sleepy mel

Bit more on my half sleeve. Japanese happy/sad mask, tattooed by @Stewart Robson , yesterday. Popeye arm today.

My mom still buys me cloths because I am completely incapable of knowing when I need new pants/shirts/socks.
I cant be hip by default.

I would say that it is only within the last year that I have finally found myself, at the age of 38, in a job that I feel is the career I want to pursue. I don't think it is a coincidence that my desire to get full sleeve work is in response to that. I feel like I am old enough, ugly enough, and focussed enough to know that tattoos which will be occasionally visible to colleagues and 'customers' will lead people to make judgements but ultimately will not hurt my career. Much.
Fascinating thread.

My partner and I have tried recommending shops and artists to people according to what they say they want, but weve given up as they never get the tattoos or say theyll just go to the local shop.

My partner and I have tried recommending shops and artists to people according to what they say they want, but weve given up as they never get the tattoos or say theyll just go to the local shop.

I fumbled about for the right term for these but thanks to my man Hogg i've now got it ,Capt Coleman dragons .Anyway this "did me up like a kipper " as the say over here .Hope this is cool to post...great new stuff from Valerie Vargas .

Jade1955 thats fantastic I wanted a mermaid on my other arm but I dont think I could compete with thAt

So yesterday was interesting. By the time I started my back piece I'd been up for 30 hours working. But the lining is pretty much done. Here's the link to his blog:
Panther vs Tiger in Progress – Stewart Robson
The sparrows were a suggestion from @Stewart Robson and from the Amund Dietzel book and I think an excellent idea. Can't wait to get the lining finished and start on the shading :)

Here's the next bit of my wifes half sleeve. I love that spider. Heres a link to the @Stewart Robson blog.
Girl with Sugar Skull makeup – Stewart Robson
I'll post a picture of my backpiece when its all done.
Got the outline finished yesterday it looks fantastic.

I'm starting my backpiece with Stewart Robson tomorrow. Excited is an understatement :)

@asradin touché!
A pile of reference, thumbnails sketches and red wine later, I haven't ruled out that possibility. I'm stoked though.

So would I but the cost of travel etc is all part of it unless you live close to a good shop. Surely there must be some excellent shops and artists in the State of Florida?
Would I rather put the money I spend on travel to London towards a tattoo from an artist in my home town?
I would rather saw off my dick with a rusty blunt breadknife.

Hi got the most amazing pirate girl on Friday by @Stewart Robson im rubbish at pictures but shes on his blog. Frith street is an amazing shop it has great artists and a wonderful atmosphere, very friendly as well.

Nattie Light brings me back to puking when i was 14.

Hi got the most amazing pirate girl on Friday by @Stewart Robson im rubbish at pictures but shes on his blog. Frith street is an amazing shop it has great artists and a wonderful atmosphere, very friendly as well.

Hi got the most amazing pirate girl on Friday by @Stewart Robson im rubbish at pictures but shes on his blog. Frith street is an amazing shop it has great artists and a wonderful atmosphere, very friendly as well.

"where'd the rest of my body suit go? Are it and my penis having a cocaine party without me? bummer"

That kid probably never even touched a cassette tape.

Hi got the most amazing pirate girl on Friday by @Stewart Robson im rubbish at pictures but shes on his blog. Frith street is an amazing shop it has great artists and a wonderful atmosphere, very friendly as well.

Hi got the most amazing pirate girl on Friday by @Stewart Robson im rubbish at pictures but shes on his blog. Frith street is an amazing shop it has great artists and a wonderful atmosphere, very friendly as well.

my other half and I ended up talking about tattoos in the supermarket with a lovely builder who,d got his arms and legs done at into you it was a really nice chat

Part of choosing a tattooer for me is about their personal artistic style, having lots of tattoos shows me what kind of tattoos you like to get, which are usually the same type of tattoos you would like to do. So basically, if you are covered in bio-mech/tribal/new school then I'd assume that's the kind of tattoos you like to get and give so I'd probly not really get tattooed by that person because it's not my thing. If I met someone who was covered in awesome tattoos by great artists and who's own portfolio showed all the things they learned from getting those tattoos, well I'd probably get tattooed by them.
Yeah being covered in good tattoos doesn't mean you're going to be a good tattooer but it certainly helps.
@slayer9019 - to me tattooing is not like surgery at all really. Even the most minor surgery is going to go much deeper than tattooing. It's going to involve a more complicated and lengthy healing. It requires a completely different skill set, I think. I've done a tattoo, yes it was horrible, and yes the person who got it knew it was going to be bad. I would never ever attempt to preform surgery on someone, in even the most minor way. Why? you ask, because I have zero knowledge on the procedure and wouldn't want to cause permanent injury. To me, the only thing in the body mod world that comes close to surgery is some of the more extreme piercings and mods. Some of them are straight up surgery. Giving someone a tattoo, even a large one will never come close to slicing some dudes dick down the middle, or cutting 1 inch holes into someones ears/cheecks/nose/whatever. The only thing I'd think would be similar to tattooing is when you take a skin biopsy or have a layer of skin removed for whatever reason and I only say that because it's the only thing I can think of that doesn't go deeper than a tattoo needle would. If someone here is actually a doctor/nurse feel free to inform me otherwise.

He's not a prison tattooer.
The person getting the tattoo is not a con.
Prison tattooers do not have the luxury of wandering around shops or finding disgarded VCRs, when gathering parts to build their machines.
It's tattooed in a park.
I assume Scott Cambell is not using prison type pigment.
It dosn't look like a prison tattoo.
But it does look like a load of pretentious tosh.
Watching a tattooing sequence from the "The Mark of Cain" is far more interesting.

My personal problem with this stuff is that it doesn't deal with or derive from the basic motivations of humans or society.
All the long-lasting tattoo imagery addresses or springs from some basic element of humanity. Which is why they've lasted a long time.
My opinion is that this style of work (trash polka et al) is created with the main motivation to stand out from the crowd or be 'different'.
The drive to be original, different or special, is fundamentally flawed and certainly short-lived.
If tattoo designs derive from deep-rooted human drives and archetypes it's pretty much impossible for the concept to become dated. The execution is a different matter.
In my opinion all the best tattoo imagery comes from or symbolises basic human drives, or the needs of humans in society. Skulls, pin-ups, powerful animals, flowers, hearts, religious imagery, daggers etc, etc.
Most of the flash or portfolios (including tribal) in a decent tattoo shop will succinctly encompass the interesting bits of the human experience.
That's why the work posted in this thread rings hollow for me, regardless of the difficulty of the application.

I can only speak from my perspective. I don't wish to comment too much on the reasoning other tattooers design, paint and sell their flash.
Any flash I've bought, vintage or current, has been an investment. That's what I meant by the value of it. The same goes for tattoo machines. I buy these things with the intention of using them. I have more than I can use, but that's not the point. I do like the way they look but they are primarily useful rather than decorative.
Any flash I've produced has been intended to be tattooed by other people. I didn't make them as a promotional tool.
95% of the traditional tattoos I do are based on flash. Often they don't look like flash, unless you have the same sheets as me but they do look like tattoos. I use flash to solve design and layout problems quicker.
I don't have a problem at all with non-tattooers collecting flash and tattoo memorabilia. Lots of people collect things they never use, that's kind of the point of a collection I suppose.