CercleRouge

In general, those who cry racism the loudest and fastest are themselves the most small-minded of all.

Ok ya got me, I'm a HUGE racist! Me, you and Den should have lunch after our next cross-burning!

Ah, I was waiting for someone to come up with the "Nazi" thing.

Den is NOT a Nazi, self-proclaimed or otherwise. He IS the victim of an unrelenting smear attack by leftist fools who see any acknowledgment of history as being in some way "racist".

The images he has tattoed of German soldiers and officers have been just that...German SOLDIERS. Anyone who has humped a pack in any army in the world will tell you they have a degree of respect for another SOLDIER, no matter that they are on opposing sides. He has done no tattoos, that I am aware of, that are of so-called "war-criminals", or NS leaders or heros. The tattoos that have drawn the most fire are two copies of recruiting posters for the Wehrmacht, and a protrait of Joachin Peiper, a famous tank-commander, who was apolitical.

He has also done a good bit of work of Russian SOLDIERS, cosmonauts, and the like.

As for the racist crap, take a look at his FB page, and look at the work he posted yesterday, then go back and look for yourself at the work in his photos.

"Nazi-inspired images"... A "Nazi" was a member of the Nationalist-Socialist German Workers Party. Very few SOLDIERS were Nazis. They fought and died by the millions because that was their profession, and that's what they were ordered to do. The despicable actions of a small minority of one quarter of one branch of the armed forces of a State does not automatically make all others serving in those armed forces some type of fiends.

Let's see, if I follow that resoning, his portrait of a cosmonaut must mean he's a Commie, and his MANY portraits of African children must mean that he's Black, right?

I don't know the guy, never met him, but I've seen enough of the character-assassination by computer to know it when I see it. He does a tattoo of a German soldier in combat, he does a tattoo of a Russian kid in one of the ghettos with right-wing imagery, so he must be a Nazi.

He tattoos life. Are there right-wing youngsters in the old eastern-bloc? Oh yeah. Are there reminders of "The Greast Patriotic War" everywhere in Russia, especially in Moscow, where he lives? Hell yeah.

Again, tattooing those does not make him a racist or a Nazi. Why do people insist on parsing everything in terms of their own ethos?

Here's a nice example. I'm half-Irish. Still have plenty of family there. My Grandda left after Easter Week in '16 with a bounty on his head. I have spent many an hour here and in Ireland going round with lads from the Provos, and from the Real. I strongly agree with their desire for a unified Ireland. I strongly disagree with their, as I see it, socialist, of not outright communist, philosophy. So I shoudl call any of them, or anyonhe that tosses a dollar in the bucket on the bar a Commie, right?

And racist? There aren't enough Blacks in Russia to be racist against! Who is this guy supposed to be hating on?

I'd like to nominate the above comment for the Internet Hall Of Fame. In fact, I'd like to print it out and hang it on my wall as it's maybe the most unbelievable statement that I've ever read in my life! Bravo!

Mike, where do you see laser tattoo removal technology going in the next 10 years? What was the biggest advancement in the LAST 10 years?

Wasn't sure where to post this... does anyone know what the appointment situation is with Horitomo, or if he generally does conventions at all? Could've sworn I saw his name on the list for the London Convention but now I can't seem to find it...

@CercleRouge are you hitting the thighs or just stopping at the butt?

Stopping at the butt, but leaving it somewhat open-ended (no pun intended) in case I want to continue it in the future.

Haven't posted in a bit...

Session number... 7 or 8, I think, from Mike Rubendall today. Finally hit the ass, which made my ribs seem like a breeze.

About two months ago Thomas Hooper finished my torso:

And then one from Scott Campbell about 3 weeks ago:

correct, that's from jondix.

Worked some more on my back yesterday with Mike Rubendall

And then a new one today from Thomas Hooper

Thomas Hooper finished my forearm

@CercleRouge Incredible! How many sessions to get to where you're at?

That's two so far with one more to go.

Awesome work, but damn that's a lot of lines. Good thing they are all short.

As it was happening, I started to realize that longer, continuous lines would've actually been preferable to the short start-and-stop lines. The heaviest pain/shock is within the 1st second the needle touches my skin!

Pattern fill-ins from Thomas Hooper today. One more session to go.

Well I'm glad yesterday is over. Session #1 of 13 with Mike Rubendall

My girlfriend has no tattoos, and I prefer her like that. She can of course do whatever she wants with my full support, but right now I like her the way she is.

Rubendall is starting my back on Tuesday. I'm a little nervous to be honest! Also I spat out so many different ideas and elements during the consultation that I have no idea what the final product even looks like yet.

Just adding my routine for no real reason...

Leave the plastic wrap on until the evening, and then take it off in the shower. Don't spray high-pressure water directly on it, obviously, and usually I'll put soap on a part of the body north of the tattoo, and then lightly rub the soap in with my hand.

Get out of the shower, and let it drip dry, or pat it dry with a clean towel. I usually sit around for an hour or so before I do anything else. Then I put a THIN layer of Aquaphor on it. Before I go to sleep, I wrap it lightly in plastic wrap, just for the first night. Then I remove that plastic in the shower the next day, put on Aquaphor, and then do my best to keep it clean during the day, wear loose clothing over it, etc...

Then at night I shower (so I'll shower twice in one day for the first few days of a new tattoo, even if I normally only shower once a day), and then more Aquaphor before bed. So in total I put Aquaphor on it twice a day for 3 days. After that I use unscented Lubriderm. I apply it more liberally than I would with Aquaphor, as it "evaporates" quicker. I do this for about 2 weeks, even if it seems to me that the tattoo is basically healed. And... that's it! Never had any problems with this method.

Now that I see your torso I recognize some of the tattoos I have seen around here. Love The Thugee Cult tattoo, and this Hooper tattoo looks like it will be a beauty. Truly awesome. I love most of your tattoos

thanks!

Started by torso with Thomas Hooper today

Yeah, I have it and it's great. I talked to a couple of artists featured in it, and they basically all said something along the lines of "I was nervous it was going to be crap, but it turned out great." and another told me that they declined to participate, but then regretted that decision once they saw the finished product. It's only like 33 bucks on amazon and it's a pretty big book.

here's my new one from duncan x, from a bruegel engraving

Didn't think a topic like this would bring such controversy.

I've always referred to this style as "dotwork", which in my head encompasses everything from mandalas to scrimshaw to crosshatch, and the best way to view A LOT of it at once, is to just search Instagram by hashtag #dotwork. Some of the stuff I'd consider "dotwork" doesn't even necessarily contain "dots" (like the first Hooper image posted in this thread), but when I think of "black work" I think of heavy heavy black, full body tribal, etc... I just think it's an easy catchall term and people immediately know what you're talking about. In response to what Stewart said, the fact that people think they can do it has nothing to do with the fact that it has a label... it has everything to do with the fact that it's just popular right now. Maybe newer artists see it as a way to call attention to their work since a lot of people want to get this kind of work done these days, myself included. But the thing is... that doesn't matter to me. If suddenly 50 new artists a year are specializing in dotwork... that doesn't mean they are all going to become legends. That doesn't mean I'm going to get work done by any of them. I'll still go to the guys that I truly admire. For every one "forefather" of this style, there are 10 copycats... for every one forefather of traditional tattoo work, there are 1000 "copycats"! This is still a relatively new style of tattooing we're talking about here. It's just barely become a "thing", and I think it does in fact warrant a label.

I've always been drawn to all black tattoos, and got my first one from Duncan X 10 years ago. Since then I've collected them from Maxime Buchi, Jondix, Liam Sparkes, Daniel Albrigo, Duke Riley, and recently Thomas Hooper. I don't know why it appeals to me... but I do know what doesn't appeal to me: traditional tattoos, americana, classic flash. Clearly those things makes up 95% of this forum, but that's fine, people like it, I don't mind looking at it, I certainly respect most of the artists doing it (including everyone at Frith St, and not just because they post here), I just don't want the same tattoo on me as on hundreds if not thousands of other people in the world. Sure the images are "tried and true" or whatever, but so are McDonald's hamburgers, and I don't eat those either. And as I stated above, for every 1 great traditional tattoo artist, there are hundreds of average, or below average tattooers. I'd wager to say it's easier to make a living as a tattooer who specializes in classic flash, than one who does mind-bending mandalas and dreams about dots (as Jondix said he did).

Anyway, I don't want to ramble on any further, and I certainly don't mean to alienate LST's main audience, but I'm glad this thread is here and hope it grows as fast as the threads about lady heads and rock of ages tattoos.

I worked hard enough to get the damn appointment, I'm gonna make as many as possible!

Goddamnit I am a Hooper fan generally (as we all are) but @CercleRouge that piece blows my mind even more than usual! It's just beautiful. You must be thrilled. Can I ask you about how long that took?

Thanks. It took about 3 hours. Gonna go back for a little bit of shading... and of course a giant piece on my torso.

New one from Thomas Hooper last week

Oh shit...Rubendall....what are you doing?

shoulders to ass!

Heading to London from NYC for the third time in a fucking month (not solely for tattoos, I'm not that crazy), hoping to get another one from Liam Sparkes. I start my 4 sessions with Hooper here in NYC two weeks from today, and then in December I start TWENTY or so sessions with Mike Rubendall.