The Tattoo thread

First Team Squad
490
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1.9K
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over 16 years

alright people i need a little help, i am looking for a tattoo artist or artists to help me complete my full body suit. at the moment i have about 3 quarters already done and looking to complete the rest in the next 3 years hopefully.i have looked up studios on the internet but that only tells you what the artist thinks about themselves and not what the general person getting a tattoo thinks of them.

           i have an appointment with steve maddock at underground art on vivian street before the phoenix game on the 3rd of november, only because i know steve from about 20 years ago but have not seen him since the heavily tattooed club of new zealand stopped having shows in wellington around that time.

          i want to try 3 or 4 different artists to complete my work. be interested to hear your tattoo experiences in wellington good or bad.

Marquee
3.3K
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5.1K
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almost 13 years

What type of art you getting tattooed on yourself? For my next piece I'll be using Gill at Tattoo Machine on Dixon Street. I like his art work

First Team Squad
490
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1.9K
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over 16 years

mine is all black and grey and many different pieces, my right arm sleeve is a collection of skulls by different artists around new zealand and have room on it for 3 more artists. i have the royal family on my lower leg, all you english folks and royalists should maybe stop reading now. i have the queen being fudgeed by a corgi, charles in a bra and panties with william and harrys mom with charlies penis in her hand and blood on her mouth after biting it off and prince andrew blowing a hole in his head with his pistol while fergie is shows her tits. as you can tell these were done more than twenty years ago. on my other leg i have all new zealand related things, native birds and lizards. so i have no set idea of pictures i want i pretty much just go with things that grab my attention at that time in my life

Marquee
3.3K
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5.1K
·
almost 13 years

holeinone wrote:

mine is all black and grey and many different pieces, my right arm sleeve is a collection of skulls by different artists around new zealand and have room on it for 3 more artists. i have the royal family on my lower leg, all you english folks and royalists should maybe stop reading now. i have the queen being fudgeed by a corgi, charles in a bra and panties with william and harrys mom with charlies penis in her hand and blood on her mouth after biting it off and prince andrew blowing a hole in his head with his pistol while fergie is shows her tits. as you can tell these were done more than twenty years ago. on my other leg i have all new zealand related things, native birds and lizards. so i have no set idea of pictures i want i pretty much just go with things that grab my attention at that time in my life

Wholly shark. But besides that, Gills the only one I know. Think Leigh when he pops on the forums will be able to give you others. 

Marquee
1.1K
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7.6K
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over 12 years
Marquee
1.2K
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8.2K
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over 16 years

The artists at Union tend to do my favourite work in Wellington.

Starting XI
850
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2.7K
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almost 10 years

holeinone wrote:

mine is all black and grey and many different pieces, my right arm sleeve is a collection of skulls by different artists around new zealand and have room on it for 3 more artists. i have the royal family on my lower leg, all you english folks and royalists should maybe stop reading now. i have the queen being fudgeed by a corgi, charles in a bra and panties with william and harrys mom with charlies penis in her hand and blood on her mouth after biting it off and prince andrew blowing a hole in his head with his pistol while fergie is shows her tits. as you can tell these were done more than twenty years ago. on my other leg i have all new zealand related things, native birds and lizards. so i have no set idea of pictures i want i pretty much just go with things that grab my attention at that time in my life

See Cam at Dr. Morse.

Skulls and black/white are his thing but handles colour beautifully as well. Great dude, good chat and great location. He's done the sleeve on my left arm which is all but finished. some of his work (none of it on me)

He covers many different styles

Starting XI
850
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2.7K
·
almost 10 years

Yakcall wrote:

holeinone wrote:

mine is all black and grey and many different pieces, my right arm sleeve is a collection of skulls by different artists around new zealand and have room on it for 3 more artists. i have the royal family on my lower leg, all you english folks and royalists should maybe stop reading now. i have the queen being fudgeed by a corgi, charles in a bra and panties with william and harrys mom with charlies penis in her hand and blood on her mouth after biting it off and prince andrew blowing a hole in his head with his pistol while fergie is shows her tits. as you can tell these were done more than twenty years ago. on my other leg i have all new zealand related things, native birds and lizards. so i have no set idea of pictures i want i pretty much just go with things that grab my attention at that time in my life

Wholly shark. But besides that, Gills the only one I know. Think Leigh when he pops on the forums will be able to give you others. 

Ha. Done

Appiah without the pace
6.4K
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19K
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over 16 years

holeinone wrote:

mine is all black and grey and many different pieces, my right arm sleeve is a collection of skulls by different artists around new zealand and have room on it for 3 more artists. i have the royal family on my lower leg, all you english folks and royalists should maybe stop reading now. i have the queen being fudgeed by a corgi, charles in a bra and panties with william and harrys mom with charlies penis in her hand and blood on her mouth after biting it off and prince andrew blowing a hole in his head with his pistol while fergie is shows her tits. as you can tell these were done more than twenty years ago. on my other leg i have all new zealand related things, native birds and lizards. so i have no set idea of pictures i want i pretty much just go with things that grab my attention at that time in my life

Pics please.

28
460
·
1.7K
·
about 16 years

I had my latest done by Raz at Sinatra's. A lot of his stuff that I've seen is watercolour though. I love my TRex!

A couple of others more traditional there I think too.

First Team Squad
490
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1.9K
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over 16 years

2ndBest wrote:

holeinone wrote:

mine is all black and grey and many different pieces, my right arm sleeve is a collection of skulls by different artists around new zealand and have room on it for 3 more artists. i have the royal family on my lower leg, all you english folks and royalists should maybe stop reading now. i have the queen being fudgeed by a corgi, charles in a bra and panties with william and harrys mom with charlies penis in her hand and blood on her mouth after biting it off and prince andrew blowing a hole in his head with his pistol while fergie is shows her tits. as you can tell these were done more than twenty years ago. on my other leg i have all new zealand related things, native birds and lizards. so i have no set idea of pictures i want i pretty much just go with things that grab my attention at that time in my life

Pics please.

will have to see if i can find a photo of it when my leg was shaved, if i took a picture now the hairs on my leg kind of hide the full effect of the picture.

Surge
·
Can I have some lungs please miss
1.1K
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7.5K
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over 16 years

I went to Derek Thunders when he was in Petone (Pieces of Eight) but he's now at Dr Morse... a good guy and was able to take the jumble of themes/ideas in my head and turn them into a simple brilliant tatt.

Once gainfully employed I'll head in and see him again - it's MoreInk o'clock!

Starting XI
850
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2.7K
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almost 10 years

Surge wrote:

I went to Derek Thunders when he was in Petone (Pieces of Eight) but he's now at Dr Morse... a good guy and was able to take the jumble of themes/ideas in my head and turn them into a simple brilliant tatt.

Once gainfully employed I'll head in and see him again - it's MoreInk o'clock!

Love Dr. Morse - awesome studio, good chat and a variety of artists all with great skills and different styles

Starting XI
2.5K
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2.4K
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over 8 years

LeighboNZ wrote:

Surge wrote:

I went to Derek Thunders when he was in Petone (Pieces of Eight) but he's now at Dr Morse... a good guy and was able to take the jumble of themes/ideas in my head and turn them into a simple brilliant tatt.

Once gainfully employed I'll head in and see him again - it's MoreInk o'clock!

Love Dr. Morse - awesome studio, good chat and a variety of artists all with great skills and different styles

My best friend has a few from Cas at Dr Morse, speaks highly of her and the place.
Starting XI
850
·
2.7K
·
almost 10 years

Nelfoos wrote:

LeighboNZ wrote:

Surge wrote:

I went to Derek Thunders when he was in Petone (Pieces of Eight) but he's now at Dr Morse... a good guy and was able to take the jumble of themes/ideas in my head and turn them into a simple brilliant tatt.

Once gainfully employed I'll head in and see him again - it's MoreInk o'clock!

Love Dr. Morse - awesome studio, good chat and a variety of artists all with great skills and different styles

My best friend has a few from Cas at Dr Morse, speaks highly of her and the place.

Unfortunately she's moved onto Melbourne I believe - her dot and pattern work were immense.

First Team Squad
490
·
1.9K
·
over 16 years

sorry 2nd best have been unable to find any pics in my computer, though i have found an old australian tattoo magazine from the 90s that has 4 pictures of my royal family in it. i will try to find someone i know with a scanner to scan the pics and post them sometime soon.

     

First Team Squad
490
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1.9K
·
over 16 years

cannot get picture to show up , i can right click on it and open in another tab but the quality is a bit shark

the fern is not on me.

sorted look at next post

First Team Squad
490
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1.9K
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over 16 years
Woof Woof
2.7K
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19K
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over 16 years

Wow. That is...something.

First Team Squad
490
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1.9K
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over 16 years

that tattoo earned me many first prizes at tattoo shows around the north island 20 odd years ago, it started as a joke between me and my tattoo artist and then one drunken night of tattoing (7 - 8 hours) the idea started to come alive. there was no internet back then to find pictures on so we had to go through woman's weekly's by the dozen to find good pictures of there faces.

over the years i have had many comments good and bad about the tattoo and quite a few dirty looks from older people in lines that get a good look at it. i like it a lot and would go there again with the new generation of royals. 

Starting XI
850
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2.7K
·
almost 10 years

The tattoo thread is quite a good one actually - could the mods rename this one as a Tattoo Thread? Sure it's a topic plenty like to discuss and share on.

Legend
3.6K
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15K
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almost 17 years

Awesome thread guys.

I have been looking around for someone good to help me too, would appreciate some advice from those in the know...

Have a 12 year old tattoo on the fore-arm, Arsenal badge, in colour (red, blue, brown in it). It seems I did not get myself a very good artist the first time round. For starters my skin apparently "didn't take colour very well" (not sure if this is a thing, or if the artist was talking cr*p), so he had to re-do the red colour several times, and I wasn't all that happy with the overall result. It was decent for a few years, but now with a bit of fading it's not looking the best. 

I spoke to a guy called Damien in a tattoo place a few years back and he had some great ideas on how to rejuvenate it. But do you think I can find him now??? Nope. He was from Upper Hutt originally, probably now in his late 30s or so. If anyone knows who he is let me know! He seemed really good and appeared to have done some really good work on some others that I saw. 

Failing that, I am keen to hear recommendations for tattoo artists that are good with colour, and are good at taking existing tired tattoos and fixing them up... 

Any replies appreciated!

Also holeinone, wow, just wow. That's some dedication mate. 

First Team Squad
490
·
1.9K
·
over 16 years

some colors do tend to fade (mostly due to sun) and some areas on the body can struggle to hold color, i think inks have improved over the years and should stay in the skin better. people with colored tattoos could probably tell you more than myself as i avoided colors after seeing other people with faded colors. this was over 20 years ago for me.

Starting XI
850
·
2.7K
·
almost 10 years

paulm wrote:

Awesome thread guys.

I have been looking around for someone good to help me too, would appreciate some advice from those in the know...

Have a 12 year old tattoo on the fore-arm, Arsenal badge, in colour (red, blue, brown in it). It seems I did not get myself a very good artist the first time round. For starters my skin apparently "didn't take colour very well" (not sure if this is a thing, or if the artist was talking cr*p), so he had to re-do the red colour several times, and I wasn't all that happy with the overall result. It was decent for a few years, but now with a bit of fading it's not looking the best. 

I spoke to a guy called Damien in a tattoo place a few years back and he had some great ideas on how to rejuvenate it. But do you think I can find him now??? Nope. He was from Upper Hutt originally, probably now in his late 30s or so. If anyone knows who he is let me know! He seemed really good and appeared to have done some really good work on some others that I saw. 

Failing that, I am keen to hear recommendations for tattoo artists that are good with colour, and are good at taking existing tired tattoos and fixing them up... 

Any replies appreciated!

Also holeinone, wow, just wow. That's some dedication mate. 

Was the artist a big bloke (muscles galore?) - if so, sounds like Damian Dhyrberg from Sinatra's.

With colour, it's not just the artist, it's also the quality of the inks - I like Dr. Morse as all of the tattoo's I've seen seem to hold their colour really well, even a few years after being done BUT all colours fade, not much you can do about it. Someone may be able to do a cover up but often, with something larger and in colour you may end up needing is lasered first which is much more painful than the tattoo (or so I'm told).

Simon Morse at Dr. Morse uses a lot of bright colours and they all seem to use good ink there -  I can only really advocate for them though as I've been there recently and exclusively for the last 3 years and my guy does good work while observing others doing good work.

Examples of cover-ups or fix-ups can be hard to find but most artists will have a few photos of examples if you talk to them.

Chant Savant
2.5K
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12K
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almost 17 years

2ndBest wrote:

holeinone wrote:

mine is all black and grey and many different pieces, my right arm sleeve is a collection of skulls by different artists around new zealand and have room on it for 3 more artists. i have the royal family on my lower leg, all you english folks and royalists should maybe stop reading now. i have the queen being fudgeed by a corgi, charles in a bra and panties with william and harrys mom with charlies penis in her hand and blood on her mouth after biting it off and prince andrew blowing a hole in his head with his pistol while fergie is shows her tits. as you can tell these were done more than twenty years ago. on my other leg i have all new zealand related things, native birds and lizards. so i have no set idea of pictures i want i pretty much just go with things that grab my attention at that time in my life

Pics please.

I think what 2ndBest means is "Show us yer Tats!!!"

Legend
3.6K
·
15K
·
almost 17 years

LeighboNZ wrote:

paulm wrote:

Awesome thread guys.

I have been looking around for someone good to help me too, would appreciate some advice from those in the know...

Have a 12 year old tattoo on the fore-arm, Arsenal badge, in colour (red, blue, brown in it). It seems I did not get myself a very good artist the first time round. For starters my skin apparently "didn't take colour very well" (not sure if this is a thing, or if the artist was talking cr*p), so he had to re-do the red colour several times, and I wasn't all that happy with the overall result. It was decent for a few years, but now with a bit of fading it's not looking the best. 

I spoke to a guy called Damien in a tattoo place a few years back and he had some great ideas on how to rejuvenate it. But do you think I can find him now??? Nope. He was from Upper Hutt originally, probably now in his late 30s or so. If anyone knows who he is let me know! He seemed really good and appeared to have done some really good work on some others that I saw. 

Failing that, I am keen to hear recommendations for tattoo artists that are good with colour, and are good at taking existing tired tattoos and fixing them up... 

Any replies appreciated!

Also holeinone, wow, just wow. That's some dedication mate. 

Was the artist a big bloke (muscles galore?) - if so, sounds like Damian Dhyrberg from Sinatra's.

With colour, it's not just the artist, it's also the quality of the inks - I like Dr. Morse as all of the tattoo's I've seen seem to hold their colour really well, even a few years after being done BUT all colours fade, not much you can do about it. Someone may be able to do a cover up but often, with something larger and in colour you may end up needing is lasered first which is much more painful than the tattoo (or so I'm told).

Simon Morse at Dr. Morse uses a lot of bright colours and they all seem to use good ink there -  I can only really advocate for them though as I've been there recently and exclusively for the last 3 years and my guy does good work while observing others doing good work.

Examples of cover-ups or fix-ups can be hard to find but most artists will have a few photos of examples if you talk to them.

Na that doesn't sound like him, I think it's a different Damian.

Thanks for the insights Leighbo. 

The tattoo is not large, it's on the inside of the forearm, I would guess about 7cm by 7cm in the widest parts (it's a badge shape). 

I wouldn't see this as a cover-up as such, I would basically just want the whole thing coloured in again... this time with better ink. The only real change I think I'd want is the lettering in the badge. It's currently left open i.e. the colouring around it creates the letters, which are actually just skin. It didn't come out that great so on the 2nd sitting we gave them an outline to make the lettering stand out. Now with time that doesn't look good, it's kind of smudged a little at the edges, and the lettering looks frankly amateur. I think the best thing would be to colour the letters in solidly, which is what Damian suggested to me. That would be the only change I guess, and does not involve tattooing over existing ink. Damian had other ideas involving shading around the edges etc to really "make it pop" (his words), but that's probably unnecessary. At this point I just want to re-do it, and colour in the lettering I think.

I would post a pic but I don't fancy the critiques to be honest! I'd rather post one after getting it re-done ;)

Starting XI
850
·
2.7K
·
almost 10 years

paulm wrote:

LeighboNZ wrote:

paulm wrote:

Awesome thread guys.

I have been looking around for someone good to help me too, would appreciate some advice from those in the know...

Have a 12 year old tattoo on the fore-arm, Arsenal badge, in colour (red, blue, brown in it). It seems I did not get myself a very good artist the first time round. For starters my skin apparently "didn't take colour very well" (not sure if this is a thing, or if the artist was talking cr*p), so he had to re-do the red colour several times, and I wasn't all that happy with the overall result. It was decent for a few years, but now with a bit of fading it's not looking the best. 

I spoke to a guy called Damien in a tattoo place a few years back and he had some great ideas on how to rejuvenate it. But do you think I can find him now??? Nope. He was from Upper Hutt originally, probably now in his late 30s or so. If anyone knows who he is let me know! He seemed really good and appeared to have done some really good work on some others that I saw. 

Failing that, I am keen to hear recommendations for tattoo artists that are good with colour, and are good at taking existing tired tattoos and fixing them up... 

Any replies appreciated!

Also holeinone, wow, just wow. That's some dedication mate. 

Was the artist a big bloke (muscles galore?) - if so, sounds like Damian Dhyrberg from Sinatra's.

With colour, it's not just the artist, it's also the quality of the inks - I like Dr. Morse as all of the tattoo's I've seen seem to hold their colour really well, even a few years after being done BUT all colours fade, not much you can do about it. Someone may be able to do a cover up but often, with something larger and in colour you may end up needing is lasered first which is much more painful than the tattoo (or so I'm told).

Simon Morse at Dr. Morse uses a lot of bright colours and they all seem to use good ink there -  I can only really advocate for them though as I've been there recently and exclusively for the last 3 years and my guy does good work while observing others doing good work.

Examples of cover-ups or fix-ups can be hard to find but most artists will have a few photos of examples if you talk to them.

Na that doesn't sound like him, I think it's a different Damian.

Thanks for the insights Leighbo. 

The tattoo is not large, it's on the inside of the forearm, I would guess about 7cm by 7cm in the widest parts (it's a badge shape). 

I wouldn't see this as a cover-up as such, I would basically just want the whole thing coloured in again... this time with better ink. The only real change I think I'd want is the lettering in the badge. It's currently left open i.e. the colouring around it creates the letters, which are actually just skin. It didn't come out that great so on the 2nd sitting we gave them an outline to make the lettering stand out. Now with time that doesn't look good, it's kind of smudged a little at the edges, and the lettering looks frankly amateur. I think the best thing would be to colour the letters in solidly, which is what Damian suggested to me. That would be the only change I guess, and does not involve tattooing over existing ink. Damian had other ideas involving shading around the edges etc to really "make it pop" (his words), but that's probably unnecessary. At this point I just want to re-do it, and colour in the lettering I think.

I would post a pic but I don't fancy the critiques to be honest! I'd rather post one after getting it re-done ;)

Shading etc can really help, especially when they include the use of white ink. I'd suggest it's worth it for the sake of maybe an extra hours work. Here's mine so far - not great photos, they are ones I sent the artist before the last appointment when he was working out what to do next.

We're just doing the small details and highlighting with white ink now so probably 1 - 2 three hour sessions to go and I'm done and onto the next one

Legend
3.6K
·
15K
·
almost 17 years

Wow impressive work mate.

You got any Liverpool related ink yet? 

Chant Savant
2.5K
·
12K
·
almost 17 years
Starting XI
850
·
2.7K
·
almost 10 years

paulm wrote:

Wow impressive work mate.

You got any Liverpool related ink yet? 

Not yet, trying to find the right thing. I may get the Shankly gates done but I want something a bit stylised, maybe with a JFT 96 reference in it. Got a few ideas but nothing solid. Next piece will hopefully be the roman version of Lucifer on right forearm

Chant Savant
2.5K
·
12K
·
almost 17 years

LeighboNZ wrote:

paulm wrote:

Wow impressive work mate.

You got any Liverpool related ink yet? 

Not yet, trying to find the right thing. I may get the Shankly gates done but I want something a bit stylised, maybe with a JFT 96 reference in it. Got a few ideas but nothing solid. Next piece will hopefully be the roman version of Lucifer on right forearm

Will it feature Shankly bending Sir Alex over in front of the gates saying "Kop That!"?

Starting XI
850
·
2.7K
·
almost 10 years

C-Diddy wrote:

LeighboNZ wrote:

paulm wrote:

Wow impressive work mate.

You got any Liverpool related ink yet? 

Not yet, trying to find the right thing. I may get the Shankly gates done but I want something a bit stylised, maybe with a JFT 96 reference in it. Got a few ideas but nothing solid. Next piece will hopefully be the roman version of Lucifer on right forearm

Will it feature Shankly bending Sir Alex over in front of the gates saying "Kop That!"?

Not now you've spoiled the surprise

First Team Squad
490
·
1.9K
·
over 16 years

LeighboNZ wrote:

Surge wrote:

I went to Derek Thunders when he was in Petone (Pieces of Eight) but he's now at Dr Morse... a good guy and was able to take the jumble of themes/ideas in my head and turn them into a simple brilliant tatt.

Once gainfully employed I'll head in and see him again - it's MoreInk o'clock!

Love Dr. Morse - awesome studio, good chat and a variety of artists all with great skills and different styles

do the artists here do freehand work or do they always use stencils. i am not a fan of the stencil all my work has been freehand straight out of the artists head into my skin.

Starting XI
850
·
2.7K
·
almost 10 years

holeinone wrote:

LeighboNZ wrote:

Surge wrote:

I went to Derek Thunders when he was in Petone (Pieces of Eight) but he's now at Dr Morse... a good guy and was able to take the jumble of themes/ideas in my head and turn them into a simple brilliant tatt.

Once gainfully employed I'll head in and see him again - it's MoreInk o'clock!

Love Dr. Morse - awesome studio, good chat and a variety of artists all with great skills and different styles

do the artists here do freehand work or do they always use stencils. i am not a fan of the stencil all my work has been freehand straight out of the artists head into my skin.

For me, Cam dreams up the design, creates the stencil to put on the skin to help with the shading lines and light but then does everything freehand from there - these guys do like to put hard work into the art and be well prepped.

First Team Squad
490
·
1.9K
·
over 16 years

7 months later and i have finished both my sleeves and booked in for my next 20 - 30 hours of work. i am going to finally commit and get a phoenix tattoo, i am throwing a few ideas round in my head at the moment. 

First Team Squad
490
·
1.9K
·
over 16 years

just back from getting my arm pit tattooed by nick fletcher at flaming art tattoo in Wanganui, i have many many tattoo's and have been ignoring the armpits until now and i found out it tickles a bit in some parts of your pits.

Starting XI
2.5K
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2.4K
·
over 8 years

I'm getting my first on April 6 - Terry Pratchett inspired and done by an artist at Kakapo who I really like. Very excited!

HZA
Marquee
630
·
5.9K
·
over 14 years

Remember - it's spelt Wizzard

Starting XI
2.5K
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2.4K
·
over 8 years

Love how its turned out, will definitely be back for more

Woof Woof
2.7K
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19K
·
over 16 years

That looks very cool. 

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