ChrisDowning

Truth's about me. I've seen her posts around for a while... She is either a masterful troll or a lolcow just waiting to be milked.

I'm always so amazed by the amount of damage one sick determined person can cause. Don't get consumed by the coverage. Watch the response over the next few days, shit like this brings out the very best in people. I suppose that's the natural response to something as evil and vile as a terrorist attack. When you look back at things like this remember the compassion and kindness that followed, that's what I have tried to take away from seeing the attacks in the US. Glad to hear you guys are ok. Things will feel a little bit better with every day that passes.

I seriously just shot redbull outa my nose when I saw that picture. So so awesome.

I know a few people who have completely switched to electronic cigarettes. Probably not great for you but much better than the real thing. I'm thinking about trying them out myself. The nicotine gum worked well for me a couple times, managed to stop for a couple months here or there.

I don't know how it would look stuck in the middle of a Japanese sleeve that was meant to be traditional Japanese. I think it looks pretty awesome next to traditional stuff. In my opinion done right, the way Thomas Hooper and a few others do it, I think it has the same power as well done traditional so they compliment each other very well. On a very basic level a lot of those stippled pieces follow the traditional formula; a third black, a third color, a third skin when you substitute the color with the lighter end of the gradient so it's not really surprising they work well together. I'm with hogg, that Higgs quote is the first thing that popped into my head when I read the original post, that video was the most inspirational thing I've seen for a while.

I completely agree with what you said and thankfully we don't have anything to do with piercings in the shop I work at. In the mind of the general public I don't think the separation is nearly as large as in the tattoo community. I mentioned it because I see it in all those crappy "industry" mag's that show up in the mail a few times a month. I die a little inside when those magazines come in, what a waist of paper. Industry conjures up images of assembly lines, mass production, corporate goons and a low cost for low/average quality. Even if the dictionary definition accurately describes the profession it's not a label I like.

Using high quality paper is an absolute must. Arches is my favorite. I'd suggest getting a small block of both hot and cold press. They are different and each has it's advantages and disadvantages, in the end it's going to come down to your preference. Good brushes make everything a bit easier as well. Winsor and Newton series 7 are what I use and they are pretty amazing, a little pricey but if you are careful with them they will last a long time. Again, brushes are going to come down to preference, get a bunch and see what you like. I would look at the mid range synthetic's to start, they come in a really wide range of stiffness and texture and will let you try lots of stuff and not break the bank. Avoid the super cheap bargain packs generally they are pretty terrible. Dr. Ph Martins are probably the easiest to blend with and use in general. As mentioned before they are not light fast and they fade pretty damn fast if you hand something up anywhere near a window. FW liquid acrylics work very well and I use them quite a bit. Liquitex also has a line of acrylic inks, they seem to have a lighter pigment load then the FW's which can be nice sometimes. My biggest complaint about the FW inks is that they vary a ton from color to color, the opacity isn't very consistent so doing a test sheet is a must until you remember about how much water you are using for each color. Some of the FW's will separate as well so make sure you shake the hell outa them before you use them. I only have a few Liquitex colors, but the ones I have are quite consistent. Starbrite (the tattoo ink) Canary Yellow kicks serious ass for painting as well, I haven't tattooed with it in a couple years, but I still order it to paint with. Start small and study painting's you like. Do lots of smaller painting you can finish in a sitting, and finish them. Taking on bigger stuff can get frustrating if you are having a tough time and it's important to actually complete the paintings even if you screw them up 10 minutes in. Really pay attention to what you are doing, every move you make should be deliberate. If you focus on working like that you will improve much faster. Best of luck to you! Have lots of fun!

Wow Bill, thats really great. I'm gonna get some ordered soon as I get some extra bucks. Been wanting to try them out for a while now, and even if I hadn't I would just because of what you are doing.

I don't care for industry either, there's nothing industrial about what I do. Anyone said body-mod? That word makes me want to slam my face into my desk. I guess thats more of a piercer thing... Come to think of it, I feel the same way about most piercers.

It really depends on the person. For the most part when a tattooer visits, to get something done or not I really enjoy it and try to be a good host. I like talkin shop and sharing stories. Over all, most of the shop's I've visited have treated me the same. Every now and then we will get someone who is practically bragging about being a tattoo artist. Usually the type who are in it for the life-style or whatever. They get the blow off pretty quick. It may impress the drunk chicks at the bar, it's sure not going to impress me or any of my co-workers.

I don't watermark my photos, if I did it would be subtle. I also don't put a lot of stuff online so I don't think its that big of an issue for me. Mario made the same point I would have made that most of the stuff I see watermarked is total garbage. That becomes a put off to me watermarking my own work, like somehow it would lump it in with the hack tattoo's I see. That's probably not a sensible way of thinking but I'm ok with that. I've never been much good at promoting myself online. A watermark to give credit is great, don't get me wrong. Watermarks for "protecting" an image have always just annoyed the hell outa me. Once an image goes online, you lose control of where it will go and how it will be used.