briankelly

i like a lot of those artists, but don't think i would go to them to have them design my tattoos.

i think it is strange that the tattoos are "by famous artists", even though they are all made by some pretty big names in tattooing.

no matter what you do, and no matter the quality of work, that tattoo is always going to be backwards. it sucks to make beginner tattoo mistakes on your hand.

from my understanding, the term "freehand" really does mean to use no stencil and no drawing, but to just freehand onto the flesh. drawing an image onto someone and tracing it is not really freehand. sometimes i get customers that ask questions like, "did you freehand this tattoo?" while looking at pictures of my tattoos, because they've heard the term and want to seem like they know some stuff about tattooing. they also seem to think that freehand is better than using a stencil.

please visit the BRIAN KELLY ARMY/ tattoo flash to check it out. thanks.

i've read the book and was not very impressed. some of the stories in it are okay.

i just saw this and the mention of berit from tatau obscur and felt like i had to say something. while i don't think i would get tattooed from her, she needs to be respected partly because of her history in berlin. she was one of the first tattooers in berlin to actually know how to draw and helped break the hell's angels control of tattooing by simply refusing to pay their protection fee. jan and fide from fuer immer both worked at tatau obscur before opening their own studio. she is one of the older tattooers in berlin and everyone respects her, including lars uwe who some would think is one of the greater tattooers in this country. she might not be well known, and her style might not be everyone's cup of tea but tattooing in berlin wouldn't be what it is without her.

ok, i'll do one more. this is from 3 or 4 years ago, so the technique isn't great, but i still think it's funny.

i guess i agree with the other tattooer you talked to. your wife is going to have to toughen up if she wants to tattoo. if you cry after fucking something up, you probably need to find a new profession. when i finish a tattoo, all i see are the mistakes i made. i don't cry about it, i try to do better the next time. the very nature of tattoo is that there are going to be flaws. what happens when you're trying to pull a nice clean long line on somebody's ribs who's squirming around and making it impossible. just do the best you can. oh, and i've only been tattooing for about 8 years, but i've never seen an apprenticeship go how it ideally should.

i don't know if she did the right thing, all i know is that there is no crying in tattooing.

i'm only posting my own tattoo, because henry did it first. this is one i did on an east berliner. you can't see the dolphin jumping in front of a sun, but that is behind the shark.

everyone teaches themselves.

thanks for all the help, bigjoe. if any one else knows anyone in brazil, please don't hesitate to send some links.

does anybody know any cool tattoo studio in brazil? i'm soooo sick of berlin winters and want to get out of here this year. any help is greatly appreciated. cheers

i really like these two from bjorn leibner.

just go to tattoosafe.de they have a store in berlin and they sell to anybody.

the thing about tattoos is that the tattoo does not belong to the tattooer, but to the person who has been tattooed, and it is your body. some people might be pissed off if you had someone else finish their work, and lots of people might not want to finish someone else's work. i wouldn't finish that tattoo because it is a total mess and i wouldn't want to be involved in something that i think is not going to look good in the end. unless i knew you and liked you. or unless it was really slow in winter and i needed some money.

i'd love to have a derek noble tattoo.

when i was twelve years old, i was riding the school bus to gym class. a guy from the grade above had flunked into our grade and i saw he had a stick and poke cross on his forearm. i thought that was awesome, and i learned how to do it and went home and put one on my forearm too. several stick and pokes later i turned 18 and when i got out of jail i got a job at the meat packing plant. when i got my first paycheck i went to the one and only tattoo shop in the small town i was in at the time. it was my first time in a studio and it was a little biker run thing. i didn't know what to get, and figured since my last name is Kelly, i would get something irish. the tattooer showed me a four leaf clover for 60 dollars. i asked if we could make it ten dollars bigger, because i had 70 to spend. he made it a little bigger, and i got it. i don't regret it, but after living in ireland for years, i despise irish things and don't care to have irish related tattoos on me, but shit happens.

i don't think i would travel anywhere to get a tattoo. i have traveled a lot and been tattooed, but that has always been a by product. i like to only be tattooed by friends and am not into collecting things from big names. just my two cents.

that taz was awesome!

anchors. they are the new stars. if you want a tattoo but can't think of anything to get, go for a little anchor. everyone else is doing it.

i had this guy come in when i worked in ennis, ireland. he wanted a cover up of his old girlfriends name with his new girlfriends name, of course. the girlfriend is present while we talk. i try to convince them that they should maybe get something to symbolize the relationship, since he's already had a mistake put on him once before. she seems to think that's a good idea. we look at him, he's not having it. the girlfriend leaves, and we get ready to make the tattoo. her name was something i wasn't familiar with, so i ask him how to spell it. he doesn't really know, and is just telling me to do whatever i think. eventually he calls her to ask how to spell her name. retarded.

but you must destroy to create. sorry, was that a little to art school?

good start, and fast!