Stewart Robson

Some of the stories and half-truths are pretty amusing and they serve a purpose to protect or obscure some things that should remain at least a little esoteric. What bugs me more than fables and tall-tales are when someone has half a useful piece of information and it swirls around in their busy little mind until they think they are a fountain of knowledge. They then spout that 'knowledge' to their friends or to people who are desperate for crumbs of information on the internet. But that's a different thing I guess. I'm not of the opinion that everything should be laid out and explained to any yahoo that comes into a shop or internet forum. So I don't want to burst too many bubbles. But... In may towns and cities in the north of England, many people believe if you get an 'X' tattooed on the sole of your foot you get it for free. Variations even extend to: If you get the bottom of your foot tattooed totally black, you get any other tattooing free, for life, from any other tattooer, in the world. As if more than 5 tattooers can agree on anything, never mind every tattooer in the world adhering to some secret code. Visitors or customers in those shops were all totally bummed out when I told them that's not true. At least not the way I work. Fucking nuts.

It's one of the two big UK conventions that are worth paying attention to. I'll be there with Emiliano from Frith Street and Oliver Peck. Oliver and I are taking appointments. Emiliano is doing walk-ups. I'll be replying to my emails and booking appointments over the next few days.

You added 2+2 and made 7. Ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory but it won't make a difference to the texture of your skin under normal circumstances. It's good for: • Reducing swelling on areas prone to swelling during the healing process, particularly near joints. (note, hands and feet often swell more than other areas but consider the number of joints in those areas. Apply 'reefer' jokes to taste) • For particularly painful areas I use it before getting tattooed. I didn't notice any difference on my arms, thighs or stomach etc. But did notice it helped me avoid the panic, allowing me to relax more during getting the sides of my ribcage tattooed. Still, nothing helps pain management more than relaxation and breathing techniques. Seriously. Before getting tattooed, eat a light-ish meal (sandwich or something), the night before try to get a good amount of sleep, drink plenty of water, relax, sit still, shut up and get tattooed. It's pretty easy. Because I'm a pussy I have a glucose drink with me, taking sips every 30-60 minutes or so. Any stuff you've heard or read about people taking this-or-that concoction of pills, or drinks or whatever. They are usually heavily tattooed people who are totally bored of getting hurt and sitting through the boring bit of getting tattooed. So they'll try anything. Once you get over 100 hours of tattooing on your body, a little of the exotic shine and excitement kinda wears off the experience. They get tattooed for the end result, not the experience. If you still have 50-80% of your body free from tattoos, you can be considered fairly tattooed but there's a good chance you'll be stoked to be in the tattoo chair/bench/whatever. It's interesting to look around the shop and check stuff out, to watch a little of the process and to be privy to the whole atmosphere that makes a tattoo shop one of the coolest places in the world, to be part of it and contribute by getting a tattoo. So sit still, shut up and enjoy it.

You can learn a lot more from doing 200 thoughtful (but quick) sketches, than you can from 20 amateurish (but clean) drawings. It's rarely the goal in the beginning to be able to tattoo what you produce. It seems sensible to blame the lack of a formal apprenticeship but there's no excuse for verbatim copies of custom tattoos. In my non-existent apprenticeship I learned to not copy whole compositions, but to try to understand the way design and layout problems were solved by my favourite tattooers. It's crazy because there's so much great tattooable flash that's cool to tattoo.

@cc13 Aberdeen? Fuck, you don't have to travel far at all... Richard's Tattoo Studio - Scotland UK Richard Pinch is one of Europe's best, in my opinion. Jimmy will do you a great tattoo too.

Just get a tattoo and watch how it ages. If a tattooer has large work in their portfolio, such as backpieces etc, it's a pretty safe bet that some of it will be at least a year old. Most of the problem here comes from the fact that once we've finished a tattoo, particularly with one-shot tattoos, we rarely see it or the client again. Some of the photos on my website or blog have healed work next to the fresh stuff. Thomas Hooper occasionally posts photos of his work when it's settled into the skin. If you're talking about colour portraits, they look like shit 5+ years later unless they have a strong outline and plenty of black. There's many reasons for tattoos to look like tattoos. Another way is to visit conventions and see what people with healed tattoos look like. Remember: look but don't touch.

If you do decide you want to use pain relieving ointment (which won't help at all with the sitting still/twitching thing, by the way) please check with your tattooer. Some don't mind, some don't like it. It changes the texture of the skin and sometimes we have to work slightly differently. On some skin types or areas, it can make the skin puffy or spongy, therefore more difficult to make clean lines, smooth shading and solid colour. As with most things, it's better to ask your tattooer, either directly or by calling the shop. ...or you could ask faceless strangers (who won't be held accountable, should problems arise) on the internet...

Just relax, keep your breathing regular and stop moving.

I try not to pay attention to bad tattoo sites and direct copy stuff. The nature of my work means I don't see copies of my work anyway. I obviously see copies of Valerie's work daily, sometimes even in our shop, but one of my favourite things is to see a copy traced from a magazine/photo/printout of a tattoo. So the distortion or perspective on the photo is tattooed on someone but the distortion is exaggerated. So if it's a gypsy girl, it winds up super elongated and narrow. You can see a little of it on the copy of Stefan's wolf on page 1 of this thread. Particularly on the curve of it's head. When it's super pronounced, it cracks me up every time. We get the tattoo we deserve, I guess.

I usually think its best to get your tattooer to source great reference material. Most of us (tattooers) spend a great deal of time/money/effort collecting source material or information for our tattoos. Some of us even do it away from the internet. But in the interests of not poo-pah-ing a discussion: Try searching the internet for reference material that ISNT a tattoo. Adding the term 'tattoo' to a google search is like initiating a shit-filter where it only delivers the worst possible images. Good luck.

I love the 'stink lines' they really convey the artist's subtle, yet weighty, sentiment.

"Suits Made to Fit"?

@Matt Lodder, This isn't the place for a detailed one-on-one discussion or critique so I'll try to keep it brief. I'm sure the opportunity will arise for us to chat in the future. As I said, I do enjoy most of your writing and I'm super happy that you can find a vocation writing about the things you enjoy and are passionate about. Also, If you (or any writer) were to apease my concerns or work to my tastes, you simply wouldn't have a large enough audience to make any money, not would it hold any interest to academia. But I do think tattooing needs an academic text as much as featherweight boxing does. I know you didn't set out to be a spokesperson, it's just that you are one of the few vocal tattoo enthusiasts that can write with any coherence or weight. That makes you one of tattooing's few online spokespeople who isn't an idiot. I didn't mean that you were a total outsider but that the source of your research is not from the real world. If there's one thing (other than hard work) that always commands my respect, it's first-hand experience or authenticity. For me, that's where your work is lacking. An academically sound project with an accurate and expansive bibliography sounds great, unless its mostly based on oral history. Much of tattooing's history may not be strictly oral, but it is just as personal and was passed on in a one-to-one or one-to-small-group fashion. If you plan to tackle a hefty tome that covers 'modern' tattooing's history (Captain Cook onwards), you better make sure that's it's better, more detailed, more accurate, comprehensive and interesting than anything Hanky Panky (Henk Schiffmacher for the google crowd), Sam Steward, Takahiro Kitamura, Ed Hardy, Mike McCabe or Chris Wroblewski have ever done combined, otherwise you are just another writer taking a paycheck from tattoo fans with an ephemeral publication. Unless your intention is to edit together existing difficult to find books into an accessible volume. That's an editors job and a copyright nightmare. Regarding historical books on the 'artistic' side of tattooing (I prefer 'visual' or 'craft' as 'artistic' brings up a whole other unwanted argument): There have recently been a few excellent books on localised (in time and geography) pockets of tattoo history, with great historical photos and flash. There are another one or two still to come in the next six months or so. Maybe the writing wasn't heavy on the academic side, but they were written for ease of communication not peer review. Regarding the source of modern tattooing's classic designs. It's widely known but maybe not often written that they stem from popular or military culture of the age. to examine their source is to examine the culture they were expressions of. A lifetime's work, to make anything more than a fluff piece or passing mention, I'm sure. There are already a book or two with illustrations by Cook's natural history illustrator, of islanders tattoos. Despite my general suspicion of exposing tattooing to 'outsiders' I'd love to see a well researched, accessible, interesting and knowledgeable book on tattooing's history, written with mostly first-hand or new information but I don't think academic books are much use to fringe or subcultures. Tattooing used to be exotic but now it's commonplace so at least you have a larger audience. I doubt I'm your audience anyway. I have a book on Japanese tattooing, written by an academic researcher. A few years ago it was a gold-mine of information, now, with cheaper world-travel for first-hand research and the ability of 'insiders' to publish their knowledge and sell it on Amazon.com, that book is now just a curiosity with cool old photos. Academics and journalists used to bring the exotic to us normals, now the exotic can bring themselves to us, or better yet, we can visit them, or at least watch them on tv or the internet. But I do wish you the best of luck. I'm sure my criticisms would have a small impact on your work anyway. I'm notoriously grumpy and negative regarding tattoo-related stuff. I am from The North after all. But I am pleased that your work is well-received and your passion and interests have become your career. Much of the information anybody needs regarding 20th century tattooing is readily available, it's just not published. Hours of interviews with key individuals and hours of foraging through dusty boxes in garages, attics and basements around the world will unearth the information to make a truly great book on tattooing's history. The effort needed to gain access to that information is another story. Good Luck.

I know, because I have some. It's not white, just lighter than the black around it. How much lighter depends on the age of the ink and skill of the tattooer. I've done it a few times too, with varying degrees of design success, but I took the most recent photo off my blog last week after one too many " I'm gonna get this from my tattooer, what needles/technique/machines did you use?" emails. Nothing gets non-tattooers talking about their so-called technical and equipment knowledge like white-on-black, palm or micro tattoos in tricky places.

Thanks everyone, [MENTION=2059]Dr Benway[/MENTION], If you mean the tattoos Jordan wears on his chest and neck, they were done by me, Steve Byrne and Chad Koeplinger. Frank Carter tattooed his stomach too. [MENTION=2048]Mason Wanamaker[/MENTION], any good convention should have great tattooers working there and sometimes guesting at shops in the area. Some of the tattooers were fully booked within minutes of them confirming their visit, others took walk-ins and some only did one tattoo. @Tim Hendricks, sincere thanks. As ever, it was pretty special and certainly an honour to have you (and everyone else) with us.

Ive never been 100% happy with a white tattoo that I've done. 95% of the people who want then are not happy with the results either. "Can you just touch this bit up, can you make it a little thicker/thinner, can you make it MORE white"? etc. Most of the time these people don't have many tattoos so all their attention is on this one small thing. At our shop we usually explain why getting a tattoo in light grey is better than only white. (kinda like the drop shadow thing in california style script.) They get the same 'subtle' effect and we don't get the headache of doing an all-white tattoo that may or may not look totally white when it's healed. If they insist, I'll do it, but let them know touch ups are not free for that kind of tattoo.

Thanks for the heads up on the video. Can't wait to watch it when I'm not on crappy hotel wifi. Maxime also publishes Sang Bleu magazine, but that's probably mentioned in the video. Binnie usually has something interesting to say.

Totally. But in the end, I guess nobody remembers the coverband years later, unless they develop something great based on their imitation. At the moment it's easy for anybody to publish their own circle-jerk on the internet, with all their cool friends and pseudo fame. It makes anybody look more accomplished than they really are. Luckily internet (and magazine) fame moves quickly. Those guys will be left behind for the next batch of douches to shine. All the while tattooers will be working hard away from that stuff, sharing amongst their peers. That's where the real gold is.

The rules: 1) Don't talk about Mike Roper. 2) Do not talk about Mike Roper. But seriously, you should probably speak to someone who has work by him. He's deliberately a non-internet, non-magazine, non-publicity tattooer. It's probably best to keep it that way.

Really? That's sarcasm, right? There are plenty of dumb, racist, sexist bigots who tattoo or work around the tattooing 'industry' But you don't have any tattoos do you? So I guess your experience isn't from inside a variety of actual tattoo shops?

I think we're all (tattooers, that is) standing on the shoulders of giants. I've often thought about putting that on my business card. I sort of agree with your point but any 'fame' that's bought or achieved through brown-nosing will be short lived. The guys who stick to concentrating on doing the best work they can, regardless of any fame or notion of celebrity are the ones who have the respect of their peers. Fame is pretty easy to achieve, like you said, you just show up in the right places, shake everyones hand and make sure you get your photo taken. Gaining the respect of your peers is another matter entirely. That takes hard work, effort, some intelligence and stamina over years or decades. I know which one I'd rather have, although I did just spend a hell of a lot of time speaking with some heavy-hitting tattooers this weekend but maybe that's different at a convention. At least I hope so. I think there's still plenty of blood sweat and tears in tattooing, it's just outweighed by the fame hungry party-tatters, starfuckers and endless bloggers. I guess the only thing I disagree with and I may be opening a huge can of worms I'd rather not be involved with but, I wouldn't lump Picasso with 20th century shitty conceptual art. Though I have no desire to discuss "what is Art". Pollack made the mental leap that your brush didn't have to touch the canvas. Much like Zulueta and Hardy made the leap that a tattoo design didn't have to be a recognisable object. What happened after that is the problem, not what those guys did. At the age of 14 Picasso could draw and paint like the old masters, Rubens included. The advent of photography meant that artists were no longer commissioned to create realistic likenesses, so they worked on creating more expressive or abstract art. Personal taste or preference aside, Picasso (and other modern artists, particularly cubists and impressionists) changed the way the rest of us perceive the world, wether we like it or not. A Sailor Jerry (or Coleman) style pinup works much the same as a Picasso line drawing: there is perfectly the right amount of lines and detail. If you add more, you spoil it but if you take even a single line away, it doesn't make sense. One of the goals of cubism is to reduce the real world into the simplest geometric shapes and sometimes to show more than one dimension or time at once. Traditional tattooing is good at that too, I think. I'm not a fan of the look of Picasso's more abstract stuff, but I love that he existed and changed the way we could view the world. I think that most contemporary Modern Art, certainly since the 1960's is total shit. Luckily, Art (with a capital A) becoming conceptual pushed painting back into to fulfilling it's role as a craft, which allowed 'low-brow' or counter-cultural, craft based art (like Crumb, Williams and Greg Irons) to exist. And for that, I'm surely grateful. But I certainly agree, 100% with the statement that there is no substitute for hard work.

@embers it was cool to beet you (although super brief) thanks for asking to take the photo. Always appreciated. Seth Wood's backpiece from Roper is a golden dragon. Yes I've seen it, yes I have photos, no they won't ever be on the Internet. The less Roper tattoos on the Internet, the better in my opinion. I saw a few of his tattoos this weekend and they were all amazing. The SFO convention was fantastic for Valerie and I. Maybe I'll make a blog post about it but it was a pretty humbling and inspiring thing to make new friends, see old friends, meet heroes & legends and all of them were super cool. People I consider way more advanced and accomplished tattooers than myself said very complimentary things about my work. Great photos also, thanks!

Another video from Frith Street: "In September 2011 some of our friends worked alongside us at Frith Street Tattoo. Thanks to everyone who did tattoos and got tattooed. It was a pleasure and an honour." Thanks for watching.

Ditto. And the same with DEVO.

@Ty Pilkey, telephone is usually a good start. Internet to find the telephone number. Quick answers, sorted.