invision

I am not trying to be mean, but the way I look at it good Music is creative, tattooing lyrics to a song on you verbatim is not very creative, I would say it's the antithesis of creative. Any good song should inspire strong imagery. There is so much tattoo imagery inspired by music, and vise versa. Look at the Social D Skeleton, Misfits Crimson Ghost, Tron and her Morrissey, Bikini Kill, Jawbreaker flash, etc. I remember the first time I talked someone out of getting a bunch of lyrics tattooed on them. They wanted all the lyrics to pink floyd wish you were here. I simply said why not get two fish in a bowl and the words "Wish you were Here" above it, it was the simplest idea and the first that came to mind, but never occurred to the client and blew her mind when I suggested it.
Someone liking their tattoo is the most important part, but ultimately the point of this forum I feel is to open people up to ideas they never thought of, and help people get better tattoos.

Some of my earlier tattoos are rather simplistic and/or lack creativity. They don't follow the trends named in this thread and I actually still think they look kind of cool--but I also didn't know what was possible back then. I didn't do a ton of research, there was no internet when I got my first one 22 years ago...so I just thought I had to bring in what I wanted and get it. I know better now. I think most people just don't know better. They need LST. Or LSD. Maybe both.

Hey everyone. It's been a while so here are a couple new things.
Got the "born lost" skull from Ross K. Jones at Idle Hand's get what you want. The flash was redrawn by Austin Maples.
Also got this shishi head from Koji Ichimaru while he's at SOG.

I kept on with the legs today, getting a scorpion and a pineapple from Franz Stefanik at The Okey Doke in Toronto. Its a great shop in the west end that is moving shortly (July 1 I think) to a much larger studio closer to the core. Really looking forward to seeing what they do with the space.

On Sunday I got a gross Mr. Toad. No particular reason, I wanted to start getting more stuff on my legs, and I wanted something traditional Japanese. Done by Stace at waterstreet tattoo in vancouver, Canada.

Thanks! I'm very happy with it!
Oh no! Let me try again! :confused:
Not the best photo though... :rolleyes:

My tattoo for this month. That's four for four.

Got this from Wan (instagram: wan_tattooer) during his visit at Idle Hand SF. Took the pic from his IG also.

Sorry for my absence! Been so busy moving, traveling and getting tattooed! haha :cool:
Here's some healed pictures of my dragon-koi by Lehi, and monmon cat by Horitomo!
And a tiny lil memory-cat by Mary Joy at tattoo city! Had the best trip ever, even got to see Ed Hardy's studio!

My tattoo for this month. That's four for four.

Got this from Wan (instagram: wan_tattooer) during his visit at Idle Hand SF. Took the pic from his IG also.

My tattoo for this month. That's four for four.

Got this from Wan (instagram: wan_tattooer) during his visit at Idle Hand SF. Took the pic from his IG also.

My tattoo for this month. That's four for four.

Got this from Wan (instagram: wan_tattooer) during his visit at Idle Hand SF. Took the pic from his IG also.

My tattoo for this month. That's four for four.

Got this from Wan (instagram: wan_tattooer) during his visit at Idle Hand SF. Took the pic from his IG also.

My tattoo for this month. That's four for four.

Got this from Wan (instagram: wan_tattooer) during his visit at Idle Hand SF. Took the pic from his IG also.

The only time I might even remotely judge someone is when they approach me and try to compare. Sometimes I am shown things that blow me away and I'm like, shit, I need to go get tattooed by that person. Other times I feel a bit baffled that the person doesn't see the difference between some of my tattoos and theirs (not all my tattoos are great, but I learned early on enough who to seek out). So, I suppose it isn't as much judging as it is trying to understand that persons level of cognitive comparison.
That said, a lot of my friends are tattooers, and I cherish the tattoos I have from them even if they aren't great (and I will probably get more). The other day when my friend Chris tattooed a small dagger on me, he also thanked me for letting him tattoo me during his first year of tattooing. He knows I've covered up one of the ones he did, but I'll forever keep the black Viking from Malone flash. It looks spotty, but it's as much a portal to his past as it is mine.

When I think about people I actually know in real life with bad tattoos, a lot of them want their tattoos to be "meaningful" or "representative" of something above all else and they basically don't care about the art, history, or culture of tattooing. They have somebody they go to, they're happy with what they get, and they go back to that person. I don't really talk tattoos with them because I think that even though we're both into tattoos, that we're both after very different things. You can't make people care about art. It doesn't make them bad or stupid people.

I've been on a tattoo hiatus which was supposed to last until October, but this weekend I kinda sorta fell off the wagon...

By Nico, Blue Arms Tattoo (photo stolen from his instagram)

Just got a cool little bat from Austin Maples. Idle Hand, SF.

Just got a cool little bat from Austin Maples. Idle Hand, SF.

Just got a cool little bat from Austin Maples. Idle Hand, SF.

Just got a cool little bat from Austin Maples. Idle Hand, SF.

Just got a cool little bat from Austin Maples. Idle Hand, SF.

Got this sweet tengu mask done by Stewart Robson at the Scottish Tattoo convention last weekend. Sorry for the crappy phone picture.

I am well chuffed with it.
Edit: the picture quality is worse than I thought. I will switch it when I get a sharper one. This doesn't do it justice at all. Sorry.

here's my new snake on my lower leg by Bailey Robinson. Taken from his insta, best photo I have at the moment.

Just got a cool little bat from Austin Maples. Idle Hand, SF.

Just got a cool little bat from Austin Maples. Idle Hand, SF.