mike_doughty

Hilariously funny. Cos I was going to take the birds and flowers offa my back. If you would like to, that's F-Y-N-E fine with me. Let me know if you need pictures. It's an original Sailor Jerry, eh? Only one other person has it and it's a heavily tattooed asian woman in Baltimore. But it's around her breast.

Yes, that's the point of custom work. You say "I want a strawberry wearing a tophat, holding a minature of Botticelli's birth of Venus, crapping a long stream of goldfish" and then they draw that, as best suited in tattoo form, in their style.

You have to go to a CUSTOM shop though. Street shops (with their limited abilities) will turn and tell you to either bring in reference of pick something off the wall. If you want a sleeeeeeve, please don't do that.

Find a tattooers whose style appeals to you as an artist. You are making an investment in ART. So what do you like?

Here are some links to custom tattooers around North America who I would let tattoo me:

ymonster has a really tight, toonish style.

Rob Coutts has a really bright, looser, playful style. Also lots of colour.

Nick Baxter, also very colourful, darker, more stylized but also more realistic.

Steve Moore handles human forms, and wild elongated and exaggerated images like a master. Very interesting SHAPE.

Guy Aitchison is GUY. Totally unique style, and a legend.

Pick is a tattooer who will ONLY draw freehand (ON your body at the time of your appt). His style is very toonish, and uses flatter colour.

Dave Cummings pulls remarkably clean single pass lines and does mostly "traditional" work.

Scott Duncan's doesn't have a distinct style, but while he varies, it's the flourishes that are in all of his pieces that keep me coming back.

Chris O'Donnell, also traditional, very clean and tight work.




....the list goes on. But not TOO far on. Check out some of those links. Even if you just want black outlines flowers, what do you want them to look like? And you best make sure you go to someone good, or you'll have a shaky spagetti soup all over your arm.

You go in for your appointment with your custom tattooer and say "I really like your style. I want my entire left arm, shoulder to wrist, covered in the outlines of black flowers. Would that be something you'd be into?"




...I was going to come back in and edit all of my horrific typos, but MAKING the coffee I so clearly sorely need is going to take priority.

If you want to get tattooed in NYC or in a certain location, or in a certain style, I can recommend different artists to you.

[Edited on Dec 16, 2005 10:03AM]