smiling.politely

definitely about the exact skin tone... the former vocalist from Killswitch Engage has a bunch of color tattoos, but i've also seen a tattooer put a tiger on a guy that was invisible, until he came back and threw in some white highlights. the contrast afforded popped it right out. for clarification, the tattoo was invisible, not the gentleman being tattooed. that'd be a completely different story.

if you like his Black Claw Facebook page, you can see lots and lots of photo previews of the book. it defintiely looks worth it from that. also, if you've seen his episodes of the Tattoo Age series, they discuss his earlier book a bit, and it's insights into his life. again, it seems worth it from those bits of discussion.

the story lost me pretty quickly, but for sure once disappointment in not getting the tattoo finished at the time was mentioned. i'm pretty sure a car demolishing the front wall of the shop is going to take precedence over just about anything, and pretty much everyone would understand that.

they are indeed hipsters. also, if you've ever seen the show The Mighty Boosh, imagine pretty much anyone except Howard and the characters played by the American cast member. all hipsters.

i've been thinking the same thing since i started reading the story... photo tended to enhance that feeling. it almost seems like this thread was a roundabout way to try and promote that casting call.

i've been through a water slide with Frank, did the final vocals at a Gallows show, already have a Pure Love tattoo, and have yet to be tattooed by him... OUR PATHS MUST CROSS AGAIN. also, myself and a friend or two spent part of yesterday marvelling over the finished back. seriously amazing.

YES. i can't type in letters that are capital enough to convey how stoked i am, and how agonizing the wait will be.

there's a lot of different kinds of hipsters out there... fixie hipsters, conceptual art hipsters, trust fund hipsters, Williamsburg hipsters... it never ends. and they are fairly present in the UK as well. i spent five months abroad at an art college in Wales, and it was about 98% full on hipsters. in London, from what i understand, Shoreditch is a popular spot for them.

still watching them, still telling friends who are interested in real tattooing about them, and still always excited a bit when this thread gets bumped... only to have my hopes of new episodes dashed away. i'm assuming lots of members have that last experience as well.

there's a fair few in the photo section of Grime's Black Claw Facebook page... *edit* changed the image to a link, since it's much larger than i expected... https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/417132_193875837389282_158213557622177_303850_1894520382_n.jpg Grimes Black Claw

we had a guy have a seizure at the counter of the shop where i work this week. he was there to ask about advertising... next thing you know, the two tattooers in the shop have him under the arms and i'm holding a big soft chair in place that they tried to guide him into, but he was locked up in such a way that he was only about halfway in. also, whoever he had listed on his medical bracelet didn't pick up their phone when the paramedics tried calling them. big help they were. the best part was the look in the eyes of the girl who showed up for her appointment while the EMTs were getting him some oxygen and asking him the standard questions.

legitimately, this should at least be a painting, if not a giant tattoo on someone.

Don and Talbot are both at least part of Ed Hardy's name, though, if i recall... something like Donald Edward Albert Talbot Hardy? not sure on the A...

that's super nice. i keep telling my fiancee, who lives in Limerick, that she needs to get tattooed by him, since he seems to be at Ross Nagle's shop every other month. i went to visit her in January... Oliver showed up the day i was leaving. also, no photo yet, but i got a Sailor Jerry heart on my ankle bone Thursday. solid black instead of red, and the banners reading PURE LOVE instead of MOM and DAD (if i recall)... it was a bit swollen today.

at least this one had the decency to try and hide it...

no problem! i don't have many wide shots of it with a size reference, so i'll include a photo of when i was prepping the mold to cast the blade, along with some in progress photos where it was closed, and a final shot or two. looking back on it now, i hate the drawing i did on the handle, particularly the tiger. but, i guess that comes with the territory... the handle is birch cabinetry plywood, laminated into a 1 1/2" sheet (from two 3/4" sheets), the blade is cast aluminum (or aluminium, for any non-Americans), and the drawing is acrylic paint pen and colored pencil, coated in Shellac. roughly 60 hours of work on the handle, and 250 hours of work on the blade, starting with the foam carving, through moldmaking, time spent in the foundry casting it (which involved a week long trip two states away to Houston, TX... but i'm only counting the time spent casting), and grinding/sanding. https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/185599_842687201101_17026783_44414902_3167353_n.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/215267_953775763731_17026783_44849450_1223271_n.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/226859_960129420951_17026783_44943596_6851720_n.jpg (photo credit: Chase Brazzle) https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/222261_959317912221_17026783_44941362_2897224_n.jpg of course, now it's displayed with all the glory afforded by being wrapped in plastic to protect it, tucked away in a room at my parents' house.

I just finished this painting yesterday... possibly the best idea i've ever had for a piece (including the 12 foot wood/metal straight razor sculpture i made that actually folds away). sorry for the watermarks, but i'll probably post this in a few places that increase it's likelihood of sharing without sourcing. Kuniyoshi warriors, of course. https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/534680_10100488762403191_17026783_47484761_1466466552_n.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/554828_10100488762148701_17026783_47484759_1139198157_n.jpg they're a bit large, hence URLs in place of the images. EDIT: also, planning a 2'x3' woodcut version of this for the future (i dual majored in printmaking and sculpture). mainly did the painting as a color study... carving will probably occur in the summer, printing in the fall.

one slow day last summer, a few folks at one of the shops where i get tattooed got their toes done. there were some anti-religious ones done, and i think a set of straight edge toes. i've already got mine figured out, but it's going to be awhile.

that being said, with the majority of locations on your body, you do have to look at a tattoo every day. so, if willing to save up and buy the "right" bike needed for one's situation, why not save up the correct amount of money and get the tatto done right?

since both of my parents have been tattooed since well before i was born, i have no idea... i do remember once i was getting a bit older (and making friends that weren't cousins or kids of my parents' friends) realizing that not everyone's parents had pictures on them.

i've never quite understood the issue with driving around town a bit, whether looking for tattoo shops or something else... i live 70 miles from the nearest good tattoo shops, including the one where i work. across town isn't the worst distance to travel, and neither is 40 minutes.

nothing too eventful... when i was 20 (in 2007), i got some text and a skull on my left forearm. my dad has the same text on his forearm, and since i was unsure as to what my goals in coverage would be at the time, i figured that getting that tattoo in dedication to my parents would always ring true with me. plus, skulls are rad.

they'll definitely let me get some more photos, and i'm glad everyone is liking the ones i've already put up. the majority of the tattoos on my dad are pre-1995, as are most of my mom's (although some have been reworked, and some are going to be covered). as i've gotten further into getting tattooed and learning about the history of tattooing, they've gotten more and more surprised at how much i ask them about what seems trivial to them at times. i actually didn't know "Charlie" was Goodtime Charlie until i was 21 or 22 (2 or 3 years ago, i know, i'm so old), when i was getting tattooed by Dennis McPhail, and mom pointed out a photo from Jack Rudy's wedding with Dennis, Charlie, Jack, and Corey Miller. until that moment, i just thought Charlie was a rando local, since his time in Kansas isn't super known among most people here. and my mom may wind up making an account, but dad is a bit of a Luddite with computers. maybe i can talk her into signing up, even if it's just to do a blog telling some of their old stories. and as surprised as they are that learning all of this is as important to me as it is, i'm not sure they quite understood how many people on here will be interested by it, along with the scope of this particular forum.

got another bit of Spider Murphy flash from the apprentice in the shop where i work. not the greatest photo, but it gets the point across. photo and tattoo by Jon Probasco.

he most definitely was not a banker... i know he moved furniture for a few different places, and built barns, worked in a lumber yard, and worked in his brother's cabinet shop after we moved out into the country. the details some of his arm tattoos have left is surprising based on all the years of outdoor construction work. on a side note, he was 23 when he started going to Charlie. as for being awesome, both of my parents are pretty rad. also had them dig out a frame with Charlie's old business card and care instructions. the blue card and "Keep the world artful" bits are from my mom's brother's time in California, and the card for "Sully's" was the aforementioned garden shed shop.