Stewart Robson

Further to what @cltattooing said: It's incredibly important to discuss price beforehand. Many people have a specific budget and cannot afford more at that time, maybe ever. We are professionals, offering a professional service. Payment is one aspect of that service. Part of the consultation for any tattoo, be it a backpiece or a small walk-in design, is to discuss the price. Then you can decide if you will get the tattoo today, or at a later date. If you are not told a price for your tattoo, you should ask. (at my shop we make sure that every client knows the maximum amount they will be expected to pay for their tattoo session, before they book an appointment or agree to get tattooed - sometimes it works out to be less) Yes, we're also in London. Not mentioning the cost of goods and services is certainly not a cultural thing here.

I wonder who told that story? ;) She did get tattooed that day, but her man-friend didn't. We can call this story "Fish Fingers" To clarify: A tall, (probably around 6 feet) "amazonian" woman was discussing her tattoo with the counter-staff while her shorter man friend (probably just over 5 feet tall) was "feeding the pony". We weren't able to see from our side because he was hidden behind her and the counter. To this day I'm still impressed by her poker-face. She never let on what was happening back there. He also seemed to enjoy watching her get tattooed. They probably had a great evening when they got home with her new tattoo. I like this story and I'm glad you reminded me of it. It's good to know that there are still people out there with a raw passion for tattoos and life in general.

Thanks for the interest but... people have no problem asking personal questions on the internet huh? But to be less abrasive: Soap will be working at Modern Classic in Fulham, London one week each month... then we'll see what happens. There are myriad factors to consider after that but the long-term goal is for him to work full time eventually. The "status" of Lab Monkey for the coming months is the same as it has been for years - it's open, with Soap and others (currently Adam) doing tattoos. If Soap sells his existing shop isn't really anyone's business but his own. Same deal if he gives it to unicorns, another tattooer, or simply closes the doors forever. Whatever happens, Soap himself will give appropriate information. Yes, Lab Monkey is the first shop I did a tattoo in. While I was still struggling to learn, without structured guidance and tattooing out of my house, Soap graciously offered to let me sit in at his place for a week. That was the first time I tattooed people that I didn't already know. I'd been tattooing for about a year at that point. I've tried to return when my schedule allows. The information we've given about the shop is all that we've had the time to prepare. It's been a hectic 12 months preparing the shop. Especially hectic since the end of August when we got legal access to the premises. There's also been a bunch of conventions, visitors and regular work to do with Frith Street while getting our new space ready. - To answer another frequently asked question: Everybody at Frith Street knew about our shop since the end of 2013. They have all been supportive, interested and helpful with myself, Valerie and our new manager. Especially Naomi and Dante. It's easy to leave a shop on sour terms. Not so easy to keep it sweet. Sometimes we don't get a choice. So Valerie and I have gone to great lengths to preserve our working and personal relationship with everyone at Frith Street. I will keep my Sunday appointments there for the foreseeable future. Rest assured, we will make public updates with relevant information in due course, when time allows. Right now, we're concentrating on opening a street-level, regular tattoo shop that's practical and convenient for the people who work there and the people who want to get tattooed there. Your best bet for reliable info is the shop Instagram, Twitter and website. Keep 'em peeled!...

@trashpolkakid If you like that style of tattooing and not many people around you do, consider yourself blessed. Being an outsider with an interest in marginalised subjects or styles is a rare thing in the world these days. Especially on the internet. I'm old enough to have seen some interests very dear to me, (some that I even defined myself with in my teens) become very mainstream, even ubiquitous. That's not so much fun, especially when you use those interests as starting points to forge friendships with like-minded people. Enjoy your outsider tastes! Note: Trash Polka came after watercolour style tattoos -Ed Hardy did some in the 80s.

@cloudkicker Other than the suggestions mentioned, considering your area. Robert Atkinson at Dolorosa Tattoo.

Thank you. Late-night typing isn't my strong point. but yeah, Part Two is finished. The next DVD will be done when Part Three is finished (so don't hold your breath it could be 1-4 months) The original streaming service I used turned out to be pretty amateur-ish so I moved to Vimeo - you need to sign up but it's a much easier process once you do - you can download to own and I've set the rental period to 1 month. Thanks again for the interest. I think this one is a little more entertaining and positive than Part One - please spread the word...

*cough*CopperheadEditions.com*cough*

Holy Moly! I finally did it. I converted the PAL DVD to NTSC so that North American, Canadian, Japanese and the rest of South American tat fans can watch the DVD in the comfort of not-in-front-of-a-computer - such a thing does exist. You can buy it from store.copperheadeditions.com Also a friendly reminder that you can stream a HD version at the Copperhead Editions site too - this version is just the documentary without bonus features but it's in HD so you can see all my shaky camera work! Thanks to everyone for the support and patience with this project.

@asradin you outed yourself! Also, thanks.

Thats why we have banners displayed at the backs of our booths and business cards at the front.

This isn't Yokohama Horiken. It's actually Miyazo and he's tattooing Yebis, who also had work in the exhibition. I only correct this because in my opinion Miyazo is possibly the most exciting tattooer working in the world right now. What Chris Brand is doing with the 108 heroes is very interesting and commendable and the other artists involved in this exhibit are fantastic, but for me Miyazo's work has a flow and rhythm that is both bold, delicate and breathtaking. Qualities rarely found together in any medium. @Lance I thought we'd already spoke at SFO last year? not a formal introduction but I think we exchanged words. Just say Hi - it's easier than walking through a crowd in a fundoshi. All I'm prepared to say right now it that I found the exhibition, lectures and whole experience incredibly positive and personally overwhelming.

@reaperz Richard Stell and Tony Hundahl would both do an awesome job. In Dallas, Oliver Peck or Dean Williams at Elm Street. You won't be disappointed.

I had the pleasure of hanging around while Taki checked the exhibition yesterday and did his press conference. I don't normally get involved in gallery shows and museums because they usually focus on the paintings tattooers produce which doesn't interest me as much as tattoos but this is and incredible thing for me to be part of. Mostly because of the other tattooers involved. It's a small-ish exhibit as far as museums go but there's a hell of a lot to see. I'm not going to review it, I'll leave that to others, I just wanted to share a few of the photos I took yesterday. I checked with Taki and he's ok with me posting them here but most of all: Photography is encouraged at this exhibition. If you post the shots to instagram, twitter etc. Please hashtag them #JANMtattooshow Enjoy.

If this is a real post and not some elaborate keyword troll, I don't think that's the kind of information anyone might readily share (nor should they be asked, in my opinion) either in the tattoo shop or online. Aside from being very personal, it has very little bearing on the solution to the problem. In this (or similar situation) my advice would always be to cover it with a great looking, high quality tattoo. Japanese style tattoos work very well for that.

It's not Breaking Bad ;) Meaning; it's not serialised. There isn't a story. It's in four parts because each part focuses on a different aspect of being part of FST (or being part of tattooing as a whole) Part One is the close knit family aspect. Part Two is the global 'community' and FST's position in it. Part Three is the people, roads and attitudes that led us to be where we are (wherever that is) and Part Four is focuses on what it is to dedicate your life to something. Each part was designed to stand on it's own. Each one has a slightly different feel. Already the people who've seen the rough cuts of them all have a favourite. Thanks to everyone for the interest. Special thanks to those who bought or rented it. I really appreciate it. The response has been way more positive than I thought. I feel I should say: it's probably not what you expect. It's not a moving gallery of tattoos and it's not an advertisement for tattooing or for FST.

Black can cover red. Black it all in. Have a large solid black star. A year or so down the line, don't ask anyone what you can cover a black star with. Live with the solid black star the same as the 1000s of people who also didn't take my, or other tattooers advice. They probably have very happy lives right now. Just because you're convinced that it can be fixed, that doesn't mean the resulting fix-job will look better than what you have. I'd love to be a dick because this thread is 6 PAGES deep already but I won't. For future reference I'll just say: As a rule of thumb, any coverup needs to be AT LEAST twice the size of the original tattoo. Meaning, a slightly smaller than palm-size tattoo would need at least a hand-sized tattoo to cover it if the original were light or open enough. In the case of dense geometric designs (ie: stars) you may need to go much larger. To cover what you have, you would need to get a full sleeve. Not an arm filled with tattoos, a full sleeve. Executed by someone who is competent with coverups. - Ask to see healed photos. Or just get that bit of black thickened and swap one kind of wonky for another. Either way, life goes on. Here's more arrogant words from someone who's just another stranger hammering at a keyboard: Stubbornness is one of the greatest enemies of cover-ups and fixing tattoos.

It's not unusual for a professional to charge for advice and opinions. Especially if that advice can save you money or make your life more pleasant in the long run. Quotes for various jobs are often free when they lead to more, higher paying work. Many professions are purely advice based too. Leave it alone. An extra-thick black arm to the star does not make it look better. If you're planning on getting more tattoos near it, if they are of a high quality, eventually you won't notice the wonky star.

@finegentleman You should email Luca Ortis, who did the first tattoo you linked to. He's a nice guy and a very professional and businesslike tattooer. If you're serious about getting a tattoo like this, most tattooers wouldn't mind a few newbie questions. We all have to start somewhere. If you're asking so you can have fuel for a chat session with your buddies, keep asking strangers on the internet. Maybe they'll start arguing amongst themselves - that'll be fun for about zero seconds.

Part One is finished people... Copperhead Editions | FST: On the Shoulders of Giants – pt 1 DVD USA folks will need to wait a little for the NTSC version, sorry. Although it will be available to watch online from 17th Feb. Parts Two, Three & Four well.. don't hold your breath... They'll come eventually - remember, I'm a one man band. Thanks for the interest so far.

Bonji isn't a 'tag' Bonji is derived from sanskrit and is used solely for religious words. A tattoo name or senjafuda is made with Hiragana and Kanji. Many people have made up their own 'tattoo name' Many western tattooers have signed their work too. From Ron Ackers, Ed Hardy, Jack Rudy, Thom DeVita.... etc.

@Lance yep. I'll be there. Maybe for a little bit before and after too.

Sorry to be off topic with the way this thread turned out but regardless of any "witchy witchy" (whatever that means) or other current tattoo trends. Sometimes we gotta take it back and look at why?... Not just why you got a particular tattoo but why certain symbols are grouped together in the first place. Female figures and the moon make more sense than most associated designs. - As a side note, Diana worship became very popular in Europe in the early 19th century as part of the revival of earlier religious ideas by the middle classes (who had more time on their hands, probably because of the Industrial Revolution) which led to more works of art, visual, written and performed that included these ideas and symbols. These are often the very works that modern tattooers appropriate. Remember that some tattooer, somewhere knew this when they included a moon in a design of a lady head. (or they took it from an illustration by someone who knew.) Then it was imitated because it looked cool or resonated in some way. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I strongly believe it's a tattooers job to understand the mechanism of symbols and apply them to create relationships that have a deeper value than just looking cool. There's nothing wrong with looking cool and often I don't bore my clients with a lecture about the historical connections with the symbols I include. I just try to make their tattoo look cool. Hopefully one day they will discover the meanings and connections behind the symbols and realise it makes the design slightly richer. Sorry to derail yet another thread with a boring self-righteous rant...

Hi @Nick Caruso

Don't worry about it. We work on people's skin every single day. We're used to it. Yes, even people who've never been tattooed before. Even people who "respect" tattooing and want something special. We tattoo 'em all. To use my swimming/water analogy: You're not even dipping your toe in the water. You're asking for swimmers to let you know where the front crawl came from. Stop reading, start getting tattooed. Until then, you don't get to be part of tattooing. You're a tourist and don't get to demand squat from any of us. A conversation based on first-hand experience is always more rewarding than one with a curious onlooker.

You can't learn to swim by reading a book. To expand on that again, tattooing is best experienced first-hand. Many times, here on this forum, in the shop I work at and conventions etc, someone has mentioned that they wish there was a book that had all the information they were looking for about a particular subject at that moment. It usually doesn't exist. You have to find it yourself. With regards to tattooing and "tattoo culture" We're living in a folk art culture. We should embrace the folk art tradition of oral storytelling and first hand knowledge and be relieved that we not (yet) shackled by the literary bounds of other art movements, cultures and historical societies. But to be more on topic, in a general sort of way... I'd stick my neck out and say that any style of tattooing (until maybe around 2000-2010) is influenced by the popular culture surrounding the people who get those styles. Sailor Jerry cribbed movie posters and other advertisements for many of his designs between the 40's - 70s. Mike Malone used objects and paintings he found in Chinatown as reference for many of his popular designs. It stands to reason that Charlie Wagner would have used Edwardian style filigree ornamentation (from a variety of sources, jewellery included) in his designs. The dotwork thing is slightly separate. During the first decade of the 21st century tattooing entered a more post-modern, referential phase where most styles of tattooing referenced or were influenced by earlier styles of tattooing. Except dotwork. I consider the work of Thomas Hooper, Xed Le Head, Jondix (I'd extend that to Duncan X) to be the only "new" style of tattooing since biomech in the 90's - but that didn't seem to catch on outside of tattoo culture the way their work did. That's why I still bother to get involved when someone refers to dotwork as a "fad". While it is imitated ad nauseam, we've alive to witness the birth of a new tattoo style that was influenced by disparate artforms outside of tattooing to the point where it works and it's possible to have a coherent bodysuit of that style. Pretty exciting stuff.