eisen777

I guess I'll go first, but I already have a feeling that I'll be going up against some really tough competition this month.
Nick Colella formerly of Chicago Tattoo Co., currently going rogue until he makes an announcement about whatever he has in the works:

My list is getting longer everyday now, and wallet getting thinner.. :O
Valerie finishing 1st part of my back-piece and Xam doing my front arm in April
Bryan Burk and Chris Conn in May
Timothy Hoyer and hopefully Bailey Robinson in September!
I got something to look forward to almost every month now :)

Lost my LST shirt so maybe my tiger can help out.
Tony Hundahl - Rock of Ages Austin, Texas - one shot

Watched The Cook , the Thief, His Wife and her Lover last night - pretty risqué stuff for Helen Mirren, it's not every day you see a Dame's bits . It's very theatrical with beautiful cinematography and awesome costumes by Jean Paul Gaultier
check it out if you get the chance its a trip .

Mine...still have 2-3 more hrs to compete this.
http://thomashooper.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/eisen-flower-thomas-hooper-tattooing-014-july-21-2011.jpg?w=740&h=1110

That's a pure hipster thing to say :p:p

I usually take antihistamine the day of and d ay after a tattoo....it helps me relax plus helps with my bodies reaction. Good post/story.

@living4today He was one of the OGs at Absolute Art in Richmond Virginia, with Timothy Hoyer and Josh Brown

Thomas Hooper finished my forearm

I'll be working the show with Frank William.

just cram 'em all in there. i don't get it when people plan their whole bodies out or want all this "balance". do they plan on posing around naked all the time for us to scrutinize? most of the time people only see our arms anyway.

I just sort of slap it all together. I was never going for a cohesive bodysuit, so it all just sort of blends.

Andrew Stortz, done at Congress St in Portsmouth, NH
Took this photo from his instagram :D

this is would fit better in a "Latest Tattoo Shop Visit...." because I just checked things out and didn't get tattooed...
My girlfriend and I drove up to Portsmouth, NH to get lunch at Portsmouth Brewery and after lunch we walked around the corner to check out Congress St Tattoo. The shop is covered floor to ceiling with flash, and almost all of it is hand painted by artists at the shop or friends of the shop. Spent about 20 minutes looking at the flash and Spencer Scott (shop apprentice I think?) pointed out a few of the cooler ones including a Jason Scott/Greg Christian split sheet. I asked if Greg ever made any guest appearances there and was told "We are trying but it is New Hampshire so...." Overall it looked like a great shop and I plan to return to get work done by Jason Scott @Grim Ginger, Ron Henry Wells @The Hyena, and hopefully @chad koeplinger

Stoked on this....a different perspective on tattooing and the history of GTC tattooland. Even tho Im not much into wearing the style I LOVE it and love jack rudy.

All day...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfY0Hg1XfzY




Metal to fall off the wagon to......sorry guys sooo bored at work today with little to do.

I only have one ditch lined right now but I didn't think the spot was such a big deal. We'll see when we shade it but I thought inner bicep was far worse. Different people, different spots, etc. I'm not going to post mine either because it isn't finished and it's part of a sleeve so it doesn't stand alone. It's geometric rock formations that a raven is perched on.
I really like the shark jaws one above.

the spot on my arm I hated the most. I appreciate ones that accent the action of the ditch, but anything there that looks good is a tattoo that works. Nothing beats a good ol' hinge but I can't find any good ones. Wish I had ore time to fish around on IG and whatnot but I'm on my way out the door to work. So here's some shit from Google. Sorry for sizing, I'm in a rush.

Robert Ryan

Someone named Cassy in Bournemouth

Person I havent heard of named Kristy Walker
Knee ditches are great too.

Mitch Allenden
I'd post mine, but they aren't stand-alone tattoos; the ditch in an over-all sleeve aren't quite the same in impact.

Dan Higgs design by Dustin Wengreen at Tattoo 13 in Oakland, CA.
Super stoked on this one. One of my favorite Higgs designs.

I have a friend who lives in Providence and has been thinking about getting tattooed, I'll let him know about this.
He's doing a masters in graphic design at RISD so he probably wants some pretentious art school garbage, so hopefully he'll act on this and actually get a good tattoo.
But I doubt it.

They just started to announce the lineup for this year's Messe Des Morts festival, which will be in Montreal from November 28-30. Looks like this year's theme is Finnish black metal. That gives you plenty of time to make travel plans if you are so inclined:
SARGEIST:


HORNA:


BAPTISM:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn8mA5HJL6Q

@Dan S, man, you gotta write a book! I'd read it.

So, many, many moons ago, I got an all-expense paid vacation at an all-inclusive luxury resort at 26th & California in Chicago. Locals will know what I mean. While I was there, I hear from my boys on the street about a guy slingin out of a motel near a local truckstop. He's doing pretty much whatever you want for the price of a quarter-bag. Hey-it was the seventies. Anyhow.
New vacationer comes in, he's got this big, funky green dragon tattooed on his arm.
"Where'd'ja get it?"
"At a party at a motel onna Sout Side"
"How much"
"Twennyfi bux."
"BUT IT ITCHES!!!"
Man, that thing was still oozing from a hole in the center about six months later when I had to leave! Turns out I stayed friends with the guy, and that damn tattoo didn't heal for almost a year. Don't know what kind of infection it had, but it would skin-over, then break open and start oozing again. Nasty.
Oh, and someone stomped the scratcher and busted up his shit after he put some shabby work on a chick. Sout Side, baby.
R.I.P. Gip MPGL

Woulda just out this in the "Pet Peeves" thread, but since I'm not a tattooist...
Reading through all of that, man, I felt bad! I've never gone to a shop in any but an immaculately clean condition, wouldn't think of trying to tell an artist how to do his thing, nothing like that, but you know, in the last three or four months, I've probably done some of every pet peeve on there.
Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea Maxima Culpa.
I get tattooed at CTC exclusively. No big news there. I've got six kids, and they are all fascinated by tattoos. My oldest, 25, disregarded my advice and went to a local "shop" on his 18th birthday. He has kept the thing as a reminder not to go there anymore. When he was 16, I brought him and one of his buds into CTC with me to watch part of a six-hour session I had booked with Miles Maniaci. I asked if it was kool for them to come back and watch a bit, and was told it was all good. They watched for maybe a half-hour, then split, then came back later for another maybe half-hour.
That one has gotten two fairly decent-sized pieces from Nick Colella at CTC since then, and was talking to me the other night about how he'd like to have Mario do some Oriental-style work on him. My 18 y.o. son has gotten some good pieces from Nick as well, and both of them are planning on getting more.
When my Lady and I went into CTC to get a matching piece, I had spoken to Nick and e-mailed back an forth with him about the piece we wanted, and he drew it up. We got there, and it just didn't light us up...the execution was great, the idea was just not that good. My Lady spotted some old Sailor Jerry stuff, and we both liked it immediately. I apologized to Nick, and asked if he would do that for us instead. He agreed, and didn't want to hear about being paid for the sketch he did.
I went back last month and had Nick do an old piece of Cliff Raven flash, I had e-mailed him and told him I wanted that, but customized with my kid's names and some other things, asked him to run with it. No pics, just gave him an idea. Went in, took my 14 y.o. daughter and my Lady with me. Asked if they could watch, and again, was told no problem. Looked at the thermo, laid down on the table, and never looked back. Killer piece.
So last week I went back, this time with my 16 y.o. daughter, my 17 y.o. son, and my Lady, got a fairly large chunk of my ribcage done-still hurts like a mofo-and again, asked if they could come back and watch. Again, no problem. I told the kids they had to split if it got crowded, and to stay away from the other artists work stations.
I suppose I'm one of those guys who watches every line being done. Not because I can't wait to see my stylized dreamsickle, but because the craft, the art, the skill, blows my mind, even after all these years of being tattooed. I ask questions about equipment, I ask questions about technique. I wouldn't dream of trying to tattoo in a million years, I am just curious as hell, and am amazed at the development of the equipment-and techniques-that have taken place in the 38 years since I first walked into CTC and plunked down my $20 for my first pro tattoo.
Even with all that ignorance, Nick and Mario have never blown me off, always answered any question I've asked, and never treated me like a mark. Last week, I was asking about power-supplies. I had seen a fairly high-end power-supply/regulator at American Science and Surplus in Milwaukee, and wondered if it would be worth buying and bringing in for them. Mario was gracious enough to explain the advancements in power-supplies, and why it was better to use purpose-built units than to adapt others, and he didn't even make me out to be stupid.
I've always told my kids to be quiet, to be respectful, and to stay out of the way. When they do come back, I ask where they should sit or stand, and make sure they stay there. If I have a coat, a hat, glasses, whatever, I ask where I can put them so they won't be in someone's way. I turn my phone off, and make sure anyone with me has their phone off.
I'll be going back to CTC as soon as my ribs heal to start sleeving-in my left arm. I have a bunch of work on it from Dale Grande, and a bit from Mark Miller. It's all connected, but Nick is going to put it all together for me. I guess I should rethink bringing my kids with, but to us, it's a big deal, something we do together. Guess I'll talk to Nick, and make sure it's okay with him, and with the other artists working there before I do.
I know there are a lot of jag customers out there, I've seen 'em. Maybe there's a way to get 'em to go only to the jag scratchers that abound?! Went into a place local up here, I had met the owner's wife where she works. The owners apprentice was the only one there, and I heard about the shop he had that "went under because the assholes around here work too cheap", I hear fuck this, fuck that, fuck the next thing, I got cigarette smoke blown in my face, and ya know, the guy never even asked if I was interested in getting a tattoo.
Guess I missed my chance with him.