Colored Guy

Back in the day, almost any artist could do a good job with the array of wall flash stencils available. Of course they all cut their own acetate stencils. Do the same piece of flash 5X and you could make it look good on a cadaver. And art skills were secondary and not always needed. Now almost everyone is hawking custom work and that separates the ones who can draw from those who can do so marginally. Of course the really good shops, the cream always rises to the top and they'll always have a good following. CG

I like the first few days before it does the peel thing, looks shiny with the glaze of antibiotic smear on it. CG

Ooooooo fireworks art... gotta be cool. Looking forward to the name of the book. CG

Dan S.. nice deal on the cat. I'm a big fireworks fan and always wanted to work the Black Cat into some ink. CG

I'm up on 5/2 for a polynesian design around my lower leg. Was bs-ing with the artist last night over somethings she wanted to change, either way my appt is 5 days away. CG

I may not go to the best artist in the world, but I like the shop, the artwork and tattoo work is great and I get tons of compliments. The artwork is the bottom line, so I had to sell a kidney for my last tat.. it'll grow back I'm sure. Great story about your mom, just about anyone knows a bad ink job when they see it. CG

I'll be using that one. I have this cheapskate brother in law... a mass of $25 tattoos from 30 years ago. He always asks me how much I pay per hour, etc. I finally stopped telling him what I paid for the latest one.. he knows a shop that charges $75 per hour... He asked for a card for the shop I go to, which I always have on me... but not to give to him. CG

I never gave it any thought. I did my upper arms first, then moved down. Seemed like a natural progression to me. I also try to keep the balance between left and right. CG

I have neck issues.. no squatting for me right now, when I was into it, I'd pad the bar with a length of "pool noodle". These are toys for swimming pools made of foam and have a hollow center. Just whack a few feet off one, slit it down the middle and it goes right over the bar. CG

I really almost-always have enough for my next tat.... I squirrel away some money now and then and it adds up. Can't justify taking it out of the household funds. My tat $$ comes out of selling some scrap I have around the shop most of the time, or cash deals for things I sell. CG

We have a couple of local scratchers around that are making work for the shops that are good at coverups. Most are high school kids and my son knows one of the scratch artists, but won't out him. All of my son's work is done by legit shops. The kids gotta learn that there is no such animal as a good $20 tattoo. CG

I like to bounce back and forth having 2 tattoos done in close proximity. Get the outline done on both, wait a couple of weeks and go for the color on each one. Alternating the work on them is one way to get the thing done and satisfy the ink jones. CG

My artist wasn't too booked up so I was able to get my upcoming appointment in 6 weeks. 10 days to go on a 2-hour piece... the last couple of days go fast though. The day of the tat, I try to avoid anything that will cause me to miss the appointment. CG

The current Prez is always easy pickins for the political ignoroids. I work with a guy like that, finally had to tell him stop sending me crap he finds on the internets to support his non-existent case. CG

Pretty sad when someone's bicep is smaller than my wrist.... CG

I would ask out of curiosity only, no way I'd give up my place on the food chain at this point. CG

Interesting though, thanks for the link. Not my thing, but I'm sure it SERBS them well in that part of the world. CG

We do seem to have a fascination with guns, I love the feel, smell and the craftsmanship that goes into them. I only carried one when I operated a tow truck or went into NYC on the train. Even my fiancee at the time had a .25 Colt in her handbag and a spare clip in her bra. Until I had kids, I slept with a handgun between the mattress and box spring. My dad is 94 and still has his .32 revolver around. CG

Making notes to look into some Czechslovakian tattoo flash.... CG

All of my earlier tattoos were stencils of wall flash. I liked to get exactly what I saw, the only variant being the coloring. I'll still get a stencil online for part of a tattoo if I like the art. The last 2 I got were from art books and modified from there. My current artist likes when I bring in reference material and we go over it until I get something that works artistically and I like it of course. Then again I've been with the one shop since 2005. I'm making my own line drawing for my next tattoo. I do give her free rein for making the tattoo better.. draw on me with a sharpie... no, not that... wipe it down and try this... yeah, that's it! The lotus in my avatar shot was conjured up on the spot as an accent for my koi. Before I walked in, I knew it needed something to tie it into the rest of what I had. And we came up with it. CG

I still always fall back on 16 oz Buds and PBRs. Like returning to my roots or maybe the price is right and I can get tanked on the cheap, plus my kids won't touch it in the icebox. I buy most of my beer in 7-11 or my local supermarket (King Kullen). They have the 24 ozers for the right price... been enjoying numerous OE 800s as well. CG

Schaefer and Rheingold were two of the best beers ever, until they moved them out of Brooklyn and it turned into wolverine piss. This was in 1975 or so, it ain't been right since. CG

Pabst is good shti. I wish they made them in the 24 oz size, but I'm a fan of the pints. It's not really good as many premium American beers like Budweiser and Miller, I still like it though. The 30-packs are a big hit with college kids. We always said that after a bad night with PBR, I've been Pabst-Smeared! If you can find it in the bar bottles, all the better. CG

Looks like he needs to eat a few slices and bulk up a tad. CG

I also approach lifting on my own terms. Everyone's routine works for them and it probably won't work for anyone else. I very rarely give out any advice unless someone is about to hurt me doing something stupid close to me. CG