Stewart Robson

[MENTION=3336]Our Endless Days[/MENTION] Ok, before this gets really out of hand and scares [MENTION=3970]Brock Varty[/MENTION] into never writing anything about tattoos, ever... If I used harsh words, I apologise. I always reserve the right to be a dick but I usually try to have a helpful intent, especially on the internet, well everywhere on the internet except twitter. I just checked your blog again and noticed that you did, in fact post original content. Sweet, now your blog is doing something great. I guess you're not just harvesting Instagram then. Awesome. It's not for me to tell you what to do with your life but you're blogging about my livelihood / profession / whatever, so I thought it appropriate to offer ideas to improve what you do and help you achieve what you set out to do i.e. promote quality tattooing. If it's a battle between quality and quantity, it's your call. When you're posting 30+ photos each day without contact info, maybe 10-15, with info would address that. But probably not. I for sure know how time-sucking a keyboard and blog can be. Here's a suggestion. I'm definitely not trying to be a dick this time: make a static page with links to the tattooers you feature regularly. Update it when you start adding a new guy or girl. If 2 tattooers say the same thing to you, does that mean they are just playing parrot? While we live and work together, Valerie and I are different people who often approach things differently. Though we both feel strongly about crediting creative or craft work wherever possible. Re: permission. It's not required, but it's certainly appreciated. You need to understand that it's a touchy subject because we have been through this many times, even in the last couple of years. Not many blog owners or contributors listen to what tattooers say and people bring us uncredited tattoo photos printed from tumblr and ask for the same thing. I've had someone bring me a photo of Brian Paul's work and tell me it's mine. While flattering, it's not very helpful to me or Brian. Each time someone is brought to task, they say the same thing: "I'm just a fan", "I'm spreading the word to help you guys" or "I don't need info 'cos everyone knows those guys" and "People can google the artists names" I had a similar themed discussion with Lochlan and Dari when LST started adding categories for the image galleries. In December, when we chatted, I mentioned in a p.s. by 'help human readers' I meant to include contact information. Then when someone likes something they see on your site, they can look up their shop. (A shop name often yields much more useful google results than a tattooers name. I share a name with a UK football coach/manager/whatever which takes me back to why I'm deliberately a dick on twitter)So yeah, I didn't change the intent, I just changed the tone. Because the first one left you thinking I was super-nice and everything's cool, while the second may well have instigated a change for the better and a constructive discourse. - this is the same tactic older tattooers use to critique younger tattooers work. It hurts but it works - but only on people who give a shit. I guess if you add a links page, your "wasted potential" label gets erased and changed to "Sweet Blog, Doing it Right" while I get labelled "Pushy Dickhead" It's a result that benefits everyone. Again, thank you for the kind words regarding my work, they are appreciated.

When I asked the same question to some friends, I was told 808tattoo.com I was told to see Billy. Chris did a week at Frith Street last year and is a super-nice guy who does great tattoos too.

[MENTION=3336]Our Endless Days[/MENTION] wow. I guess putting work online elevates you above criticism. • I do still think that your blog is better than 99% of blogs. I also said you had an eye for a great tattoo. If you take the time to properly credit and link to the people who's work you use, your blog would be great. If you added original content, it would be fantastic. • I also expressed gratitude that you offered to help my project and asked to post a video clip of mine. I noticed that you didn't ask permission to post my tattoo photos. I'm guessing that you're deleting my photos as I type this. • I also remember taking time to have a conversation about contact details and checking that they are available, regardless of platform. • I remember giving you advice on how to get the most value for money with video equipment. Because we had a decent, mutually beneficial conversation and I liked what you'd started to do with your blog, that doesn't mean I'm 100% cool with everything you do, ever. Nor did it mean that I didn't think there was room for improvement. Improvement that never materialised. I'm pleased you liked some of my work enough to include it but "Spreading the word" means nothing without up-to-date contact details. Thank you. This is the same argument we hear all the time from blog owners, Instagrammers, tumblrs etc. If you've had 'negative' opinions from myself and Valerie it's been to remind you to credit the source of your content and add contact details. Instead you removed the photos. If we thought your blog was a total piece of shit we'd ask you to never use anything of ours. We didn't do that, we asked you to credit ALL tattooers and add contact information for ALL tattooers. We were trying to help you make your blog better. Instead you removed the photos because adding contact details takes time. I understand that not everybody has time to update thing properly. That's why tumblr is full of re-blogs to the point of it being almost impossible to find the original creator of any works posted. I'm guessing your sarcastic sign-off means you don't care about doing something really well and you'll discount anything I say in the future as sour-grapes from the mouth of a back-stabber. Please prove me wrong. 'Last Bullet'? If you mean the site I didn't want to link to, no. It's not yours. It's a site that started like yours, didn't link or add contact details but now the owner makes a decent living (i.e. He doesn't have a 'real' job and his business is built on posting tattoo photos he didn't ask for) from the site by selling merch online and at conventions. If you're talking about the ego-boost blog comment, see 99.9% of tattoo blogs on tumblr.com I just like seeing decent blogs and sites by people that give a shit. Sadly they are in short supply. [MENTION=4349]Shaun1105[/MENTION] I guess this string of comments lets you know what you're in for regarding tattoo blogs. Just make it a good one.

my 2cents: • If you don't know what to write about, don't do it. • like [MENTION=4349]Shaun1105[/MENTION] said, make it personal, about your experiences. I've seen many tattoo blogs come and go (well, lay dormant) because the writer wanted to be the NYTimes or National Geographic of tattooing. The best blogs (of any subject) are narrow in focus and very personal. You don't have to catalogue the trials and tribulations of your life, but share your perspective. Examples: Munewari Minutes This is the blog everyone thought of writing but didn't have the stamina for writing or tattooing, myself included. Our Endless Days | A blog for traditional tattoo enthusiasts would be good if Daniel ([MENTION=3336]Our Endless Days[/MENTION]) could be bothered to link to the sites and provide contact information alongside the photos he steals. If he could do that it would raise it above Just another Instagram harvesting parasitic blog. - label this one as wasted potential until he can be bothered to do a good job. This is (in my opinion) a weak, not necessarily bad, example: Tattoosday UK Want's to be a news-site but is updated infrequently, has a too-heavy bias for friend's shops and work, regularly makes the mistake of presuming 'everyone' knows such-and-such a person and often engages in petty vendettas against crappy tattooers. Shit, almost forgot [MENTION=969]ShawnPorter[/MENTION] 's excellent Occult Vibrations - a perfect example of personal focussed, well-researched, intelligent blog writing. Shawn really brings something new to the table here. Remember he's been blogging for decades, yes, decades - that's not an exaggeration. So he knows how to write, link and geek-out about things in an interesting way that leaves you wanting more. He also adds new information or opinion, not just copy-and-paste from other sources. This blog would be good without the VHS rips but they take it to a whole new level of awesome. • If you're making a tattoo blog - Remember to link to tattooer websites, blogs, twitter etc. and use up-to-date contact information for them. If you can't provide contact info, don't use photos of their work. There's enough scum-fucks who trawl instagram to populate their ego-boost blog. We don't need another. • Which brings me to: Don't be lazy. Just 'cos it's on the internet, that doesn't mean you don't have to check your sources, reference and spend the time to credit material and quotes. Q) Which platform? A) WordPress.com - Get a Free Blog Here Well, wordpress gives you more control and is easier to manage in the long run. I would suggest a wordpress that makes posts to twitter and re-posts to a tumblr of the same name. (these can all be controlled from wordpress so you only need to make one blog entry there each time you post.) Interesting content that they can't find anywhere else. ...or tits, but tits are easy to find on the internet so I suggest interesting and original content. But you'll probably be better off ignoring my words and grabbing photos from Instagram and blogs. Then you can make t-shirts and stickers and maybe you can make a living on the periphery of tattooing by posting other people's photos of their work. You'll probably get laid a lot too. (Im talking about a specific site but it don't want to link to it from Last Sparrow) Good luck. note: I don't seem to be able to get the 'mention' function working in a post with hyperlinks Sorry to the people I mentioned but didn't get 'mentioned'

I'd say it's more "normal" to tattoo armpits than Nipples. I've tattooed maybe 10-15 pairs of armpits. from palm-sized to full coverage. Your question @peterpoose is similar to asking "Will the hair grow back on my arm?" your skin and it's function will not change. It may be a little more sensitive for a while but armpits heal fairly quickly. Nipples are less common. I prefer the look of a tattoo that goes around the nipples if it's designed correctly. I've yet to notice anyone have loss of 'function' with tattooed nipples. They don't hold pigment quite as well as other areas, much like an elbow or knuckle. you can get the pigment to stay but you're not going to be able to have a mini portrait there. One thing to bear in mind: You can tattoo anything. yes, ANYTHING. Yep, even that bit you're thinking of. Yup, even that other bit. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=lucky+diamond+rich&aq=f&oq=lucky+diamond+rich or Shannon Larratt is Zentastic › The Sleeper Has Awakened Now the question is, will it look good? The answer, as ever, is to go to someone who has healed examples of the type of thing you're looking for but some areas of skin won't ever hold finely detailed tattoo designs.

@slayer9019 you'll fit right in using a card for purchases. I see people in Starbucks using a card for a £2.50 drink all the time. Like RoryQ says, you will probably have protection on your card purchases and most hotels need a card imprint before you book. In my experience, most European tattoo shops are cash only. Obviously there are exceptions, but it's something to remember. As for cash currency exchange: a general rule of thumb is to change the currency in it's country of origin. If you're selling US Dollars, sell them in the US. But if I'm traveling to multiple countries using multiple currencies, I make sure I have my debit card, with extra money in the account, enough currency appropriate for my destination for a few days and extra US Dollars. Almost everyone likes US Dollars. Just be aware that political events while you're away can have an impact on how much foreign currency you'll get for your dollars, but that applies to cards too. Your bank isn't always the place with the best rate. You have to find a balance between commission percentage charged and the rate of exchange. There are some independent currency exchange places that you can bargain with for a better rate when dealing with cash. If you're exchanging smaller amounts of cash (i.e. just enough for a couple of meals and a cab fare) that works out super fucking expensive That being said, $3 per cash withdrawal sounds like a sweet deal. Just draw everything you need for the duration of your stay from the local ATM in one transaction as soon as you get to that country. xe.com is your friend. They have android and iPhone apps too.

There should be some kind of rule that only Lehi or Whitehead can do Black Metal tattoos. (outside of getting Fenriz to tat something random and German Techno related, on you) Of course, rules are made to be broken. Also, If you're traveling from another country it's easy to get tattooed at Frith Street. 0044 20 7734 8180 between 12-8pm UK time. (it's 5:17pm right now) BTW: It's even easier if you're not from another country. If you're scooting around Europe... Dan Sinnes is one of Europe's finest Luxembourg Electric Ave.

When Thomas asked me to film 'the event' a couple of days before, he suggested we get someone to make a track/song using Oliver's reactions as vocals. Sadly I just didn't have the time but it would have been funny as hell.

It's not that we make mistakes but how we deal with them, that is important. It's not easy to be classy.

@SailorClaire Matt Lodder beat you to it by a few years. My opinion of this subject aside, I presume you've read The Post Modified Body? I skimmed your proposal and read the first questions. I must say, I'm not impressed. You won't get any further insight or information than a Daily Mail article or any of the tattoo books you can buy in HMV. Here's my opinion: When it comes to tattoos (and probably other areas of life), anything online is very far from the reality of the situation. Speak to real people in the real world and get a more honest view of what you're writing about. I don't know why I keep saying this to academics, they rarely listen...

@Petri Aspvik it doesn't spell 'Jesus' s such. It spells 2 initials of the Roman/Latin title of Jesus. I think it's the same symbol as the reverse of this coin: I can't find the exact source online but it was explained in detail in a recent BBC documentary on the history of christian art. Maybe it was the full version of this show: BBC Four - The Dark Ages: An Age of Light, The Clash of the Gods Sorry to derail this thread but anyone interested in history, art or symbolism should check out the BBC Four documentaries on BBC iPlayer. To keep this on-topic, in the apple itunes store there are many lectures and short docs on Japanese art in the iTunesU section - For FREE!

@DJDeepFried Everybody enjoys aspects of 'exotic' cultures. One man's mundane is another's exotic, and vice-versa. 'Traditional' Japanese tattooing has regional and time-specific styles too. Yokohama style isn't necessarily the same as Hiroshima style. 1930's style isn't the same as 1990's style etc. I haven't heard of a 'rule' that states you can't get a koi on your arm, unless of course if you have a koi with waves on your upper arm and an eagle with clouds on your forearm. Positions of figure's legs (especially in relation to lotus flowers) often tell us things about their spiritual state in Buddhist art too. Jesus spells out his (latin) name, gang-style, in many paintings from the middle-ages onward.

@Hogrider I'm by no means an authority on this stuff, but I'm travelling along the same road you've just started... Part of the reason you can't find what you're looking for is because you're looking for literal or binary meanings. Most of the images you've seen tattooed are taken from Japanese and Chinese folk tales or religious stories. Imagine of you asked someone regarding western cultural art or tattoos: 1) "What does it mean when there's a guy hanging on cross with his arms outstretched?" 2) "What does it mean when there's a woman in blue holding a naked baby" 3) "What does it mean when the muscle-bound guy in the black mask overpowers the brightly dressed skinny man in the clown makeup. The answers depend on your level of interest/sympathy and how abstract or literal you want to be: 1a) It's Jesus. His father, God, sacrificed him to atone for the sins of the world. 1b) The wearer has faith in a religious power higher than himself and possibly feel kinship with or sympathy for the figure and character of Jesus Christ. 1c) The wearer wants to be forgiven for past wrongdoings. 2a) It's Mary, Jesus' mother. The baby is Jesus. 2b) She's a figure of worship because some people believe she should be revered because God chose her as the vessel for his earthly offspring. Her cloak is blue because traditionally goddesses were associated with the moon and night sky. Sometimes it has stars on it. Christianity adopted this symbol to make it easier for people who held older religious beliefs to adopt the new faith. 2c) The wearer may have sympathy or empathy with the concept of being the vessel for divine power or lineage. Also this symbol can have an added element of sadness because we know the eventual sadness and loss of a mother witnessing her only son be sacrificed for the good of mankind - possibly a greater sacrifice than Jesus, some might say. 3a) It's Batman, he's fighting the Joker. 3b) Batman is a symbol of vigilante justice. He works outside of recognised laws to bring justice to a world crippled by wrongdoing. 3c) This scene is a metaphor for the darkness of repressed homosexuality and it's power to overcome the sinister flamboyance of non-hetro feelings. etc, etc. In short, think about what you want your tattoo to 'mean' or 'say' - tell that to a tattooer who knows his stuff and let them find a story or theme that fits your idea. Or just pick one you like from a woodblock print. I try to tell people all the time that western traditional tattooing has just as much symbolism and poetry but nobody will listen. It's all sex, death and the struggles of humankind. Good luck.

Nope, those people wind up coming in. Prank calls are usually way more inventive and funny.

Here's one: The same name as another tattoo shop, even if it's in another country. When stuck for a name, call it the name of the street it's on or the name or the nearest major street. Works like a charm. Although we do still get phone calls at the shop that go: *ring*ring* "Hello, Frith Street Tattoo, can I help?" "...erm, what street are you on?" "We're on Frith Street" "Ok, thanks" *click*

Thanks Ross, I'm always in need of a spellcheck! But yeah, if you can send an email, please. I seem to be assembling a (very) small army or helpers with different skill sets of the last couple of days. It's easier to keep track of stuff with gmail. Who knows what kind of things I'll need help with...

Thanks to everyone for the kind words and emails offering help. I'm stoked and will get back to you all within a week or so. It seems I'm cack handed and mis-typed the mailto link in my first post in this thread. the email address is [email protected] I typed INtheshouldersofgiants (which doesn't make any sense).Thanks to @else for pointing that out. I cant edit the post again (time limit or number of edits maybe?) If one of the mods could do it I'd be super grateful, thanks.

;) yeah, Shane was in SF too. He's nicer than I am.

@Iwar Thanks. I knew someone here would find it eventually. Thanks for sharing. I've told a few people face-to-face about this project but I want people online to find this on their own, for now. If I shout about it and create hype, everyone will be bored of waiting by the time it's finally finished. I expect a long gap (at least 6 months) between the last shot and the finished edit. At the moment I'm doing this 100% on my own - Camera, lights, sound, music, graphics, editing, planning, photography, layout, writing, interviewing, transcribing, promotion, etc etc. I'm glad you like what I've done so far. As well as the guys at the shop I have some great people lined up to get interviewed too. Some of them you know, some you don't know. Actually, on the subject of transcribing... I do need help. Lately I've been thinking about asking for help but I wasn't sure to do it here, twitter or wherever. Without turning this into a sob story, I can't transcribe every interview myself. I've done a few but my wrists can't take the strain of tattooing 5 days a week and typing for 2. Having hard-copy interview transcripts is essential to the editing process. So I guess this is an open offer for someone to have some low paid, occasional, boring work but to help out on a project that I think might be interesting. I don't have the budget for professional transcription services (actually, I have zero budget, everything is paid for out of my own pocket) but I can pay a percentage of the standard professional rate. If you think you'd like to help or know someone who'd like to help, email [email protected] Thanks. HOOPER versus PECKer: The footage of Oliver getting tattooed was almost an hour long. It was tough to cut some of the hilarious one-liners but the best ones are in there. @Scott R I'm the guy holding the camera. We did meet at the SFO convention. There ware lots of people watching Oliver get tattooed from outside the room, but the guys you can see while Thomas gets tattooed are Chad Koepliner, Stefano C, Shane Wilcox, Me and Thomas' friend James.

Don't eat Indian food in London. It's shit, mostly. Yes, even in Brick Lane. Eat at Hawksmoor. Soho is bursting with great places to eat for any budget - too many to list here but Koya right across from our shop does great Udon, made fresh on the premises daily. There's also a michelin star rated restaurant on Frith Street, called Arbutus that isn't much more expensive (maybe £2 - £5 more per dish) than other non-rated restaurants. See a west-end show. I think the Book of Mormon may still be on then. If not, there will be loads of other stuff to do. I'm sure Singing in the Rain will still be showing. There's also many smaller character-driven or comedy plays constantly. There's a Jazz/Blues club called Ronnie Scotts on Frith Street that I'm told is amazing. V&A, British Museum, Tower of London (go early) For fine English gentleman's clothes, shoes and grooming, visit Jermyn Street, just off Piccadilly. That's 2 streets away from Burlington Arcade with too many antique Jewellery (and hat/scarf/glove) boutiques to mention, after all, your wife was a saint in SF ;) Spitalfields market (Thursday) can be fun for antiques/junk if you like that type of thing. It's right next to Whitechapel - Jack the Ripper territory, there's tourist walks around Whitechapel at night too. Bloomsbury, near the british museum is famous for it's publishing houses and rare bookshops. The London Eye is great on a clear day for views over the river. The South Bank, a walk east of the London Eye, has theatres, restaurants, the Tate Modern and great view of the city. Book tickets early for everything to avoid queues and wasting precious time. There are many more interest-specific things to do but these are the general ones that most people would enjoy. If you want to search London for sites where rock, punk or blues musicians played or died, you can do that. Same with authors, playwrights, magicians, diplomats, etc. There's a Beatles museum next to the Sherlock Holmes museum on Baker Street. Don't bother going to Madame Tussauds. If you're planning leaving London for non-tattoo stuff and like fast cars and bikes, there's always Brand's Hatch and Silverstone. Whatever you do, you'll think of something awesome you missed the day you get back home ;) Most of these places (even the streets) have Wikipedia pages that can be pretty informative. Good Luck. Don't worry if we don't get your back finished on that trip, I'll be at the Long Beach convention next summer too.

@CercleRouge my point, or at least one of them was that this 'style' is so special and interesting, I'll be sad to see it become a recognised tattoo style that anyone thinks they can have a go at. That's my main point and just because customers ask for it, that doesn't mean tattooers should fill their portfolios and instagram with it. Maybe I should add here that I have done tattoos in this style. I've done a lot of tattoos in a lot of styles with varying degrees of success. I've done tattoos from Duncan X's flash and loved every second but I didn't pass it off as my own work. Same with dotwork mandalas and OpArt designs. I even added them to Japanese style sleeves after Binnie's flash but again, the photos didn't wind up in my folio because I didn't want to make a point of imitating something so fresh and interesting. I'd rather take the mechanism of their layout, approach and influences of their work and apply it to something else because a slightly tweaked version of something new and exciting doesn't make the copy more exciting. Maybe I'm just being crusty and crotchety when I preferred it when the only place you could get any decent work of this kind was In2You in London and LTW in Barcelona. I also think that your little dig comparing traditional tattoos to McDonalds was a little ill-though out and reactionary. Already in this (only 3 page) thread we've seen the 'same' compositions, patterns and images repeated by various artists. I' not trying to change anything. I know that anything new and interesting will be imitated so quickly that it's difficult to tell which came first. I'm not trying to tell anyone what to get tattooed or who to get it from. People like what they like, that's cool. Maybe I should use less words: Just because someone tattoos like Jondix or Duncan, that doesn't mean they are anything like Jondix or Duncan.

@Graeme so you're saying that because it happens with everything on the internet, it's ok? I have no problem with people trying to do 'fresh' things. In my opinion, this style is still fresh, therefore how can anyone else do something new with it? Maybe it's different because I've been fortunate enough to see the seeds of this style develop from other things in a natural and gradual way that I feel uncomfortable when someone else hops on the wagon when the bumps have been ironed out. Yes it does happen, I know I can't stop it and I'm not trying to. The reason I take the time to post here is because Last Sparrow is different. It's better than that. This place is the real deal and I care about it. It may be just another forum to chat about whatever is on your mind to pass the time, for most here, but for the collectors and tattooers who post here there hasn't been anything this positive about good tattoos and tattooing on the internet, ever. There's been a machine forum that was good for a while and some kinda-sorta fringe industry sites and forums that were good for a while but there's never been somewhere online for just tattoos where quality matters and people who are respected in the real world are respected in the forums. Too often a post/blog count matters more than the quality of submissions and real-world experience. It's different here. Last Sparrow is having a real-world effect and I think it's up to us all to realise the responsibility we have and to try a little harder to be thoughtful and intelligent in our actions online and offline. While I wouldn't wear tattoos in the style Amanda Wachob does, I can see how they would appeal to some. I'm not even sure it appeals to 'tattoo people'. It's not really a new tattoo style either. It's based on a style of painting (wich was once new - over 70 years ago) Ed Hardy did some similar stuff in the 80's too. @TrixieFaux some of the people you mentioned do visit SF. I'm not trying to tell anyone who they should get tattooed by or whatever and I'm not knocking anyone specific. I'm sure 'new' guys give props or shout-outs to Hooper, Jondix, et al. But it still stands that without the guys who developed the style none of us would even want to get it tattooed.

I wish this style didn't have a name. As soon as a style is given a name, it seems to give others the impression they can do it too. The reason I don't do this stuff is because I like Hooper, Jondix and Albrigo as people and friends. They each seem to take direct influence from each other while still retaining some individuality and nuances of design and layout that make it possible to identify which one of them did it. The same goes for Binnie, Xed, Tomas Tomas, Mike from Athens and Curly. I love the work of each of those guys. I can't say the same for anyone else doing these styles. It seems to be a "Me too" attitude. They let the first few guys take all the risks and learn what works and find select clients who want to trust in something new. Then they make technically clean but hollow facsimile of something that was interesting. Maybe thats a bit strong coming from someone who doesn't have a style of his own, but I try to work in existing, classic tattoo styles and sometimes have a little fun with them. The reason I don't do this pattern/skull/mandala/pointilist stuff is the same reason I don't do Biomech, Pacheco painterly colour or straight-up cholo tattoos: They are styles that were developed by people with a specific set of interests and inspirations that managed to filter them into a style of design and execution. Also those pioneers are still alive and working. Maybe I've opened a nasty can of worms... How soon is 'too soon' so imitate an iconic style? Do we have to wait for the pioneers to die before crotchety fucks stop complaining? To be honest, I'm not interested in the answer. I just notice that every week the internet spits out a new guy who sticks a skull over or under a doily and it's held in the same regard as work by Mike, Jondix and Hooper. The same as we distinguish between Aaron Cain or Guy Aitchison Biomech, we shouldn't try to coin new phrases and just refer to Thomas Hooper, Jondix or Tomas Tomas Blackwork, dotwork or whatever. Use the name of the guys that made it what it is. We at least owe them that if we're gonna encourage other people to try it and get it tattooed from the rest of the pack. note: I'm certainly not anti-new styles and I'd like to say that I'm eagerly awaiting the second generation of artists influenced by these guys who take it somewhere new, now that there's a body of work by a group of artists. That could be exciting!