cltattooing

Haha! Houses are great things to have, definitely more practical than tattoos :) No reason you can't do both, eh?

I saw that on instagram, sooooo good

Or you could come to the dark side... what I mean California

I looooooooooove Herb Auerbach's work!!! He kills it, pardon my blasphemy for saying that I prefer his stuff over Stefan's. I believe I'll be having him tattoo my feet some day :P

Ooohh I never clear coat anything. What do you use if I may ask?

@CultExciter thank you! I'm not the happiest with the rose though, I kinda fucked it up after I stained the paper. Picture is from before the stain. Some of the red bled a little and I think I could have put another petal at the bottom of the flower to balance the shape a bit, but I'm fairly pleased. Cheers on the feedback :)

That's good that they had you sign a contract, hopefully that means that they're taking their end of the deal seriously too. Admirable painting volume, keep it up! That rules! I think at the end of the day, it all just comes down to you. What you want and how you go about it. I really really do wish that I had started my apprenticeship learning how to make tattoo equipment and learning how to paint well. There are no words for how much understanding your equipment and designs help your technical ability to apply a tattoo. Well since you're in it full swing at this point, my last piece of advice is to hold off on putting needle to skin for the first year. Build up your work ethic and craft skills first. Good luck in all of this! Really looking forward to watching you progress and contributing to the forum. Cheers!

What exume said :)

A couple of paintings from this week, constructive criticism highly appreciated!!

Stay strong! We love you guys!

Welcome to LST! So my apprenticeship experience was not too different from what it sounds like you're about to get yourself into. Solid advice: jump ship now, get like 10-20 more tattoos, paint your ass off, and try a better shop. Ideally, a street shop with walk-ins, tons of flash, and artists versed in several styles who do large and small work on a regular basis. I understand that this is rough advice to hear, but I can guarantee that you will have a much easier and much more fun time in your tattoo journey if you take that advice. I fully get what it's like to be young and hungry for it(still am), but you will benefit tenfold throughout the rest of your life if you start out the right way with the right information at your foundations. Or you can do what I did, which is apprentice at the first shop that will take you, start tattooing right away, fuck a lot of people up, not learn shit about your craft, leave half way through your apprenticeship, and then get another job at whatever shop will take you as you figure out how you're going to get good information and further yourself on your own. In the end, whatever you choose to do, it is all going to be difficult. What it mostly comes down to is are you willing to spend the time right now to learn the right way, or do you want to spend the next 5-10 years unlearning what you've been taught and figuring out what's what. Having someone tell you that they will teach you how to tattoo is the most exciting thing in the world! The fact remains that the time spent in a shop for 2 tattoos is not enough time to let you know if it's really something you're ready to be a part of for the rest of your life. Anyway.. sorry for being so preachy. You will decide what's best for you and your life. I wish you the best of luck on this incredible journey that is tattooing and getting tattooed.

@Abellve how much does that thing weigh?

Oh shit, now that's a tough question. I think I can only speak for artists that have already tattooed me, as personality is a huge factor when getting tattooed. I think I'd go with Sonju from Tattoo 13. I like that guy's brain. His ideas about inspiration, creativity, the birth of images, and laws of tattoo aesthetic are ON POINT. He's also an odd bird who don't give no fucks about no stupid social stature of any kind. Good dude to hang out with, very funny, and we share birthdays. Go team Sancho :)

Hahaha!! That's effing hilarious!!! I would be so upset. Dreams are a trip, eh... I've had nightmares that involved tattoos, but never one where the tattoo was the subject of stress. And I've actually never had a dream about working... kind of odd. I'd share the other tattoo dreams, but I'll keep the thread on topic unless we wanna lump the dreams together here.

I just saw this yesterday and it rocked my face off!!!! Such a fun movie, I thought it was exactly what it needed to be. I think anyone who grew up in the 80s and 90s, or just loves mecha/bots/good fights, would love it. Definitely worth seeing in theaters imo.

When you're constantly crab-walking up stairs because of your fresh thigh/knee/ditch/calf tattoos.

Very cool stuff! Welcome, hope you enjoy the community!

I think that if people still act with courtesy in mind, it exists. My own personal opinion is that it is a low blow and incredibly rude to swipe business from people that you look up to.

That IS a crazy lineup! Funny that 3 artists out of Tattoo 13 will miss out on their namesake party, but I probably would too if I could work a show like that!!

Kind of sounds like this dude's mentor is an opportunistic money fiend, or didn't learn properly himself. Poor kid. It ain't easy scrambling to figure out how to do things the right way on your own.

He's so rad, dude. Not only very talented, but very personable and genuine. Everyone at FTW is just like that, actually. You should visit Oakland and get tattooed!

Got this yesterday at FTW's Owen Jensen flash BBQ party. By Jason Phillips. Got a sweet painting of the design too!

It was such a blast!!

That skull!!!

Welcome to LST! Solid designs, they're coming along nicely. I like how you showed the process from sketch to finish with the queen. If I may make a couple of suggestions.. Don't be so afraid of the black! It looks GREAT in that owl and the dagger. Black really adds a lot of dimension and depth to a design and it serves as an anchor for the color to pop through. I'm noticing very prudent use of grey in the nautical sheet and in the woman's face and I think if you darkened all of it up, it would look even better. Also, feel free to leave some negative space in the woman's face as well. I've seen people use a solid coat of flesh tone in lady heads and more often than not when it's tattooed, it ends up looking like the lady has a horrible sunburn. But yeah, hope you enjoy the community and keep sharing your paintings with us!