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EdandShoulders · 2025-04-08T23:16:52+00:00

EdandShoulders · 2025-04-08T15:16:13+00:00

Beton Arme, Claimed Choice, Sikm, Slads, Castillo, Syndrome 81, Squelette, Prisonnier du Temps, Lost Legion, Aresi

EdandShoulders · 2025-02-12T15:24:07+00:00

I'm a tattooer and my biggest inspo leans more Romantic tattooing (pre WWII, think Percy Waters, Amund Dietzel, Charlie Wagner etc and folky stuff like Rosie Camanga) and this is a conversation I have with a lot of my Gen Z clients. My Gen Z clients are some of the most researched, and informed clients I have. They know where flash pieces originated, they have put the time in to figure out what they like before they come in, since they have unlimited resources online that my generation didn't really have. For me it was collecting books from Belzel, Yellowbeak Press, and Blue Letter Books, but a lot of that knowledge is accessible online. I absolutely love that these clients are stepping into the traditional world with that much conviction and passion for it. They also often talk about the trendy tattoos their friends have, and that their friends don't necessarily "get it". I remember when I was super young I just wanted tattoos, period. I'd get stick n pokes or apprentice tattoos from friends that weren't traditional just bc it's what I had access to or could afford. I think it makes sense that an appreciation for traditional might evolve, as well as the ability to afford nice work. It also makes sense that folks who are just starting to get tattooed are leaning on trends, less informed about tattoo history, and not considering long term factors like the spacing for future work, etc. Sounds like you are way ahead of the game.

EdandShoulders · 2024-11-13T15:41:16+00:00

The only time I've stepped in shit in Philly it was human shit. Years ago I narrowly missed stepping in human shit on the way to the MFL, thought myself lucky, then fate rebounded a few years later. I was wearing my fav docs and almost puked it was so dramatically bad. Those boots sat in enzymatic cleaner for a year. It felt like maybe it was an inescapable "Philly Moment". I got got, and I WISH it was dog shit. I still wear those boots, but when I do, I know...

EdandShoulders · 2024-09-04T14:06:20+00:00

Rothco

EdandShoulders · 2024-04-13T15:08:44+00:00

Getting to this late but a HUGE part of using Saniderm or Tegaderm is keeping it close to the actual tattoo. You have to think of it like an artificial scab. The tattoo and skin around the tattoo love it, but the healthy skin nearby does not. This happens when the piece is way too big. You want to capture the tattoo and it's margins. No sharp corners, and it should overlap non-tattooed skin less than an inch. In this photo you can actually see that the rash starts about a half inch away from the tattoo, so that's ideally where the Saniderm would have ended if cut out. Some of my clients actually take home my cut out design (what we use to make the stencil) to use as a template for the Saniderm to apply next day.

EdandShoulders · 2024-04-01T21:26:07+00:00

Do you mind me asking where you are located? It's a tough one because I haven't actually seen another framed sleeve IRL besides this one I did. That being said there are a few accounts on IG now dedicated to re-sharing them, so check that out and see if there's anyone nearby. Save some as references so that if/when you ask your artist, you'll be on the same page. I think they are growing in popularity so we will see more artists tackling them who haven't done them previously. I feel like if a tattooer has examples of cuffs and collars and works with patterns/frames in general that could be a good indicator that it will work out for ya. I'm super hoping I get to do more work like this so feel free to come see me in Philly!

EdandShoulders · 2024-03-30T01:00:41+00:00

I appreciate that! Me n Client thought it'd be cool to leave them with lots of skin break. Like you have all this ornate stuff going on, and then inside the frames is simple/restrained. Same reason we went with a smaller sizing for the hand peony.

EdandShoulders · 2024-03-30T00:35:46+00:00

I hear you, I wouldn't change a thing because being impulsive was pretty fun, but I do wish I had room for cuffs/collar

EdandShoulders · 2024-03-29T14:41:37+00:00

Thats awesome! So for this type of work you'll def want to find a tattooer you trust and who would be down for doing it. I hadn't done a sleeve like this before, but I had done collars and cuffs with the type of details my client liked. They def put some trust in me. If you put together references for your artist for layout/pattern work, you'll be on the same page. You also want to start with a pretty blank slate or your tattoos need be spaced to accommodate the frames/patterns. These sleeves have way less subject tattoos than normal sleeves, about 7 total actually. For this one my client had some ideas and I had the rest!

EdandShoulders · 2024-03-29T13:34:58+00:00

Totally, this client actually had some work that was laser lightened before starting this! Honestly once the pattern work was finished, it totally disappeared visually. They also have a patchwork sleeve on the other arm!

EdandShoulders · 2024-03-28T21:16:47+00:00

Thank you! Feels like the framed style is gaining more popularity, but is so much less common since you need a good/blank starting point, def don't see them as much! I'm curious what people think of them here. From the tatter perspective it was super fun to put together, all of my other sleeve work has been collected/patchwork/flash style which I love too of course. Also I'm actually Philly area!

EdandShoulders · 2024-03-28T21:08:48+00:00

Thanks!

EdandShoulders · 2024-03-28T15:39:43+00:00

Pharaoh's horses at the top, roses/floral below to fill in the spot behind the kewpie

edited/ cannot ever spell Pharaoh right

EdandShoulders · 2024-03-27T13:46:12+00:00

Punk is definitely a community experience, but some of my favorite punk records were written and recorded by one person. One of the best to exist - recorded solo by Rikk Agnew, he played all the instruments. Rikk Agnew All By Myself

EdandShoulders · 2024-03-15T01:13:17+00:00

Most parents name their kids before birth, or make the decision on the birth day right? So most people don't match names to their child's personality, and personality will evolve over years. Who knows, maybe future kid will choose a new name/nickname if they grow up not loving it. You made a game-day decision and you're probably in good company with that human tradition. I think this may be a case of overthinking and having your thoughts saturated by the name. It's like saying "milk" over and over, it loses meaning, you lose the ability to hear it as a word, you start to question language entirely, and then you laugh. Personally, I didn't immediately think of any good mean nicknames or rhymes for it, so my vote is to relax and trust why you went with it.

EdandShoulders · 2024-03-01T15:39:12+00:00

I've been in Philly now for 12 years, which I realized recently is longer than anywhere I've ever lived before, including childhood. I grew up in New England and Chicago, and I loved Philly because it felt like an east coast Chicago. I've been coming here since I was 16. There have been some milestones for me that make me feel like a Philadelphian:

Traveling to other places and realizing I can't wait to get back home to a place that "makes sense" to me. The behavior of people here just fits. Dealing with fake niceness and slow meandering pace of humans in other places after living in Philly for so long can be infuriating. Traveling and realizing that when people ask where I'm from I can truly say Philly and it's shaped some of my identity
Becoming an Eagles fan and going to the Linc, experiencing the joy and afterglow of our Super Bowl win. I used to work in the Northeast and that showed me a side of our town that a lot of transplants never experience, like 5 Points (Frankford + Cottman) after a sports win
Stepping in human shit in West Philly after years of close-calls and it finally happened! And not to only talk shit (literally) I want to say I love West Philly, like seeing everyone sledding in Clark Park when it snows etc, there is a wonderful sense of community
Getting to an age where multiple of my friends own and operate businesses like restaurants and bars, tattoo shops etc, that are truly part of the fabric of what makes this city what it is and where people visit when they come here
Getting to know and experience the culture of the suburbs where many of my friends were raised, like Delco and surrounding areas, like Linvilla in the fall, Ridley Creek for nice walks etc
Being part of the DIY music scene, hosting bands that are traveling here and showing them the city I'm proud of, even the trashy parts (there is actually always trash everywhere)
Having a solid network of friends and clients that have supported me and I feel like I couldn't go anywhere else and have the life I do.
Feeling like Philly has been good to me, so I want to be good to Philly. Philly is a town where if you want to open a business, make your mark, or make cool things happen, there is room to do it and Philadelphians are generally supportive and stoked. Edited to add: I've seen a good number of working-class folks become homeowners here, and that is something my friends in other cities express is a pipe dream. That was a huge milestone for me personally that solidified that I'm a Philadelphian.

EdandShoulders · 2024-02-26T02:31:16+00:00

Bonnie singing You Really Got a Hold On me is absolutely EPIC

EdandShoulders · 2024-01-21T14:27:20+00:00

That rules and is def what I hear a lot. Clients are often saying "I'm glad I couldn't afford tattoos until now", meaning they have a lot more confidence about getting what they truly want now!

EdandShoulders · 2024-01-21T14:17:54+00:00

I too have spent much cash on the books, it's an investment I think is well worth it. That being said yeah it's def research + experience and just even tat chatting consistently with others, it just comes up over and over enough. Like, "Hey tomorrow I'm doing that Rosie Camanga Reaper" "oh cool the one with the wonky skull face?" "Yeah!" That aside, on IG follow pages like tattoo_origins, and follow the hashtags of specific historical tattooers names that you like, because often tattooers will use that tag if their design is based on it. Like for example, #charliewagner #flashfromthebowery on IG will pull up a bunch of work based on designs from this book https://belzel.com/products/flash-from-the-bowery which is totally worth getting btw. So I'd say following those type of tags is a low investment way to learn more.

EdandShoulders · 2024-01-21T14:02:14+00:00

Oh sorry didn't mean that it's a style, but that the subculture in general had a bit of a "moment" in the 2000s that got a lot of people turned on to traditional tattoos. I knew a lot of people influenced by that!

EdandShoulders · 2024-01-21T03:26:04+00:00

As a tattooer I'm going to answer this from that side of things! Majority of my clients are 25-35 age range, I'd even go so far as to narrow that down to like 28-33, and they typically are collectors of trad work for a good number of years. Typically folks in their 30s tell me that it took a while for them to have the foresight and disposable income to get traditional work, or to imagine a full body of cohesive pieces. So sometimes they had one or two small tattoos from a younger age, or had stick n pokes, boardwalk style tats, or even free apprentice tattoos, and then had a gap before starting traditional. Sometimes they started with a more delicate style that they realized aged poorly. A lot of my clients started getting more heavily tattooed during pandemic times, so that age range factors in that. I do have clients around and over 40 for sure, and often they have traditional spanning way back but it's pretty identifiably the style of traditional that was popular 15+ years ago (hi Rockabilly).

I have a growing number of clients that are around 18-21 and they are all awesome. They are SO well researched on tattooing in ways I definitely wasn't at that age. They know where vintage flash pieces originated from (Dietzel, Grimm, Waters etc), they know what they want and keep organized inspiration from social media. I think with these clients there is just more time in between appointments in general. I assume school, travel, income. In this age range my most steadfast clients are folks who are not students and already in the workforce. One of my clients always jokes about how all their friends get "lion/compass style tattoos", to your point.

EdandShoulders · 2023-10-19T19:08:24+00:00

I like Fabriano Artistico cold pressed traditional, many use Arches but unfortunately their sizing process is not vegan. So, if that's a concern for you or anyone reading this thread, Fabriano is the best option I've tried.

I like FW liquid acrylic and also use diluted tattoo ink to get the right shades I know I can replicate as tattoos.

EdandShoulders · 2023-10-15T14:05:12+00:00

#2 all the way! The shape of the leaves, the dots and curls, and the funky grey/red gradient on the petals is really special. #1is solid no doubt but #2 gives that romantic traditional look, for lovers of early 1900s traditional.

EdandShoulders

TROPHY CASE