cltattooing

Maybe everyone (the general public) can just loosen up and not be offended by things that aren't hateful or hurtful... Like.. honestly? Why are dicks even offensive in the first place? If you are offended by nature, maybe that's a personal problem.

Sounds great to me! Can't wait to see y'all :)

@Graeme very true, good example.

I like it!

Can I just point out that there is a gigantic difference between script tattoos and typographical tattoos?

Those are some tough arms! I dig em.

I have very minimal experience with rotary machines, but I don't care for them much. It is damn near impossible for me to pull a clean line with a rotary, but I think most use them for shading and pointilism anyway. I have had the same experience as @timmstrating when being tattooed with them. One thing I can say though, is that coil machines have many variables in how they're built and are adjustable to fit how you like to tattoo whereas rotaries generally always run the same way with the only variable being speed. So it is very possible that your tattooer's shader had a particularly heavy hit.

pretty much... gross. Like unless that opening is followed by "I buy a lot of paint"

The 19th works for me! This is exciting, so many people able to make it!

I took a more dry heal approach with the last piece I got and my arm is all cornflakes and barnacles. I feel like Pig Pen from Peanuts but it's not dirt, just scabs flying off me wherever I go.

Oooohh that is a really nice piece!! I like the expression a lot @Pleadco @hogg I'm really excited for you to get your pharaoh's horses, they're going to look soooooo so nice.

Ok.. so as if people getting upside down tattoos wasn't bad enough, I just had a girl come in today wanting to get a small script piece backwards.... ....so that it would read properly when she looked in the mirror.

@Killercook76 uuuuggghh that is such a gorgeous piece. Really, really great stuff.

Welcome!

AWESOME work!!! Welcome to the forum, looking forward to seeing more.

I think gifts are a great idea if real thought is put into them and they're more on the hard-to-find side of things. Also due to the personal nature of gift giving, I feel like it's more appropriate when getting larger work. I guess it's just about sincerity, really.

I did :)

will do!

Ahhh man, the book is looking great! Love how you textured the pages. Super excited to see how the candle comes out as well. Just based on the shading in the book, it looks like you've painted it with a light source behind the viewer and with another out of sight behind/above the skull (which is totally fine by the way, paintings often look more dynamic with multiple light sources). I'll PM you a constructive critique if you're interested.

Also danced through high school, and I really do miss stretching. I've done some yoga here and there, but have never stuck with it as a practice. I think now is the time in my life to actually pick it up. My roommate has done a lot of Bikram, and she was showing me a few poses the other night. It was amazing. I slept without any discomfort that night and woke up with so much more energy than I usually have. Like.. mornings are an obstacle in my day. I actually read this thread and was like fuck, I'm gonna go stretch! I'm for it :)

@hogg whoa, what a trip. I bet that was a really cool experience despite all of the questions. I wish I'd known about it at the time. Also... Mr. Naga-fuckin-shima has my utmost respect, that guy is a warrior. I am smitten with his Fudo stomach piece. Also an interesting observation... I think it speaks as a testament to how powerful that particular statue is, given how often it shows up in photos and video taken at the Asian Art Museum. I'd like to go back and spend maybe an hour sitting next to it. Good for the soul.

@BrianH that's a great idea! Looking like shit exactly as it should look like shit :)

WHAT?????!?!?!???!!!??????? story time :)

Asian art is very inspiring to me and I want to emulate it a lot more in my work. Not even necessarily the subject matter or themes, but even just the color theory and composition go above and beyond. I also really like Huiliochi art, and I see a lot of those influences in contemporary Spanish tattooers' work. Of course, I do love classical paintings as well, Rembrandt is THE homeboy. I think a lot of what Aubrey Beardsley was doing with his textual elements would translate well into tattoo as well. I think I am mostly inspired by really powerful images that have a graceful sense of direction. That is how I want my tattoos to look, both in my work and on myself.

Ok so no better picture. This thing is already in ultra scab mode.