dari

Hello new friend.

I'll echo everything everyone else said, and throw in "don't throw good money after bad." But I have a question, was there any chance that he or anyone else at the shop heard you call his other customer a "sorostitute?" Cause that could alienate all kinds of people, including a junkie with a toothache. Junkies can be so sensitive!

I suppose this goes in the celebrity tattoos thread: Ami Jame's take on some celebrity tattoos

Chanel is now jumping on the bandwagon with temporary tattoo, btw. I don't think that these designers are dictating what people should like, and I'm not sure they have that power. I think they're borrowing from the craft because it's both "edgy" and beautiful. chanel "tattoos"

Audigier didn't bring tattoos into style, he just saw an opportunity and took it. Jean Paul Gaultier did it at least 5 years earlier, but his pieces cost well into the thousands, C. Audigier just make it affordable for the masses.

BTW, how cool is that watermark? Looks like another bar has been set.

I've never been tattooed by anyone that wasn't almost completely covered, and I can't think of any tattooer I know that isn't mostly all covered. Its like the analogy of hanging out in a barbershop, you're eventually gonna get a haircut. If you love tattooing, and you're around good artists, how could you not end up covered in them? If anything, I'd be weary of a tattooer who only had new and perfect tattoos. From what I've seen, a lot of amazing tattooers who've been tattooing for a long time are covered in kinda crappy tattoos (sorry, no offense), because they've been around tattooing for so long. Or they're under there somewhere, 2 or 3 layers down. Chrome bio-mechanical Virgin Mary, anyone? Of course, I'd never fault someone for being young, (or rich or thin or beautiful, for that matter), so young tattooers are exempt from this generalization, but I can't think of any 20 yr. olds I'd let tattoo me, either.

Not a dick, just opinionated, nothing wrong with that. I'm listening to strong opinions all fucking day long over here!

I had to google Rachel Zoe, and then I took a quiz on her sit called "You don't know Zoe." Turns out, I really don't, but I did correctly guess that she grew up in New Jersey. By the way, why are you all holding back your true innermost feelings?

Hello Ben! What's it like tattooing in St. Robert? What's your clientele like?

Yup, that's what I do, I trace the "scar."

Looks great, I'm excited. I was actually a little dissapointed that no one listed Freddy Corbin in their top 25, especially since influence on the industry of tattooing in general was a consideration on some of the lists. I'm glad to see he's getting his props in this new show. Here's a link to Scott's interview with Freddy in case anyone missed it: Freddy Corbin Video Interview with LST

And regarding "safe" inks looking like shit and fading, I have some experience with this in relation to "permanent make-up." A lot of people think that the same pigments are used, but they're not the same, the molecules in cosmetic tattoo pigments make up larger molecules than traditional tattoo pigments. When cosmetic tattooing began, the pigments were designed and administered by doctors only, and they did take "safety" into account. The woman who tattooed on my eyebrows ($800) learned from a doctor as doctors were pushing to make it legal for "licensed" practitioners to do it, (licensed by them) because it was not proving to be profitable. (Weird? Who knew someone could make more money practicing medicine than tattooing?) Anyway, the larger, "safer" cosmetic tattoo molecules push themselves out of the skin, so even if you liked exactly what you had, it will be gone in 5 or so years. The lady who did my eyebrows was the best, and she included 3 free touch-ups BECAUSE the pigments almost always CHANGE COLOR in your skin. The taupe brown turned reddish orange in me, and now it's faded to look like the color of a faint scar. I didn't go back after my first touch up, fuck it, like Stewart said, "that shit hurt enough the first time." I'm cool drawing on my own eyebrows everyday, thanks. Hopefully, we all get tattoos that are superior to what we could draw on ourselves quickly each morning, we certainly don't want them changing colors and disappearing in a few years. (Or if you do, that's a whole 'nother issue.)

I think that one thing to consider here is the difference between American and European governments, and who's deciding things on behalf of the masses. In America, corporations have more power than individuals, and decisions are made to favor the corporations' profits. As many powder pigments come directly from Dupont, they will certainly not change anything that would interfere with Dupont's bottom line. If the U.S. gov't were to get in bed with Dupont on this particular issue, all that would happen is that pigments would get much more expensive, and maybe a little radioactive waste would get "recycled" into it. (It is currently legal in the U.S. to recycle "low-level" radioactive waste into materials such as concrete and metals for consumer goods.) Based on the example of many European nation's resistance to genetically modified food, as opposed to the U.S. gov'ts subservience to Monsanto, I think that maybe European gov'ts do have more of the public's health and well being in mind, even if their attempts to regulate ink safety are misguided. Clearly we need China to step in and manufacture tons of empty knock-off "approved" ink bottles to fill with the good stuff. Personally, I have a t-shirt that says Waverly's inks are kosher, that's all the safety data I need.

Glad to meet your acquaintance, and welcome to LST. I've seen you posting a bunch, thanks for jumping right it. Dari

There goes the neighborhood.

I've never really understood the animosity towards "art school kids" myself, and I've heard it, A LOT. I don't think you can fault someone for either being born into a home where their parents can support them and want them to chase their dreams, or having the energy and determination to make it happen themselves. I have two kids, and I won't be surprised if at least one of them tattoos, but I hope I can help them along no matter what they want to do. I think the bar in tattooing has been raised, I've seen a lot of not-so-great old school flash with funky and weird proportions that would not pass as good tattooing these days.

Stewart, thanks for posting this! I'm betting this photo was Oliver's idea.

"30 pieces of flare!!!!" Blackheart's having a shop meeting tonight, I'm going to ask Scott to suggest a uniform. Maybe dirty jeans, long hair and beard, black band t-shirt, black vans, and maybe a denim vest with patches. There should also be a rule about how many patches one can sew on their vest each month.

I can totally relate to that. I used to do all kinds of crazy things when I was young, and hitchhiked all over the country (sometimes internationally, too), and I weighed in at about 100 lb. back then. Now I worry about my kids and hover over them like a helicopter. I certainly hope that they're nothing like I was, god forbid! About catching things from the dentist vs. the tattooer, yeah, it is a lot more likely. There are 4 know cases of HIV transmission know from dentists, none from tattooers. It's really easy to sterilize equipment these days, needles are cheap and coming from China, and there are even disposable tubes available. (Not needed, but available.) If you're really worried, it's okay to ask, but you really only need to worry if you're getting tattooed in your friend's mom's boyfriend's kitchen.

Hello and welcome to LST, new friend.

Welcome to our little family Este7. I'm sure if you keep working as hard as you say you are, you'll get where you want to go! There's a lot of parents on here, too, we understand busy for sure. There's even a thread on whether or not you'd let your kids get tattooed before 18. http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-101/219-would-you-let-your-kid-get-tattooed-before-18-a.html I was just in the car with my two kids and another little playdate friend. we had gone to a farm and fed the animals, played and ate lunch in a park, and then went and rode a merry go round. I'm thinking we're good and I'm pretty tired form all the fun and the sun, but my son's asking "What are we gonna do now, Mom?" If only we all had that kind of get up and go! Anyways, welcome to LST, do make yourself at home.

Hey, I really like dinosaurs, you tricked me. (Or maybe I'm just super tired and can't find them?) But that article on how to piss off tattooed people was pretty awesome, glad I stopped in!

Steve has magical powers.