but is a possibility.

You got your question answered. Multiple times. You responded in an oblique fashion, repeatedly ignoring advice and information given to you by several tattooers and tattoo clients with similar experiences. I told you about the only thing you can do to fix it to your liking, and you completely glossed over it and focused on those you had already put off, rather than ignoring them. Do you not see how you could receive backlash from people for that?

As far as a root of a problem, there's a bunch of different things that could have happened. They may have made a mistake, or you may have twitched (even an involuntary nerve twitch), causing the needle to penetrate a bit too deeply... tattooing is a two way street, and not all of the issues that can arise are the tattooer's fault. If you want it fixed, it sounds like about all you can have done is have that line made a bit bolder, and everything else modified to match. Also, a one inch line with markings for smaller measurements is a fairly difficult tattoo, if you want it laser straight. I sweat those more than big roses or skulls. Plus, if you have it for practical reasons, I feel a ruler would be much better, so that you're not measuring things on an uneven, rounded surface all the time. Plus, as the tattoo naturally ages with you, those lines won't be perfect measurements anymore, just to let you know.

Fun times in New York with my newly immigrated fiancée. Bug is on her by Bert Krak, torch and rose are on me by Eli Quinters and Beau Brady, respectively.

Most of the tattoos I got for the first few years of getting tattooed were from Dennis at Artist at Large, but I also got stuff from Josh, Juan, and Duncan when they still worked there. And one of the guys that works with us loves Jeff Ensminger, so I know he'd be stoked to see it!

Welcome! Looking through your photos, do I recognize Artist at Large in the background of the owl? And it would seem my boss did your eagle. You should swing by Kellogg and West so we can see your back in person once you get it going!

I knew what he meant, and I passed it off jokingly. I made it clear what tattooing is to myself, my coworkers, and those who take it seriously. As I said, some people don't know how to phrase what they mean, and I helped him learn, hopefully. Also, whenever I hear someone say "Do something you love, and you'll never work a day in your life" it strikes me as infinitely uninformed... I love drawing, painting, and tattooing, but it's very hard work. Who knew that all those nights with two hours sleep drawing the same thing 20 times in a row didn't count as work? And it implies that you're supposed to hate your job (and, of course, usually do it to a subpar level because you don't care about it), which is a poor mindset to have as a standard bearer.

And some people don't really know how to articulate their compliments and phrase what they want to say well. This was a case of that. "Man, it's cool you guys found something you're passionate about." "Man, it's rad how much fun you have at work." "Man, this doesn't even seem like a career, just a hobby." One of those doesn't fit the other two in terms of how it sounds. Also, if you think I'm looking for something wrong in what people say to me, or have a negative disposition, then you don't know anything about me. My signature and my username sum me up pretty well.

It's more that it's a disrespectful and ignorant statement, due to how hard we all do work. A hobby is a passing interest... Playing guitar is a hobby I really enjoy. Just because you're having fun, doesn't mean you're not working extremely hard.

Fun one from a client's moral support... "I mean, this doesn't even seem like work. Just seems like a hobby... you guys are having so much fun!"

So, I can't start working like Shige or Filip? Of course, I'm referring to seeming constant shirtlessness, not the tattoo work (as I hope to one day be 2% of the tattooer that either of them are in terms of ability and productivity)? EDIT: In terms of someone having a name, the person who has tattooed the overall largest area of my body so far is my boss. Starting my frontpiece was fairly important in me getting me the chance to scrub the toilets for no pay, since it showed that I was serious. He is an amazing, well-rounded tattooer who does world class work, who hasn't done conventions or put himself out too far into the world after gaining sole custody of his son about 10 years ago (preventing him from working the Bay Area Convention for his first time). From my dealing with big name tattooers and booking appointments, he usually books out three or four times as far as all but the biggest names (there are far less options around our area with a comparable skill set, though, which means a larger percentage go to a handful of people, or just a few shops in our town). If I were to be at a convention, if anyone from here recognized me, it'd probably be from the eagle he put on my head (if I had short hair... otherwise, it'd just be two or three folks that have found me on IG).

You're right... I was thinking about going to Horitomo or Rubendall, but they would probably give me something washed out and faded looking anyway. Probably not even worth thinking about getting anything on my back for now.

Not sure it's all in the name, location trends come and go (not overall styles, mind you, trends). I haven't seen a wave of girls avoiding the ribs after the advent of the term "skank flank." I've done probably two lower back tattoos that fit the term (symmetrical, side to side, etc.), while I've done hundreds of rib ones.

I didn't know Japanese work only went down in Asian countries... here I was, safe with the knowledge that there's way more people doing large scale Japanese work in America and Europe, only to have that crushed. Looks like the Fudo on my back down the line is going to be way harder to get.

"All opinions are not equal. Some are a very great deal more robust, sophisticated, and well supported in logic and arguement than others" -Douglas Adams (in reference to some of the discussions of a few of the older generation) As for the collector idea being a positive or a negative, the same could be said for any other type of collection. We all knew that one guy who had $3,000 worth of guitars and amps, but couldn't play to save his life... or the guy with an original pressing of some band's album that he actually can't tell you a thing about. Some people get it and seek it for that reason. Some people seek it because they want to seem like they get it, and they're supposed to. For a personal story... my first two favorite tattooers (as in could see their work and know it was theirs' somehow) were Steve Byrne and Chris O'Donnell. Two years in a row I've gotten tattooed at the West Texas Convention. The first year, Steve Byrne stopped tattooing and asked myself and my coworker if we had any questions, and if we did to ask him, since Dreyfuss wasn't in yet. And he did the same for everyone that came by, including answering questions while tattooing. When I got my hand tattooed by him this year, he asked me various questions, asked how I enjoyed entering my second year as a tattooer after it came up, told me about why he has regular roses and not Tudor/geometric roses on his hands, made Gorilla Biscuits and CIV lyric jokes with me about my Civ appointment the next day ("I don't want him to mess up... I better stand still." "I bet you can't wait one minute more for it, huh?"), and was nicer than almost anyone I've met in any circumstance. He also easily took the stress of the convention, the poor lighting (Thomas Hooper broke his lamp the night before), and dealing with potential clients or box-set purchasers the whole time. And the next day, he saw me walking around, called out to me, and asked if I had a travel lightpad, before suggesting I get one since I didn't. And asked how my dad liked his new rose tattoo from Bobby Padron a little later. My right hand is absolutely my favorite tattoo, not just because of who did it and what it represents, but also all of those aspects about the experience. When I was looking at his booth when he wasn't there, Forrest Cavacco yelled from 50 feet away that, if I had questions, to come see him. Adam Hays had me check out the Lando tattoo he was doing when I bought prints from him, since he figured I liked Star Wars from what I was buying. Ben Cheese and Clayton James have been among the nicest people I've talked to as well, even when we couldn't afford to get tattooed and just grabbed prints from them. I plan on getting tattooed by Ben this February when we go. That being said, I stood at a few people's tables for almost 15 or 20 minutes, even when they were taking an Instagram break mid-tattoo, waiting to buy a shirt. After they had looked and made eye-contact me. And ignored everyone else that was there, even the person in their chair. I unfollowed a few very well known folks on IG and decided I'd take my business to others. At least a quick "Hey man, I'm kinda busy, can you give me X minutes" would have made all of the difference. I'd imagine there are lots of folks who would still throw money at them and get whatever would get the most likes on IG or Tumblr, but that's what separates the mindsets, as everyone here has already explained in was far less rambling, far more concise, and far less fanboy-ish. EDIT: Slight addendum... my hand has a few blow outs. One spot took over a month to fully heal. A few lines are a bit thin in places compared to the overall average. One line on a wave between my fingers has a 1/16" gap that doesn't connect. But it is absolutely my favorite tattoo.

@CABS I started drawing things in my downtime today... an Austin 3:16 cross/banners is ready to go, and I was thinking of a Taz dressed as Taz being next. The ECW episode was fantastic... great to see responsible parties acknowledging where WWF got their ideas, even if it's 20 years too late.

I really want to do a sheet of wrestling flash after reading the conversation that stemmed from this... Like, Goldberg tribal has to be involved in some way. I also came across my old ECW shirt from high school recently (which fits again, thanks to healthy-ish eating), which is helping to fuel the urge.

Thanks! I also forget that, having grown up in the country, and being engaged to another person who is adverse to driving, we have a different idea of what's a normal walk than most people do. It'll depend on her lingering jet lag from moving here from Ireland, as well as our time frame (and how much money we want to spend between points A & B, as I'm sure we'd get lured in to spend).

Thanks to everyone for the advice. We haven't had any issues when travelling London via the Tube (aside from the fiancée getting squeezed onto a train before me, and having to double check the number of stops with me through the glass while she panicked a bit), so I'd imagine we can adapt to the subway there. We were looking at potentially starting one day at Smith Street, then walking to the Shirts and Destroy store. Other than that, everything we'll be looking to do will likely be in Manhattan. I'd also seen that Fear City pamphlet before, hopefully I look sketchy enough to any regular folks that I'll get the respect and fear that only two art degrees can bring. Wait, two art degrees... why aren't I staying in Williamsburg?

I hadn't seen this answered in other NYC threads, so I thought it would be worth a quick ask here. For anyone from NYC, or who have travelled there, what would you recommend as the best/easiest way to affordably travel the city? Bus, train, etc.? And is there some sort of travel card that can be acquired (similar to an Oyster card in London)? We'll be staying in Queens, but a lot of the things we want to go do are in other boroughs. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Still trying to establish myself enough to afford all of the books I want... plus, my little bookshelf at the shop is already full. There's a few new sketchbooks and flash books I'll be getting ahold of soon, and the next book I really, really want to get is Ed's big red book. As of now, if the shop were to catch fire, I'd grab the prints GTC sent me, my Malone acetate, and the Irezumi book by Morita and Ritchie. This omits my fiancée's Angelique Houtkamp books (she's since moved on to Wendy Pham and Guen Douglas in that vein), ElevenFourteen, Our Tattoos Vol. 1, 3, & 4, and The Mammoth Tattoo Book. I also have a few suitcases full of magazines I'm slowly cutting good stuff out of to make a few scrapbooks of what got me more interested in tattooing.