Romance & Worship

we've been making arugula pesto lately. so good! i stole this idea from the man that runs helloakland cafe on claremont, in the rockridge area. he makes a meeeaaaan bagel sandwich if you're ever in that hood.

i was taking a peek at ross nagle's wordpress just now, such killer stuff... he posted this eagle that is on his own neck, done by tim hendricks. i thought it needed to be shared here, 'cause it's really cool. hope you don't mind the stolen material ross?! thanks dude!

i posted a thomas hooper picture at the top of this page, that is pretty small and doesn't do the piece justice. there were a bunch of nice, big close up's of that tattoo added to his website today. it's super sick and worth checking out, his whole website is extremely informative, with an abundance of material that is tattoo and not tattoo related. this picture was just posted there too. fuuuck... Hoopers Electric – Meditations in Atrament

wow, this is an awesome thread.... this panther by chad koeplinger, is by far one of the toughest tattoos i have ever seen!

this sounds amazing! i can't wait to see this!

welcome! this place rules. i just saw a great tattoo on a co-worker of mine, who is originally from SA. she went back a few months ago, to visit and get tattooed. i will try to get a picture and post it for you, with the artist's info., whenever i see her next.

i thought i would ad this one to too, by mr. cris cleen at sf's, idle hand. i love this tattoo!

i love this thread. thanks guys!

matt howse, at spider murphy's in san rafael, did this eagle and snake for me. i also really like this eagle and all seeing eye done by grez, which is not on me. valerie vargas, stizzo, chad koeplinger, theo mindell, matt howse, owen jensen, and norman keith collins do and did some of my faves!

those signs are rad! thanks for the tips too, i think that transfer paper is the answer i've been looking for. -duh....

i use a mix of different water colors, and fw's. for black i usually use fw or talens, but i really like how the ph martin black kinda has that blue tint when you blend it out, whereas the talens or what not has a true grey wash. i would like to find more blacks that have that blue hue to them if anyone knows of any... i usually like to mix things up every time i paint, but i think it's because i am still looking for painting methods that i truly prefer. i am also curious to know how people out there are transferring their images onto watercolor paper for painting? i have yet to tackle anything bigger than 11x14, so i have just been using a light table, but i am interested to see how others go about it.

maybe valerie is right. i do think that a watermark in the middle of the picture does lessen the integrity of the image and now that i think about it, it is rather pushy, good call. but i still think it's necessary for the web, unfortunately. if you care about that stuff, i guess... i like the option for individualized watermarking in the gallery. i think it's a smart idea.

also, i do think watermarking helps in the ways of marketing yourself out in the world. i think it can ad a level of professionalism and confidence to your name, like i wanna protect my images because they are that good. just a thought...

i totally agree with you lochlan. it also frustrates me when i see something amazing, with no credit to be found. there are so many tattooers now, and good ones at that. that i think it's only appropriate to use watermarking, at least on the internet that is. i don't enjoy seeing it in books or magazines. i prefer the small description of the artist's name and current where-a-bout's, under the picture. i also believe you are helping a lot of customers better understand the art and business of tattooing with this LST. as a customer, enthusiast and prospective apprentice, i've already learned a lot more at a quicker pace with the help of this tattoo forum, and i really appreciate it. thanks a lot, you guys have made something great here!

i would also like to add luke francis. he works at everlasting tattoo in san francisco and does great, clean work and beautiful soft shading that i dig. we went to high school together and were pretty friendly. he moved to sf a few years before me. when i moved up here in 2001 and randomly saw him working at anubis warpus at the time, on haight street and later got a tattoo from him shortly after he started at everlasting, in 2008 i think. check him out at Everlasting Tattoo - San Francisco, CA

i have a feeling i am really behind the ball on this one, but i'm still schooling myself on european tattooers and i just discovered Stizzo, an italian artist. it looks as though he owns and works out of his own shop called Best of Times, in milan. i'm sure anyone who works the milan convention is probably familiar with him. i really enjoy his use of black, it's beautiful and it really gets me. you can check his stuff out on facebook under Stizzo Tattoo. seeing that he has over 4,000 friends on facebook, i assume his work is no secret. but i had never heard his name or seen his work in books, magazines or on the web before. here some samples...

those lehi pieces are crazy. derrick's eagle/skull came out rad too. i like thomas hooper and theo mindell on this one as well. i sit and stare at this hooper peice all the time!

that's one of the coolest tattoos i've seen recently. i love your work and hope to visit you in NYC in september, for my first trip to the big city.

i agree with gouge above. definitely make time out of your day for the tattoo process, the whole day if possible. i always try to schedule appointments around my pay day and hopefully on a day that i have off. tattooing is something i love, i LIKE to hang out for a while before i get tattooed, see what everyone else in the shop is working on if possible, introduce myself to another customer maybe, depending on the vibe in the shop. after the tattoo, i always like to just walk around, maybe get a beer on my way home and just lounge out and clean it up. i always enjoy the feeling of being spent after a tattoo, i feel accomplished and fuckin' stoked everytime! if it is something you are really into, make the time available to truly absorb it and see how the whole process works and not just your experience. maybe you'll gain a fresh perspective or a new respect for it. don't let this experience ruin it for you. unfortunately, it's part of the deal.

i never get caught. ( ;

i too have had one or two less than perfect tattoo experiences in my day, and there may be another one to come someday. but point being, bottom line, it's the tattoo i'm after, not the respect of someone i have never met or don't really know that well, i believe that respect has to be earned. a good example would be; there's a really talented, popular tattooer in my local area and i have always really wanted a piece from him, i even have the ideas ready to go. but for one reason or another i find this person to be rather arrogant and pompous and that always kind of rubs me the wrong way, but dammit! his tattoos are so sweet, that i'm just going to have to bite the bullet one day and sit there quietly and get tattooed, because it's the tattoo i'm after! tattoos hold a great deal of meaning to me and when i look at mine, the first thing i think of is the reason i got that tattoo, not about the person who gave it to me. even if that person is a dick, if they did an awesome fuckin' job on my tattoo and gave me my moneys worth, i can't really complain or feel entitled to a certain kind of treatment because i walked into the shop with cash in my pocket. you chose a professional to get the job done and that's what happened, he/she is not obligated to give out smiles too, although it does help, no argument there! i would love to have good vibes and a positive experience while i am getting tattooed. you know, shit talking and joke cracking, talking about music and all that. but fact is, some people don't want to do all that shit, and i don't always blame them. they're at work, and some days you just don't want to be at work and you may be moving slow or whatever the case may be, we're all human. i'm a bartender man, i don't always want to hang out and entertain with all of my customers, like they expect me to. but i treat them all equally and try my best to greet each person with a smile. what puzzles me is the fact that you said you really enjoyed the artist's attitude and the finished product and it sounds as if, even though you had to wait a bit longer than you initially thought, over all, you did have a positive experience, am i wrong? but, i also wonder, did the artists apologize for making you wait so long? as a professional i do believe someone who makes me wait that long for a scheduled service of any kind should at least compensate me with a sincere apology and recognize his or her fault in the matter, if that wasn't done then maybe this person doesn't understand the big picture of good customer service. but running late? c'mon, it happens to all of us. just be glad this isn't the 80's and you didn't get chased out of there by some coked up biker yielding a flat head screwdriver!