Tattoo Journal Entries

19 creative works found

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• featured in the blue room.....
  by shawhouse

  jabberwocky is featured in Blue Room...

  jabberwocky is featured in Blue Room. Many thanks to LittleHelen, Blue Room’s comely creator and host….

• Avast me hearties
  by Shanina Conway

  For anyone wondering and those emailing why I’ve morphed into a Pirate…well here’s the story;) I’ve often wondered why I had a mad o…

  For anyone wondering and those emailing why I’ve morphed into a Pirate…well here’s the story;) I’ve often wondered why I had a mad obsession with Pirates and now I find genetics may have a little to do with it. As a child loved playing pirate dress-ups, fencing with wooden swords, and / making kids walk the plank..yes I lost many girlfriends, they wanted to play with dolls or threw hissy fits when I blindfolded them and made them walk the plank on the diving board. ... / I soon discovered little boys were more resilient, they bounced easier and didn’t cry as much when prodded with wooden sticks….I was such a sweet child;) It turns out great-great-great grandpa Joe was a bit of a lad and convicted for larceny on a river. Old Joe must have been an interesting character with some tales to tell. / During his 14 years in goal he also had convictions for insolence, disobedience and defacing his chains. Although I don’t have a picture of him I do have a wonderful description from the court trials. / Joe had a large scar over his right eye,and numerous tattoos, blue eyes, brown hair, fair complexion and he was born in Brentford, Middlesex. On his right arm he had a sailor holding a bottle and glass, a Crucifix, half moon, seven stars, IMIR, two pipes, tobacco box, three glasses, a heart and darts, anchor and woman on his left arm. On his breast his had tattoos of a man holding a glass and a woman…I think he liked a drink or three;) So for great-g-g-grandpappy Joe, I’m playing pirates for awhile, besides, just one day a year isn’t enough to play pirates;)

• Design me a tattoo and I will buy you a Tshirt!!
  by Craig Dick

  Yep, Design me a tattoo and I will buy you a Tshirt… it’s that simple. Im fed up of not knowing what to get next… so yeah… you d…

  Yep, Design me a tattoo and I will buy you a Tshirt… it’s that simple. Im fed up of not knowing what to get next… so yeah… you do it / and I will buy you a Tshirt of your choice from Redbubble. Then I will get it drawn on me… and you’ll be a part of me… sort of! please? ok go! no tribal designs though… they piss me off.

• Did someone say tattoos?
  by Rhys McDonald

  They did? well then. This post severs no purpose other than letting me post up some shots of my arms, all covered in coconut oil and g…

  They did? well then. This post severs no purpose other than letting me post up some shots of my arms, all covered in coconut oil and glistening, which…believe me no one needs to see. So, on with the pictures ay Daredevil El Che my dawg, who is possibly the best dog ever, but an insanely tricky photo to take with the camera half upside down and my arm twisted around Hellboy – which is mostly finished, still got a bit to go Christ I’m hairy =/

• Flash art?
  by hahpistuff

  What do you think….. I was thinking about flash art, as in like, tattoos, the other day. Do you think my stuff is suitable for fl…

  What do you think….. I was thinking about flash art, as in like, tattoos, the other day. Do you think my stuff is suitable for flash art? Honestly. I’d love to know what you all think.

• Things to know before you get a tattoo...
  by margodalia

  Oh lordy lordy, I just saw the most awful, shameless bulletin (on myspace) for a tattoo studio a few minutes ago. I figured since this bu…

  Oh lordy lordy, I just saw the most awful, shameless bulletin (on myspace) for a tattoo studio a few minutes ago. I figured since this bulletin is clearly meant to exploit the less knowledgeable’s quest for a deal rather than quality, maybe it’s time to go over how to shop for your tattoo artist and shop. RULE 1- Bargain Hunting will get you crap. Good work ain’t cheap, and cheap work aint good. I will now start off with an example of how a shop can lure the unsuspecting in, based soley on price and not on claims of talent or skill. observe: Just remeber SUNDAY is LADIES DAY!!!! Ladies get $20.00 OFF tattoos ALL DAY LONG!!! NO SHOP MINIMUM.. and remeber HAPPY HOUR!!!! 4pm to 6pm Daily get 1/2 off all tattoos (does not apply to custom or hourly work, no other discounts or special apply with this offer) We also dropped our shop minimum.. stop in and see how low you can get your ink for. We beat any shop or underground artists. check us out online www.mxxxxxxxtats.com / or call for more details (843)-xxx-xxxx thanks to all of you who support us , Mxxxxxxxx Tattoo Staff I ‘x’ed the name and number of the shop to protect them from the heap of embarrassment that i am about to throw at them. But most of you can figure out who this is, especially if you live in the Moncks Corner area. OK, if you even have to mention underground artists, you clearly aren’t playing the professional game. Professionals never have to compare their skill level to scratchers. Next, and lets see how many astute readers caught on to this, they claim not to have a shop minimum, and also claim that they have dropped the shop minimum. So, which is it? Look folks, shop minimums exist to make sure that the artist is not working on you for pennies, and you pay the shop minimum to show that you respect the talents and skills of your artist. Lastly, “stop in and see how low you can get your ink for” basically says, “we’ll cut the throat of any shop out there to make a buck. Come to us because of price, let’s not mention a word about skillsets.” Those of you who are avid collectors, artists, or fans of the tattoo culture already understand what a scary sentiment this is. Those of you who are new to this- do not get roped in by promises of a deal… something that will be on your body the rest of your life is not something to be bargain-hunted. Would you bargain hunt for a brain surgeon? Would you bargain hunt for the dude who’s going to pull your wisdom teeth? Hell no. Because it will affect the REST OF YOUR LIFE. Don’t be a sucker and go with the person who offers the cheapest price… have more respect for your body. RULE 2- If you don’t like their attitude, WALK THE FUCK OUT. You don’t deserve to be treated poorly, because even though we artists enjoy a great deal of freedom with clients, there’s no reason for us to be unnecessarily rude just because we can be. Now, let’s not mistake this for an artist being brutally honest with you. If you bring me a design that is going to make an awful tattoo, I will tell you, even though it will hurt your feelings. I’ll try to be as nice about it as possible, I will make suggestions on how to modify the design, but I will not do a bad tattoo to protect your fragile ego. If I cannot come to an agreement with the client, I will suggest they seek another artist, rather than put my name to a bad design. I want every tattoo to be the best it can be, weather I do it, or someone else. I’m not in this for the money (although getting paid is rather nice), I do this because I love the art and it’s in my blood. If you cannot take a professional’s opinion, then you may not be ready for a tattoo. That being said, if an artist totally ignores your input, or is unnecessarily nasty, walk out. if they have that little respect for you before the tattoo, imagine how much less they’ll have for you AFTER you’ve forked over your cash. RULE 3- Look at Portfolios! If you doubt the authenticity, ask for references, or to see some of the work in person! This is not unheard of- it’s doing your research. Look at pictures of your artist’s work, just because they’re in a studio doesn’t mean they’re any good. There are great artists in the Charleston area, I feel fortunate to work with a bunch of them at Blu Gorilla (hey, I’m not too shabby meseff), you just have to look. There’s a bunch of garbage shops out there too. Don’t get discouraged because the ONE shop you’ve visited had crap work or atmosphere, check out others. I get infuriated with the ignorant snob children who bitch and moan that “there aren’t any good shops in Charleston”, when I know damned well they’ve NEVER been to the shops I have worked at. They’re elitist whiner pussies who really mean, “there’s no shops out there willing to trade ass for ink because I could be a Suicide Girl if I wanted but oh wait i’m just a little too fat/ugly/whory/lazy/etc” ... So don’t buy the line of the industry being too new here- All of us in it are not as new as the legalization, and if you just got out there and looked before making up your uneducated minds, then you’d know that. Second, if you have doubts as to the authenticity of a person’s portfolio, ask to see some of the work in person. There should be at least one or two people that the artist can put you in contact with. I have told you about that local scratcher hack, Rico- he stole a bunch of my portfolio pics, got studio work (although he only lasted a whopping 3 hours before getting canned) and a host of unsuspecting clients who believed my work was his. He was a dumb bastard to steal pics from someone locally, because…well, I’m not going to incriminate myself in writing, let’s just leave it at that. Karma will get him. RULE4- Ask about sterilization. Do they have an autoclave (all shops are required to have and use one). Are all needles new AND sterile? NEVER use an artist who re-sterilizes needles- the needle is DULL after one use, and it cannot be cleaned of all bodily fluids and/or matter sufficiently to be re-used. It’s a disgusting, outdated practice that most artists wouldn’t even CONSIDER. If you do not have the option of watching your artist set up their station, walk out. What are they hiding by not letting you have the option to watch? I make my clients watch me open my tubes and needle packages, every time, even if they have been to my chair 10 times… that way, there are no doubts. RULE5- Although we are a service industry, you do NOT have the right to be an asshole to us. It’s a guarantee that you will not get the artist’s best work. Why would you want to piss off a person right before they stick a needle in your skin? We have the right to refuse service to anyone, which means you could dickhead your way out of a great tattoo from a great artist. Don’t assume that you know our job better than we do- you don’t. Asking questions is one thing, telling us what needle to use is another. RULE6- BE CLEAN!!!! If you come in to get your ass tattooed, you better not have little dinglies hanging off it. If you want your foot tattooed, don’t come in after a 15-hour shift at waffle house in wet sneakers. And don’t be offended if, when you come in stinking, we send your nasty ass to the bathroom with paper towels and a bottle of green soap to wash your funk off. You want us to take our time and put our heart and soul into your tattoo- don’t make us want to rush because you can’t wash properly. It’s disgusting and unhygenic. Enough said. RULE7- You don’t have to get work from an artist who appears to be either hungover, drunk, or doped up. If they aren’t on top of their game that day, reschedule, or move on to someone else. If an artist tells you the day of your appt, “hey man, I am really feeling like crap, can we do this another day”.... RESCHEDULE, and THANK them for their concern for your well-being. Why would you insist a person work when they aren’t at their best? Do you think we are going to do the best job we can when we have a cold, or a horrible backache? We can’t predict when we’ll feel bad any more than you can, so don’t get pissed off when we are having a bad day or feeling under the weather. We want the best tattoo for you, and if that means not taking your money that day, then fine, that’s what it means. I personally have much more respect for someone that would tell me they feel like shit rather than just muddle through a job and hope it goes well. I have turned down appointments because I have had too much coffee that morning, and most clients understand that they’d rather me NOT be geeked-on-caffiene shaky. The one’s that can’t understand, well, they’re probably the same people who bargain hunt and whine later that their artist fell asleep while working on them because they INSISTED on having ink done that day. RULE8 – If I’m going to be sober, you better be as well. Don’t come in fucked up. When you are drunk, you talk with your hands, move all over the place, and you ‘feel it’ more. This makes for a bad tattoo. Imagine trying to sign your name on a piece of paper that someone is shaking back and forth- that’s what it’s like to tattoo a drunk. It sucks, and the work isn’t going to be the best. I also don’t recommend being stoned- I’ve tried it, and from a client’s perspective, it is AWFUL- if it doesn’t kill your buzz, you’ll just zone out on the pain and it will feel worse. Or you’ll get the munchies halfway through, take WAY too long of a break, and going back to work will be sheer torture. So, I wouldn’t recommend the herbal remedies. As for other ingestible items, I’ll say this- In 10 years I have only thrown 2 people out of my chair because I simply could not put up with their moving, shaking, and attention-whoring antics… and both of them were on pills. Sober really is the best way, and in additon to that, let’s go to… RULE8- How to make sure your body is in the best shape to be tattooed. 1. Be hydrated. Drink lots of water days before and after your tattoo, the skin will accept ink better, and you will heal faster. 2. Eat a decent meal within 4 hours of your tattoo procedure. It will help your body regulate blood sugar better and it will REALLY make it hurt less. Most people who pass out do so because they have not eaten recently. If you are a nervous wreck coming in, bring some candy to eat during the procedure. It will help. 3. Do not use bleaching and/or acid treatments on skin to be tattooed. It will affect how the ink holds, and I have seen 25-yr olds with the skin texture of an octegenarian because they use some funky chemicals on their skin, and it has made it very hard to ink. 4. Be HONEST on your medical release. Just because you’re allergic to latex doesn’t mean you can’t get tattooed. We have nitrile gloves, no sweat. But if you dont tell us, you’re going to have a really nasty reaction and could possibly have to go to the ER. We WANT to tattoo you, so if we say we cannot, it’s for a VERY good reason. Don’t try to trick us, you’ll wind up sick, and wind up with us chewing you out while we drive you to the doctor. 5. Don’t be hungover, and try to have had a good night’s rest. Your body (and you) will behave much better if it is in good condition. So, that about sums it up. Initially I was just flabbergasted at the base attempt at a shop to exploit the lack of knowledge of customers. I still am. But every customer need to know these things. Please, ask any questions or make any comments you want. I’d like this blog to be an open forum for information exchange and dissemination. Oh yeah, and here’s my shameless plug again: http://www.margotattoo.com there’s my portfolio, I will be adding more pics soon, as well as a blog feature for those who don’t care too much for myspace. Also, if you feel giving and want to make me a cool nickle, all you have to do is click on the banner ads. Don’t have to buy anything, just click. It’s google ads, so they wont put malware or any of that crap on your machine either. All it does is make me a nickle, which in turn helps pay for the hubby’s sundays at the driving range, which in turn gives me a peaceful sunday morning at home. Don’t I deserve peace? Doesn’t the world deserve peace? Do you HATE peace? Click the banner ads for world peace. Now THAT was shameless.

• Female Aussie Musicians Portrait Series
  by Jordan Clarke

  Check out my blog on myspaz for some progress images of a portrait series I’m currently working on. To demonstrate some versatility I’m c…

  Check out my blog on myspaz for some progress images of a portrait series I’m currently working on. To demonstrate some versatility I’m creating a series of portraits – of talented female musicians from Australia. I have plans to use these in the future (keeping secret for now!), but I always love to share my process with you all. First piece is of Katy Steele of Little Birdy fame… Comments are always appreciated and most welcome. / My Blog J / ;-)

• Tattooing in Canada
  by BadTaste

  Hi all, just letting you know Im gonna be tattooing at the NIX convention in toronto this weekend. as well as New Moon in ottawa and New …

  Hi all, just letting you know Im gonna be tattooing at the NIX convention in toronto this weekend. as well as New Moon in ottawa and New Tribe in Toronto the following weeks. If your interested in knowing more bubblemail me :) Thanks!!!

• Stealing Your Artwork
  by kittykat

  When I started creating my artwork many, many people told me that my designs would make great tattoos. They still do. Although I am inv…

  When I started creating my artwork many, many people told me that my designs would make great tattoos. They still do. Although I am investigating the possiblities of creating what is called ‘flash art’ for commercial application of my art, one question seemed to haunt the back of my mind. Would/ could someone just download my work and use it anyway? If an individual wanted to do such a thing, as has been the case, and asked….. sure; the asking permisson was appreciated. But my concern was the tattoo artist themselves using my creations in their work making profits off of my creations. Red Bubble is trustworthy enough, but what about the individual with an ink gun and no scruples? I recently had the good fortune to receive a bubblemail from a commercial artist here at the bubble who knew exactly what I was asking. He took the time to respond in a most thorough way and I got his permisson to copy/past part of his answer in my journal. It is MOST REVELANT to all of us here at rb and I wanted to share it with all who might be having the same questions…...... This is just a risk we all take. It happens, and I know several friends who have had their art used by someone else against their copywrite, but there’s little you can do apart from being careful who gets high-res versions of your work. In the case of Redbubble for example, they have a clear policy and privacy agreement when you join that states when and how they will use your work, but other sites don’t have such a agreement that they adhere to. So just read the Ts and C’s before you upload any works, be it to an image hosting site or a online gallery such as Redbubble. The low res versions on display in the galleries are of too low a resolution to be used on anything other than the internet. People who would steal works from your gallery can’t really offer it in the kind of detailed high res quality that Redbubble reserve for printing purposes only. If you come across your work being displayed on a website without your permission, then simply e-mail the webmast and ask that it be removed. Usually they are agreeable to this as they don’t want to get into trouble. After all , they don’t know if you have a high priced lawyer or not. A better idea though, would be to offer them an alternative, such as they can display your work on the condition that your ownership of copywrite be clearly displayed and a link back to your redbubble gallery be made available so that people can buy prints, etc, if they like your work. There’s no 100% way to prevent this kind of thing from taking place, so you can expect some theft of your work at some time. This is a reality that artists of all kinds, be it musicians, visial artists, film makers, or any other type of art, have to face. Hope this helps. Cheers

• No more Nude with Tattoo :(
  by Leigh Ann Pobiak

  Sadly I am here to let you all know that my photo “Nude with Tattoo” has been removed from Redbubble. I received an email this afternoon …

  Sadly I am here to let you all know that my photo “Nude with Tattoo” has been removed from Redbubble. I received an email this afternoon stating the following: Nude images have been a controversial issue on RedBubble. Our current policy is nothing that displays genitalia – to this end I have de-published Nude with Tattoo. The reasons for our policy are two fold. One we are an open site and children can view any of the work on the site and two there are many other photo sites that have been overwhelmed by soft porn – and while your image certainly doesn’t fit this description we need to draw a line and hold to that line. I am completely for what he is saying and about the children being able to just come on here and look around and for the mass of soft core porn that really is taking over the web. Unfortunately I felt that my photo was in another category as far as ‘soft core porn’ was concerned, but I feel for him and know that he didn’t do it to be mean he just doesn’t want to get into any kind of trouble and in no way do I want to go against him or the site shouting how unfair it is that my image is no longer allowed to be displayed. Though it was one of my favorites and it had the most views I just wanted to thank everyone who enjoyed the photo as well while it lasted on the site and for all of your wonderful comments :) I truly appreciate everyone and their talents on this site! But hmm, I wonder do you think he would go for censorship? / :-) Thanks for reading / Leigh Ann

• Final Major Project - The human canvas: HUMAN
  by Alexandra Donnelly

  Okay, I don’t quite have a title for my project just yet. Ideas are swirling, forming and unforming but I’m sure I’ll get there in the en…

  Okay, I don’t quite have a title for my project just yet. Ideas are swirling, forming and unforming but I’m sure I’ll get there in the end… For now the best way to describe what I’m doing is to call it ‘the human canvas’. I’ve been looking at the representation of the adverse group of people sporting tattoos. Hot stuff, you might think – sure enough I managed to find a collective group of persons all in the same place at the same time and get them to pose for my camera, whilst informing me visually and extensively on the reasons and meanings behind their body art. This is all leading up to an exhibition I get to present at the end of May… :D May 11th – okay, I’ve decided on a title for my project: as I began making my book on Photobox I thought Human would be good, with a subtitle of The Meaning of Life – and this is because I always had the intention of relating it to the meaning of life, and Human relates to the explanation of the meaning of life [human existence]. It is simple and sharp. So that’s the title: Human: the meaning of life through the art of tattoo. Photobook coming soon! May 23rd – the project is finished. Completed! I feel sad in a way but excited, too, because I can now start on other things. I called it Human: The Meaning of Life in the end. It represents human existence, existentialism and the like… I hope they see it how I do.

• Tombie Tattoo
  by DarthSpanky

  So I was having sushi with a friend of mine, and out of nowhere she decides she wants to get a tattoo. Off we went!!! Luckily, I so hap…

  So I was having sushi with a friend of mine, and out of nowhere she decides she wants to get a tattoo. Off we went!!! Luckily, I so happened to have a printout of Tombie on me, so she got him tattooed on her foot. XD It was epic.

• Get ready...
  by margodalia

  I’m in panama City FL for a guest spot at Skully’s Tattoo 850-769-2828. it’s great fun, great drawing atmosphere. so, i’ll be posting a f…

  I’m in panama City FL for a guest spot at Skully’s Tattoo 850-769-2828. it’s great fun, great drawing atmosphere. so, i’ll be posting a few more pieces in the next week or so. i’m doing a custom goddess on the shop manager tomorrow, i’m so excited. / it’s one of those shops where everyone is cool, there’s a lot of creative freedom, and it makes me remember why i sold my soul to a tattoo machine.

• MargoTattoo.Com
  by Jon Hawkins

  Hello everyone! / I would like to announce launching my wifes new website MargoTattoo.Com . / She is a very ta…

  Hello everyone! / I would like to announce launching my wifes new website MargoTattoo.Com . / She is a very talented tattoo artist specializing in color, cover ups and portrait work. / Feel free to check it out when you have a chance! / (She designed the site herself, all I did was the programming and installation.)

• does anyone fancy doin me a favour???
  by lilliestarr

  I want a new tattoo….. And wondered if anyone fancied drawing one for me? I has to be of lilies and have swirls on it and at least o…

  I want a new tattoo….. And wondered if anyone fancied drawing one for me? I has to be of lilies and have swirls on it and at least one butterfly. Im having it from my hip up the side of my ribs, so it will need to be roughly 19inches in length. either outline or shading no colour :D look forwards to seeing some ideas :D Lils xxx

• Easyriders Rodeo Tour 2007
  by Jon Hawkins

  Well the wife left today for the Easyriders Rodeo Tour Grand Nationals 2007 in Chillicothe, Ohio where she will be tattooing for a few d…

  Well the wife left today for the Easyriders Rodeo Tour Grand Nationals 2007 in Chillicothe, Ohio where she will be tattooing for a few days. / I’ll be joining her Thursday evening for some tattoos and festivities. / More information can be found here http://www.easyridersevents.com/ If you can make it, stop by the www.MargoTattoo.com booth and say ‘Hi’!

• Thanks for the feedback!!!
  by kittykat

  One of the most important things for ANY artist is feedback. Good or bad, it helps give us direction and sometimes INSPIRATION. I want …

  One of the most important things for ANY artist is feedback. Good or bad, it helps give us direction and sometimes INSPIRATION. I want to thank everyone who has commented or just viewed my creations. I’m still “learning the ropes” of redbubble, but so far its been a very positive experience that has helped me gain even more confidence and direction.

• in the oven
  by giantrabbit

  hi folks ifn youre reading this,i reckon i will have a few things up pretty soon so please keep posted,im also gonna search out some olde…

  hi folks ifn youre reading this,i reckon i will have a few things up pretty soon so please keep posted,im also gonna search out some older stuff that maybe ive givenaway or sold and see if their new homes might lemme scan/photo them

• Looking for some original feudal art... lions, to be exact.
  by Requiem

  So i’m drawing a tat for a buddy, he wants a big feudal style lion, from the side view, tong lolling out. I think he’s going to get it do…

  So i’m drawing a tat for a buddy, he wants a big feudal style lion, from the side view, tong lolling out. I think he’s going to get it done in red ink, but I’ll draw the rough with a black ink roller pen. what i need is some good, fairly original feudal lions to go off of. any suggestions/thoughts/ideas?