TattooSnob.com

Hell City Phoenix is less than thirty days away–I don’t know about you, but I desperately need a vacation.

I’ll be there representing Tattoo Snob (Julene’s missing out, pansy), and loafing around by the pool. No contests planned this time around – but we’re open to suggestions if you guys have any.

I almost forgot how much fun I had in Columbus, but Alissa Brunelli did a great job reminding me by uploading all of her pictures from the event.

Apparently Hell City is making a documentary this year at the conventions? The image below was posted to their Facebook page last night.

This is the first I’ve heard about it, and I don’t know any details right now. I think it’s same to assume that filming will take place in both Columbus and Phoenix this year. Knowing Durb, I’m sure he has old footage from previous years as well.

If you’re interested in seeing this first hand – remember our Win a trip to Hell contest is going strong. For $10 you could win a trip to Phoenix, and basically have the entire weekend covered.

Continuing their attempt at word domination to centralize tattoo enthusiasts and artists, Hell City has expanded to offer a community-social-networking site: Hell City Tattoo Community.

The site currently contains all of the details of the Hell City Tattoo Conventions, as well as user forums, groups, blogs, and picture galleries. While this most likely won’t replace your Facebook, it seems like a logical place to gather to discuss plans specific to Hell City and related events.

As most of you probably know, this past weekend was the Detroit Motor City Tattoo Expo. This year marked the 15th anniversary of the show, and despite the bad weather – the turnout was great. The artist turn out was nothing short than stellar, and the floor was packed all weekend.

As always, I brought out my camera and tried to capture some of the quality work that surrounded me. I snapped entirely too many pictures to post on here, so I’m just going to post the cream of the crop. Please remember, my photography skills are amateur at best.

If you’re interested in seeing all of the mediocre pictures I took, become a fan of Tattoo Snob on Facebook. All of the pictures from this past weekend are posted in the albums.

Could this be the best tattoo contest category ever?

Having a “worst tattoo” contest is nothing new, but the winning entry’s prize involving a bucket of rocks and a gift certificate toward have it removed is genius. This is just one of the many events going on at the Salt Lake City Tattoo Convention this weekend. If you’re interested in entering, or just looking for a laugh, details of the contest can be found here.

I just booked my room for the Detroit Motor City Tattoo Expo. The convention is always a good time, and the parties afterwards are always a better time.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that cee-lo will be the game of choice again this year – papa needs a new pair of shoes tattoo.

Paul from Rock the Ink let me know that the Atlanta show (December 18th – 20th) has been canceled.

According to Paul there was an issue with the venue, so they’re currently searching for a new one.

Several weeks ago I wrote an entry about the “Biggest Tattoo Show on Earth” AKA the Las Vegas tattoo convention. In the article I (jokingly) poked fun at the convention, the gimmicks to get people in the door, the prizes, and how that weekend was going to be an enormous headache. I almost forgot – I also provided some links to get the $100 tickets for free. Did anyone make use of that? If so, please let me know. I’m interested in hearing if you actually received tickets.

That particular tattoo convention happens to be this upcoming weekend, and while I did mean everything I said, I’ve though of some pretty good reasons you should attend.

• The amount of talent that is going to be at this show is out of control. Their website has 400+ tattooists on the attending artist list.
• You can talk to one of the top tattoo removal practitioners, David Ores, about removing or covering up that tattoo you hate so much. He’s one of the best in the business currently.
• Jim Jones is now playing. Baaaallin’! (Note: if you don’t get that joke, you probably should skip the show.)
• No matter what your interests are, there will be enough going on there for you to be able to spend all day walking around. They seem intent on having a little bit of everything: tattoo work, piercings, body modification, implants, suspensions, etc.
• The people watching will be very entertaining.
• Lastly, you’re supporting the community. To me, this is the most important reason to go. Conventions can’t be thrown without attendees–arguably the most important participator of a weekend like this. No attendees means nobody getting tattooed, which leads to tattoo artists deciding against spending the time and money to attend conventions. Besides, how else are you going to get tattooed by that super-amazing someone who happens to be based far away from your hometown?

Hopefully I listed some compelling reasons why those of you in the Vegas region should drop some cash on a ticket. If you do wind up going, keep me posted. I’m curious what side of the fence people will fall on about the convention this year.

I recently sat down and spoke to Gabe, owner of TattooNow.com and Off the Map Tattoo, about his latest adventure, Paradise Tattoo Gathering, taking place this weekend (September 17th – 20th.) The gathering is held at the Jiminy Peaks resort in Western Massachusetts, and is an hour drive from the nearest airport. Seriously. On top of the beautiful location and secluded surroundings, Gabe has arranged for a number of the top tattoo artists from around the world to come and participate in this gathering. Truly a unique event, this goes way beyond your typical convention. Gabe provided further details during our interview below.

TattooSnob: For people that have never heard about this before, can you explain what makes this event different than other tattoo conventions?

I think there are a few things that make the gathering different. We have a real focus on responsible tattoo education, a unique setting, and a hand picked high quality artist lineup.  The resort is tucked away in the hills of western Massachusetts, very different from the usual convention hotel in a bigger city. The out of the way, quiet nature of the venue makes it ideal for hosting seminars, workshops, discussion panels and such. We are honored to host some of the most talented artists in the world, but because of the small size of the resort and the network we have from our work with TattooNOW and Off the Map Tattoo we have to and can be very selective of the artists tattooing. We work hard to bring the best tattooers to a great location to share with other tattooers responsibly. There are very few distractions… except for the alpine slide and roller coaster.

TS: Overall, what do you expect the attendance to be like?

Full of quality tattooers who want to better themselves, artists who want to be tattooers, dedicated tattoo collectors, and some curious tattoo newbies. There will probably be more people than last year–hopefully! Due to the nature of the show, everyone who attended was pretty serious about tattooing. They also weren’t afraid of the woods and could find places that are out of the way. I expect the same, maybe more!

TS: How many of those are collectors, and how many of those are tattoo artist?

Last year and this year we sold more artists passes than collectors, the ratio was probably 65/45-ish. The show really focuses on attracting tattoo artists, but of course collectors are welcome.

TS: What tattoo artists will be tattooing at the gathering?

We’re very honored to have Stephane Chaudesaigues, Bob Tyrrell, Nick Baxter, Mike Cole, Jeff Gogue, Russ Abbott, Jeff Ensminger, Nikko, Mike Devries… I feel horrible to leave anyone out but I can’t really list all the artists working! It is truly amazing being able to host such a group of tattooers.

The complete list can be found on our website.

TS: I just looked over the seminar list, and it’s quite extensive. Which seminars are people talking about the most?

I’m pretty excited to see what comes out of the Dan Dos Santos seminar; his vision is quite fantastic and effects very real. Of course Guy Aitchison bringing his two-day intensive workshop has generated a lot of buzz. Through TattooNOW I watched a bunch of artists whose work I had followed for years shift dramatically after they took his workshop last year in Columbus with the Hell City guys. Everyone who took the seminar kicked their tattoos into high gear, really amazing and it’s exciting that Guy is bringing it to the gathering. He is also offering a free one on Saturday morning, with a presentation and a Q&A session. Tom Strom, Russ Abbott, Shawn Barber, Jeff Ensminger, Mario’s photo seminar… they all are registering people every day. The Pulse machine workshop is sold out, and as of September 12th the Bob Tyrrell and Joshua Carlton seminars have closed out pre-registration but will be taking 10-20 more artists at the show. We definitely recommend that artists make plans and pre-register, but last year I think the only seminar to actually turn people away was Joe Capobianco’s. So if artists show up and get there early they can still get into the seminars. Here is the list and any with a PayPal or a “Buy Now” link still have space for pre-registration available.

TS: I noticed that several seminars are opened to everyone. Which seminars can non-tattoo artist attend?

We have two discussion panels that are open to the public, and a few seminars. One panel is about talking clients into getting good tattoos. We figure it is best for clients who are interested to hear what that process is like, so hopefully that can skip right to the educated clients. These ideas are also great for future apprentices to learn prior to screwing anyone up. The other panel is about the apprenticeship process the best ways to learn to tattoo. Best way to get advice about how to learn responsibly is directly from a group of artists who have learned and taught the art of tattooing. Sean Barber and Dan Dos Santos’ workshops are about painting and drawing original art, so apprentices and non-tattooers are welcome to participate.

There is a world of difference between being responsible with the art of tattooing and simply closing doors. Seminars about how to paint better, or imagine things better, or the difference between bad and good tattoos, and even bloodborne pathogens shouldn’t be secrets. Dan Dos Santos and Shawn Barber have been teaching art to non-tattooers for a long time, so it would feel silly to exclude people from their workshops. Now, seminars that involve any technical tattooing details, those are for artists only… I don’t want to help anyone who would tattoo people without someone real sharp looking over their shoulder, and ultimately taking responsibility for the tattoo. For me the apprenticeship has to do with someone ultimately taking responsibility for the apprentices’ tattoos.

TS: I also noticed a handful of the seminars were free. Was this your idea or the host of the seminar? Why did you choose to do that?

It’s up to the host of the seminar. Some of the free ones will ultimately sell things to the attendees to make some dough. The more informative their seminar, the more likely folks are to get involved with the teachers’ businesses. The TattooNOW seminar (I also run TattooNOW, a company that powers over 90 tattoo websites) will walk artists through the internet tattoo landscape, and ultimately explain how TattooNOW can help artists take advantage of it. We have had lots of artists ask questions, this will be a place to answer them for 20-30 people at once. While we will be giving out some great tips and tricks, we can make our money if people choose us as their website developer.

TS: Not related to the gathering, who was the last tattoo artist to tattoo you?

Yang Zhuo from Bejing tattooed my upper arm/half sleeve at Hell City in Columbus last May… (I think!)

TS: Can we get a picture?

It’s not finished, but I try to keep most of my tattoos off the net. Sorry, no photo!

TS: Any last words?

Not for another 40-50 years I hope!

Thanks to Gabe for taking a minute out of his hectic schedule and answering a few questions.

Apparently this is what the worlds biggest tattoo show looks like?

Inked Magazine is apparently giving away tickets to the Las Vegas tattoo show AKA “The biggest tattoo show on earth.” The show takes place October 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Tickets to a tattoo convention aren’t normally that big of a deal, right? At $100 for a weekend pass, it would be asinine to turn these down if you plan on going. Now, in order to get these “free” tickets you have to provide your name, address, phone number, and e-mail when you fill out the form. I’m sure on top of the free tickets, all of your personal information will be thoroughly solicited, but we’ll talk about that in a minute.

Now let’s talk about the show a little bit. Here’s a couple quick facts you should probably be aware of:

• The sponsors include Inked Nation, Urban Ink, Cam Supply, House of Blues, Mandalay Bay, Intenze Productions, and Inked Magazine. Hey, remember when you gave them all of that personal information? Enjoy!

Tommy Lee, Suge, and ?

• DJ Steve Aoki, Tommy Lee & DJ Aero, and DJ Scotty Boy will all be performing live. Here’s a free preview of Tommy Lee & DJ Aero.

• They claim to be giving over $100,000 in prizes for the tattoo competitions. I wonder how many subscriptions of Urban Ink and Inked Magazine that is?

• They strictly refer to this as a tattoo show, but the website shows just as much piercing, scarification, suspension, and body modification. I’m not saying that as if it’s a bad thing the body modification is there, but I would think they would advertise it.

Did I mention the Harley Bike Fest is going on in Vegas the same weekend? Oh, and AC/DC is playing the MGM that Saturday night too.

What a fucking mess. I bet this will be an unimaginable weekend, but isn’t every weekend in Vegas?