irezumi

Some people just like the sound of their own voice. I am always so pleased to hear the expert insights from non-professionals into the craft I've been involved in and working in. I especially love the client that talks the talk like they grew up in a tattoo shop or fell out of the womb onto a stencil. Until someone has sat in my chair doing what I do their opinion or expertise or whatever the fuck they think they know doesn't mean shit. And critics that don't tattoo have the same amount of credibility as Dave Navarro.

Did a mind-blowing Kirin backpiece on Ichibay that I got the privilege to see once. Holy shit. It was so smooth it was almost more like a silk painting than a tattoo. The (amazing) bodysuit he did on Dana and the work he did on Dandylion are the only other things I've seen in person and then the handful of pics that we've all seen online and the suits in Bloodworks Really glad that you CAN'T find his stuff online.

Somebody please fix the damn title of the thread; we're supposed to be promoting good tattooing here so if nothing else please at least spell tattoo correctly.

Don't get us wrong. Intelligent people are always welcome here. Perhaps just poorly placed location in the forum though; a post like this probably fits best in the blogs section.

What Rory said.

Haha yeah I've never been accused of that - - - Updated - - - Quite frankly I'm amazed, and bummed, that they found (supposedly) 1800 suckers to do work for free.

I am constantly trying to figure out the next get-rich quick scheme. I am amazed by what simple ideas people get that net them huge amounts of money. Case in point; The way employees that work at Applebee's get paid is through a bizarre system of a bank that holds all of Applebees's employees money, but holds onto it for 2 days or something. On payday you can log into the Applebee's bank and make a transfer from their bank account to your own bank account. This process takes 2 to 3 days sometimes to make the transfer complete. In the meantime that bank is collecting interest during those couple of days on every Applebee's paycheck in the country. What an amazing scheme. This is the kind of shit I wish I thought of first. If the person who made the site makes a few hundred thousand dollars through some bullshit effort that they didn't do themselves I'll be kicking myself for not thinking about first.

Wow I'm so glad I've never had to do any of this kind of stuff. I've never emailed an artist, and the only time I've had to set up an appt besides in person or a quick call was with actual real mail, and only because we were not previously friends but still within 1 very close degree of separation. Granted, he doesn't even have an email address, and neither did I at that time. But the point that I'm getting to is that getting a hand written (not a printed one in my opinion) letter gives a more personal touch and adds an air of serious intent. I'd suggest that if there is a shop address it's probably worth doing. Real letters via real mail; It's way cooler than email and prob a good chance it's gonna get you noticed and possibly put you closer to the top of the stack.

Yeah saw that on IG as well; I officially have tattoo envy. Good one homie @Graeme

If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?

When I was living in MPLS there was a shop that offered everything for the young consumer; tattoos, piercings, clothes, cell phones, bling, gold fronts, sneakers, but I don't recall if they did hair. You could walk in with a wad of cash looking like a schlep and walk out looking like you modeled a photo shoot for an Affiction ad. Actually I think they didn't have affliction in the early 2000s but you get the point. There was also a tat/piercing area in Sex World; a stand alone building of 5 floors of debauchery. Head shop, straight porn, gay porn, viewing booths, and a place to get hep whoops I mean a tattoo.

Different shops, different rules, different jobs. If there's a price in the wall most shops just charge it beforehand. Payment in advance usually avoids complications. Most street shops charge beforehand, fairly standard. A lot of 'custom' shops charge afterwards, but some will start with a deposit of the predicted first session. Example would be; a predicted 3 hour session with a shop standard $50 deposit requires a $150 deposit.

What does refund mean?

I would say you have much much more discomfort than before in front of you whether it be cover up or lightsaber. Or you can skip all that and take it to the grave. That's about the size of your 3 options.

Those are the couple I'm holding onto until I need my Darth Vader arms. Whomever gets them next with value them just as I do or anyone would. I just don't need 20 or more machines made by various current builders. But hey some people just like to collect baseball cards. Different hobbies for different people. But I'm definitely not 'envious' of someone else collection. I could give a rat's ass about someone else's machines or toy robot collections or whatever the hell they like.

I don't give a shit about baseball cards, nor do I give a shit about or jealous of how many baseball cards someone else has. I bought tools to use not look at. I've sold pretty much all the tools I don't use with the exception of one or two that I'll sell when I need some robot hands and wrists when the repetitive stress disorder gets too unbearable.

The 2 lefties I know, Freddy and PeeWee, had been zapping a long time and I've never seen either or them use or see PW build anything other than 'normal' frame styles. I don't think their tattooing would 'improve' because of any changes like that.

^thanks for the link hoggy Serendipitous that I got some mail from him on the same day an article about him is in the paper.

The lack of appreciation of the amount of homework you did is unsurprising but always disappointing. Get used to that. Also like said above I never let people go home with designs or email them anything of the sort. Even if someone lives as far as 46 minutes or an hour away the in person consultation works better and your effort stays in the shop. Like person above pointed out, a touch up or rework can be 5 minutes or 5 hours. If it looks like a big job offer to hit it up for 30 minutes to an hour after each sitting on the sleeve you've been working out with him. If he's bad mouthing you around town then cut losses and move on. If it's a hopeless job to rework the entire existing tattoo then just say so politely and act nice and the client will still stick around if they get a good vibe. Not every tattoo is gonna be a rad tattooers dream; sometimes it's tribal feathers and/or polishing turds. If it's not hopeless then take the opportunity to wow and amaze them with what you can do with a piece of crap and they will be spending their very next paycheck getting the other arm started. In my experience if you treat people with kindness and respect, do a good job no matter what the job is and make them feel at home they will always come back and will suggest you to all their friends. Your name will be the first one they think of for their next tattoo.

Good post Smiling, the Donald Ritchie/Morita book is great. Good score.

Oh wow that's cool, I love the horses. Yeah it's annual; the month of December and through a little of January. This year it came down on the 9th and the deVita show was on the 10th. I didn't do both of the same visit but it would've worked our perfect if I had. Not sure if the dates are the same next year but you might luck out. - - - Updated - - - The first paragraph here has a link to a neat video of the making of the buildings and landmarks http://www.nybg.org/home-holiday-train-show.php

Gonna ignore everything wrong with the post for the moment and focus on this statement; don't start off with 'all I can show you is my early work'. Sorry but nobody cares (by this I don't mean us here at LST) a whole lot about what you did years ago; impress someone with what you've been doing lately. If you have nothing recent to show then it doesn't seem like its a serious enough commitment to spend 200% of your extra time and money into a career. On that note, I sense less of a passion and note of a 'business' perspective. That's the biggest fail of anyone trying to 'break into the business'. If you're not ready to live and die in the chair then it prob ain't for you. There isn't any retirement plan for tattooers; either you work until you're dead or you due from some fucked up social disease. You ready to smell people's dirty ass feet? Be a foot any from some gross stinking armpit sweat for 5 or 6?hours at a time? Breath in aerosoled blood all day? Lot less glamour than what's shown on TV. Spend every free dime getting tattooed and every free moment drawing tattoos. Pastel portraits are nice but doesn't mean shit as far as basic tattooing. Get sleeves if you haven't already. Spend every dime at the shop. Best advice.

Thanks man! Original Yankee Stadium Manhattan Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge, Hell's Gate Bridge, huge scale. Trains running everywhere. TWA terminal at JFK Radio City, Rockefeller Center, etc Detail of the façade at the NY Public Library The Cloisters St. John's Look at the creative ways to put it all together, such genius

It's been a little bit since I posted in here. Loving everything about my new surroundings. Great friends, great shop, healthy living, 20 minutes from any one of three mountain trails and 30 minutes from 3 more. Morning hike/runs every day at mentioned trails and snowboarding as much as possible. Getting the snowmobiles and trailer ready to go for next week. Full moon sunrise panoramas are my new monthly mission December January I have a favorite little tree friend that I see every hike on Eagle Wind Trail. An awesome name, and named so for the Golden Eagle nests right on the crest of the ridge. One of the other things I picked up at the deVita show [/img] Being responsible by making sure to have fun Multiple tatshop bro birthday party/shred at Vail, with the Feuerzangenbowle. Yeah, wiki that. Feuerzangenbowle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Epic sunrises/sunsets - - - Updated - - - A really cool art show I went to at the Botanical Gardens in the Bronx; at least 50 or 60 landmark NYC buildings and houses made of nothing but twigs, acorns, bark, pine cones, tree resin, etc. Only the glue is man made. Oh and it has whatever large scale trains going all through it. I was blown away. ^the original Penn Station, for those of you non-New Yorkers. The size of these things are deceiving in the pics, they're huge. The little lighthouse under the GW bridge Guggenheim - - - Updated - - - damn 20 pic limit - - - Updated - - - When someone posts something, a word or whatever, I'll be able to show the other train show pics.

Any well-rendered jellyfish ought to have a flowing organic feel; anything less would come off as stiff and awkward. And yeah of course these are all just opinions are far as masculine/feminine tattoos and what people perceive m/f to be. I'm sure there's a thread on it somewhere that I don't care to search for ha.