LA INK artists (low kat von d content)

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MattCrunk
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Wed Mar 26, 2008 2:11 pm

BadWolf wrote:
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.
Yeah, I suppose just like those hot rod and custom bike building shows had no part in the explosion of that market.
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green_girl
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Wed Mar 26, 2008 2:21 pm

reefdiver wrote:which brings up an interesting point:

with all the scratchers out there and all the bad practises seen on tv, why isn't there a huge surge in health related issues happening ????
The health problem IS there. Scratchers ARE working out of homes. I see stories here and there all the time about infections and illnesses gotten by people, related to tattooing. The thing is, those numbers will always be kinda small compared to where most people get infections - from their own health care providers. And that will never be seriously inspected in the news while the pharmaceutical and health companies exert the control they do.
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green_girl
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Wed Mar 26, 2008 2:39 pm

MattCrunk wrote:Yeah, I suppose just like those hot rod and custom bike building shows had no part in the explosion of that market.

Err, yes they are jumping on the bandwagon. They did NOT make it popular. They noticed it was becoming popular and hyped the shit out of every angle they could find and exploit. The networks (I'm remembering TLC shows here) had speciality shows on once or twice a year at first, before they became regular network staples.
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BadWolf
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Wed Mar 26, 2008 3:39 pm

MattCrunk wrote:
BadWolf wrote:
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.
Yeah, I suppose just like those hot rod and custom bike building shows had no part in the explosion of that market.
I don't know about where you are at, but we've had lots of custom bikes around here for MANY MANY years. The only thing different now, is that there is a custom bike "fabricator" on every corner, now.
And that isn't any better for the custom bike business than the 5 tattoo studios on every block.
Those shows came about LONG after every yuppy scumbag bought a harley and started sticking shiny objects all over them. Not the other way around.
I remember years ago joking with my friend from LA about the line of yuppies sitting on their bikes outside the "whiskey a go go" on (drumroll, please) BIKER NITE!
I illuded to the fact that the reason these doctors, lawyers and fag hookers were sitting on the bikes out front, was because they hadn't figured out how to put the kickstand down yet.
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reefdiver
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Wed Mar 26, 2008 3:49 pm

oh, i forgot that you used to have to be a bad ass to ride a hog and get a tattoo............. :oops:

what's this world coming to......????
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BadWolf
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Wed Mar 26, 2008 3:56 pm

reefdiver wrote:oh, i forgot that you used to have to be a bad ass to ride a hog and get a tattoo............. :oops:

what's this world coming to......????
Aint so much that as ever since those shows, 50 "custom fabricators" popped up in every town. And they can't build a bike any safer than a scratcher can do a tattoo. And as soon as the motorcycle death rate goes up, motorcycles will be demonized, helmet laws will be reinstated, etc.
It used to be that a decent and responsible custom bike builder would not sell a bike that was made for an experienced rider to a kid with zero hours under his belt. Now, kids are flying down the road with 90 cubic inch motors between their legs, and wrapping them around telephone poles. That kid's mommy AINT goona blame the kid for being stupid. She's gonna get a senator to pass a stupid law of some sort that hinders the bike builders....including the established, and responsible ones.
Bawlin
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Thu Mar 27, 2008 1:05 am

Kat Von D is the sole reason my mother is actually supportive of me getting tattoo'd (not that I really care but it's still nice). I made her sit down and watch an episode and by the end of it, she wanted one for herself!
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CxCx
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Thu Mar 27, 2008 1:43 am

Let that be a message to all "Moms" out there :

You can rest assure that you're local tattoo artist will be a Promiscuous drug-loving, alcoholic with a very limited vocabulary that allows dogs to roam freely in their studio and have been known to tattoo bareback in hotel rooms when the opportunity presents itself. :wink:
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Aivanne
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Thu Mar 27, 2008 1:56 am

CxCx wrote:Let that be a message to all "Moms" out there :

You can rest assure that you're local tattoo artist will be a Promiscuous drug-loving, alcoholic with a very limited vocabulary that allows dogs to roam freely in their studio and have been known to tattoo bareback in hotel rooms when the opportunity presents itself. :wink:
do you think the average soccer mom knows that you shouldn't allow pets in a tattoo studio ?

i think not.
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CxCx
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Thu Mar 27, 2008 1:59 am

Aiv, once again you're proving the EXACT problem with LA Ink! As has been discussed, if the shops on these shows conducted themselves in a more professional manner, most of the artists complaining about them (myself included) probably wouldn't do so quite as much.
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mykel605
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Thu Mar 27, 2008 9:21 am

the sad thing about these shows is that they COULD have taken a higher road. they COULD have pushed safety and the importance of training as a theme, instead they spun it as only hollywood can, which to me is really too bad as that higher road would not have effected the bottom line for them one bit, they WOULD have gotten a better "product" instead of this "gillian's island" of tattooing that would have illustrated the true or truer context of tattooing which has little to do with the money even thro we all need to eat. love it or hate it these shows have affected us all, good or bad....

these shows seem to cater to the scratcher horde and the wannabes and the idea of tattooing as a fashion statement and want us to believe on one hand that these artists are gods and on the other illustrate shit practices such as cats/dogs in the studio, saran wrapped tattoos, bareback tattooing and all the other bullshit this freak show provides as entertainment, then with some clever editting make a 10 hour sitting look look it takes a meer moment or two giving the wannabe's a hardon. it is those uneducated newbies that are the target, not us. i am sure that the scratcher supply houses are delighted with this recent fad of shows like this, viva corporate america. the pendulum will swing back the other way in time and then perhaps the laser removal industry will explode to remove all the little 2 inch dolphins and little hearts and butterflies inspired by these silly shows.

but like all good train wrecks, we all watch. around here we play a little game of count the health violations as we watch the show. i will continue to watch this freak show as i really want to see the whinning ego driven drunken druggie self confessed scratcher von douche self implode..

in my opinion these shows have done nothing to my bottom line except cost me more money to operate across the board as my local health department cracks down even harder to combat the increase in popularity caused by these shows in general and supply houses increase prices as demand increases. i am and have always been busy and i will most likely be tattooing until they pry my machine out of my cold dead hand
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MattCrunk
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Thu Mar 27, 2008 11:37 am

I get the feeling that maybe, just maybe, the REAL gripe that some tattooists have with these TV shows is that they have raised the artistic bar for tattooing in the public consciousness.

Before these shows, much of the public at large still thought traditional or biker style tattooing was as good as it gets. I've heard a lot of people say they didn't realize realistic and portrait tattoos were even possible until they saw Miami Ink.

Substandard or even "average" tattoo artistry doesn't quite cut it any more. The public is starting to demand more and maybe some tattooists who are more technicians than artists are having a hard time keeping up.
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BadWolf
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Thu Mar 27, 2008 11:47 am

MattCrunk wrote:I get the feeling that maybe, just maybe, the REAL gripe that some tattooists have with these TV shows is that they have raised the artistic bar for tattooing in the public consciousness..
Then you'd be missing the point entirely, and I'd get the feeling that you weren't able to comprehend anything that was written.
None of those people invented art. Nor is artsomething that is chisled in stone. There are people who absolutely HATE their art, and love yours...or hate yours and love mine. Or hate mine, and love the scratcher down the road in the trailer court.
Art is the one part of the equasion that is COMPLETELY SUBJECTIVE, and NOT limited by the rules of the material plane or physics.
My studio is no more or less busy than it was 20 years ago. My book is filled.
Last edited by BadWolf on Thu Mar 27, 2008 11:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
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CxCx
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Thu Mar 27, 2008 11:55 am

Matt, I actually tend to disagree. The sheer ammount of scratchers-turned-"bsuiness men" who've decided to open shops since the inception of Miami/LA Ink (Our small college town went from 1 tattoo shop to 3 tattoo studios and one piercing studio since then) contradicts your belief.

The mass populus still doesn't seem to have discerned the difference between "good" and "bad" tattoos, and are just happy to get a "tattoo", regardless of how BAD the final result is, or in what sketchy manner they actually GOT the tattoo.

If both of the other shops that opened in our town were high quality shops with amazing artists, then I'd find your point to be valid. As it stands, one is an alright shop (run by a guy that started out as a scratcher) and the other is a group of factory workers that were scratchers on the side and decided to "make a go" of it. The "level of artistry"? I'd honestly rather NOT go there OR the issue of safety.
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MattCrunk
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Thu Mar 27, 2008 11:56 am

BadWolf wrote: There are people who absolutely HATE their art, and love yours...or hate yours and love mine. Or hate mine, and love the scratcher down the road in the trailer court.
Art is the one part of the equasion that is COMPLETELY SUBJECTIVE, and NOT limited by the rules of the material plane or physics.
Yeah, I hear it all the time: "I don't know anything about art, but I know what I like".

Yes, art IS subjective, but artistic standards are not.
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