Cannibal

I can't really imagine any of my tattoos being offensive to anybody; unless that person has a pathological fear of ocean animals. Anytime someone is looking closely at any of my tattoos, I take it complimentary. I suppose it would be different if I had more aggressive imagery, but my tattoos have never been a real problem for me. I've also had a white collar job for most of my adult life, so they are not obvious unless I choose for them to be obvious.

It does not suck! :D

Welcome from a neighbor one state to your east! I'm new here too, but you'll find this place to be pretty welcoming.

I like this thread! I've been guilty of judging and therefore also guilty of hypocrisy. I only have a few tattoos and like most from my generation, my first one was/is....uh, lacking. Just a stock piece picked from a board. The artist was fine and did OK work with the design she was given, so I don't blame her; only my limited imagination at the time. The tattoos that followed got a little bit better each time. Some of that is due to better artists working on me and some of that is due to me thinking beyond the stock stuff. The tattoo I'm currently in search of, should be the best quality to date and certainly the most complex. I imagine there are flocks of folks like me out there. I know I've seen a lot of generic ink over the years. I think the ones that bother me are the early tattoos that people get, but put them in an obvious place. I'm a tinkerer at heart. I love to take on new hobbies and fascinations. My first few attempts at anything are generally obvious as novice-work. I don't put those things on display. It doesn't mean they hold any less meaning to me, but I wait until I've created something worth viewing before I put it out there for the world. I guess I feel the same way about tattoos. If you're going to have a piece of art put where I have no choice but to see it, I'd just prefer it be something worth seeing. That said, I don't look down on someone with bad or mediocre work....I've got some of my own. I've thought about having my first one covered, or worked into a larger design, but there is something about that boring tattoo that I like; because it was my first. As for this site; marvelous! I got my first in 1989, when the internet was still in diapers. There were three studios in the town where I lived. I went to the first one that could get me a seat. So yeah, I had mediocre work coming. This site is a treasure trove of information and opinions. I'm thrilled to have it as a resource, so thank you. I moderated a niche forum for years whose biggest bragging right was that it was a 'different' place when compared to other forums. There was little hostility and a ton of group brain-storming and engineering. The vibe was great! This place reminds me of that place. Keep helping each other and maybe we won't have to look at 'bad' tattoos on the upcoming generations. :cool:

Face, throat, and anyplace where my wife is the only one allowed to play.

My ink is for me anyway. I've traveled extensively and make a point of learning about the cultures that I wander through. I sample their cuisine, enjoy their music, and sometimes I even admire their art. I've been known to make Brazilian Acarajés at home, I thoroughly enjoy the opera of Don Giovanni, and I'm about to get inked with some Mayan glyphs to commemorate my Mayan Wedding. I do these things not because I want to steal or bastardize a culture, but because I embrace these things. I don't understand why people would be upset that their culture would be admired by those of other cultures. Make no sense to me. Is Eric Clapton wrong for playing the Blues?

Pinto's stuff looks real nice. Will have to visit there!

I'll see if I can dig up some more wolf pics. That is one of our favorite shots just because it shows how big they can be. Lakota was only a little over a year old when that picture was taken; he is about 5 years old now and still very human-friendly. He lives in an enclosure with his three siblings. We refer to that enclosure as the lickatorium. :D - - - Updated - - - A couple more shots from the same moment. All I can find on my computer. I'll dig up some more this weekend. There are a ton of wolf sanctuaries around the country and most are desperate for volunteers. A little sweat is all that is required in exchange for making a bond with a wolf...or ten. We generally camp about 50' below the pens in an Aspen grove. Few things in this world match listening to wolves howl at the moon right up a hill from your camp. Highly recommended! - - - Updated - - - Here is the video that those shots were pulled from. It was our first visit to the sanctuary. A couple of the wolves are hybrids; Zoya being the prime example. She was actually domesticated and lived indoors for a while, which explains her rotund shape. The second video is more for sound. It was the first night we spent at the sanctuary. Everybody we take camping there, goes back for more.

Thanks Joe Shit. Their galleries are impressive...added to the list. :cool:

Animals? Got that well covered. Here is our extended family: Chyna, our fat bulldog Stinky, my 20 year old cat Spike in a do-rag followed by Spike and Arlo the miniature donkeys And finally my wife and Lakota the wolf, who lives at a sanctuary where we volunteer. He is our favorite!!!

Ha! Sorry bout that. Busted a finger when the donkeys escaped a few weeks ago and it has impacted my ability to type well. Hunt and peck typing is just not my thing and proof-reading before minimum caffeine intake doesn't do much good. :D

Mammoth was already on my list, so I'll definitely be paying a visit. I'll put Boulder Ink on the list too. Thanks for pointing me. I do appreciate it!

Thanks irezumi! Doesn't have to be Denver. If you know of any others, I'm more than willing to travel a bit.

Hello all! It's been a few years since my last tattoo. I miss the process, but finally found a good reason to get some new ink! Surprised my former girlfriend last week on a trip to Cozumel by changing her status from girlfriend to that four-letter word (wife). She suggested getting something to remember the event and I happily and quickly agreed. Looked at a few of the studios on Coz, but didn't find an artist that really impressed me, so now I'm trying to find one here in Colorado. While making a list of studios here in the Denver area to check-out, I found this site. Figured it couldn't hurt to ask you fine folks for suggestions. Ideally, I'd like to find someone with some skills doing stone-on-skin work. Our basic idea is to have the glyphs on the document provided to us by the Mayan Shaman (Xaman), put on our skin. But, that seems boring in and of itself, so we'd like to incorporate some other items into the tattoos. For me, the addition of some type of marine critter since all of my other work is strictly marine themed. Thinking of sort of an underwater ruin look. For her, she'd like to incorporate some vines so she can expand the tattoo with other important events. Kind of a timeline on skin thing. I got a couple of bad tattoos early on and learned my lesson about finding the right artist for the job, so any guidance would be gratefully accepted. Otherwise, I'm just a dude in Colorado that dreams of the oceans and wanders through the mountains. Probably the weirdest thing about me is that I don't own a bed. We both sleep in hammocks full-time. Discovered them while planning a Thru-hike of the AT and never looked back and my back has been thankful ever since! Anybody have any hammock questions, I'm your guy. Oh yeah, I own two miniature donkeys...and live "in town". I suppose that's a bit odd. The neighbors don't need alarm clocks. :D