The guy who taught Josh Woods is the guy who is teaching me. Kinda cool. Plus I have some friends that have some of his early work. Its great seeing that everybody starts out on a level playing field. He’s amazing these days though.

That “Death From Above” tattoo was the first one I ever did. That was like 5 months ago. It was bad. I asked him if he wanted me to fix it up a bit. He declined. He said he wants to keep it as is so he can periodically show me how far I’ve come. I’ve seen Tommy Lee Wendtner’s first tattoo ever and it’s probably worse than mine. Everyone starts…[Read more]

I agree with Justin to a certain extent. I do have a long, long way to go. If I’m going to learn I have to challenge myself.

Funny you say that… I did some research on my own and came to the same conclusion. I sent her to Jason Stephan. She set up an appointment with him. Should be getting it done in the next few weeks.

To be honest with you; there is no tattoo type. Either you like them and get them or you don’t. I’m a huge nerd and don’t look like a tough guy at all. I’m also heavily tattooed and apprenticing to be a tattoo artist. I see all sorts come in. I just tattooed a 70 year old retired school teacher for the first time in her life. When she’s done…[Read more]

As a tattoo artist, I’d like to know if there is a spray I can use on 18 year old girls getting their first tattoo. Maybe it’s just the age gap but man, some of their chatter is just painful to listen to. Then there are the people who’ve never gotten tattooed that “know” more about tattooing than me and try to demonstrate their superior knowledge…[Read more]

Erich Foster at Rise Above Tattoo. Very well respected all over the world in his style. He’s very pre-Sailor Jerry Americana.

Not to mention the world famous street shop The Sea Tramp in Portland. Read Jeff Johnson’s book The Tattoo Machine and you’ll want to get a tattoo from him just to hear his stories. Gogue is in Grants Pass in Southern Oregon. He’s pretty hard to get an appointment with though. I’m not sure about Capobianco though.

Awkward robot

Don’t know if you noticed but I used that sketch for the painting above.

More stuff.
Winter Tiki…..

New business card design?

I wrote up a pretty detailed thread about how to go about getting an apprenticeship. You should read it. It worked for me!

Don’t worry about how painful one spot is over the other. Don’t let that dictate where you get the tattoo. Get it exactly where you want it. You’ll live through the pain. It’s not a big deal. The important thing is that you get what you want where you want it.

You’re also going to have to be more specific when you go to an artist with your idea.…[Read more]

Keep watching for my name. I’ll get there. Might take a while, but everyone needs goals, right?

I have gotten a few freebies from the other guys at the shop (who are solid tattoo artists) but I generally do some research and money is no object when it comes to tattoos. I’d rather pay for what I want than get something iffy for free.

I would imagine that you would have to use it quickly. I would think it would coagulate pretty fast.

Also, unless something was added to the blood (some sort of pigment) I don’t think it would last. Think about it. Any time any of us gets tattooed there is invariably blood mixed with the ink. Even if you are using white ink it doesn’t change the…[Read more]

Yeah, like the above posts, personal instruction will probably get you the best results. Good visual references are always best. I use photos for most of my references. Being able to draw is more about being able to see than anything else. Having someone there to show you what to look for will help out a great deal.

As much as I love books, there…[Read more]

Just an update. I thought I would post some more recent work.

This is a start to a steam punk mechanical lower arm sleeve

This one needs one more pass.

Just filling in a blank spot.

Did this on a cool 70 year old retired lady. This is her second tattoo. I also gave her her first.

First attempt at script. not what I would get, but…[Read more]

Make an excuse to travel here. Everything is super inexpensive and there is tons to do. Even hotels are cheap. Might cost you less to go to Buffalo, stay in a hotel, see the sights, and get tattooed by a world class artist than it would be to just get tattooed by a world class artist in NYC.

Also, in the same shop in Buffalo is Cory Cudney. He’s pretty bad-ass and he works in the same shop. I think he’s $100 an hour but he works real slow. There are some kick ass artists all over Buffalo and it seems like $100 an hour is the going rate.

Panic;100119 wrote:
I will say this one more time.
1)Natives already have the rights I’m suggesting for everyone else.
2)Canada embraces all cultures, including subcultures and have a tenancy to put them on pedistals so this idea is a very Canadian one.
3)Stay out of our political affairs.

I’m not going to ague with you anymore, I’ve said my…[Read more]