Valerie Vargas

the video above dont even look real to me, am i the only one? if it is, *puts on Simpson's comic guy's voice) dumbest idea EVERRRR

wearing? what? not heard this one before but it's pretty douchey, hah

these kill me. agh so good!!!

jesus christ my back killed. i tried to brave it with a first sitting of 3.5 hrs for the outline and gradually those sessions tailed off to paltry 45min ones. if i had been my own customer id slapped me honestly haha. i didnt really plan anything artistically, i asked the tattooer for a design id had in mind for a few years and after seeing a few sketches the final design came thru, i feel like he wanted to show me the drawing thought process to let me trust him but i already did so for me, they werent so important, i just wanted to get it started! the only respite was the shoulder blades and even then they hurt, the worst for me was the butt and lower back towards the side, ugh. i have to admit i was embarrassed at how crap i sat sometimes and have been very sympathetic with customers of mine whose backs im working on since. my backpiece almost felt like the beginning of being an adult and getting serious about my job and getting serious about the tattoos i got. i think i'd been at Frith st for less than a year when Alex started it and it felt like an important step for me, it def marked a special time for me in life and work. so yeh, it's gonna hurt like a bitch so take painkillers, have a decent breakfast and take the rest of the day off, youll be useless afterwards haha

i re-posted the smith street blog post on my own site and even though i never close the comments option, i was keen to not delete comments posted with people's thoughts on the issue. well, that stopped pretty quickly. what it developed into is a bunch of un-approved posts that i will be deleting full of shitty attitude from idiots who dont give a crap about tattooing whatsoever, some even got personal throwing insults at myself and steve (boltz). any negative replies usually were posted by people who didnt even have the balls to leave their real name ( a quick email search on facebook showed who they really were). and the kind of language used would have gotten them a first class ass whopping if uttered in any of our shops. really, what it comes down to is exactly what the hyena said, way better explained that i ever could, im useless at explaining stuff. back in the day the only reason to own your own domain name let alone a website was to showcase your creative side or to sell something, you had to put the work in and learn basic html at least, some CSS also and build it yourself. now with tumblr etc any tom dick and harry has a 'stage', it takes two seconds to create one and 2 more seconds to fill it with re-posts of the things you feel define you. i aint looking to stop this cos you simply cant but bringin light to it has certainly sparked a discussion and good on smith street for that. on the other hand, its sites like LST that are doing good, bringing tattooers together and showcasing good tattoos, discussion and true helpfulness. there's REAL content within created by its own members. keep it up!

i used to use nothing but watercolor blocks or tubes even after i started painting for tattoo flash. it looked good enough but after being persuaded to use liquid watercolors/acrylics, i havent looked back. its easy to kill the vibrancy of the watercolors if they are too bright (they look even brighter fresh on the paper, so when mixing colors i always try it out on paper and wait til they dry to decide if i like the color) use sepia, or a green or a brown to muddy them slightly, or water them down further. its all about trying shit out. so anyway i use liquid acrylic for the black and take good care to blend it smoothly, i used to use indian ink but stopped when i realised how shiny it looked when dry against the opaque colors next to it. i also use ph martins liquid watercolors, any old bit of watercolor paper i have lying around and windsor and newton paintbrushes. also my secret weapon is this: Water Brush Pen from Art Supplies Online they hold water and help my blends loads. the brush tip is cheap acrylic but for the price and the ease of use means i dont mind buying a couple when the other ones run out. for lining i use a brush pen (to stop from wasting time dipping into ink) or sometimes a brush if im working on something largescale, if its small ill use a staedler pen. i keep hearing about speedballs but not sure im familiar with them, if anyone could enlighten me thatd be great!

im a huge rose fan, they are so full, so versatile and can change the mood of a piece by changing a few things while still looking like a rose. they also fit great in odd spaces and help solve so many cover up dilemmas. i never get sick of tattooing them. i love peonies and chrysanthemums also but never do many of them at all. i do prefer tattoos that have more traditional flowers in them.

i watermark mine. i think its a good thing i guess, for me. i also know that i post way too much of my work online, mostly cos i'm still stoked to be doing anything at all. since i synced a photo posting acc to my twitter ive been well tempted to just do it thru that and have done a couple of times, but i still just leave my blog unattended till i get around to looking at pics in my main camera. i do find watermarks bang in the middle of a photo, tattoo related or not, rather annoying and way too pushy. sometimes i wonder if i should care less about shit like this and just post my work whenever, however...

ian's work is really great, i think its crazy when i meet customers who like japanese over here who've never heard of him! ps. hes crazy into bikes at the minute :)

i finally got a big boobied girl from jack at milan and i couldnt be happier with it, i love his stuff, his girls and skulls best though

Stewart from Frith street tattoo did this little (!) space filler spider and web a week ago so still a bit shiny. this means one last gap to fill and my arm will be complete-ish

really?? haha, thanks. i think ed hardy, scott sylvia and chad frickin' koeplinger are where it's at for me. there's other guys out there doing some awesome ones, but those are my WW_ _ D's for eagles

interesting thread for sure. at the shop i work at, its open plan with the counter being the dividing line between waiting area and tattooing area, it's barely hip height. i tattoo right beside it and when it gets noisy/busy i try to ignore everything around me and concentrate on setting up, finishing a drawing or most importantly on the customer im tattooing and thats paying for my time. i dont expect anyone to think of that as being rude, it just gets hectic at our shop, its a very small studio and sometimes i can't stop to talk to everyone that comes in asking for me. i run late only occasionally, and i try to make sure im ready for my first customer because i hate how sometimes that can cause me to run late for the rest of the day. sometimes i have the drawing ready, sometimes i dont, it depends on each and every tattoo. we work our staff very hard, sometimes when someone does a coffee run the tattooer might ask their customer if theyd like something, but usually theyre bringing back 5 or 6 drinks back already so sometimes they dont. personally id recommend staying hydrated for a tattoo by drinking water which we provide at the shop anyway. every tattooer ive ever met works differently from eachother. trying to get my first tattoo at 18 got me thrown out of a shop cos the main guy was drunk and didnt like the look of me, so im kinda glad i didnt see that as a challenge and didnt go back to get tattooed, instead finding a place more suited to a first timer. when i did eventually get tattooed, it was at Richard Pinch's shop in aberdeen, no red carpet, no Champagne, just a great, clean, fast tattoo and thats what i came to expect from tattooers. i am really lucky to have some awesome and loyal customers, i dont tattoo that many new faces, and in the time theyve been coming to me for tattoos, theyve become used to the way i am/work, kinda quiet for the most part, erupting half way through with some crude humor then going quiet again. i also work with some guys who just love to have a chat, personally i frown and concentrate a lot haha!

this would be great scott, keep us updated!

thank you shawn, i hope it goes well too!

Hey guys! To celebrate Mother's day here in the UK, me and Stewart have painted a couple of flash sheets with Mother tattoo designs. We're putting them up for auction (originals only, there won't be any prints made) with 100% of the winning bid going to our charity of choice (mine is Age uk and Stewart's is Cancer Research UK) If you like what you see, please bid away and help spread the word, the more bids, the more the charity will earn! the winning bidder can also have them signed to them or have a message written on the back. We will also be tattooing mom tattoos on the day itself so should be fun and busy at the shop, can't wait. Thanks for checking this out! Mother’s Day @ Valerie Vargas

woah! haha, thats right brightened up my day!

milan was AWESOME! anyone other than us lot go? only just back and already checking online, pah!

same here. met stewart 6/7 yrs ago when i got tattooed by him, we finally got together 4 years ago and i'll happily spend the rest of my days with him. he's pretty awesome and we work together so well. i havent, up to this point, met many couple tattooers who work in the same shop and usually when i explain our situation people raise an eyebrow. i love the way its worked out and i thank my lucky stars every day. tattooing is so awesome.

also helps if you mail the shop a portfolio so they can pimp your work to customers and do the bookings for you?

My boyfriend Stewart found this really cool new website that's only jus started. It's run by a couple of guy, one that we know and works with Ian Flower so should hopefully carry on heading in the right direction! Old Ink | A pictorial archive of tattoos and artwork from the past