El Dolmago

The Interview with Bill Baker by Tattoo Artist magazine has some really interesting history in it - Bill's been behind some of the great shops and mentored others  who have opened great shops in Toronto, Hamilton and Vancouver.

http://tattooartistmagazineblog.com/2013/10/28/bill-baker-interview-part-1/

Some updates on my sleeve from today.

Here's the Jizu and Kannon from a month ago:

And the green on the dragon from today - underbelly and flames in July.

2 hours ago, marley mission said:

@Graeme I definetly am - I have wanted to go to Montreal since I was a kid - grew up a Gary Carter fan and my parents had a trip planned for us to go see an Expos game, be tourists, etc - then...Carter gets traded and I also go to the Mets in the trade :) Trip cancelled

anyway - lots of good info in your post - I would guess I would make an appt and go from there 

btw - you scheduled for tattoos yet? You were trying for Rob last year right?

MTL is an amazing city - I can't get there enough. 

I like the idea (my first tattoo was an ancient egyptian design) but the style of the sun isn't a traditional egyptian style - so it's jarring to me. Plus the sun is an egyptian god - Aten - so really if you're going to get the pharaoh and his wife (I think this is taken from Tutankhamun's funerary chair) it should be consistent.

Now that the upload function is working again I'll post the blowout issue I had. I really think there is a difference in what happened on my arm and a couple of fuzzy lines. All tattoos are a little off doesn't really apply here.

Again, good tattooer, great shop, bad luck. The problem is that I hate it but my current artist is going to try a couple of things to fix it.

First image is Last Week (its about 10 mos)

The next day

This a month or so after.

Awesome! Thanks @steve!

Hi @steve I looked and It's not there for me - can email you the screenshot if you like. If I am posting in a thread (as I am now) I only have the option to click Insert other media  which takes me to my pictures from my gallery and a few images uploaded to threads before the move. Perhaps it's a certain kind of member's only functionality?

Deleted as images didn't load properly

Deitzel inspired lady Head (Glennie Wittall), traditional hand holding flower (Nikki Balls) and a wee Sailor Jerry sparrow (Nathan Draper)

Hi all - it' seems in the move we've lost all the directly uploaded to the forum (ie not hotlinked from an image site or linked from gallery) images.

Also, I was wondering if we could bring that functionality back? There are images I don't really want in a gallery (unfinished tattoos or examples of a problem [blowout]) that I'd like to provide visual examples of without having to subscribe to photobucket etc. Thanks all! 

Blowout can really depend on severity. I have a couple of lines in the ditch that fuzzed out a bit - and you would never notice and I have a simple line tattoo that blew out pretty spectacularly from a good artist who I've seen a lot of work from, it can just happen. There really is a difference between an imperfection (which is cool) and spread (which is not).

The significant blowout is on the inside of my bicep - it's fragile skin and can happen. I was brutally bruised and I think that contributed to the spread. My sister got the exact same tattoo, same artist, same day on the inside of her wrist - hers is perfect. I'll admit I was quite upset about it (not at the artist - just that it happened) but wanted to wait to see how much of the blowout my body would deal with on it's own. It's been about 10 months and the spread has lightened quite a bit but it's still very noticeable.  When talked to my artist who is working on my sleeve (not the same artist as the blowout) he said it can just happen, that it's happened to him as well. He's is going to try and see if he can help it by disrupting the skin and not adding more pigment - if not we'll just thicken up the lines. I'll let you know how it goes.

The tattoo I got when I was 17 was a small design on my ankle from a biker named Rocky - 25 years later it's fuzzy, dated and unrecognisable but I still don't regret it. Nervous is natural (I get nervous every time and have a holy crap what did I do moment after) but your choice of design is great and you're doing it right. 

3 hours ago, otisc said:

 

WE NEED PICS! :-) :-)

I wish I could sir but I have no idea how to upload images to posts only (not to gallery as the tattoo still in process) in this new system!

Got my the lower part of my sleeve worked on today - Dragon scales done and the colour done on the Jizu and on the Kannon. After 3 appointments of solid lining, I'm happy to have some shading done.

I remember Dan Smith and Mario Desa running a Tattoo booth at the Hello Kitty 40th Hello Kitty Con a couple of years ago. Two heavy hitters there.

On 5/14/2016 at 0:31 PM, otisc said:

In six days, I'm going back for the next stage in this sleeve.

Has anyone had their linework done and grown attached to it? Don't get me wrong - I'm eager for the next stage... but I've grown fond of my linework and in a weird way am kinda gonna miss it.

 

Ha! Yes! I've been walking around with my forearm linework for 5 weeks now and I'm equally jonesing to be done and being very attached to it!

Getting the sleeve shaded and scales added (perhaps colour too) next week - hopefully my spring sleeve project will be wrapping up before summer hits! 

On 4/29/2016 at 8:47 PM, otisc said:

Day 6 and my line work has started a nice peel. My forearm is itching like mad... but looking closer, I think it's a myth that the tattoo is what itches. It's really the tiny little stubble hairs growing back from being shaved!

Funny I don't have enough hair to bother shaving and my forearm itched like crazy!

Brastrap qs? Check out the ladies thread... 

Had my next appointment with Dan at the Pearl. More outlining - this time elbow and ditch. Honestly once he hit the elbow I think my nerves went on vacation and the rest of the sitting felt like licking kittens! Dragon section was drawn on with no stencils.

Next session scales and shading.

More shiny fresh line work done on the other side of the arm, will be working on a connecting dragon next session in April.

Kannon by Daniel Innis at the Pearl

Aerosol Sunscreen is my life - starting very soon I will be making my annual investment in bulk cans of SPF 60.

Started the line work on my lower sleeve today with a Jizu - will be adding a Kannon on a dragon line work on the other side of the arm in a couple of weeks. Than moving on to filling in the gaps and colour. so it begins.

Arm by Dan Innes at Pearl Harbor

Funny "sketchy" to me means untrustworthy.

A couple of artists that do killer line work in Toronto are Jennifer Lawes at the Pearl and Alex Snelgrove at the Okey Doke

www.instagram.com/jenniferlawes/

www.instagram.com/snelgrove

Jennifer often does guest work in Chicago at GLT.

It's been awhile - I've just gotten organised to finish my arm sleeve in March (not looking forward to the ditch/ elbow) but super stoked to be done!

Added a leg tattoo this winter - Alice illustration done by Jennifer Bowes at the Pearl in Toronto - I must say the thigh is a total pleasure after the inner arm experience!