hgiles

I get more 'stigma' from my wife than anyone else. "Make sure you wear long sleeves when you come to the kids' school function!" Even in short sleeves 90% of my ink cant even be seen. I wore a T-shirt in the family swimming pool for the first year or two til I decided to just say F-it. No one said anything though. ;-) I was showing my sister my rib panel the other day and she said "What do you mean 'subtle' -- that thing is huge!!" And by a 'subtle approach' I meant most of my ink can't be seen under typical circumstances. But no one has ever thrown drinks at me nor followed me around a department store...I just don't have enough ink showing. :-( As far as expecting any 'stigma' to go away...don't hold your breath. If you look different you'll be treated differently. It's a fact. First-impression-perception-based prejudice is a human instinct -- it's how we recognize the HOME team vs. the VISITORs... It's how we distinguished the UNION from the CONFEDERATES. COWBOYS vs. INDIANs. HUMANS vs. MARTIANs. The best we can do is make a good second impression.

It depends on how dark you are as to how the color 'takes'. Generally speaking, you should take the artist's advice as he is the expert, however one expert may be more expert than another. I get a lot of color tattoos and I am not exactly a white guy.

This is sweet too! Same Artist different dragon!

I agree! The experience of getting the tattoo is a large part of the whole for me as well. Especially so having been tattooed by some great PEOPLE, not just great artists! Of course even the un-tattooed artist gets to be around those great artists in day to day goings-on. But yes, it's a different experience being under the needle at the time and different feeling putting that much trust in a person and then them upholding that trust by producing a bad ass tattoo...!

Shoes and a bunch of Dickies attire.

Nice get, Nathan! I have a rib panel started with Chad K. And I am scheduled to sit for the other rib panel with Brian Bruno on 4/26.

Everyone approaches it differently -- tattoo artists are no exception. All of my artists have been pretty well covered though. I like to have most of my tattoos hidden, gives a little mystique to the whole thing. Besides, they're for me anyway.

I guess I can ask it a different way. "As an artist yourself, which ONE tattoo artist most inspires you?"

Definitely impressive...now. I tend to go the opposite way. I want the biggest possible tattoo.

Nevermind, Found him.

Yeah, the money talk is always a tough conversation. I've had guys give me a flat rate for a half-day, or all day. And then of course hourly. I had an artist ask me what my budget was -- "How much do you have to spend?" That really made me uncomfortable. I could theoretically end up with a dime sized MOM tattoo for $1000. That kind of approach really puts the burden of trust solely on the client. Tricky. In my particular case it worked out fine. I also had an artist ask me for an extra $100 after a session because the tattoo came out extra special. Still, I got a good tattoo out of it, but that didn't sit well with me. I don't know what the solution to this is. At some point you have to trust the artist and put your balls on the table. But yes, I think some shops toss around a high hourly rate as some sort of litmus test.... I know, I am just rambling.

I am a musician, a saxophonist actually. The absolute undisputed living (at the time) saxophonist Mike Brecker was asked "How Does it Feel to be the Best Saxophonist in the World"? His response was "I don't know go ask Jerry Bergonzi (another great Jazz saxophonist)." Mike was always very self-aware and humble. So if YOU as a tattooer were asked a similar question. How would you respond? Who would YOU place above yourself as a source of inspiration? Even if it's a specific genre that you want to be better at? ..."I don't know, go ask ________________?"

I think Joey C is actually going to be a good judge. He seems to know his stuff. But until these shows have someone like Jeff Gogue on them, then there aint no way any of them are among the "Top Ten Artists in the Country"

Chad Koeplinger. Will probably go to Brian Bruno for the other side.

I really try to sit still as possible and not make any noise nor weird facial expressions, but when I got my rib panel outlined I couldn't help it. I was involuntarily twitching and grimacing a lot... I guess my question is how do artists deal with this? Does it not bother them at all or what? I always thought it'd be a pain in the ass to deal with, but maybe they can just ignore it? FWIW, I didn't make any noise (moaning) and the artist said I sat "like a corpse", but I hardly think so. I am just not looking forward to having this thing finished in a few weeks. Nor having my other rib panel started.

I got a tattoo of Snoopy Playing saxophone. I was just graduating college at the age of 27 having put myself through on my own dime by enlisting in the military and serving in Korea and working part time in restaurants and factories welding and forming steel power distribution equipment. I still didn't know what I was ever going to do with a Music degree, but I knew I loved it enough that I was never gonna stop having fun with it. It was 10+ years before I got another tattoo.

Yeah, go to MY TATS and get tattooed by Jess Yen (Horiyen):

Cool bike. I have a Norton Featherbed in the basement I have been trying to build. I have a buddy trying to sell me a BSA Rocket 3 engine to put in it...I don't know the first thing about building a British CAFE bike, but I have a feeling I am gonna have to figure it out pretty soon.

I believe Deano Cook is a practicing 'Christian'. Psycho Tattoo - Deano Cook

Reality - some people care very little about the quality of their tattoo, they just want a tattoo. And some of these people want the best possible 'deal' (first cost) on the tattoo. And still some people think it's cool to get tattooed by their friend in his house while getting stoned. It's part of the experience and (old-school, underground) tradition for them! And it's a valid argument in a free world. Not for me, however, and it's not for me to say or assess someone else's risk tolerance. Perhaps it's like religion and politics, in that we tend to create the 'tattoo tradition' in our own (individual) image. I know, I know -- it's nothing like religion, nor politics, it's like tattooing and tattooing is different. :rolleyes:

I thought it went without saying that I was in no way advocating irresponsibility to the trade/craft or disregarding tradition. So I will go ahead and say it, though it is now redundant. "I am not advocating irresponsibility to tattooing or disregarding tattooing tradition." And if one can't express an opinion in a discussion forum then where? My point is people will find a way to be who they are. No lack of formal tutelage nor apprenticeship is going to keep them from it. So many great tattooists come about having never had an 'apprenticeship'. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. A college degree wasnt required to start Microsoft nor Facebook. You think the world really cares about Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg's academic credentials? Let each individual deal with (or not) the guilt and bear the burden of how he got there. If you need an apprenticeship -- get one. If you learn better from youtube and the web -- go for it. If you think you need a PhD in tattooing -- seek it out. If you learn better through exposure to the world -- get out in it! There is no one way. Not for tattooing, not for anything.

There's a lot of truth in this. A certain amount of technical lessons in the beginning would help, but ultimately we will be left with teaching ourselves and learning on our own. I know I am going to come under attack because I am not a tattooist, but I am an artist and I know how I learn things and I observe very closely how others learn (or not as the case might be). When is the last time you had a lesson in how to talk? I know I speak a lot better than I did at two, the last time I received a speaking lesson. And those lessons were quite rudimentary, I assure you! Since then I learned from everyone I ever came in contact with and sort of 'taught myself.' What learning and achieving artistry all comes down to is: 1) Copying - Copy the stuff you like. Copy the stuff you don't like. Copy the stuff other people like. Copy the stuff other people don't like. Copy everything that's pertinent (a mentor/teacher might help you determine what is 'pertinent'). 2) Consider - Now analyze what you've copied. Cognize, understand the where/why/how the copy falls short. Understand why you like some things and not others. 3) Create - Now with a heightened understanding, make the things you don't like into things you do like. This is where your personality and style are going to come through and you'll start creating an identity for yourself. Said another way imitate, assimilate, innovate. Ok, I am getting to the point. It's not necessary that someone 'teach' us. What is necessary is that we learn it. Learn through exposure and awareness and through the cycle of copying, considering, and creating! Do you think it's any coincidence that the best artists (musicians, painters, tattooists, architects, doctors, etc.) are well-traveled, exposed, experienced and aware? Shige? He might be doing a lot of learning on his own, but trust me, that stuff he does wasn't created in a vacuum. He got ideas from everywhere.

I generally like the look of one artist doing the work. More cohesive. But I certainly understand the compulsion to get tattoooed by lots of different and great artists. I have some "unplanned, serial collaborations" and although the individual tattoos are good, the body of work doesn't have the flow it should and the vibe is kinda disrupted. For a back piece, I'd want one artist or possibly two working together, at the same time.

I give my artists a 'vibe' (e.g. benevolent, spriritual) and a 'subject' (e.g. Tibetan skull) -- then I let them do their interpretation. I want my artists to feel challenged, inspired, yet comfortable. It's a tough sort of balancing act, but I think it yields the best possible result. When the artist wants to take a lot of pictures of the tattoo then I feel I got his best.