missStark

I' be been hanging out at immaculate tattoo this weekend while my friend tony is tattooing there. Got tattooed by tony last night and now I'm about to sit down to get something from Aaron since his appointment canceled. I'll post pics later!

Oni is great, I've been tattooed by shane Another great shop is Cathedral tattoo CJ is awesome

A bunch of my friends when I lived back east were really into getting weird knuckle tattoos. Some of my favorites were CHAMPION, DINOSAUR, and NICE BOAT

A tattooer without even any visible tattoos just doesn't really make sense to me. I'm just apprentice but I am so completely obsessed with tattooing that I can't even imagine why a tattooer wouldn't want to have tattoos. I'm not saying you have to be completely covered, I by no means am (yet). I have stuff on both arms but they aren't quite full yet and I have some on my legs as well. Being an apprentice, I don't really make a lot of money but I constantly put some aside each week to save up for tattoos and pretty much just live on ramen noodles and cereal. In fact some of my greatest "Aha!! so that's how it's done!" moments have come from being tattooed by people I really respect. Towards the beginning of my apprenticeship I had to put a few tattoos on myself before I could even think about tattooing another person. Tattooing completely consumes me and I feel that I have been given one of the greatest gifts in the world. The fact that any tattooer would not feel the same and not be be completely engrossed in this craft that I have come to love so much kind of makes me sad. That's my two cents but what the fuck do I know, I'm just an apprentice.

That's not too bad. Gives time to save up the money and book travel.

I really need to be on that list! I'm scared to know just how long it is.

I don't have my feet tattooed yet but it is definitely one of my favorite spots to tattoo and I can't recall having to touch up many or any of them. They seem to hold up well. One of my clients went hiking two days later and didn't really seem to have problems (probably not something I would have done though). I think as far swelling goes, everybody is different. I tend to swell A LOT no matter where I get tattooed. It sucks, but that being said I also heal relatively quickly. Usually fully healed in less than 1 week. Everybody's body handles it differently. You know how your body responds to being tattooed so just take that into consideration. Also in terms of wearing shoes to reduce swelling. I tend to wear tight pants and when ever I have my legs tattooed, especially upper thigh area, I have noticed significantly less swelling so I'd say it works.

He was so incredibly nice and I just love my tattoo!

My horse from Zach Nelligan and my boyfriend's bat lady from Civ. We got them at the Salt Lake convention this weekend!

My Zach Nelligan horse

Just got something from Zach Nelligan and my boyfriend got something from Civ at the Salt Lake City convention. I'll post pictures later!

For me definitely upper inside arm into armpit area sucked, also upper foot/ankle/upper ankle area was awful. I also tattooed that area myself and I find that tattooing yourself always hurts a lot worse. Not really sure why, maybe because I'm in control of my own pain so I instantly turn into a wimp.

Michael Bergfalk Just recently moved to Salt Lake City from Arizona. He is now working at my friend Oak Adam's shop, Painted Temple. This guy seems to be pretty well rounded. He has a lot more of his Japanese and portraits on his facebook instead of his website. I don't think anyone can truly master all styles but there are definitely some really well rounded tattooers out there.

There is a guy here in Salt Lake City by the name of Phil Lambert who seems to really enjoy tattooing artwork/illustrations/paintings etc. He is very good at it and stays as true as he can to the original artwork. He is even able to create the appearance of the lumps and textures that an oil painting would have. He is a very nice and quirky dude. I met him a few years ago and a good friend of mine has an entire sleeve, chest and side piece by him. If you are interested in getting some original artwork tattooed, you should check him out. Philip Lambert Sole Tattoo

...and by recently I mean Feb 3.

Chad Koeplinger recently posted one on a twitter. It's just the outline for now and it's an entire back piece of a tiger and a horse. I thought it was so great. I've never seen a horse incorporated before.

This makes me sad.

Triple Crown will be up my way at the SLC convention but it looks like Mo is the only one not going :(. My boyfriend's sister happens to live in Austin though, so it wouldn't be a problem to make it down there.

I love the pin ups done by Mo Malone. I just think they are so classic and pretty. I would love one from her but I'm not sure if it will look too out of place amongst all of my traditional tattoos.

I can't believe no one has mentioned Aaron Coleman. I absolutely love his panthers!

This is killing me, I can't stop laughing so I have to share! This is a direct quote from this kids mom on his facebook wall "everyone i talk to, says you need to get on the show "ink master".....more then one..so look it up online. Also you can win one hundred thousand with your talent. Jus sayin. :)" YES!!! please do! haha

You got it! There were so many to choose from but these are some of my favorites! The first skull just makes me cringe at how badly the skin is chewed up and the lines are literally sliced in. The second and third are cover ups where the poor victim would have probably been happier with their original crappy tattoo. Normally I wouldn't just make fun of someone like this, but not only should this kid be nowhere near peoples skin, he also has an awful rockstar attitude.

Yeah I go to the SLC convention every year. I plan on getting tattooed by Danny Reed at the convention this year. I love that guys work/style. He did a dead lady skull on my man a while back and its just a perfect clean tattoo. A little bummed that Aaron Coleman and the rest of the guys from immaculate won't be making it this year though.