LA INK artists (low kat von d content)

Recommend Artists/Studios, ask for help finding the perfect artist for your tattoo.

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MattCrunk
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Tue Mar 25, 2008 1:29 pm

BadWolf wrote:
Matt and Badwolf will still be around, paying more for taxes, health liscenses, ect.
Exactly!
So anyone who thinks it's "great for business" has sold their soul. Make hay while the sun is shining, because when it's all over, and things slow down, and it costs you $1000 a day to DO tattoos, and no one is willing to pay it, just remember the deal you made with the Devil.
Sure, the trendyness will not last, but when the dust finally settles it will be back to business as usual for most of us. If costs and over-regulation gets too out of hand, tattooing will just head underground again. I say get it while you can.

I personally plan to semi-retire in eight years (when I reach 50) and spend the next few years living aboard a sailboat in the Caribbean, maybe doing a guest spot here and there, but pretty much doing nothing.
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reefdiver
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Tue Mar 25, 2008 4:13 pm

MattCrunk wrote:
I personally plan to semi-retire in eight years (when I reach 50) and spend the next few years living aboard a sailboat in the Caribbean,
now, THAT is what i call a good plan...........
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reefdiver
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Tue Mar 25, 2008 4:13 pm

double post
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BadWolf
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Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:36 pm

I personally plan to semi-retire in eight years (when I reach 50) and spend the next few years living aboard a sailboat in the Caribbean, maybe doing a guest spot here and there, but pretty much doing nothing.
Yea...so fuck the rest of us. Fuck the art form that got you there. Fuck the guys who busted their asses before you and fuck the people who want to continue to keep the art form elevated above a freakshow level.
You get yours, and that's cool.
Happy sailing.
With that much respect, maybe you can get a spot at High Voltage.
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CxCx
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Wed Mar 26, 2008 12:49 am

Wolf's got a good piont here. While it may be easy to say 'well, I'm out of the game in 8 years", you have to think about the situation a bit more objectively. On that note, maybe we should actually stick with subjectivity, but with a different subject in question.

Example : I'd like to make it to 60 and then, maybe semi-retire. That means, since I'm approx 25 now with about 4 years in, I still have 35 years of "the game" to deal with, so I'm going to do everything i can to preserve what i love about this business/artform.

That all being the case, I'd like to NOT have to deal with the repercussions of a few ass-clowns like the TV stars in question that are out for a quick buck.

Matt, you're talking about retiring in 8 years, which will put you at around 18 years in the business. Would you have been happy, hypothetically, if, after you were a year or so in, someone told you that a few drama-queens were making a run for a quick buck at the possible detriment of your future in your chosen profession? Just a question to get you thinking. :wink:
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super_sam
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Wed Mar 26, 2008 12:55 am

I like Matt and Badwolf both from what I've read about them. I just hate that the pimps and whores of hollyweird turn people into fucking zombies. You both are good artists from what I see, but I def side with wolf on this issue. Give an idiot a gun and he shoots himself, and blames it on the gun, then, no one is allowed to own or carry. People think its all about gun control... Its really just about control, period... And who's leading the sheeple.
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BadWolf
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Wed Mar 26, 2008 8:58 am

That is why I absolutely REFUSE to call them "tattoo artists". They are ACTORS.
Calling them that gives me limited liability and no real association to them. So what they do, if no one accepts them as a part of our business, has nothing to do with us.
The unfortunate reality is, I own a scalpel...and if I cut someone's head open, and they get sick or die, the newspapers are NOT going to call me a brain surgeon. Not one news media outlet or even an individual is going to call me a brain surgeon. Not a single doctor is going to associate himself with me.
BUT...if some kid buys a tattoo machine and slaps on his first scratch, and the person gets sick or dies, EVERYONE ON THE PLANET IS GOING TO CALL HIM A TATTOO ARTIST.
Except me, it would seem. I am not going to add to that misconception. Being a tattoo artist entails more than the quality of the "pictures" you put on someone. It entails a WHOLE LOT MORE. And those people lack nearly ALL of those qualities.
I highly recommend people start taking this shit seriously. While Matt Crunk and many others may be perfectly fine with tattooing going underground again, I have invested my life into getting it to a point where I could do it in a legitimate setting without working out of my kitchen, or suffering financially from not being able to report it as an income. I KNOW what that's like. It was illegal here when I started, and I busted my ass to change that. That requires responsibility.
I'd like to retire someday, too....but unlike many others, I would like to retire knowing that I GAVE SOMETHING to the industry, instead of just leeching out my own personal gain.
I wanna EARN my sailboat.
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hgiles
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Wed Mar 26, 2008 9:48 am

Didn't read through all the BS in the thread but to respond to the initial query:

Yes, they're all good, great even! Kat included. People do want to bash other people making three times what their art is really worth. And I do think they get more than their art is worth.

There are artists out there doing better work as theirs at half the price. If you think the premium is worth it to have a story to tell and for their celebrity then that's fine too, but that's not why I get tattooed.

Personally I think the better story to tell is the one you tell of the "INSERT PREMIER ARTIST NAME HERE" tattoo you got before he 'made it' -- that he did for you for $100!! That's a story!!

That's a much better story than saying, "I paid KAT VOND $1000 for this palm sized tattoo."
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MattCrunk
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Wed Mar 26, 2008 11:35 am

BadWolf wrote:That is why I absolutely REFUSE to call them "tattoo artists". They are ACTORS.

I'd like to retire someday, too....but unlike many others, I would like to retire knowing that I GAVE SOMETHING to the industry, instead of just leeching out my own personal gain.
I wanna EARN my sailboat.
We'll in my book anyone who can apply a decent tattoo IS a tattoo artist. That doesn't mean I agree with everything they do, or even like them as a person. But by definition, they are tattoo artists, like it or not. And for better or worse, they DO represent the industry to a lot of people. Unless you have the power to jerk those shows off the air, then you just gotta deal with it.

We all contribute and we all take. As long as you're putting out quality work, you're a contributor, not a leech. But we're all in it for the money.

I love tattooing. I really enjoy it. Best job I could ever imagine having. But I also like to enjoy a certain standard of living, so I don't work cheap. Hell, yes, I'm in it for the money.

By the way, when I started my shop, I had $8,000 cash to my name and was driving a borrowed car. I believe I've earned everything I own.
Last edited by MattCrunk on Wed Mar 26, 2008 12:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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MattCrunk
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Wed Mar 26, 2008 12:04 pm

super_sam wrote:I like Matt and Badwolf both from what I've read about them. I just hate that the pimps and whores of hollyweird turn people into fucking zombies. You both are good artists from what I see, but I def side with wolf on this issue. Give an idiot a gun and he shoots himself, and blames it on the gun, then, no one is allowed to own or carry. People think its all about gun control... Its really just about control, period... And who's leading the sheeple.
Though we obviously don't see eye to eye on a lot of issues, I respect Badwolf, his time in the industry, and his technical skill and in-depth knowledge of the subject at hand. If I ran into him at a convention somewhere, I'd probably offer to buy him a drink.

I admit I've always been into the art side of things more than the technical, and I think that's the crux of a lot of our disagreements.
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BadWolf
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Wed Mar 26, 2008 12:55 pm

We'll in my book anyone who can apply a decent tattoo IS a tattoo artist. As long as you're putting out quality work, you're a contributor, not a leech.
I wish it were that simple, but there is very little truth to that.
Those actors can put out eleventy gazillion good tattoos, and the impact on the industry will be nearly NOTHING.
But let someone that high profile (combined with being THAT SLOPPY) do JUST ONE dirty tattoo that costs someone their health or life, and the impact will be of apocolyptic proportion for the industry.
As I said, there is much more than putting out pretty pictures involved in being a tattoo artist.
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MattCrunk
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Wed Mar 26, 2008 1:12 pm

BadWolf wrote: Those actors can put out eleventy gazillion good tattoos, and the impact on the industry will be nearly NOTHING.

But let someone that high profile (combined with being THAT SLOPPY) do JUST ONE dirty tattoo that costs someone their health or life, and the impact will be of apocolyptic proportion for the industry.
But they have ALREADY had a major impact on the industry: in it's popularity and mainstream acceptance.

On your second point I do agree: Any negative publicity a health incident might generate would be equally magnified by their popularity. But that's sorta beyond our control.
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reefdiver
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Wed Mar 26, 2008 1:16 pm

BadWolf wrote: But let someone that high profile (combined with being THAT SLOPPY) do JUST ONE dirty tattoo that costs someone their health or life, and the impact will be of apocolyptic proportion for the industry.
which brings up an interesting point:

with all the scratchers out there and all the bad practices seen on tv, why isn't there a hugh surge in health related issues happening ????
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MattCrunk
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Wed Mar 26, 2008 1:57 pm

reefdiver wrote:which brings up an interesting point: with all the scratchers out there and all the bad practices seen on tv, why isn't there a hugh surge in health related issues happening ????
Because contracting something from a "dirty tattoo" is a lot harder than most people think. Tattoos are not very invasive. They are basically just scratches in the skin. That's different than a drug user's needle (or a piercer's for that matter) which penetrates the dermis entirely.

That said, there's still no excuse for not taking every REASONABLE step to insure a clean tattoo.
Last edited by MattCrunk on Wed Mar 26, 2008 2:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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BadWolf
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Wed Mar 26, 2008 1:58 pm

But they have ALREADY had a major impact on the industry: in it's popularity and mainstream acceptance.
Network execs do NOT take something that is unacceptable and try to make it acceptable. They take something acceptable and exploit it.
THEY (the ACTORS on LA Ink) are not responsible IN ANY WAY for the popularity of tattooing....it's quite the opposite. The popularity of tattooing is what is responsible for THEM.

And yes, there are more health issues today, and the news picks up on it frequently.
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