Some cool stuff. Especially the odd combos from the jar. Love the idea.
I am curious about your methods. Are your designs one try and done or are you the type to sketch then refine into a final or are you able to lay it out in one pass? Feel free not to answer. I know some people hold that kinda info close.
Either way cool stuff.

I like em, but have to ditto mrchen. Tribal was very much a quick fad. Although they are good quality I would make the suggestion of expanding to different styles.

Super impressive, Love the japanese style work. Do you do any other styles? Would love to see what else is in that head of yours. 😮

Thanks for the comments everyone. I’m gonna do some more pieces and try to expand my album on a daily basis. Thanks especially for the pointers, in my head you can’t improve yourself without people pointing out your flaws.

The darker the shadows on a portrait the better the aging of the tattoo. No. 2 would be my pick

In my mind anything related to Sicily/Italy bring statues, stonework and engravings. Don’t know if that helps idea wise but that’s where I would go with it.

I’ve seen tons of logo tats, not really a fan of em and don’t know many artists that like doing them verbatim. You may consider asking your artist to simply draw you a redsox related piece and bring them some random clip art from the team’s advertisements. Or even a favorite playerthat’s wearing the logo. PS I’m with Arni on the blackout thing. It…[Read more]

I’m gonna have to agree that the font doesn’t fit very well. Given that is oceanic in nature I would consider a bamboo font curved around the top or bottom. Also check out fontspace.com. There are alot of great fonts on there or you may want to let your artist play with it some. Fonts tend to make or break a tattoo.

Me and my wife had a stillborn at 8 months, so I can relate on some level. For her we came up with using the flowers associated with the birthdate of each of her family members and our lost one was part of that piece. Best wishes.

You should remember the phoenix in your struggles. Out of the ashes and destruction comes the greatest and most powerful.

I just call you a man who thinks before you act. Nothing wrong with that.;)

I am in oklahoma and have read the bill in its entirety, I have also dealt directly with a health dept. official. On the surface the law was designed with the strictest legal guidelines. I would personally say they are probably some of the strictest in the nation with a few possible exceptions. They bragged in news articles when the bill was being…[Read more]

I remember reading a supreme court breif in lawschool regarding an artistic recreation of a cambell’s soup can from the 50’s-60’s. The supreme court declared that an artistic rendering of copyrighted material is not protected under copyright law, as limiting art is clearly protected speech. If you would like to know the specifics just google it.…[Read more]

I haven’t had the pleasure at laughing at the show. And the idea that a person could learn anything other than cake decorating in a 2 week course is retarded.

However…Why isn’t there a true 2 year tattoo college out there? Every industry has degree programs where legitimate instructors teach a specialized portion of the learning process.…[Read more]

Ima call this one a fail…lol
I bet every lawyer in the country is smiling as if they just got laid. Imagine the side effects,

Thanks Dave. I do have the money at this point. That’s one of the things that is motivating me back into an apprenticeship.

To let everyone know: The photography in the photobucket link is a mix of mine as well as my wife’s photography. They’ve been mixed up in our computer files so much that it’s hard to tell who did what at this point. lol So I…[Read more]

The lack of money to go the right way was my reasoning in not immeadiately putting my equipment back in the box and seeking out the apprenticeship. I basically put my family first and my thought process at the time was that I love them more than I cared about what people thought.

My circumstances have changed now and I have accumulated plenty of…[Read more]

Not trying to be sarcastic or whiney or anything like that. My step father started his own garge with the same kind of history and a settlement from a caustic accident at an engine foundry. I did go to law-school for three years and funded that myself with work and also took out 5k in student loans to make up the difference. So I’m not necessarily…[Read more]

Fair enough MRCHEN. I am still trying to go the respectable route and don’t plan on returning to home tattooing. I simply think that there are exceptions to every rule and painting everyone with the same brush is not necessary. Being leary of anyone who is going to put you at risk is perfectly fine. Flat out denying that exceptions are out there…[Read more]

I have seen both ends of “scratcher” tattooing. Like most people who tattoo, or have tattooed, I find it laughable that someone thinks they can just grab em an ebay kit and go to town. As a matter of having to fix bad work I find it challenging and a form of job security for licensed/skilled tattooists. If you have to complain about a scratcher…[Read more]

In the case of doctors you have a point. And to some respects (sterilization and artwork) in tattooing. However, I have had unlicensed mechanics, electricians, and plumbers do wonderful work at the same quality for a lower price for years.
In areas where licenses are a matter of health code I would agree 100%. However, the people who got licensed…[Read more]