nmkcle

I was trying to be nice but I liked your approach better.

Hey, I am new to tattooing as well. All though it has been around me my whole adult and young adult life. Until three years ago I did not really have the time to give the craft the obedience and diligence it deserves. Now just this past summer being out of the so called apprentice stage of learning. I find myself still wanting to be more thoroughly taught and practiced. You will find yourself feeling the same way if you don't slow your roll. Take time learning about composition, Light source, the use of black and its powers of longevity. Then when you feel you have a handle on that. Learn about your tools you use to create. It is an awesome journey to begin just be sure you are well prepared.

Awesome! I love this forum mostly for the history lessons, and gallery. Great read and reminder that tattooing is so much a part of American history and culture. At least Electric tattooing.

Make yourself draw every day. Even if only to copy images of others. If it is some thing you enjoy do it art in any form can be therapeutic. As far as drawing straight lines, try drawing some art Nouveau type images, (Beardsley, Mucha) The lines are a lot more curved and asymmetrical rather than straight, but it will help you to keep the pencil on the paper. Last but not least, you can always take drawing classes at your local community college. Good Luck!

I took photography in high school with a cannon ae-1, and a little in college using the same and a nikon n65 which has manual mode. I waited about six years after high school to do college and was really excited to get into photography again. After quitting school do to tuition costs, I kept with photography as a hobby I really enjoyed. But slowly every store i would go to would have less and less in the way of film. And since I was not in school anymore I could not use the dark room. Last year my friend and I were going to get a dark room together at my place, as she had the enlarger, canisters, tubs, splicer thingy and other crap. I had the space, however things proved to be difficult when it came to purchasing developer, and different speeds of film, pretty much the only thing that we could find was Kodak technicolor 400. whooopy... I was an amateur at best, but I really enjoyed the whole mechanical process involved in it. In my booth at the shop, all the daily duties appointments and so on are written on a Man Ray calender, I like his work, film, photo, photo montage; and I want a reminder to always look for an opportunity to continue to pursue photography. And yes we are on the verge of losing history. I started tattooing three years ago and I found one person who knew enough about making needles to show me. I had to beg, I know of five other people who know how to make needles.

I am currently having my back worked on and will unwrap it a few hours after and, wash and apply Aquaphor then rewrap it before bed. I keep my back stock supplies at home so I always have the dri locs from Lucky's supply on hand. But for any one who doesn't and would want to try this method maybe offer to buy a few from the artist if he or she is using them. They always work for me.

I am about to have my entire outer arm blacked out. The inside will be black and grey Zdzislaw Beksinski renderings, one of which I already have, and the outside will be small flowers from a Stephen Kasner art book going up my arm in red and white gone over the black when it is healed. A friend from another shop is doing it and funny enough he will be blacking out some of his old work.

Hello to everyone, I agree with James lots of positive and constructive things going on here. I to have only tattooing for a short time. A lot of people I admire on here and I am glad to be involved with the trade. My name is Nathan, by the way.

Keep it clean. Wash it with your hand, and use aquaphor. Works every time for me

Yeah, he did the outline on my friend (back and ass) in about three and a half hours. The piece is of rats surrounding a fighting skeleton, wind bars and fire. Hopefully I am going to have him do a piece on the back of my thigh, but he is booked like three or four weeks in advance and I don't drive. But yeah, he is pretty bad ass. cool link by the way, I like the scissor tattoo and the art nouveau looking lady with the bleeding throat. nate

Wow this is a really awesome post, thread or whatever you call it. My friend Ethan is having his back piece by this guy named Bunny in Norton Ohio at a shop called Rising Tide. This kid has skills. He does mostly large scale work on his clients but is willing to do most types of traditional, neo-traditional Japanese and American styles of any size. Really wild color schemes and just clean work. Also adding to the mix of lesser known from Ohio, Dave Wulf of tattoo faction. And the guy who is currently doing my back piece Karl Berringer of 252 tattoo in Cleveland Ohio. 252 is a really solid shop and I believe it to be some what heard of outside of our state. Anyway check these guys out via shop websites.

I will definitely be reordering some Japanese red and orange, have not tried the pink but I will throw it in the mix next time I order. And thanks for hooking up the orders with all the extras. I just finished a chest piece using some one off bottles I got when I ordered other stuff. Oh... and I like the dark black so much I had my long time friend, whom I am showing the ropes so to speak; tattoo the Waverly bars on my leg to fill in some space. I am down for life or something like that. I throw up some pics when they are healed

At the shop I work at, the music we listen to is played for the shop as a whole. And it is probably some of the worst music imaginable. Repetitive commercial garbage. It is a ghetto shop in crappy ole' Cleveland Ohio, home of the cheap and ugly. Sometimes when I have my friends come in and work on them late, when everyone has left I can squeeze in some gism , comes, iggy and the stooges, or some old timey Appalachia type music. That I s what I would prefer to listen too. Rather then having to hear bad rap and r&b of the 21st century; while hearing the words "bitch" and the ever important ''N'' word that is in every song. But it is the inner city and as a young tattooer learning the trade, what better place to learn lettering, script and how to talk someone out of getting their "boos" name tattooed on their neck. Sorry I am bitter